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little experience and no confidence. But when you talked to me about the man you’d loved and lost, I could see that love was real. All your denials and explanations were meaningless.”
    “I never knew my heart was so plain,” Audrey said with a shake of her head. “But this is nothing to celebrate. Loving Griffin will only make things more complicated. I must continue to pretend I care for Douglas Ellison. Even if I didn’t have duty to consider, Griffin has never returned my feelings. There was desire in his touch tonight… but I can’t believe there would suddenly be more.”
    Hannah let out a groan. “I told your brother this plan was a mistake.”
    Audrey had all but forgotten her brother. “Oh God, Noah. If he finds out, he’ll kill Griffin!”
    As if on cue, a soft knock sounded at her door.
    “Audrey?” Noah whispered from outside. “It’s me, let me in.”
    Twisting the fabric of her skirt into her hand, Audrey checked herself in the mirror. The last thing she wanted was for her brother to notice how disheveled she looked. That would only make him push and nag until he wrung her secrets from her.
    “Hurry up, Audrey!” he murmured impatiently.
    “I’m coming,” she snapped back, throwing Hannah a warning frown before opening the door.
    Noah breezed in with grin for her before he plopped down in her dressing table chair. She took one near the window and hoped for the best.
    “Still in your full opera regalia, little sister? I would have thought you’d gotten more comfortable at least half an hour ago,” he said as he fiddled with the objects on her dressing table.
    “I-I was waylaid,” she murmured with another glance toward Hannah. Her friend had folded her arms and was staring at her expectantly.
    Noah put down the tiny bottle of cologne in his hand and leaned forward to look at her closer.
    “Have you been… have you been crying, Audrey?” He rose to his feet in alarm.
    The tears she’d been holding back began to flow again and contradicted her denial.
    “Is it because he kissed you? I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone with him.” Noah ran a hand through his dark hair. “Bastard.”
    Audrey’s heart lurched into her throat as her gaze flew from Noah to Hannah then back again. How did her brother already know about Griffin?
    “No, Noah!” Audrey rose to her feet with shaking knees.
    “Audrey!” Hannah snapped, but she ignored her friend.
    “Don’t blame him,” she continued.
    “Audrey,” Hannah repeated as she stepped forward.
    Audrey shook her head. If Noah already knew about her moment in the sitting room with Griffin then she would take responsibility. She didn’t need Hannah’s protection.
    “I kissed him back. I know I’m an idiot, but I liked kissing him, Noah.”
    “Oh, Audrey,” Hannah said softly as she sank back down on the bed and covered her eyes.
    Her brother looked at her with confusion and disgust. “You liked kissing Ellison?”
    Audrey froze. This was what Hannah had been trying to tell her. Noah knew about her kiss with Ellison , probably from Hannah’s report just after their arrival… not Griffin.
    “Douglas?” she whispered, wiping away tears. “I…”
    “No,” Noah snarled, his gaze clearing with recognition. “Hannah said you were talking with Griffin. You kissed Griffin?”
    Spinning on his heel, her brother strode over to the door, nearly ripping it from the hinges. Audrey caught up with him at a run and grasped him by the arm with both hands.
    “Stop, Noah!” she pleaded, kicking the door shut and shaking him. “He’s your friend! Why is it you’re more angry at your friend for kissing me than some traitor?”
    Noah’s answer was instant and heated, “Because you once loved, and judging from your face, still love my friend. I saw how deeply you were hurt by those feelings five years ago and by everything Luci did to you afterward.”
    “What Luci did wasn’t his fault!” she insisted. “Good God, he doesn’t even know