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“Tonight isn’t good.”

Dayne pictured Katy at the hotel, ready to catch a flight back to Bloomington in the morning. “For me, either.”

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“What about tomorrow night? We could meet at my place. Eight o’clock.”

“All right.” Dayne massaged his temples with his free hand. In a single phone call his life had changed. No, more than that. His future had been decided. He had no idea what to say. “Kelly … I’m sorry.”

“It happens.” Possibility rang in her tone. “Who knows? Maybe it was supposed to work out like this. So we would find our way back together.”

“Yeah.” But Katy Hart’s face filled his mind, his soul. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing her smile to disappear. “Yeah, maybe so.”

They hung up, and Dayne hung his head. What had just happened? He was going to be a father? He had promised to try and make a future with Kelly Parker? All of it felt like a terrible nightmare, a horrific joke. He felt weak, nauseous. It took nearly a minute before he could force his legs to carry him into the hall to a uniformed officer waiting just outside the door.

“The car’s this way.”

Dayne nodded and followed the man. He was halfway to Katy’s hotel before he made a plan. The information about Kelly and the baby would be a secret to the media and the industry, a secret to the public and even to their friends. But there was one person who had to know before another day passed. A person who would not look back after she knew the reality of what lay ahead.

That person was Katy Hart.

All through lunch, Katy knew.

Something was wrong with Dayne, something about the trial or one of his films or maybe something about her. There was no other explanation. He sat next to his attorney and ate with the

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rest of them, and whenever someone asked him a question he had an answer. But he was distant and distracted, almost despondent. Most of all, he wouldn’t look at her. While they ate salads in a meeting room of her hotel, a space rented by Dayne’s lawyer, only rarely did Dayne even glance in her direction.

True, until today they hadn’t seen each other since opening night for Annie, but the look he’d given her that night and this morning was completely missing now.

Katy tried to steel herself against what might be coming. Maybe he had finally realized there could never be anything more than a distant friendship between the two of them. Whatever was wrong, she wanted to be ready for the pain. Months had passed, after all. Dayne wasn’t with Kelly Parker anymore, but maybe he’d moved on-the way the tabloids hinted-to Angie Carr, his current costar.

But then why had he seemed so glad to see her at the courthouse earlier?

Dayne’s attorney was waving his hand, talking about the press. “They’ll eat up the story, folks. I can tell you that much.” He took a drink of his iced tea.

“Those prelims were dynamite.” He pointed at Dayne. “Your testimony alone makes the case a slam dunk.”

“Good.” Dayne poked his fork around at the wilting lettuce on his plate. “Then let’s give Katy a break. She can go home, and I’ll be the media circus.”

She blinked at him. Go home? Where did this attitude come from? When he was in Bloomington he’d told her several times that whatever was happening between them wasn’t finished yet. Not as long as the trial loomed ahead. But now …

Joe Morris was saying something about anyone witness to a crime was subject to testify, and that of course there was no way for Katy to get out of testifying.

But more than that, Katy could hear Dayne’s words: “Give Katy a break. She can go home … go home.”

Katy kept her answers short the last ten minutes of lunch, 20

talking only when Joe asked her a direct question about her flight or her availability.

Finally, the attorneys stood, and Joe motioned to the prosecutor. “Let’s talk out here for a minute.”

The prosecutor nodded. She was an intelligent, no-nonsense sort who had kept pace with Dayne’s attorney since the meeting at the courthouse.

They left the room, and Katy and Dayne were alone. He lifted his eyes to hers, but he looked weary, as if whatever was eating at him was almost more than he could bear.

“Did I … do something?” She pushed back her plate and rested her forearms on the table. She lifted her hands, baffled. “I feel like a stranger over here.”

“I’m sorry.” Dayne stood, but his movements were slow, troubled. He came to her and took the seat beside her, facing her. “We need to talk.”

Katy felt herself grow stiff. She pressed her spine against the back of the chair. Hide your feelings, Katy. Come on. “About what?”

Only then did she see it. The hurt in Dayne’s expression, the certainty that something had changed or happened. Whatever it was, the look in his eyes was so sad it moved her deeply.

He spoke straight to the loneliest places of her heart. “Later.” He looked up for a moment, then back at her. “Meet me at five o’clock tonight. Malibu Beach, a hundred yards south of the pier.”

She thought hard, her pulse faster than before. “I’m not sure I know how to get there.”

He grabbed a pen and a napkin and wrota^her directions. Then he found her eyes.

“Please, Katy … please come.”

Her flight didn’t leave until morning. But what about the paparazzi and crazy fans? “We’ll get caught.”

“Maybe.” He bit his lip. Then he came up with a plan: she would tuck her hair into a baseball cap. He would be sitting on 21

the beach behind his house. “If I’m being watched, the moment I see you coming, I’ll stand and head up my stairs.”

“Okay.” This was crazy. How could he live this way, worrying about people taking his picture, tracking his every move? Katy’s hands shook as she jotted the details on the napkin.

“If I go inside, you’ll stay on the beach for fifteen minutes, act like you’re watching the sunset. Then slip in through the door to my stairs. They’re fenced off.” He gave her a half smile. “Once you’re through the door at the bottom, the cameras can’t shoot you.”

She searched his face for clues. But before she could ask him for a hint, for an idea about what might be so serious, Dayne’s attorney returned to the room. The prosecutor was right behind him.

“Look-” Joe checked his watch-“I have to call the office before my flight.” He pointed at Katy. “Let’s stay in touch over the next few months. The trial should be the first week of May.”

Dayne stood and shook his hand. “I’ll keep it open.”

“Me too.” When Katy stood, her shoulder brushed against Dayne’s. The contact felt forbidden and wonderful, and it made her realize how much she’d missed him.

She took a step to the side, her cheeks warmer than before. She, too, shook the attorney’s hand. “I’ll wait to hear from you.”

The prosecuting attorney nodded. “I might need you both before then. I’ll let you know.”

“Call me first.” Joe chuckled. “That’s one client who doesn’t do anything without someone from the firm at his side.”

“No problem.” The prosecutor raised her file in their direction. “I’ll be in touch.” She slipped her briefcase beneath her arm and left.

As the door opened, Katy caught a glimpse of a crowd in the lobby.

“They found you.” Joe grinned as the door closed again.

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“Man, they don’t ever let up. You got about fifty of’em out there, Dayne.

Someone at the desk must’ve seen you come in.”

“Photographers?” Dayne leaned against the edge of the table. He looked more frazzled than before.

“Fans, I think. Probably a mix. Either way, there’s a car outside waiting for you.” Joe moved toward the door and turned to Katy. “Better wait until Dayne’s been gone awhile before leaving.” He motioned to another door. “That one leads to the bank of elevators.”

“Fine. I’m going to my room from here.”

“Wait at least ten minutes.” Joe frowned at Dayne. “Don’t you think?”

Dayne slid his hands in his pants pockets. He sighed, and the sound of it filled the room. “Of course.”

Joe patted Dayne’s shoulder. “I’ll call you.”

“Thanks.” Dayne sounded defeated, beyond tired.

As Joe shut the door behind him, Katy studied Dayne. She could almost read his mind. What sort of life was it if he couldn’t spend an hour with a friend, if he couldn’t leave a hotel meeting room without making plans to be discreet? She rested against the table too, careful to keep at least a few inches between them. “Crazy.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged, his eyes still on the door. “I tried to tell you.” He cocked his head, his expression softer than before. “It comes with the territory.”

He was right. Hollywood was full of people obsessed with a life like Dayne’s, drawing seven figures for a film, comfortably at the top of the industry’s A-list of actors. But Łhe dream came with a price.

She crossed her arms. “Sounds like you better go.”

His bottle of water was still on the table. He took it and downed what was left of it. Then he straightened and faced her. “I’m sorry.”

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“Don’t be.” Katy swallowed. Her throat suddenly felt thick, and she worked to find the words. “You can’t help it.”

“Still …”A handful of emotions played out in his expression-frustration, anger, resignation, and finally a longing that was unmistakable. He closed the gap between them, and for a moment he looked as if he might kiss her. But instead he pulled her into a hug. “This isn’t how I wanted today to go.” When he spoke, his voice sounded strained, as if maybe regret was throwing itself into the mix of feelings tearing at him.

“Me, either.” She slid her arms around his neck and allowed the hug to linger.

This, their embrace, was wrong, wasn’t it? Letting her feelings show this way could never erase the fact that they didn’t belong together, that they were too different in every way that mattered. Back home in Bloomington she had trouble convincing herself there was nothing wrong with the feelings she had for Dayne Matthews. The same was true here. But now, in his arms, she didn’t ever want to let go.

Dayne nuzzled his face against her hair, and it seemed like he might say something else. But he drew back and took tender hold of her hands. “Tonight?”

The sadness was back, a sadness that defied the moment. “Please, Katy.”

She breathed in the smell of him, the cologne and faint scent of soap. Why was his tone so heavy? He was used to the throng of autograph seekers and paparazzi, so was there something more? some reason why he’d been different during lunch?

Did

; he feel the impossibility of his feelings for her, the same way she did? She wanted to ask, but he’d made himself clear. Whatever he needed to talk to her about would have to wait until tonight.

, She gently squeezed his hands and said the only thing she could ^say, “I’ll be there.”

; Dayne hesitated and then released her fingers. He grabbed his ŚPDA, his eyes on hers as he moved to the door. “Thanks.”

| “See you.” Katy smiled and waited until he shut the door.

jl Only then did she realize she’d been holding her breath. She 24

exhaled and dropped to the nearest chair. On the other side of the door, she could hear loud squeals and shouts, and his name repeated over and over again.

“Dayne … Dayne … over here, Dayne!”

She hung her head. What was wrong with her? Meeting him at the beach tonight would be a waste of time. She could call him and tell him so, and if he still wanted to talk to her, he could do it then. On the phone. That way she wouldn’t be as tempted to forget all the reasons she shouldn’t have feelings for him.

But even as she considered calling Dayne instead of seeing him, even as the noise of the throng outside continued, and even as she questioned her sanity, Katy knew without a doubt there was only one place she could possibly be at five o’clock. The place where he would be waiting for her.

Malibu Beach.

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The sunwassinkingfast, and so far Dayne hadn’t seen any signs of photographers.

He wore shorts, an old Michigan sweatshirt, his faded navy baseball cap, and sunglasses. Only the regular media hounds would’ve recognized him as anyone other than a jogger.

A cool breeze came off the Pacific, but it did nothing to ease the pain in his heart. Kelly was pregnant. He was going to be a father. A dad. This new reality had consumed him since his conversation with Kelly. When Katy came to meet him, what more could he say? The conversation would begin and end with that one fact.

Dayne squinted down the beach. It was nearly empty, the way it usually was in January. A few lone fishermen balanced poles off the edge of the pier, and the sandy stretch between him and the parking lot a quarter mile down was dotted with a handful of people.

Still no Katy.

A pair of noisy seagulls swooped low over the surf, looped around, and landed on the wet sand. Dayne pulled up one knee

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and rested his elbow on it. The timing couldn’t have been worse. He had been reading his Bible, trying to figure out why God was so important to everyone who had ever mattered in his life.

But if God cared about him, if God had plans for him the way Katy always said, then why this? Why a baby with a woman he had never really cared for as more than a friend? Was it a lesson of some kind, so he’d have to spend the rest of his life learning to love, loving out of obligation, for the sake of a child?

Dayne looked out over the water. The sky had been brilliant blue all day, and the sunset was already casting a pink glow over the ocean. Whatever God was trying to teach him, Dayne had a pretty strong sense that he and Kelly wouldn’t last. He would try, of course. And he would be the best father ever, active in his child’s life from the beginning.

One of the two seagulls hopped toward him, stopped, and turned its head one way and then the other.

“No food over here, buddy.”

The seagull pecked at something, then took off over the water.

If Kelly wanted to marry him, he’d do that too. It would be better for all of them, really. He and Kelly understood each other, the strange lives they lived.

That way the baby would have both parents under one roof. If she’d agree to stay together, he would do it. Kelly was his friend, and he could learn to love her.