Jen nodded. "Then he could spend the next few years putting some work into it. Fixing up the kitchen, maybe finishing the bas.e.m.e.nt. By the time we're ready to move on the value will have gone up by quite a bit. It's a smart business move."

"So you and I would live here and pay him rent?" I asked. The idea made me feel weird.

"We'd contribute to the mortgage, yeah," she said. "But the great thing is that it'd be much cheaper. Our landlord is gouging us right now. At today's prices, Matt's mortgage would be about two thirds of what we pay now in rent."

She looked so excited discussing these business matters. Jen was definitely a nerd when it came to stuff like this. And I could see her point-it would make financial sense for Matt to own the property. If it lowered our rent that would only be a good thing.

But living in Matt's house? Living with Matt and Jen? It made me uncomfortable, even though I couldn't put my objections into words. It just felt funny. Granted, Matt was here almost every night anyhow, he practically already lived with us. But still...

"Just think about it, okay?" Jen said. "I think it would be really great, but it's up to you."

"I'll think about it," I promised.

"Matt will be here tonight if you have any questions," she continued. I could tell she was excited about the whole thing, and I felt a little bad for my reservations.

"I think I'm going to see Nate after rehearsal," I told her.

"That's almost every night this week, isn't it?" she asked, the forced casualness in her voice not lost on me. I had the feeling she was dying to ask me to dish about my relationship but was trying to restrain herself.

I wasn't quite sure what I would tell her if she did ask. I had been seeing an awful lot of Nate since the benefit. The truth was, we were having a great time. He was easy to be with, he was fun, he made me laugh. If I was any other girl I'd probably be trying to come up with ways to get my claws into him for good.

But in spite of all those good things, something was holding me back. I just wasn't sure how far I wanted to take it. I had an urge to tell Jen all of this, to ask her what I should do. But then again, she would probably just advocate for me to get serious with him. Jen made no secret of her opinion that I was only single because I was repressing issues about my dad's abandonment. Whatever that meant.

"I probably won't get to see him much in the next week," I told her instead. "What with tech and all."

Tech week was my least favorite part of doing a show. During the week before the opening we would have dress rehearsal every day, a chance to run the entire show with all the technical aspects. By the end of the week everything should be pretty smooth, but the first few rehearsals would be rife with bugs. It was just about guaranteed. And that meant long nights trying to work everything out...

"When does tech start?" Jen asked.

"Tomorrow. We're going to run twice. I'll probably be at the theater all day." Not the most exciting way to spend a Sat.u.r.day.

"So tonight's the last night to see the boy before all the craziness starts?" she asked with a smile. I rolled my eyes. "And then Friday is the opening?"

"We have a press preview on Thursday," I said, my stomach twisting at the thought. "Then official opening is Friday, yeah."

"And you reserved our tickets?" she asked.

"Yup, you guys are all set. Good thing, too, because we're totally sold out."

Jen gasped. "Oh my G.o.d, hon, that's amazing!"

"And scary."

"Don't be silly," she said. "You're going to be great."

"I hope so," I told her. "We all need to be great if we want to get this play to Chicago."

Jen's face clouded a little. "I'll be so sad when you're gone," she said.

"It's a long shot."

Jen only shook her head. "Nope. This thing is going all the way. I can feel it."

I smiled at her. I didn't say it, but I had a feeling she was right.

Four hours later and I was finally leaving rehearsal. Our final run before tech had gone really well. My frustration over Grayson and work had evaporated under the exhilaration that came from a good rehearsal. When I got to Nate's house, I was practically bouncing off the walls.

"Good rehearsal?" he asked with a smile.

"Awesome rehearsal," I corrected. "G.o.d, theater is amazing. Seriously. The next time I complain about something, remind me how good I feel right now."

He came over to put his arms around me and I met him with an enthusiastic kiss.

"We should go out and do something fun," he said, smiling down at me. "Let's not waste this good mood."

He took me to club in Ferndale so we could dance. Most of the guys I knew would drop dead before they would be seen out on a dance floor-not Nate. He seemed to have no inhibitions about looking ridiculous, as long as he was having fun.

The DJ mostly featured hits from the seventies and eighties, so the club lacked that compet.i.tive feel you got in many places. In fact, most of our fellow revelers were quite a bit older than us.

"This place is hilarious," Nate said at the bar. We had finally taken a break to get drinks and we were now happily watching the crowd dance. "Do you see that old dude in bellbottoms?"

"He's reliving his youth," I told him. "I think it's awesome."

"You mean groovy," he corrected, putting his arm around me. I was sweaty and disheveled from all of the dancing, but I didn't care. From the way he pulled me closer, I could tell that Nate didn't care either.

"Ready to get back out there?" I asked.

"I'd rather get you home," he said in my ear.

"We've only been here for an hour!" I laughed.

"I don't care. You're gorgeous," he said, his voice low. Even after all these weeks it still sent a thrill through me when he talked like that. I looked up into his eyes, which were dark and intense.

"Okay," I said, happiness filling me up right down to my toes. "Let's go home."

An hour later, I was curled up comfortably in Nate's bed, trying to keep him from falling asleep.

"Talk to me," I told him, slapping his chest. "Come on, I need entertainment."

"You're a spoiled child," he moaned, throwing his arm over his face. "I'm tired."

"You're no fun," I shot back. "How old are you?"

"I don't understand how you're not sleepy yet," he said, rolling over so he was facing me. "You had to go into work this morning, you had rehearsal, we went dancing, I just totally ravished you..."

I laughed. "Maybe your ravishing skills aren't as effective as you thought."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Don't make me show you again."

"I thought you were so tired," I teased, rolling away from him and swinging my legs over the bed. "I'm going to get a drink. Want anything?"

"Nah, I'll just admire the view," he said.

I rolled my eyes and headed to his dresser. I had no desire to put my sweaty dance clothes back on. I rummaged through a drawer until I found a worn gray t-shirt. Pulling it over my head, I smiled a little; it smelled like Nate.

"You just help yourself there, Ann," he called over from the bed.

"Thanks, I will," I told him sweetly.

I headed out to the kitchen, grabbing a gla.s.s from the cabinet, then pulling a pitcher of water from the fridge. The clock on the stove blinked one a.m. I thought of Nate, surely falling asleep in bed, but felt too keyed up to join him just yet. Instead, I found my purse and pulled my iPod out, plugging it into his docking stereo. I hit shuffle and smiled as the strains of Billie Holiday filled the living room.

I wandered over to his bookshelf, thinking I might read until I calmed down a bit. On the bottom shelf he had a stack of board games and a few decks of cards.

"Whatcha doing?"

I looked up and saw Nate standing in the doorway in his boxer shorts. He still looked sleepy, but he was smiling at me.

"I thought I might play some cards," I said.

Nate snorted. "You can't play cards. I was in Vegas with you, remember?"

"I can play solitaire," I said in my best *so-there' voice.

"How about we play something else?" he suggested, coming over to join me. "I have some games."

"Yeah, I was looking at your games," I said with a smirk. "Star Wars Risk, eh? Not at all dorky there, Hughes."

"Oh, shut up," he said, tweaking my ear. "What do you feel like?"

"Monopoly," I said immediately. I loved Monopoly.

"Oh, G.o.d," he muttered, pulling it from the shelf. "It's the longest game in the world. We're gonna be up all night."

We settled down at the kitchen table. Nate insisted that I sit on his lap. "If you're going to make me stay up, I better at least get something out of it."

I complied. To be honest, I loved the feel of leaning back against his chest, though I would never admit it to anyone. A month ago if you would have told me that I'd be willing to sit on a guy's lap, I would have laughed in your face.

We played for a few minutes. I insisted that Nate be the car, to go with his job, and I took the dog.

"We used to have a Scottie dog just like this, when I was little," I told him. "Taffy. She was the best dog."

"What happened to her?" he asked, rolling the dice.

"She died. When I was eight." I frowned a little at the memory. Taffy had gotten cancer, and we had to put her down.

I had a sudden clear memory of lying in my bed late at night, terrified and wishing Taffy was there. She usually slept on the foot of my bed, and somehow it always made me feel less scared when my dad wasn't around. He had been gone when she died.

"Annie," Nate said in my ear. "You there?"

I looked over at him, trying to clear my head. "What?" I asked.

"You went away for a minute there. You okay?"

"Yeah," I told him. "Sorry. Maybe I'm sleepier than I thought."

"We could always go to bed," he asked hopefully.

"Not a chance, mister. I plan to beat you at this game."

We settled into the game for a while. I had already ama.s.sed Kentucky and Indiana, as well as all of the pink properties. Nate had three of the four railroads as well as Park Place. He teased me constantly throughout the game, questioning my choices and encouraging me to give up my own properties and move in with him in the luxury penthouse he planned to build on Park Place.

"What the h.e.l.l are we listening to?" he asked suddenly.

I paused for a minute so I could hear. c.r.a.p. I had forgotten this was on here.

"Uh, this would be the original Broadway cast of Pippin," I admitted.

"You have this on your iPod?" he asked. I could hear the amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice.

"Yes," I said with dignity.

"Get up," he said, smacking me lightly on the a.s.s.

"Hey!" I cried, but he was already slipping out from under me and heading to the stereo. "What are you doing?"

"I just want to see what else is on here," he said.

"Nate, don't."

"Why? You're always criticizing everyone else's music tastes." He had a bit of a point there-I did tend to be a sn.o.b about music. "Don't you have to b.a.l.l.s to back up your mouth?"

I glared at him, but didn't argue anymore.

"Wow," Nate said. "Original Broadway cast of Rent. And I see we have Oklahoma...Evita. Cats, Annie? Really?"

"Shut up," I said in a small voice. "That show ran on Broadway for eighteen years."

"Yeah, but to have it on your iPod?" he said, laughing. "Remember earlier when you called me a dork for having a Star Wars game?"

"Betty Buckley was in that show," I muttered, mostly to myself.

"Yeah, don't know who that is," he said, continuing to scroll through my music. "Ah, here we go." He pressed a b.u.t.ton and I heard the opening strains of Edelweiss, from The Sound of Music. "My mom loved this song," he said. "She used to sing it while she cleaned the bathroom."

"It is a pretty good song," I agreed.