"No, he wouldn't." She bit her lip, but it couldn't hold back her very satisfied smile. "He's the most wonderful guy ever. And in bed he's..." She couldn't find an adjective good enough.

"No words, huh? Wow. Now I really am jealous."

Given the smile Merissa wore, she didn't harbor any hard feelings. "I'll try to dial it down from now on."

"Don't you dare!" Merissa winked. "I'll turn on the sound machine when I sleep. Someone in this house ought to be making profound whoopee, and it sure isn't me."

Since breaking things off with Steve, Rissy seemed to have given up dating, but she didn't appear all that sad about it. Mostly she'd just thrown herself into her work.

Cherry knew she was truly blessed for having such a terrific friend in her life. "Can I tell you something?"

"Something juicy?" Anxious, Merissa leaned in. "Heck yeah. Lay it on me."

Merissa's continued upbeat encouragement almost made her laugh again. "No, it's nothing like that." Desperate to clear her thoughts, Cherry gulped down half the cup of coffee, crossed her arms on the table, and admitted, "I want Denver to want to be with me."

One of Merissa's brows went up. "So...are you saying you kept him here under duress? Kinky. Were ropes and chains involved?"

"Sometimes you're worse than Armie!"

Feigning affront, she drew back. "You take that back."

"Sorry."

"Okay then." Merissa got serious, even taking one of Cherry's hands. "So tell me what you meant about Denver. Why do you think he's here?"

Knowing Merissa needed to head out the door, and that she only had a few more minutes herself, Cherry decided it was best to just say it. "Because he wants to keep me safe."

A very slow eye blink, followed by a dry, "Yeah," and a patronizing hand pat made up Merissa's reply. "That's what all that moaning and groaning was about last night."

"That was sex," Cherry stated. "And we both know guys are easy." Only Denver hadn't been. Not even close.

He'd been so difficult that there were times she'd almost given up. But she flat-out cared about him too much to do that.

Merissa searched her face. "You're serious?"

Dreading explanations, especially since neither of them had time for it, Cherry said, "It's my stupid foster brothers."

To her surprise, Merissa nodded. "Yeah, Cannon told me."

Oh God. Shame sent a wave of heat burning through her. Did the whole world know the ugliness of her past?

"Don't sweat it, okay?" Merissa squeezed her hand again, this time in commiseration. "The only people who know are your friends, and friends don't judge."

Friends, plural. "Who?"

"Me, Yvette, the guys-"

"Guys?" she squeaked. It was bad enough that her girlfriends knew.

Shrugging, Merissa said, "Yeah, you know, Stack, Armie, Miles, Brand, Gage-"

Horrified, she moaned, "Nooo."

"Hey, stop that." Her wail made Merissa frown. "We care about you, Cherry. You're one of us, part of this big, insane, goofy family and that means your problems are our problems."

She didn't want them to suffer her problems, damn it! "You and Cannon are the only two related."

"So? Blood ties mean next to nothing. I know without a single doubt that if I needed help I could count on any of the guys, Armie included, even though he acts like he doesn't like me for some reason." She tipped her head, encouraging Cherry with a smile. "You're the sister I never had. If you don't feel the same, tough. I'm keeping you anyway."

How had she gotten so lucky? Emotional overload had her softly confessing, "The best decision I ever made was moving to Warfield, Ohio."

"And rooming with me?"

"That was the best of the good decisions." Deciding a little honesty was in order, she said, "And I'm thrilled to have you for my sister. Thank you."

For a moment, both of them just enjoyed the candid friendship. Then Merissa sighed. "So you think Denver is playing big, bad protector?"

"I know he is."

"Then surely you know why, right?" Without waiting for Cherry's opinion, Merissa stood from the table and pulled her purse strap over her shoulder. "Because he cares."

Afraid to believe that, just in case it proved wrong, Cherry asked, "How can you tell?"

"I've known Denver longer than you. Trust me on this, okay?"

She and Denver sounded the same. But not everything was about trust. Some things, she knew, were about survival. Independence. Responsibility.

And caring enough not to draw others into the mess of your life.

Pausing next to her chair, Merissa put her hand on Cherry's shoulder. "We're both supposed to be on guard until things are resolved. I had to cross my heart and swear to report any and every sound that might spook me."

Cherry could almost picture Cannon giving that lecture. "Your brother is pretty terrific."

"Yeah, he is." Bending down, Merissa gave her a hug. "I've gotta run. Try not to fret too much, not about that loony foster family or Denver's feelings. I have a hunch everything is going to work out just right."

Wishing she could share that belief, Cherry finished her coffee and grabbed up her own purse. When she stepped outside, she realized storms were moving in again. Instead of being greeted with a blue sky, fluffy white clouds and sunshine, she got hit with angry, humid winds that immediately curled her hair. Off in the distance, a flash of lightning lined the gray horizon.

"Great. Just freaking great." Rushing to her car in hopes of getting to the day care before the skies opened up, she hopped in, put the key in the ignition, and...nothing. Not even a pretense of starting. "No, no, no."

Trying again-and again-got her the same results. She dropped her head to the steering wheel, thought about calling Denver, and immediately scrapped that idea.

Instead she yanked out her phone and, with a deep breath, typed in the number for the only person she thought might not be busy.

FUNNY, CHERRY THOUGHT, but not in a ha-ha way. After discussing Vanity last night, basically doing her best to find out if Denver had ever lusted after her, Vanity was now her rescuer.

It was still early, and she had a feeling she might have woken her, but damn it, Vanity looked as gorgeous as ever. The humidity didn't frizz her hair as it did Cherry's. No, Vanity's long, pale blond hair, which easily reached to the small of her back, only had a sexy wave to it.

Even without makeup, her skin looked flawless. Vanity had just the right amount of tan to make her blue eyes stand out.

If she wasn't so nice, it'd be easy to dislike her for her perfect looks alone.

But she was nice, so nice that she'd gotten out of bed to chauffeur Cherry to work. Having her own little pity party, Cherry slumped in her seat.

Glancing her way, Vanity asked, "What will you do about your car?"

"I don't know. I have no idea what's wrong with it." Hopefully nothing too expensive, because missing work had already seriously cut into her paycheck. Expensive car repairs would devastate her meager bank account. "It's old and loaded with miles so it could be anything. But I'm praying for just a dead battery."

While she'd waited for Vanity, the sky had darkened even more, leaving everything cast in gray shadows. The wind bent branches and sent debris scuttling across the roadway. The storms would be heavy today.

"I know nothing about cars," Vanity admitted.

"Me, either." But she'd think of something. Somehow she always did. "Your car is really nice." For the twentieth time, Cherry ran her hand over the butter-soft leather seat.

"I know, right?" Vanity smiled. "Nice things don't have to cost a fortune."

Cherry gaped at her. The car, a brand-new, loaded Mustang convertible, probably cost more than she made in a year. She knew nothing about Vanity's finances, except that she always dressed in pricey but comfortable clothes, worked only when she wanted to and seldom seemed to give money a thought. She never flaunted her wealth, but she was as casual about expenses as she was her clothes and hair.

"I bet one of the guys could help."

By "guys," Vanity meant any of their group at the rec center. Did Vanity and Rissy both consider the fighters at their disposal? It seemed so.

Cherry quickly shook her head. "I don't want to bother them."

"I doubt they'd consider it a bother." Vanity flashed a knowing smile her way. "Men love to feel useful."

"Maybe." She'd have to take Vanity's word for that. "But it's my problem, not theirs." Even if Vanity had been told about her foster family, she didn't know everything else that was going on. She couldn't see that this would just be one more mess on top of the rest, making Cherry feel like a walking disaster. "I'll figure it out."

Rolling her eyes, Vanity hit a button on her steering wheel. "You don't have to."

Not until a ringing sounded in the car did Cherry realize she had hands-free calling. Taken by surprise, she gasped, "What are you doing?"

Just then Armie answered, saying, "Hey, Vee. What's the haps?"

Momentarily sidetracked, Cherry mouthed, "Vee?"

"For Vanity," Vanity explained, holding up the peace sign one-handed. "That's Armie being Armie."

"Who're you with?" asked Armie.

"Cherry." And before she could stop her, Vanity spilled her guts. "See, her car wouldn't start this morning so I'm driving her to work. It's her first day back after being sick so she couldn't miss or go in late. But who knows what's wrong with the car? Could be something simple like a dead battery, which she's hoping for because, really, who can afford major car repairs? But I'm thinking if she takes it to a garage, they'll try to rip her off and she'll be paying for repairs whether she needs them or not. Plus she'll need a ride home from work, too, only she didn't want to bother anyone."

Cherry stared in appalled admiration of the verbal maneuvering. Vanity had run that all together without a breath and left no room to interrupt.

Armie laughed. "Can she hear me?"

"Yes," Vanity said with a fast, satisfied smile. "She's sitting next to me stewing right now."

"Cherry Pie," Armie murmured, "why would you not call me?"

She did a double take. "Cherry Pie?"

"That's what Denver used to call you when he openly lusted. Now that you two have a thing, he'd probably want to squash me for saying it. But I like it. It sounds both familiar and a little bit nasty."

Wow. Armie had done his own verbal maneuvering there, leaving her mute. Denver used to call her that absurd name?

"So," Armie said with a smile in his voice, "what weak-ass excuse do you have for not calling me?"

"You're busy," she squeaked, horrified at the use of the nickname and for being put on the spot.

"No, Denver's busy. But I just finished fighting so I'm free and clear for a bit."

Such a gigantic fib! "You work at the rec center all the time!"

"Yeah, well, I'm looking for an excuse not to be there this afternoon, so I'll come by the school and get you, and then check on your car. What time do you get off?"

When she stalled, trying to think of an alternative, Vanity nudged her with her elbow.

Blast. With a long sigh, she said, "Today's my short day, so I'll be off at three."

"Perfect timing. Thanks for giving me a reason to duck out of the gym. See you soon."

Grinning, Vanity disconnected the call. "There, you see? He appreciates it."

"My luck sucks lately."

Ignoring that, Vanity said, "If my car broke down, I'd call Stack in a heartbeat. Or no, wait, maybe I'd call someone else so that it wouldn't be too obvious."

Eyes widening, her own concerns disappearing under intrigue, Cherry slowly turned her head to face Vanity. "Too obvious about what?"

"How hot he is, how sexy he is and how much I'd love to get horizontal with him. Well, the horizontal part he already knows." She winked. "He's agreed to take me to the wedding, and I agreed we'd have sex."

Whoa. "So..." Assuming she had to have misunderstood something, Cherry tried to sort it out. "You agreed to an...exchange?"

Laughing, Vanity pulled up in front of the day care. "Sex for a date-isn't that the usual exchange? No, I'm kidding. I know it's not. At least not always."

"I am so confused."

"Because I'm deliberately confusing you. Sorry. I'm just...giddy, I guess." Leaning in toward Cherry, voice hushed with excitement, Vanity said, "I'm going to have sex with Stack! Isn't that amazing?"

"Vanity, seriously." Cherry gave her a critical once-over. "Have you looked in a mirror lately? You could have sex with anyone you wanted."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you."

Of all the- "Of course it was a compliment. You're drop-dead gorgeous!"

"But no, I can't," Vanity said, disregarding her clarification. "Denver and Cannon are both entirely off limits, right?"