If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

rock.”
    Law glanced at her, a puzzled look on his face.
    Then he looked at Hope. Two seconds, a grin split his face and he was across the foyer, whooping as he caught Hope in his arms, spinning her around.
    Despite herself, Nia smiled.
    The love between the two of them was obvious.
    Obvious, strong … and it broke Nia’s heart to look at them. Not because she was jealous. What she saw between them wasn’t anything more than the sort of love a brother and sister would share, she imagined—a lot like the love she’d shared with Joely, really. That’s what it was … she realized. That was their bond.
    And that was why it hurt so damn bad.
    Swallowing the knot in her throat, she backed away, leaving them and ducking back into the living room. Her bra and her torn panties were still in a neat little pile by the door and she managed to gather them up without Law noticing, but as she headed down the hallway for the bathroom, the excited chatter behind her went oddly quiet.
    She didn’t hear him behind her, but nonetheless, knew he was back there.
    Swearing under her breath, she tried to plaster a smile on her face as she turned to look at him.
    “You said you weren’t leaving.”
    Glancing past him, she looked at Hope who had already turned to her apparently new fiancé. Hope was gazing up at him, and he was smiling down at her, toying with her hair.
    It was a look that seemed too intimate to be shared, even though Nia was the only one who could see them.
    It was a look that made her heart sigh in wistful envy.
    Swallowing, she tore her eyes away and looked back up at Law. “I hadn’t planned on it. But this …” She blew out a breath and said softly, “This is something special and I don’t need to be a part of it.”
    “And what if I want you to be a part of it?”
    The look on his face, in his eyes, made her melt. Reaching up, she laid a hand on his cheek and murmured, “Then I have to say, as sweet as you are … it’s selfish.” She flicked a quick look at Hope, then back. “This is about her, and Law, she’s not comfortable around me, nor
should
she be. Don’t force me on her … don’t mess this up for her.”
    He caught her chin in his hand and dipped his head, pressed his brow to hers. “You don’t need to be getting all logical on me.”
    “Ha-ha.” She rubbed her mouth against his and then eased back. “Maybe I can leave you my cell number. You could call me.”
    “Hmmm. Yeah. Maybe I can do that.”
    She gave him another weak smile and disappeared into the bathroom while the crack in her heart widened.
    Widened … and now it was spilling out black, bitter poison.
    Just seeing Law and Hope together had reminded her. Reminded her, once more, why she was here.
    When she was with Law, it was easy to forget … easy to let herself forget.
    She couldn’t keep doing that. She needed to be doing
something
.
    Nia didn’t even know what, but she needed to be doing something.
    Law wasn’t too happy about her leaving, but he did get Nia’s number.
    If he had his way about it, he’d either be joining herthat night, or she’d be back at his place. Although maybe that was rushing things.
    Maybe they could just have sex again …
    Shit. As she told Remy and Hope good-bye, he bit his tongue on trying to talk her into hanging around.
    She was right.
    The air was already too damn tense, and things between Nia and Hope needed to ease up on their own. He could see that.
    Didn’t mean he had to like it, right?
    As long as Hope, and most especially Remy, didn’t give her grief when she left, maybe things could start to settle a little.
    Hell, he never would have thought he was an optimist.
    To their credit, neither Hope nor Remy said a thing while Nia was in the house. And they didn’t even say anything the minute the door closed. It wasn’t until the sounds of her bike’s powerful engine had faded that Hope looked at him, her brows arched over green eyes.
    Somehow, she managed to look amused, concerned, and irritated, all at once.
    “Well. That was unexpected,” she said slowly.
    “Was it?” He scratched his chest, wished he wasn’t already missing Nia like hell. “Why don’t I take the two of you out to eat? We could go to the Inn. A congratulations sort of thing.”
    “Actually—” Remy said.
    “That’s a great idea,” Hope interjected, narrowing her eyes and giving Remy a look that all but dared him to say anything. “And you can tell me all about your