"You look like you're getting ready to go out."

Emily yelped. She turned around to face Shelby, who'd managed to sneak up behind her in her bedroom. Shelby looked both curious and entertained.

"I thought you were still at work," Emily said, trying to hide the dress she was holding. If Shelby saw it, there was no way she would be able to claim she was just meeting a friend for coffee or frozen yogurt.

"I was, and then like I always do, I came home. You were in the shower. Let me see the dress." Shelby's light brown curls bounced as she took a step to the side, attempting to peek at what Emily was concealing behind her back.

"What dress?" Emily blinked.

"The one you're trying to hide from me."

"I'm not hiding it," Emily lied. "I was just seeing if it needs to be washed." She walked over to her closet and hung the dress up between a sweater and a skirt.

"You took a shower to do laundry?" Shelby's blue eyes sparkled as she gave Emily a look that was a combination of disbelief and amusement.

"No, I took a shower because I like to be clean."

"So you're going out?"

Emily rubbed the back of her neck. This wasn't a conversation she wanted to have right now.

"Yes, I'm going out," she told Shelby. "I thought I'd leave the apartment and go somewhere that isn't yoga or a meeting with Wally."

"I approve of this plan."

Or you think you do, Emily thought. She flashed Shelby a smile, and then pretended to inspect a pair of jeans.

"Where are you going?" Shelby sat down on Emily's bed.

"Not sure." That was true, technically. Raine hadn't mentioned where he was taking her when she'd texted him with her address earlier. She brushed an invisible speck off the jeans she was examining.

"Do I know who you're going with?"

"Someone I know from yoga." Emily took a T-shirt off a clothes hanger. She had no plans to wear it, but hoped it would throw Shelby off the trail of what was really going on.

Shelby glanced at the T-shirt. "Let me guess. It's between a raw juice bar and Urth Caffé."

"Is that what you think yoga people do?"

"Well, don't they?" Shelby asked.

"I'm a yoga person. Have you ever seen me at a juice bar?"

"I don't know what you do after your yoga class. You could have a double life I know nothing about."

She knew Shelby was joking, but Emily couldn't help feeling a twinge of guilt. She didn't want Shelby to know anything about her plans for tonight, so in a way, she kind of was leading a double life.

It will be over soon, she told herself. One dinner with Raine, and that was all. It had to stop there. She'd had a moment where instead of being smart about it, she had let her feelings take over, and she couldn't let it happen again.

"I'm not going to a juice bar, at least not that I know of," Emily said. "I'll take it your plans for the night are much more exciting than that?"

Shelby was silent. Emily looked at her just in time to see a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. Shelby caught herself after a second or two and shrugged.

"Nah. I'm going to stay in and do some unpacking. It's annoying to not be able to find my stuff."

To anyone but her, Shelby would have sounded believable. Emily had known her for too long, though, and she recognized the frown and the faraway look in her eyes—she'd seen it too many times in college. Back then, it had meant something was up with Darren. Since Shelby had met up with him last night, she had a hunch it did now, too.

"Everything okay?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, fine," Shelby replied. "I'm tired. I got home later than I'd planned to last night."

"How did seeing Darren go?"

Emily congratulated herself for not cringing while asking. At least she'd found a way to change the subject. It was better to keep the focus on Shelby's personal life, and not hers.

"Better than I expected, actually. It felt like old times." Shelby's face brightened.

She was pretty sure Shelby meant the days when she'd been happy with Darren, and not all the times their relationship had played out like a Taylor Swift breakup song. "Are you going to see him again?"

"I think so." Shelby's forehead crinkled, and there was the frown again. Now Emily was certain Darren had done something.

"Have you heard from him since last night?" she asked.

"Yeah. We talked about going out tonight, but something came up at the last minute. It's fine."

If this were anyone else but Darren, Emily may have agreed. The thing was, something always came up with him. It didn't seem as though this had changed with time.

"I mean that," Shelby said, before Emily could speak. "I really am tired tonight. You can go be the wild one with your yoga people, doing your yoga-people things. I'll let you get ready." She avoided Emily's eyes as she got up from the bed.

"Shel?"

"Yeah?" Shelby stopped.

"Whatever happens with Darren, don't let him dull your sparkle. You're too good for that."

"It's not like that this time," Shelby said, looking over her shoulder at Emily. "It won't be. Promise."

She left the bedroom. Emily watched her go, wondering if she would be able to keep her promise.

We'll talk later, she thought. They could do a girl's night soon, whether that meant staying in with wine, popcorn, and a bad movie, or going out somewhere to let off some steam.

First, though, she had to get through dinner with Raine. Emily turned back to her closet. She didn't have a ton of time to get ready, and she still had no idea what she wanted to wear.

* * *

Ding-dong!

Emily fumbled with her tube of lipstick, catching herself before she dropped it on the floor. She looked at the clock on her bedside table. It was seven o'clock on the dot. This was really happening.

That sound was the doorbell, and she knew it had to be Raine. Emily had planned on waiting close to the apartment entrance and watching for the black Escalade she'd seen him drive away in after yoga, then meeting him outside, but she had lost track of time.

She flung open her bedroom door. "I'll get that!" she yelled.

It was too late. She heard the sound of the apartment door opening and knew it was all over. Shelby was about to meet Raine, and Emily was probably in for the biggest lecture of her life. It would likely be worse than the one Shelby had given her when she'd found out about Cory, since Emily should have learned her lesson about going out with famous guys by now. She hurried to gather her sweater, purse, and keys.

"Hi. I'm here for Emily." Raine's voice floated down the hallway. She could picture him giving Shelby his most charming smile. "I'm Raine," he added.

She couldn't see Shelby's face, but Emily would have bet her life she knew exactly who Raine was. She was a walking encyclopedia of everything the tabloids had ever reported about any Hollywood celebrity.

"Shelby," Emily heard her say. "I'll get Em for you. Come in and try to ignore all the boxes everywhere. We just moved in."

To her credit, Shelby sounded genuinely friendly. Emily took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, then marched out of the room.

Shelby was in the hallway, headed in her direction. If Emily pretended that Raine showing up at their door was a completely normal event and just kept walking, Shelby wouldn't have time to ask her if she'd lost her mind.

Raine Kingston? Shelby mouthed. Her expression was a cross between dazzled and dazed. Then she did a double-take at Emily. It was probably because of what she was wearing. The sleeveless pink dress and strappy heels sure weren't the T-shirt Shelby had seen her holding a little while ago.

Emily nodded and kept going. She had a couple of hours to come up with an explanation for this that she could tell Shelby later. Since she really did know Raine from yoga, maybe she could claim he'd offered to pick her up on their way to meet with other yoga friends. It was possible Shelby would go for it.

Then Emily got to the living room and saw the bouquet of red roses Raine held in his hands. Unless he'd somehow made those appear after Shelby had gone to get her, there was no way she didn't already know this was a date.

"Hi."

Emily tore her gaze away from the roses. "Hi," she said, trying to keep her voice light. Shelby hadn't followed her into the room, but Emily was certain she was hovering in the hallway and listening to every word.

Raine stood close to the living room window. Behind him, outside, the twinkling tangerine lights of the city dotted the horizon.

"Great view," he commented, his eyes fixed on Emily. Then he seemed to think about what he'd said and how that-guy it might have sounded, especially when he had been staring straight at her. "Outside, I mean," he added.

"Sure you did," she teased.

He moved away from the window, holding out the roses. "We haven't left your place yet and I'm already digging myself into a hole. Peace offering?"

She took a step toward him. Even though her heels added a couple of inches to her height, Raine still towered over her.

"You look stunning," he said.

"Thank you." Her fingers brushed against his as she took the bouquet, his touch sending a tingle through her. "Not quite my barely-functioning-because-it's-morning yoga look, right?"

"You're stunning then, too."

Emily focused her eyes on the flowers she held, praying her face didn't match the color of her dress. "I should go put these in water. Come with me to the kitchen? I'm not sure we've unpacked the vases yet, and it could take me a few minutes to find one."

She knew exactly where the vases were, but the kitchen was farther away from where she suspected Shelby had positioned herself. She led Raine into the kitchen, which, like the living room, was a sea of unpacked boxes. She looked for the one she'd labeled for vases and serving bowls and spotted it stacked beside the counter with another box on top of it.

"I just need to put these down for a sec," she said, placing the bouquet on the counter. She turned to the stack of boxes, reaching to move the one on top.

"Hey, let me get that." Raine picked up the box. She knelt down and opened the one that had been below it, unearthing a bubble-wrapped vase.

While she filled the vase with water, she heard a chime that she guessed came from Raine's phone. She arranged the roses in the vase, then glanced at him. He finished typing something on his phone and looked up at her.

"Just making sure everything's set for dinner," he explained.

"All good," she said, trying not to think about who he was texting. Maybe it was a personal assistant confirming a reservation. Still, that would mean someone else knew where Raine was going tonight, which would be one too many people in the know for Emily's comfort.

He studied her. "I think I just gave you something to worry about."

How had he read her so easily? That thought must have been written all over her face, too, because a dimple appeared in his cheek and he touched her arm.

"I promise this will be low-key," he said. "Trust me."

Calm down, she thought. Raine wasn't Cory or Jesse, and he'd given her no reason to think this would turn out like an evening spent with either of them. Not everyone in the entertainment industry had the paparazzi on speed dial.

"I trust you."

Raine reached for her hand. "Ready to go?"

She laced her fingers with his, trying to ignore the quiver in her stomach. "Ready," she told him.

But when they got outside and her first instinct was to sneak glances at nearby cars, on the lookout for anyone who shouldn't be there, Emily knew she wasn't ready at all.