Chapter 1

Three days before our wedding, my fiancé stepped over me and kissed my best friend.

I was pretending to be passed out on her rug.

He had no idea the recorder on the coffee table was still running.

Half an hour earlier, it had been recording my wedding vows. Now it was recording them.

Daniel crouched in front of Paige and wiped the tears from her face.

“You promised you wouldn’t drink tonight,” he said.

Paige clutched his sleeve. “And you promised you’d give me an answer before the wedding.”

Half an hour earlier, she had been crying in my arms, confessing that she had fallen for someone she shouldn’t have.

I thought she was falling apart again after her divorce, so I stayed, drank with her, and called Daniel to come get us.

Now I knew who that man was.

Daniel lowered his voice. “Once Saturday is over, Nora will be my wife. Everything will settle down.”

“What about me?”

“Don’t make me choose right now.”

Paige lifted her face.

Daniel kissed her.

His hand settled at the back of her neck with an ease that left no room for doubt.

I sat up.

Daniel pulled away immediately, all the color draining from his face. He took a step toward me, but Paige caught his wrist.

He looked back at her.

Then he moved in front of her.

“Nora? You were awake?”

I picked up the recorder and pressed Stop. The screen confirmed that it had captured every word.

Paige went pale. Daniel reached for the device, but I closed my hand around it.

“How long?”

“She’s drunk.” His voice tightened. “What you saw was one mistake.”

“I asked how long.”

Paige drew in a breath. Daniel glanced back at her, and whatever she saw in his expression made her close her mouth.

When he turned to me again, his voice had softened.

“We’ve all had a difficult year since your father died. Paige just went through a divorce. She needed someone. I never meant to hurt you.”

I had heard some version of Paige needs help too many times over the past year.

Daniel had fixed her leaking sink. He had helped her through the divorce. He had left me alone with my father’s belongings because Paige needed him.

Every time, I swallowed my discomfort. A mature woman wasn’t supposed to feel threatened by a friend whose marriage had just ended.

“When was the first time?”

“This isn’t the time for that. You’ve been drinking, and Paige isn’t doing well. Come home with me. I’ll tell you everything in the morning.”

“What about Saturday? Is the wedding still happening?”

He answered almost immediately.

“Of course it is. Nora, I love you. We’ve been together for eight years. We can’t let tonight end everything.”

Paige lowered her head and cried.

Daniel handed her a tissue.

He still hadn’t asked if I needed one.

In three days, I was supposed to stand before everyone we loved and promise never to leave him.

He had just kissed my best friend in front of me because he believed I never would.

I put the recorder in my bag and stood.

Daniel grabbed my wrist hard enough to hurt.

“Don’t go. Please, let me explain.”

Paige suddenly rose from the couch.

“Stop lying to her, Daniel.”

His fingers went still around my wrist.

Paige looked at me, her lips trembling.

“Six months,” she said. “You can’t pretend tonight was the first time.”