Thane shook his head when he heard Aimee’s door slam close. “I don’t understand how an innocent girl like you could ever be friends with a girl like her.” He told Quinn. The girl he had saved months ago was becoming more like the little sister he had always wanted to have. Blonde hair, blue eyes, spunky, positive attitude. She had big dreams and he was going to make sure no one took advantage of her. She was naïve, trusting anyone and everyone. She didn’t realize the cruelty people possessed. Not like her roommate.

He’d seen women like Aimee Winsiri before. Women who were out only for themselves. The kind of women who would marry the richest man and use him for all he was worth and when he had nothing left, she would move on to the next wealthy man, married or not. She knew how cruel the world was, she was a part of it. Thane had taken a dislike to her the moment he had met her, when she had stepped into the small apartment she shared with Quinn. Her long hair had been curled and left to hang around her shoulders. She had worn a denim mini skirt with a sheer blouse that revealed her lacy bra. He had a male reaction at first before it instantly went to hatred. Women like Aimee meant trouble.

“Aimee’s a great girl. You’d know if you took the time to get to know her.” Quinn gave him a pointed look as she moved to the kitchen to get him a drink. “You don’t even try to talk to her. I remember the first thing you said to her the night that you saved me. You asked her what street corner she’d been working.”

And that had been true. He had taken one look at her, sneered and made asked her the question that his mother would have slapped him for asking. He also remembered her reply. “Honey, there isn’t enough money in your wallet to pay for a night of heaven with me.” He formed his opinion of the beautiful vixen from that one night and ever since, he’d kept his distance.

He tolerated the young woman who wore things either too tight or too short, just because she was friends with Quinn and because his older brother was somehow fond of the raven haired girl from California. And Caleb didn’t like just anyone.

“She sure dresses the part. Look, can we not talk about her? I’m here because I had to talk to you about the deal the record company put out for you. It’s not enough. My lawyer’s not done reading the entire thing, but he called me and told me what he’s read so far isn’t that great. He’s going to talk to them and work up something better, which means he’s going to have to represent you.”

Quinn stood up. She knew Thane’s attorney, the man did not go to Harvard Law to get two cents clients like her. “There’s no way I’d be able to afford to pay for his services. Even if I managed to get a good deal, it wouldn’t be enough to pay for him to be my attorney, you know that Thane.”

Thane smiled. He knew all about her plans to send home money, to help her family with some additional income. That was one of the many reasons he liked her. She was a good southern girl. “I know that, that’s why I’ll be paying for him. He’s not going to charge the full price as he does with me. It’s going to be half, just because you remind him of his daughter. And I’ll be paying it. I’m not taking “no” for an answer. I’m doing this as a big brother.”

Quinn’s face lit up and before Thane knew it, she was in his arms. “Thank you so much! You’re the best!” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and squeezed her hold on him before letting him go. She let out an excited squeal, stopping midway when she remembered her roommate had gone inside and was probably asleep. She looked toward Aimee’s door and listened for any noise. When she heard nothing, she turned back to Thane and smiled brightly. “We should celebrate. You, me, Caleb and Blake. Aimee’s probably too tired to go out, this having been a big day for her and all. Blake should invite Angie along, it’d be great!”

The bubbly blonde went off into a world of her own, probably thinking of what to wear for a night out in Nashville. Thane watched as she got up and headed for her room, forgetting he was there. He smiled and stood up. He took the beer she had gotten out of the refrigerator earlier and put it back before heading to the front door. He made sure to lock it before he left for his own apartment, just across the hall.

As he changed into clothes suitable for bars and picking up women, he thought about Quinn’s slip of the tongue on her roommate’s day. Aimee usually kept her life under wraps from him and everyone else around the small group of friends they shared seemed to oblige her by not talking about her life with him. One way or another, he seemed to find out the important things. But what was so important about today that made Quinn not want to ask Aimee to go out with them? Aimee never missed out on a chance to party.

The little group gathered at Thane’s apartment. All of them lived in the same building, an old firehouse that had been converted into four apartments ten years back. Quinn and Aimee shared one apartment, while Thane had one of his own, Caleb had his own apartment, one he shared with his big golden lab named Funny and Blake shared the last apartment with his girlfriend, Angie. It had seemed natural that the two brothers and their cousin shared a building, one that Blake’s grandfather owned. They had left the fourth apartment empty until Thane invited Quinn to move in and start her dream of being a country star. When Aimee had moved in, he had said no, but with three votes, he had been outnumbered, two to one.

“Where’s Aimee?” Caleb asked after his arrival and survey of the small group. “I thought she’d be coming. I want her to meet someone.”

Quinn smiled. “She’s asleep. I didn’t want to wake her up. She’s had a long day. And about setting her up. I don’t think you have to do that.”

Everyone turned to look at Quinn with curious eyes. “She’s finally found herself a man? I’ll be damned! I thought the girl would never find someone worthwhile to sleep with. Damn, if I was as gorgeous as that girl with those incredibly long legs, I’d found me a hunk of a man a long time ago and ridden him until the cows came home.” Angie spoke out. Angelica Martinique was a woman who spoke her mind and didn’t care how it sounded.

Blake smirked and pulled his girlfriend into his arms. “Well, gorgeous, you’ve got great legs and you can ride me until the cows come home.” He gave her a quick kiss.

“Save the kissing for later.” Caleb told the couple. “When we’re not ready to puke. And leave Aimee alone. It’s great she’s found a man. Can we all go to the club before it closes on our asses?” He looked pointedly at his companions.

With some grumbling, the five headed out of the apartment and started their short walk to their favorite club. There, they grabbed a table and sat, toasting Quinn with their drinks after Caleb and Thane had gotten back from the bar. After that, they separated, Thane went out in search of a woman to share the night with while Blake and Angie started to dance. Caleb met his friend and instead of introducing him to Aimee as he had planned, introduced his friend Tanner Moore to Quinn instead. When the pair hit it off, Caleb slipped away.

Caleb stood at the bar, watching his younger brother flirt and dance with the ladies. Thane thought he knew everything, but Caleb’s little brother still had a lot to figure out about life, even after twenty eight years. Having been burned once didn’t mean you had to be twice as shy. Caleb watched as a leggy brunette ran a hand down his brother’s chest and giggled an annoying giggle that he knew was fake. Thane was anything but funny. The man’s humor had dried up long ago.

He watched as Thane danced with the brunette. A seductive slow dance. Caleb shook his head and turned away. The brunette was the winner tonight. As he downed his drink and allowed his gaze to roam the club, he wondered if his brother realized that the brunette without a name resembled the brunette that shared their apartment building. He doubted it. There’s a fine line between love and hate. And his brother was dwelling so much on the hate he didn’t notice the other four letter word sneak up. Caleb just hoped it all would work out.

His gaze fell on a pretty little blonde with big blue eyes. He smiled and made his way to her. And he knew his night would work out just fine, with this blonde.

Aimee woke up in the middle of the night when she heard a loud on the front door. As she was walking across the living room, she heard the noise again. Frowning, she scratched her head and checked in the peephole. She saw nothing. She was about to turn away when she heard the noise once more. Frustrated, she unlocked the door and yanked it open. What she saw made her wish she had stayed in bed.

Out in the middle of the hallway was Thane, his button-up shirt half out from it’s tuck in his pants, holding a woman up against the wall of the hallway. The brunette’s little black dress was yanked up to her waist, her legs fastened around Thane as the two of them kissed like starving dogs. Thane pulled back and rammed into the girl again, creating a loud thump.

There was no way Aimee could go back to bed with them doing it in the hallway, making noises she didn’t need to hear. Taking a deep breath, Aimee walked to the couple and poked Thane in the shoulder. The couple didn’t notice her at first. It took her fist hitting the top of his head for him to realize there was a third person. He turned to face Aimee, his face not revealing any embarrassment or shame at being caught in his situation. Instead, he smiled. “Do you want to join in?” He drawled out in his Texan accent.

Disgusted, Aimee rolled her eyes. He was drunk. She could smell him from Pluto. “In your dreams.” She told him. “Look, I need to sleep because I have work in the morning, unlike some people. If you would please move your humping inside your apartment, it’d be nice.” With that said, she stalked back into her apartment and slammed the door.

She went back to bed and promptly fell to sleep until her alarm began it’s shrill wake up call at seven in the morning. Aimee went through her usual routine of showering, dressing and putting on her make up. And like the previous three mornings, she added in the little pill which would help her not get swollen like a basketball. By seven thirty she was walking out of her bedroom to the kitchen for a quick breakfast. When she walked past the couches, she noticed her roommate sprawled on the floor.

Aimee sighed and smiled. The little innocent southern belle had been partying all night. Instead of waking her up, Aimee covered her up with the quilt from the couch and went to the kitchen to make some waffles. She ate her food in silence and with fifteen minutes to spare, she left her apartment. On her way out, she was met with Thane’s ‘friend’ from the previous night. The girl even had the brains to blush and avoid eye contact when faced with Aimee a second time. With wrinkled clothes and disheveled hair, the brunette headed out of the building. Aimee gave one look in Thane’s direction before heading out herself. It had made her day to see his frown. So the high-almighty man wasn’t immune to shame once in a rare while.

Work for her had been the usual. An angry visit from the soon-to-be ex-wife of Nathan’s, files to type, letters to write, appointments to set and calls to take. For the sake of professionalism, Nathan and Aimee had maintain their employer and employee mannerisms during work hours. When she had gone into his office to talk to him, they’d shared a brief dalliance and made plans to meet at his place. When the uneventful day was over, Aimee made her way to the parking garage and waited for Nathan who took her to his luxurious apartment. They’d just finished a second round when his phone rang. The call was from Ginger Edwards and just hearing Nathan talk to the woman made Aimee lose interest. Naked as the day her mother gave birth to her, Aimee got up and left him for a quick shower before she would head for home.

The person she had expected to wait up for her had been Quinn, but when she stepped foot into her apartment, she was met with Thane’s angry words. “Where the hell have you been?”

Aimee scoffed, raising her left eyebrow. “Where I’ve been is none of your business.” She replied, taking off her heels. “What the hell are you doing in here anyway? Shouldn’t you be out doing the stupid things that cowboys do?”

Thane’s anger flared and he rushed at her, grabbing her arms. “I wouldn’t care about you, but tonight it is. I know you’re self-centered and spoiled, but I thought you at least cared for Quinn. Hell, the girl would go through hoops for you. While you were out traipsing with some man, your friend, Quinn, was fucking puking her guts out! Do you even care she has fucking alcohol poisoning?”

“What?” Aimee asked, not quite believing what she had heard. “Quinn had alcohol poisoning? But she looked fine this morning. She was asleep on the floor!”

“And you just left her there! Damn it, Aimee! You careless bitch!”

If Thane had more to say, Aimee was spared from it thanks to Blake who rushed to her aide from the open doorway. “Shut up, Thane. Damn it, none of this is Aimee’s fault. She had no idea how much Quinn drank last night. Why don’t you go calm down.” Blake stared at Thane, silently persuading his cousin to get out of the apartment before he could say any more stupid things. When Thane stomped out, Blake turned to Aimee and looked her in the eyes. “Caleb found Quinn this morning, a few hours after you left. He was worried since he didn’t hear from her. He was the one to take her to the hospital. Don’t listen to Thane, I shouldn’t have allowed him to leave the hospital.”

Aimee was in tears. She hadn’t been here to help her friend. This morning she had just thrown a quilt over her and left. “It is my fault. He’s right. Damn it! I should have known something was wrong. I should have seen it. God, if she died, I would have just died too. It’s just like with Aubrey. I should have seen it, but I didn’t.”

Blake didn’t question her on who Aubrey was, instead he held her. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know. If you want, I’ll take you to see Quinn in the morning. They’re closed to visitors right now.” Aimee looked at the clock on the wall and barely noted the time. One forty.

Aimee nodded and wiped her eyes. “I’d appreciate that. Do you have her room’s phone number? I’d like to call her.”

Blake gave her the number. Before he left, he made sure he had hugged her two times, kissing her on the forehead both times and reassuring Aimee she had no fault in the matter. That Thane had just been upset. He had even offered Angie and Funny for company, but Aimee had declined both offers. She called Quinn, but her roommate was too weak and had fallen asleep hours ago. Instead Aimee talked to Caleb who had said the same things as Blake.

After drying her tears and changing, Aimee got ready for bed, her thoughts on Quinn. When she heard the pounding on the front door, she headed there on auto pilot and had opened the door before she remembered to look through the peephole. When she saw Thane, she tried to slam the door shut in his face, but he was stronger than her and stopped the door an inch from closing. He pushed the door aside and stepped toward her with murder in his eyes.

Zelda, Aimee’s mother, used to love to read romance novels. And as a kid she had snuck a few books to her room. She had loved the cowboy stories, the ones with the men riding fences, wearing jeans, cowboy hats and boots. She had loved the strong men who would fight for justice, for the love of their women. But never in her life had she even imagined a cowboy like Thane. At the moment, with the anger sizzling in his eyes, he looked nothing like what she imagined the sexy cowboys to be.

“I’m not done with you yet.” He growled out before grabbing her upper arms.