"You know Johnny."

The way Bess said it, it wasn't a question. Nancy tucked a wing of reddish-blonde behind one ear, all the better to show her silver fringed earring, and tore her gaze from the sage-green microsuede sectional couch, to turn to her friend. "Johnny. Yes."

After high school Bess seemed to have outgrown some things. Taping soap operas, for one; her troubling week-long bingeing and purging habit, another. Her appetite for dangerous guys, if anything, had only increased. At twenty-three, Bess was already two years behind her self-imposed schedule of marrying an impossibly rich and devastatingly handsome movie star and assembling an army of domestic staff and foreign cars.

Johnny was not impossibly rich. He did, Nancy had to admit, if only when she wasn't around Ned, have a close monopoly on the devastatingly handsome category. Coal black hair and smoldering caramel-colored eyes and a firm ass and a torso, oh God what a torso. The only time Nancy had ever seen Johnny with his shirt off, she had immediately gone to Ned's apartment and demanded an afternoon of rigorous sex, which Ned unhesitatingly gave her. Johnny wasn't Bess's first boyfriend, or her first lover, but this was the closest Nancy had ever seen her come to that kind of reckless intensity again.

And Johnny ate up every bit of it.

He was a mechanic by day and a lead guitarist by night, and as his band made the round of the local clubs Bess followed them, caught Johnny's attention, and made herself memorable. Nancy and Ned had gone along a few times, and while Ned could participate with relative ease in a exchange consisting solely of the names of car parts and guitar makers, he didn't find Johnny the most stimulating conversational partner. Nancy had seen less and less of her friend, and had been surprised when Bess had even agreed to go to the mall for an afternoon, wasting any of her precious Johnny time.

"His band..." Bess balanced on the ball of one foot, twisting a gold thonged sandal against the concrete floor of the Pottery Barn. "They have a gig tomorrow night, in that little club downtown, the new one that just opened. If you and Ned want to go."

Nancy glanced at the sectional again. Even if it did come apart, could she manage to maneuver it through her narrow door? "George coming too?"

Bess shrugged. "I don't think so," she said. "George and Johnny, kind of, got into... I don't think she'll be coming."

Resisting the urge to ask what had happened, Nancy nodded. "Okay," she said. "I have to ask Ned what he'll be doing."

Bess nodded, a relieved smile briefly lighting her face. "Of course," she said. "Just let me know, I'll save you a seat. I have connections now."

"Maybe we can go find me a new outfit," Nancy said. "Now. What do you think of this couch?"

Bess shrugged. "I think it's too big for your apartment. Maybe if you were in a house."

Nancy tilted her head and pouted. "I guess you're right."

--

"Why are we doing this?" Ned whined as he locked the door of his apartment.

"Because you love me," Nancy said, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down to her for a kiss. "And you're a great guy and I promised you whatever kind of sex you wanted when we get back to your place."

Ned heaved a mock sigh and shook his head as he laced his fingers between hers, setting off for the elevator. "I have this feeling I'm gonna need my gun tonight, Drew. Try, *try* not to stumble across anything. Gambling rings or embezzlement scams or kidnapped heiresses."

"I'm in the corporate espionage business," she reminded him, pulling him down for another kiss as they waited for the elevator. "Kidnapped heiresses only count if they're actually android prototypes."

"That's a relief," Ned replied, and pressed the button for the lobby with the last knuckle of his index finger before looping his arm around her waist.

She turned and gazed up at him. "As long as you promise not to accidentally catch a glimpse of any missing girls and then take me on a wild goose chase."

He dropped a kiss against the crown of her head. "No gun, no cuffs. I'm just an ordinary guy tonight."

"Right," Nancy said, low, sarcastic. "You know, I found the cutest couch today."

Ned swung their joined hands back and forth between them. "The words 'cute' and 'couch' don't go together. Couches are either comfortable or uncomfortable."

"Comfortable, then," she said. "A sectional."

"While I like the idea of plenty of space to spread out and... play," he said, pitching his voice low on the last word as they stepped out of the elevator car, "your apartment isn't big enough for a sectional."

"That's what Bess said," Nancy replied. "I didn't like the idea of a house, before, but now that I have a big strong police detective for a fiance..."

"What, you want to shack up before we get married?"

Nancy shook her head, laughing softly. "My father would kill us both."

He pulled open the passenger door for her before sliding into the driver's seat. "So you want to buy a house so you have enough room for the perfect sectional. I'm sorry, the cutest sectional."

"Not just that," Nancy said, twisting in the seat to face him. "I want there to be more than two steps between my bed and the bathroom. I want to have enough space to walk around my kitchen with my arms open. I want a garden, dammit."

Ned chuckled. "And to think, I actually like the fact that I can practically fall out of my bed and onto my bathroom floor."

"That's because you're lazy," she said, swatting his arm.

Ned curled his arm and flexed it. "Feel that?" he said. "That is the opposite of laziness. That is six hours a week at the gym."

"See? You could actually have a workout bench."

Ned pulled the car to a stop at a red light and turned to gaze at her. "And when are we getting married, since shacking up isn't an option?"

Nancy shrugged. "When it feels right," she said softly.

Ned shook his head and laughed. "I can't argue with that," he said, pressing the gas and easily passing the car beside them.

--

Bess was in a gleaming red strapless dress and matching stilettos, casting a frowning glance at her watch when Nancy caught sight of her. Ned took a few long strides to come abreast of his fiancee, his face already arranged in a comfortable, relaxed smile. "Bess?"

Bess looked up. "Come on, come on!" she called, grinning. "I have our table, it's great..."

By the time the three of them had reached the table, Ned already had a beer in his hand. Nancy glanced between it and his face, bemused. "Hey," Ned shrugged. "I'm gonna have fun tonight."

Nancy raised an eyebrow, but Ned's expression was innocent. "I'm driving, then."

"Of course," he said, leaning over to give her a kiss. "Thanks," he whispered into her ear.

Nancy shrugged, her eyes gleaming. "Yeah, well. You may not even be able to walk out of here, after I'm done with you."

Bess looked over Nancy's outfit, the black matte jersey skirt and the clinging white halter top. "We do have good taste," she said, smiling.

"Damn straight," Ned said, looping an arm around Nancy's shoulders. "You look nice tonight, Bess."

Bess graced him with a wide grin. "Oh, because I've agreed to marry you I don't get any more compliments?" Nancy teased him.

"You," Ned said, leaning down to press a kiss just behind her earlobe, his voice vibrating against her skin, "look fucking fantastic. Wearing anything under that?"

Nancy put her palm against his cheek and pushed his face to hers, kissed him hard. "Sorry," she replied, once they parted, her cheeks faintly flushed. "Besides, the back room doesn't count."

Ned shook his head in mock disappointment and took another sip of his beer. "So, Bess," he said, "anything special about tonight? New set?"

Bess shook her head. "To be honest... I just didn't want to be here alone tonight."

Nancy raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd been coming to his shows for months."

"I have," Bess said, fidgeting with her clutch. "It's just that Johnny said he had something to tell me."

Nancy and Ned exchanged a look as Bess glanced over her shoulder, at the stage. Under the table, Ned slipped his hand over hers and nudged the engagement ring on Nancy's finger gently with his thumb, and she shrugged slightly. For all the depth Bess saw in her boyfriend, Nancy wasn't fully convinced that Johnny ever thought beyond the next hour. She was more inclined to believe that the night would end with Bess crying into a margarita, not gushing over a diamond solitaire.

By the time Bess turned around again, Nancy and Ned had the same pleasant smiles back on their faces. "I'm sure it's something good," Nancy said. "Ned, go get us some strawberry daiquiris."

Ned took another sip of his beer before he pushed his chair back and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "See, we already have being married down pat," he said. "You order me around, I take it only because I'm sure you'll be putting out later..."

Nancy smacked Ned's arm a few times, catching him on the seat of his jeans when he turned. "Oh, so it's like that, huh?"

She slipped her fingers through his belt loops and tugged him toward her, and he leaned down to kiss her hard. "Thanks," she murmured against his lips.

Bess propped her chin on her hand as Nancy finally ripped her gaze away from Ned's back and turned back to her friend. "Getting a good vibe about this?" she asked Bess.

Bess shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "He's seemed weird for a while."

Nancy took a sip of Ned's beer and grimaced. "You really care about this guy."

"Yeah," Bess said. "I never know what he's thinking."

Nancy smiled. "If he's anything like Ned, probably about the next time he's going to get you naked," she laughed.

Bess smiled, but her eyes were still troubled.

"Cheer up," Nancy said, reaching for Bess's hand. "I'm sure we can trump up a charge and get Ned to arrest him if he hurts you."

"Thanks, Nan."

Nancy shrugged. "What else are friends for."

--

Ned kissed Nancy's temple as she stood on her tiptoes, peering over his shoulder to check on Bess. His arms were wrapped around her, and they were swaying softly to a slow song near the end of the set. Johnny's hair was in his eyes as he bowed over his guitar, and Bess had eyes only for him, her chin propped on her palms. The rest of the room was smoky and dim, but Bess glowed in the edges of the light bleeding from the stage, her drink forgotten at her elbow. Nancy's drink was already long gone, the dull warmth pooled in her belly already dissipated. She lowered herself back to her feet and sighed.

"She doing okay?"

Nancy looked up at her fiance. "She looks the same way I'd look if you were the one up on the stage right now, brooding over a guitar."

"You mean she's about to rip her clothes off and throw herself at his feet?"

"You think that's how I'd be acting?" Nancy laughed at him. "Not quite. I'm not that drunk and neither is she."

Ned swayed with her. "Damn. I guess the mind reading is hindered by alcohol."

"I can only hope," Nancy sighed. "You mind staying until the end of the set?"

Ned shrugged. "I'm having a good time," he said. "I'd be having a better time if there was a pool table here, but, I guess I'll just have to settle on picturing you naked."

Nancy didn't even bother hitting him. "Glad I could be of help."

He kissed her forehead. "You know I would have come tonight anyway," he said.

"So all that whining was just for show?" Nancy smiled. "And do you honestly think you're the only one between the two of us who wants to go to bed?"

Ned laughed. "Sometimes," he admitted.

She lay her head against his shoulder. "You know, sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat, thinking that something might have happened to you," she said. "As much as I hate that feeling, I'm glad you do what you do."

He rested his lips against her temple. "What brought this on?" he murmured.

Nancy's fingers toyed with the short hair at the back of his neck. "Seeing Bess looking so starry eyed at a guy who doesn't seem to have an ounce of ambition or commitment in his entire body, and knowing that to her it doesn't matter. She thinks she's found a good guy. I know I have."

Ned's feet stilled and Nancy pulled back in surprise. "God, I love you," he said, leaning down to kiss her.

--

Nancy gave Bess a long reassuring hug and a parting wave, and she watched as Nancy and Ned twisted through the crowd on their way to the door, their joined hands swinging between them, the sway of Nancy's hips followed by the gazes of ten different guys but meant only for one. Bess turned back toward the stage, where Johnny had told her to wait.

Nancy wouldn't be going home alone tonight. Nancy would be in bed with the man who loved her, and she would wake up with him, and then after a suitable period they would be married in a ceremony where Bess would wear some sophisticated pastel dress, and he would come home to her at night and she would have a house big enough for a sectional with two cars in the driveway and a garden out back.

Bess couldn't afford to shop for sectionals when she was never sure where Johnny would be a week or two days from now. She couldn't afford to plan for much of anything, especially not where Johnny would be spending the night. Sometimes she believed that he did love her, fiercely, but only when he was inside the sphere of her influence, the spell of her gaze. When they were apart he had left barely a ripple in the rest of her life, and if one day he vanished completely, she knew the hole he left would be only in her memory. Maybe he would miss her, but she never knew for sure.

He came around the table, sweeping his hair back from his high forehead, his lashes black on his cheeks before he met her eyes. "Need to talk to you."

Bess stilled her hands from their fidgeting on her purse and nodded, keeping her gaze steady. Johnny didn't care for emotional displays, on his part or that of anyone else. He took everything as it came, dealt with it as the moment dictated, and did not reflect on anything once it was done. The knowledge of those things made her heart pound, made her throat constrict with fear, but she kept it swallowed.

Johnny pressed his lips together, and Bess pulled her fingers against her palm, digging her nails into the skin. "There's a limo out back."

"Nice," Bess said. When he stood Bess followed, and when she folded her fingers around the hand swinging loose at his waist, he didn't object. Through the confusion of cluttered back rooms, out into the warm wall of night air, and she slid in beside him in the backseat, smiling at the rest of the band, the guys who were his roommates, closest friends, and only family. She took the glass of champagne he offered her, and clinked it against his before taking a sip. Champagne was for celebration. Maybe tonight wouldn't be as terrible as she had begun to think it was going to be.

Johnny slumped against the leather seat, his shirt gathering around his waist. "How were we tonight?"

"Fantastic," Bess said, finishing her champagne in one long gulp. "You were awesome. That one guitar solo in the slow one, at the end..."

Johnny's lips curled up in a lazy smile. "Good," he said.

Bess laced her fingers between his, and after a moment he relaxed them against hers. "What did you need to tell me?"

Johnny looked down. "I know that we've kept this... easy. Not exclusive. And I've always told you that if you wanted to see other people, I'd be fine with that."

Bess swallowed against the ache growing in her throat, the thick tears rising to her eyes. "I know."

"The manager... we're going on tour in Europe. He's already booked the first few dates. It's going to be at least through the summer. And a lot of American bands are making it really big over there. We're leaving tonight."

Bess felt her fingers digging into her right thigh and forced herself to relax, not meeting his eyes. "Oh," she said. "Sounds like fun." She cleared her throat. "Like a great opportunity."

The words were thick, forced, and her mind was so numb it pounded. Tonight. After tonight he would be gone. She loved him, but how much could it matter if he kept reminding her that she was always free to be with someone else, if he would so suddenly and abruptly leave her life like this...

Johnny nodded. "I was wondering... if you wanted to go with us. I can't tell you when we'll be back. And it's probably going to be a lot of little clubs and cramped hotel rooms and driving all night, and scary foreign food."

Bess glanced up at him, damning the tears she knew were shining in her eyes. "You want me to go with you?"

Johnny dipped his head. "I just thought it might be cool," he said softly.

"So where are we going right now?"

"The airport," he said. "We're already packed and everything. But I'll give you cab fare back, if you don't want to go..."

Bess looked out the window, at the black and silver scenery sliding by. Europe. A little more notice would have been nice, but knowing Johnny, he had been struck by the inspiration to invite her during the last song of their set. She had forty dollars, a tube of lipstick, and a pair of exquisite stilettos to her name, and Johnny, her boyfriend who loved to remind her that she should always keep her options open, was inviting her for a whirlwind tour through Europe.

"Yeah," she said when she turned back to him, her fingers tightening against his. "Let's do it."

Johnny leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, hard and brief. "All right," he said happily. "More champagne!"

"More champagne," Bess echoed, her lips finally curving up in a smile.

Europe, Johnny, and a guitar. What more could she need?