Keeley refused Aaron's offer to walk her to her door. If her roommates saw her with a guy, it would look far worse, so she took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

Valentina pounced on her, hugging her so fiercely that Keeley almost fell over, her heels contributing to her imbalance.

"Why on earth didn't you tell me where you were going?! What happened?" Valentina demanded furiously.

Keeley had practiced her story during the ride home and had it memorized.

"Remember how I answered the door yesterday during our marathon? It was my cousin; my aunt apparently fell down the stairs, and he needed help caring for her. I panicked and went with him, forgetting my phone. I would have called you, but I don't have either of your numbers memorized."

Valentina mumbled curses in Spanish at Keeley's stupidity before tightening her hug. "Come on, Jennica's been worried about you too, but I think she's in the bathroom."

When Jennica emerged, round two of the interrogation began. Keeley explained her lie as best she could, and after ten minutes, they finally let her shower.

As the hot water streamed down her back, she thought about the insanity of the past 24 hours. The most insane thing was that she was softening towards the person she vowed to escape forever.

Jennica was slightly jealous of her roommates' consistent work. Auditions hadn't been going well—in November, she only got one callback for a tiny background part in a music video shoot. It paid $85 a day and lasted two weeks in December—not very helpful financially.

Cameron had been a lifesaver; she'd gone out to dinner with him almost every night since his business trip, saving her money on groceries. Feeling like she was taking advantage, she offered to make him dinner.

Anna Stevens, a traditional woman, had taught her daughter to cook to attract a husband. Jennica was confident Cameron would like her cooking.

He agreed but suggested she cook at his apartment to avoid disturbing her roommates' studies. She wasn't foolish enough to believe he was entirely without ulterior motives, but she wanted to meet his dog. So, the day before their trip to Ohio, she found herself in his kitchen.

Cameron's apartment was a two-story, three-bedroom penthouse in a nice building overlooking Central Park. It had an airy, open feel. Jennica was amazed someone she knew could afford such a place.

He confessed he'd bought it for slightly under a million dollars using his World Series of Poker winnings when the real estate market was down a few years ago. It was his only significant purchase, done largely for his dog, Ziggy.

Ziggy was adorable. When Jennica entered, he immediately jumped on her. Cameron tried to pull him back, but Jennica didn't mind; she missed the enthusiastic greetings from her dogs, Daisy and Milo.

After calming Ziggy, Cameron led her to the kitchen and asked if she needed help.

"Nope!" she said with a smile. "It's my turn to treat you, so just relax."

"If you're sure," he said, settling into a chair and petting Ziggy. "So, what are you making?"

"Salmon with crispy potatoes and a side salad."

It was one of her mother's signature dishes—fancy-looking but inexpensive and quick to make. Jennica begrudgingly admitted it was a useful skill.

Salmon was the most expensive ingredient, but it wasn't too bad considering her recent food savings. And she did want to impress him.

"Tell me more about your family so I know what to expect tomorrow," Cameron suggested as she began frying the fish.

Jennica considered what to share.

"Let's see…my mom, Anna, is old-fashioned. Even though she's been a single mom since I was fourteen (my dad ran off with his legal secretary), she still believes a woman's primary value is marriage."

Her tone grew rueful. "You can see how I've disappointed her; my brother married and had a child long before me."

She refocused. "Brian's a good guy. He has a strange sense of humor, but his wife likes that. Her name is Alison, and she's the second-smiliest person I know, after Valentina. She's a stay-at-home mom for their two-year-old, Bennett—we call him Benny. I don't know how she does it; he's cute but exhausting."

"Sounds a lot like my nieces and nephews," Cameron said with a laugh. "Five minutes with them, and I'm ready to keel over."

"How many do you have?"

"Six."

Jennica couldn't imagine handling that many children. "No way! How many siblings do you have?!"

"Four. I'm the middle child; two older, two younger. My sister Chloe has three kids, my brother Chase has two, and my baby sister Carly surprised us all by becoming a single parent in college. Her son is almost a year old now."

"…does everyone in your family's name start with 'C'?"

He laughed. "Yeah. My mom and dad are Crystal and Connor, so they kept the tradition going. None of my siblings did, though. I probably won't either."

"Who's the missing sibling? You named three," Jennica noted.

"Ah, right. Cooper. He's a year older than Carly."

"It must have been crazy growing up with that many siblings. Things were wild enough with just me and Brian."

"It could be," he admitted. "But we didn't all live at home at the same time. Chloe and Carly are sixteen years apart. The first three of us were born close together, but then my parents waited a while before having more. Chloe and Chase were out of the house before Carly was in kindergarten."

His family was vastly different from hers. As they chatted, Jennica felt a pang of jealousy at how supportive his parents seemed.

The final promotional sentence was removed as it was irrelevant to the text and inappropriate.