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There is no hesitation in his voice. I believe him.

The closer we get to London, the more the weekend begins to feel like something suspended outside ordinary life. By the time Ross pulls up outside my hotel, Sebastian’s invitation has already shifted the evening in a direction I hadn’t expected.

Ross gets my bag from the back and hands it to me near the entrance.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he says.

I nod. “Okay.”

He studies me for a moment before leaning down and kissing me.

It is brief, but intimate enough that I feel it after he steps back.

“See you tonight,” Ross says.

I watch him leave, then head upstairs to get ready, already thinking about Sebastian and what it will feel like to see him again after all these years.

Sebastian and Jane's townhouse feels noticeably different from the Kensington homes I remember. It's elegant without being formal, warm rather than imposing, and by the time Ross and I are shown into the sitting room, I can already hear Sebastian laughing somewhere beyond the doorway. He appears a moment later.

Seeing the brothers together again still catches me off guard. Seven years have changed them in different ways, but the resemblance remains striking. Sebastian has the same height, the same pale blue eyes, the same dark hair threaded with more silver than I remember. The differences become obvious almost immediately, though. His expression is more open, and when he sees me, genuine surprise gives way to a broad smile.

"Blaire," Sebastian says.

"Hi, Sebastian," I reply.

He crosses the room and hugs me before I have time to decide whether something more formal would make sense.

"It's really good to see you," he says as he steps back.

"It's good to see you too," I tell him, and I mean it.

Sebastian glances toward Ross, then back at me.

"I wasn't expecting this when I called earlier," he says.

Ross removes his coat.

"You invited us."

"I invited you before I knew Blaire was with you in the Cotswolds," Sebastian replies.

"I was there voluntarily," I say.

Sebastian smiles.

"That answers the important question."

Before anything more can be said, a woman enters from the adjoining room. Jane is beautiful in an understated way, dressed simply in dark trousers and a soft blouse, her brown hair loose around her shoulders. Sebastian's entire expression changes when he looks at her, and the affection between them is immediate.

"Blaire, this is Jane," Sebastian says. "Jane, Blaire Wilson."

Jane comes toward me with a warm smile.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you," she says.

"It's nice to meet you too," I reply.

Dinner is already waiting in a smaller dining room toward the back of the house. There's nothing formal about the evening. Sebastian pours the wine himself, Jane brings the final dish from the kitchen, and within half an hour the awkwardness I expected has mostly disappeared. Jane makes that easy. She asks about San Francisco and my work without making the conversation feel like an interview, and when we turn to their trip, she tells me about Tuscany while Sebastian admits he spent part of the beginning of it finishing business in Milan.