Diamonds and Deceptions

Moonlight, coupled with longing and loneliness, did strange things to people, Tyler thought.

The moon was the loneliest of the heavenly bodies. He could feel its pull right now. Could feel, too, the pull of the woman standing before him.

For the past nine months he'd lived every day with an emptiness he hadn't known what to do with. Tonight, for a small amount of time, he'd forgotten about that emptiness. Forgotten because Brooke's words had somehow filled it. Her words, her laughter.

Her.

Had he thought it through, he wouldn't have done it. But he wasn't thinking. He was reacting. As if hypnotized, Tyler lowered his head and touched his lips to hers, kissing Brooke very, very slowly. Just the way his heart was suddenly beating. For the first time in nine months, he felt alive.