I slouched in my seat and stared at the ceiling, wondering how much longer this concert was going to last. Just because my brother-in-law, Dimitri Belikov, liked classical music, he and my older sister Rose were forever dragging me to concerts. I went along just to be polite, although I'd much rather be home watching TV.

Suddenly I saw him. He was of slight stature, with longish blond hair parted on one side and combed back and clear blue eyes. He saw me looking at him, and one eyebrow went up inquisitively. The way he did it just made my heart melt.

I nudged Rose. "That blond guy playing the flute is really cute!" I whispered.

"That's not a flute, silly," she whispered back. "It's an oboe."

Whatever it was, I was determined to meet Cute Blond Guy in person as soon as possible. I saw my chance right after the concert had ended. I sneaked away from Rose and Dimitri and hid right outside the exit from which the band members would emerge.

At last he was there. "I really enjoyed your performance," I told him. "By the way, my name's Lily Hathaway."

"It's lovely to meet you, Lily Hathaway. I'm James Vesey." Damn, he even had a British accent!

"I've always loved classical music, and I've been wanting to learn to play the oboe for a long time." We'd naturally fallen into step together.

"Is that so?" He smiled the most charming smile I'd ever seen. "I suppose that in my case, it runs in the family, as my father was an orchestra conductor."

"Really? Who is he? Maybe I've heard of him!"

"His name was Sir Alexander Vesey, but I hardly remember him. He and my mother were killed in an airplane crash when my sister and I were only four years old."

"That's terrible!" I exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!" I felt incredibly awkward. I'd known James for maybe about five minutes at the most, and I'd already brought back painful memories for him.

"It's all right," he told me. "My half-sister Emily and her husband Boris raised us well."

"I live with my sister too," I told him. "I'm in coll...university, I mean, and..."

"I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to be going," he said apologetically. "My band mates will be wondering what happened to me. I would really like to talk to you again sometime. Have you a number at which you can be reached?"

I gave him both my telephone number and my email address, then ran off to find Rose and Dimitri.

"Just where the hell have you been?" Rose shrieked at me when she saw me. "We've looked all over for you!"

"I just went to say hello to that cute blond guy who plays the oboe," I said. "I was only gone for a few minutes!"

"Like hell you were," Rose muttered. "Thanks a lot for scaring the shit out of us!"

"I'm eighteen years old!" I protested. "Quit treating me like a fucking baby!"

Rose only glared at me in return, but Dimitri grinned and winked at me.