“Thanks for dropping in,” Mom said.

“And for the cookies,” Dad added.

Okay then. So much for maybe a cup of coffee, a cookie and a little chit-chat. “You’re welcome. I have to go now. I have a company picnic to go to later this afternoon.”

“Oh, how nice. That RBM seems like such a nice place to work for.”

“I don’t work there anymore, Mom,” she said patiently. “Remember? I left there a year ago. Now I’m at Gold Shield Insurance.”

“Oh, of course!” Her mom slapped her forehead. “I’m so scattered! I knew that.”

Shelby smiled and nodded. “Well, I’ll talk to you both later.”

She paused outside the front door and closed her eyes, sucked in a deep breath and let it out, then shrugged her shoulders. Maybe this time things would be different for them and they’d be happy together. And maybe she’d win the fifty-million-dollar lotto this weekend.


Jake waited in the parking lot for Shelby Saturday afternoon, leaning against the fender of his SUV in the warm summer sun, wondering what the hell he was doing there.

He wasn’t exactly the knight-in-shining-armor type. One girl he’d dated had called him a player, a term that made even his lip curl, but hey, he wasn’t looking for a relationship, just fun and a little companionship sometimes, and yeah, sex. He tried to make sure the women he hooked up with felt the same, made it clear upfront whenever he met someone, so there were no hard feelings, except sometimes, there were hard feelings. Girls got all emotionally involved even though they knew they shouldn’t, said they wouldn’t, and then they blamed him when he had to pull the plug.

So doing a good deed like this was a little out of character for him, and he had to question his own motives. Shelby was a hot blonde he’d been eyeing with interest for months. Was he just using this as an excuse to get into her panties?

He rubbed his face, adjusted the sunglasses sitting on his nose. Hell, he didn’t even know why he’d made this crazy offer. But he was here and he had to go through with it. After this, she’d be on her own. She’d have to find some other way to get her dickhead boss off her case.

But, man, he hated to think of some asshole doing that to anyone. Whatever. The world was full of assholes and she was a big girl. Well, not literally. Literally, she was a tiny little thing, a blonde kitten in pink high heels.

A kitten he’d been thinking about since last night. Last night had been fun.

He straightened and glanced at his watch. One minute before three o’clock. He paced to the back of his vehicle, watching the parking lot, hands shoved into his jeans pockets.

It had been fun until suddenly out of the blue, it was as if she’d thrown up a wall of ice and had practically sprinted out of the bar. He’d racked his brain the rest of the evening trying to figure out what he’d said that had shut things down so fast, and couldn’t come up with a damn thing.

Far be it from him to pretend to understand women. His track record in that area was pretty pathetic.

A car turned into the lot, a little silver Pontiac GT convertible, exactly on time, and his body went on alert, a small adrenaline rush singing through his veins. The car slowly approached, pulled into the spot next to his and he recognized that gleaming blonde hair.

She emerged a moment later, slammed her car door shut and, as she walked toward him, held her remote over her shoulder and locked the doors with a chirp. She wore jeans, like he did, sitting low on her hips and rolled up above her ankle. Instead of pink heels, today she wore pink flip flops, and a modest tank top hugged her body, not hiding her impressive chest but certainly not displaying it in an overtly sexy way. She was sexy nonetheless. Christ, she could dress in a sack and she’d still be sexy as hell. What was it about her? Yes, she was pretty, with a sweet oval face, plump lips and big eyes, and yes, she was blonde, though her long hair was straight and silky, not teased and bimbo-big. And though she was small, she was definitely stacked and probably had a cute ass, too, in those jeans.

But there was more to it than that, and damned if he could put his finger on what it was.

She greeted him with a determinedly cheerful smile. “Hi. You came.”

He lifted a brow. “You thought I wouldn’t?”

“I wondered. I still don’t know why you’re helping me like this.” She gave him an assessing glance. “But I do appreciate it.”

“Wait till the day’s over,” he said, setting his fingertips on her lower back and directing her around to the passenger side of his vehicle. “If we convince your boss you’re taken and get him to lay off, then you can thank me.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

He drove the short distance to Pacific Park, the big, beachside park where the picnic was being held, and soon they pulled into another parking lot, already half-filled with vehicles.

“It’s a nice day for this,” Shelby commented as they walked toward the crowd of people. The scent of hot dogs and hamburgers floated in the warm summer air. The laughter and cries of children could be heard from a distance, and as they approached the group, Jake saw the kids being organized into some kind of race.

“Seems like a good turnout.”

He reached for her hand and she started as he closed his fingers around hers. She shot him a glance and he smiled reassuringly. Hey, they had to make it believable.

Her hand, small and cool, relaxed in his.

As Shelby began to mingle with her coworkers, Jake trailed after her, being introduced to a bunch of strangers. He didn’t know a soul there. This could be a long evening. Ah well. Maybe they’d get a chance to be alone for a while and…

And what?

All they had to do was convince the boss they were in a relationship—they didn’t have to actually have a relationship. But the memory of how much fun he’d had talking to her last night tugged at him and made him strangely want more.

And where was the slimeball boss anyway? Shelby had never mentioned his name so how was he going to know when she introduced them to each other? She’d likely say something. He checked out the crowd.

Lots of people—men, women, kids—laughed and talked in the sunshine. This was a nice corporate event.

Shelby introduced him to more people and he couldn’t help but notice that everyone treated her very…carefully. They were polite and friendly, yeah, but distant. Almost cool. And then he remembered her comment about how things were getting uncomfortable at work because of the favoritism her boss was showing her.

Anger surged in him. Didn’t the asshole realize what he was doing to sweet little Shelby? Jesus. He wanted to curl his hands into fists and his fingers tightened around Shelby’s so much she shot him an inquisitive glance. He smiled as they made small talk with her coworkers.

And then across the crowd he saw her.

His old girlfriend. The one who’d dumped him for his best friend. His heart lurched into a wildly unsteady rhythm and his gut tightened painfully. Christ. What the hell was she doing here?

He didn’t want to see her. Ever again.

Jesus. He had to get the fuck out of here. Now. He looked down at Shelby and opened his mouth, but she was laughing at something someone had said.

They couldn’t leave. He’d committed to this, and they were here and he had to see this through. He swiped a hand across his sweaty forehead.

But wait. Maybe it would be good for his ex to see him with a hot little blonde on his arm. Show her he was over her.

He wasn’t. He wasn’t over her betrayal and he wasn’t over being betrayed by his best friend either. The two of them had screwed him over so badly and the old anger, humiliation and hurt rose inside him. He wasn’t listening to the conversation, had no idea what was going on, just stood there in a fog of growing panic, until Shelby finally pulled him away from the group.

“You’re breaking my hand,” she muttered, trying to extricate her fingers from his. “Geez, Jake.”

“Sorry.” He released her fingers and dragged a hand through his hair, trying not to look at Gianna, and failing.

“Are you okay?” Shelby demanded in a low voice, though she kept a smile firmly in place.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” He was sweating as if he’d just run 20K of a triathlon.

“My boss is over there,” she whispered. “Let’s go say hi.”

“Yeah. Let’s do it.”

Let’s get this the hell over with and get the fuck out of here. But what if…what if…

And then his “what if” became reality as Shelby led him over to—Gianna. And Andrew. Ex-girlfriend and former best friend. Standing there, their smiles fading as Shelby approached and they saw him.

“Hi, Andrew.” Shelby stopped in front of them. “Hi, Gianna, how are you?”

Gianna gazed at Shelby, glanced sideways at Andrew, then focused on Jake. “Hello, Shelby. I’m fine, thanks.”

“I want you to meet my…boyfriend, Jake Magill.” The hesitation was barely perceptible. “Jake, this is Andrew Haddon, my boss, and his wife, Gianna.”

“We know each other,” Andrew said, his expression wary.

Jake plastered on a smile. “Andrew! Gianna! Good to see you!” He could not fucking believe this was Shelby’s boss. His mind worked furiously to process all that was happening.

“You’ve met?” Shelby repeated, a cute crease between her eyebrows. “Really?”

“Long time ago,” Jake said breezily, waving a hand, still smiling so hard his face hurt. He did not want to get into all that old shit right then and there. Jesus. Sweat trickled down his back and his underarms prickled. “How are you?”