Sweet Deal (3 page)

Damn. She could have a point there.

“And the other problem is you don’t
have
a boyfriend.”

“Well, actually…I do.”

All three women gaped at her, mouths open wide enough to drive a truck in.

Shelby laughed. She loved when she could shock the unshockable Myra, who’d say and do just about anything.

“Shut the front door!” Myra said.

“Well. Not really.” Shelby had to relent and tell the truth. She related what had happened at the coffee shop earlier in the week with Jake.

“He offered to pretend to be your boyfriend?” Riley asked.

“Yes.”

A broad grin broke out on Myra’s face. “Wow. There’s a new pick-up line.”

Shelby still couldn’t believe she was doing something so ridiculous. She was sure she’d read a dozen romance novels where a man and woman pretended to be boyfriend and girlfriend, or even husband and wife for some crazy reason, but stuff like that didn’t happen in real life. Not with a freakin’ gorgeous guy like Jake.

“Maybe he was just kidding and he’s not going to show up.” And if he didn’t, that was probably just as well, because she had no idea if they were going to pull this off. They didn’t even know each other, for god’s sake!

“Why would he do that?” Riley asked.

“I have no idea.” Shelby grimaced.

“I’m telling you, he’s hot for you!” Myra grinned. “So what does this guy look like?”

“He’s really tall, and big.” Shelby licked her lips, warming inside just thinking about how Jake looked. “He has dark hair and eyes.”

“That doesn’t tell us much,” Myra said, with her usual let’s-just-get-to-the-point impatience. “Is he hot?”

“Yeah.” Shelby frowned. “Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“He’s kind of…scary.”

“Scary?”

She hitched one shoulder and looked down at her drink. “He’s really good-looking, but whenever I see him, he looks really serious. Intense.”

Myra looked disappointed.

“Wait. I thought you just met him,” Riley said.

“Er…well, we’ve seen each other before. Chatted a little in the coffee line-up. You know.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So he looks like a stick-in-the-mud,” Myra said.

“No, no! Not like stick-in-the-mud serious. Just like someone who’s maybe had some hard times. Maybe been hurt.”

“Ooh.” They all nodded, feminine interest piqued by that. “Interesting.”

“But he has a nice smile, and when we talked he was really listening. Not fake listening, you know? You can tell when people aren’t really paying attention. He’s always dressed to the nines. Expensive suits. Gorgeous ties.”

Myra lifted a brow. “Gay?”

“No!” Shelby would stake her life on that. “Not even metrosexual. Just very…well-groomed.”

“That
is
metro.”

Shelby had to laugh. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t go for manicures and pedicures. Although, he might use styling products in his hair.”

“Well then, this is perfect!” Myra leaned forward.

“It’s not real, My,” Shelby reminded her. “He’s just doing me a favor.”

Her cell phone buzzed in her purse and she reached for it without thinking. She blinked at the call display. Jake. As if he were someone who actually belonged in her contacts list so his name popped up when he phoned.

“It’s him.” She looked up at her friends.

The other three women made little noises of surprise and pleasure. The phone buzzed again as she studied it. Was he calling to cancel?

“Answer it!” Riley urged her.

Taking a deep breath she answered the call. “Hello.”

“Hi. Shelby?”

“Yep, it’s me.”

“Jake here. From the coffee shop the other day.”

“I know.” She smiled. “How are you?”

“Good. Listen. I was thinking about tomorrow…”

He
was
canceling. And damned if a small wave of disappointment didn’t wash over her.

“And if we want to fool your boss into thinking we actually have a relationship, we might need to know a little more about each other. So I thought maybe we should get together for a drink.”

“Uh…when?” She sat up straight, her mind racing.

“Tonight. In an hour? Or is that too short notice?”

She looked at her friends around the table all watching expectantly. “I’m with my friends right now. We just finished dinner.”

“Oh.”

“Let me just check with them about any plans for tonight.” She lowered the cell phone down beside her chair and whispered, “He wants to meet for a drink. Tonight!”

“Go!” they all said in unison.

“We’re done here,” Riley added. “And we didn’t have anything else planned for tonight.”

“I’m just going home,” Kiara said, folding her hands over her six-months-pregnant belly. “Adam’s not feeling well tonight. So go!”

Shelby bit her lip, studied Kiara’s serene face, her soft, brown hair lying on her shoulders, and briefly worried about the mention of Kiara’s husband not being well. Seven months ago Adam had been diagnosed with cancer and given only a few months to live. Only thirty-three years old, it was tragic. He and Kiara had demonstrated amazing strength and determination and love since then. They’d made some difficult choices that Shelby and her other friends had questioned among themselves, though never to Kiara’s and Adam’s faces. They were living the rest of Adam’s life the way they wanted to, even though things were going to be difficult for Kiara.

Then she lifted the phone to her ear again. “Okay, that works,” she said to Jake. “And you’re right, it would be a good idea.”

“There’s a little bar on the corner of Juniper and Sequoia. Amigos. Let’s meet there.”

“I know it. Sure.” She glanced at her watch. More insanity. “About nine o’clock?”

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

She lowered her phone to the table and gulped. Holy crap. Her body quivered.

“He thinks we should know a little more about each other so we can be convincing tomorrow.”

Myra folded her arms and leaned back in her chair, smirking. “See?”

Shelby scowled, her insides all fluttery. “I see nothing.”

“Well, he’s not going to stand you up,” Kiara said in her gentle manner. “If he wants to see you tonight.”

“This is not a date. Tomorrow is not a date either. He’s doing me a favor, probably because he feels sorry for me.”

And she wasn’t looking for a real boyfriend, anyway. She’d had enough of guys who’d only been interested in one thing. And it wasn’t her mind. She was entirely focused on her career, putting in long hours to prove she was able to take on all these assignments and projects Andrew kept giving her. She was determined to make a success of this job after what had happened with her last one.

In a way, it really pissed her off that she had to go to such lengths to get her damn boss off her back and let her be successful at her career on her own merits. Geez. Why did things have to be so freakin’ complicated?

“Yeah. Sorry for you. I’m sure that’s how he’s feeling,” Myra said, still smirking.

“Oh crap.” Shelby blew out a breath. “Don’t even start. You know my track record with men.”

“Oh, Shelby. You can’t let what happened with Mark turn you against all men.”

“It wasn’t just Mark.” She rolled her eyes. “And you know it.” A knot of pain lodged in her chest. In the past, she’d had the unfortunate tendency to fall into bed with guys. To equate sex with affection. And to then be hurt when she never heard from them again. Dammit.

“She
has
had a string of bad luck,” Kiara said to the other women.

“I know,” Riley said. “If we looked like her, we’d probably have the same problem. Instead of guys lining up outside my door, I can’t even find
one
guy to go out with.” She sighed dramatically.

“That is not true, Riley.” Shelby shook her head. “You’re just too picky.”

Riley snorted. “Yeah. Right.”

“You are. No guy ever meets your high expectations. Anyway.” Shelby leaned down and picked up her purse from the floor. “I better go. I need to change.”

“Shelby!” Riley exchanged amused glances with Myra and Kiara. “Why are you going home to change? It’s not a date!”

Shelby pressed her lips together, glad they’d already taken care of the bill so she could escape. “I know, but…but…oh never mind.” With a scowl she couldn’t stop from tipping up into a smile, she waved a hand as she hurried out of the restaurant.

Amigo’s was a fun, casual place, and she didn’t want to show up there in her suit and silk blouse. She took a mental inventory of her wardrobe as she drove home. Her new jeans, the flowery pink and blue top and her favorite shoes, the dusty-pink stilettos—that’s what she’d wear. Then she planned her time, something she was very good at, quickly coming up with a plan of action that would get her out the door, dressed, hair and makeup done, and to the bar by nine o’clock.

She did it, of course. Her anal tendencies—no, she was supposed to call it
detail oriented
—were what made her such an excellent project manager. She walked into Amigos at exactly nine o’clock and looked around the dimly lit bar for Jake.

He was there, sitting at a table for two in the back. She started toward him before he saw her, taking the opportunity to admire him—his strong jaw with that sexy dimple right in the middle, his chiseled nose and cheekbones. He was probably nearly a foot taller than her five foot two, and wide through the shoulders. He wore his dark brown hair long on top, artfully messy, with neat sideburns. He had a definite presence, an air of masculine confidence, but he sat there staring into space looking almost sad.

Her footsteps slowed. His expression tugged at something inside her.

An axe murderer. She smiled as she recalled his comment. Yes, she’d been cautious when he’d suggested picking her up at her home, because really, she didn’t know him from a hole in the ground, but she had no doubts he was an upstanding citizen—professional, successful, judging by the quality of the suit he’d had on, the Baume & Mercier watch on his wrist, the hi-tech phone he carried. He was well spoken, confident, and dammit, sexy as hell.

He looked up and spotted her, and the lost boy look changed into a warm, sexy smile that had her tummy fluttering.

Uh-uh. So not happening.

But she couldn’t help smiling in return as she dropped into the other chair at the table and hung her soft leather purse over the arm rest.

“Hi.” He held a beer between two hands. “I already ordered, but we’ll find the waiter and get you something right away. What would you like?”

“Um. A glass of wine, I guess. Chardonnay.”

Jake lifted a hand, and someone came over immediately. A pretty waitress with an eager smile for him. Sure. Shelby would just bet he got great service wherever he went, especially from females.

“So,” he said, after he’d ordered her wine. “I guess we need to get to know each other.”

“Yes.” She glanced at her watch. “We should be able to cover a lot of the basics pretty quickly.”

He grinned. “Efficient, aren’t you?”

She gave him a pleased smile. “Yes I am. Efficient is my middle name.”

“I’ll remember that tomorrow if someone asks me.”

She laughed and held up her hands. “Okay, okay. My middle name is really Rose. What’s yours? And what’s your last name, by the way?”

“Yeah, last names would be good to know.” He shook his head and smiled ruefully. “Jacob James Magill. I’m thirty years old; I’m a Senior Business Analyst and team leader at Coast Power Inc. Single, never married. I enjoy basketball and hockey—playing and watching—I’m a triathlete and I like to play Texas Hold’em with my friends.”

She laughed again. “You sound like a singles ad.”

He grinned. “Those are the basics. Now you.”

“Shelby Rose Leighton. I’m a project manager, as you know. I’m twenty-eight years old, and I could probably kick your butt at Texas Hold’em.”

His grin nearly melted her panties. “In your dreams, blondie.”

She shifted in her seat, feeling very warm and charmed by his easy teasing and sexy smile. “There’s something we have in common if anyone asks.”

“Favorite food?” he asked.

“Ice cream. I live for ice cream. Butter pecan is my favorite. You?”

“Steak. Well, any kind of beef. Rare.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Eeew.”

“Are you vegetarian?”

“No, I eat meat, I just don’t like to see blood on my plate. Favorite drink?” She nodded at the beer in his hand.

“Yup, this is it. Surf Coast Pale Ale. Yours?”

She lifted her wine glass with a smile. “Though I’m pretty addicted to caffeine.”

“Another thing in common,” he said. “So if anyone asks, that’s where we met, right? Java the Hut.”

“Right. Over our mutual appreciation of fine coffee. Um…family? Parents? Brothers? Sisters?”

A shadow darkened his eyes briefly, and she caught a glimpse of pain and vulnerability that made her insides soften and warm. Then the corners of his mouth turned up. “I have three sisters.”