Sweet Deal Read Online Free Page A

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