LITMIR.BIZ

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a long story,” Alyssa warned.

      “We’ve got time—this place won’t get busy for at least another hour.”

      So Alyssa told Sky about Diego’s impending visit to Haven. Ordinarily, she’d have no qualms about spending time with a family friend visiting from out of town, except that her mother had been less than subtle in her efforts to facilitate a romance between her youngest daughter and the nephew of her best friend, and Alyssa wasn’t the least bit interested.

      “Is he a jerk?” Sky asked.

      “No.”

      “Unattractive?”

      “No.” Because although she wasn’t attracted to him, she could appreciate that he had a certain appeal.

      “Unemployed?”

      “No,” she said again. “In fact, he works as a project engineer in the aerospace industry.”

      “So why aren’t you interested?” Sky wondered.

      “Because I don’t want to date anyone right now—especially not someone handpicked by my mother for the sole purpose of enticing me to move back to California.”

      “How does my brother figure into any of this?”

      “He had the misfortune of being here Tuesday night when my mother called to tell me about Diego’s potential travel plans. And he suggested that the only sure way to stop her from setting me up with someone from home was to tell her I’m dating someone here. So—” she looked at Sky, trying to gauge her friend’s reaction “—Liam’s going to be my pretend boyfriend tonight.”

      Her friend’s brows lifted. “Pretend, huh?”

      “Pretend,” Alyssa said firmly.

      “Oh,” Sky said, sounding disappointed. “For a minute, I thought this story might be as good as the sexy book I stayed up all night reading.”

      “Maybe I can borrow it when you’re done, because the only romance I want these days is in the pages of a novel,” Alyssa told her.

      “Why’s that?”

      “Because I like my life the way it is—uncomplicated by the expectations of a man.”

      “Most men are simple creatures driven by simple desires to eat, sleep and have sex.” Sky grinned. “Although not necessarily in that order.”

      Alyssa’s experiences with the male gender were too limited for her to be able to contradict her friend’s assessment. Instead, she said, “And I have no desire to cook so that a man can eat, or make up the bed for him to sleep on.”

      “I noticed that you didn’t dis the sex,” Sky said, her tone contemplative.

      “My experience in that area is limited,” she admitted.

      “How limited?”

      “Let’s just say I really don’t get what all the fuss is about.”

      “Then you haven’t been with the right kind of guy,” her friend said. “And it’s probably a good thing you only want Liam to be a pretend boyfriend.”

      “Now you’ve piqued my curiosity,” Alyssa said.

      “I love both of my brothers dearly, but Liam is...” Sky paused, as if searching for the right words to express what she was thinking. “He’s not always considerate of a woman’s emotions.” She smiled wryly. “Sometimes he’s not even cognizant of them.”

      “So if I was going to fall for one of the Gilmore boys, I should set my sights on Caleb?” Alyssa joked.

      Her friend shook her head. “Except that my younger brother, though inherently more compassionate, is completely emotionally unavailable.”

      “Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not looking to fall for anyone,” she noted.

      “Those not looking are most likely to fall,” Sky warned.

      “I’m not concerned.”

      “How long have you been in Haven?” her friend asked as she began to unload a tray of glasses.

      “Eight months,” she answered.

      “How many dates have you had in that time?”

      “Two,” she admitted.

      “Two dates with the same guy or two different guys?” Sky continued to multitask as she interrogated her.

      “Two different guys,” Alyssa clarified. “Neither of which I wanted a second date with.”

      “Sex?”

      She shook her head.

      Sky gave Alyssa her full attention now. “You haven’t had sex in eight months?”

      Alyssa’s cheeks flushed. “It’s actually been a little bit longer than that.” Actually, it had been a lot longer than that, but she wasn’t ready to admit to her friend that she was a twenty-six-year-old virgin.

      “You haven’t met anyone in that time who’s made you think ‘yeah, I could get naked with him’?” Sky asked.

      Even as she shook her head again, an image of Jason Channing filled her mind and heated her blood. Whenever she was around her upstairs neighbor and current running partner, feelings—unfamiliar and unwelcome—stirred inside her. Those feelings sometimes made it difficult to remember that she was happy living her own life and definitely not looking for romance. And even if she was, it would be a mistake to glance in his direction.

      “No,” she said in answer to Sky’s question.

      But then he walked right out of her thoughts and into the bar, and her defective heart skipped a beat.

      He wasn’t alone. Of course “Charming” wasn’t alone on a Friday night. He was with a woman—blonde, beautiful, built. No, he was with two women. The second was a little taller, with darker hair, but no less beautiful. A second man followed the second woman, and they headed directly for one of the booths.

      A double date, Alyssa guessed.

      Then two more guys came in and squeezed into the booth, too.

      Or maybe just a group of friends, she allowed.

      Alyssa tore her gaze away from them to glance at the clock. Because as nice as Jason Channing was to look at, he wasn’t the man she wanted to see right now.

      In fact, he wasn’t a man she could let herself want at all.

       Chapter Three

      As Jay made his way to the bar, he watched Alyssa give a smile to her customer along with his change. Her attention shifted, and though it might have been his imagination, he thought her smile widened when she recognized him.

      “So you’re the one,” he said to her.

      “The one what?” she asked.

      “My friend Kevin insisted that we come here tonight to check out the hot new bartender,” he explained.

      She automatically glanced toward the table where his friends were seated, suggesting that she’d seen them enter the bar. “Setting aside the accuracy of that description for the moment, I hope he didn’t make the suggestion in front of your new girlfriend.”

      “My—Oh.” He looked over his shoulder. “Which one did you think was my girlfriend?”

      She shrugged. “Either. Both.”

      “I’m flattered... I think. But no, Nat and Hayley are friends and employees.”

      “Is the boss buying the first round tonight?” she prompted.

      Although

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