Hayley arrived ten minutes early for her not-a-date dinner with Josh to secure a table by the fireplace. She hung her coat in the vestibule and stepped inside the cozy restaurant, waving hello to Rebecca’s brother, Eric, who was doing paperwork at the staff booth. The restaurant was half full and alive with conversational buzz.

It was as good a time as any to ask Josh to be her dating coach.

When the waitress came by, Hayley ordered a glass of red wine. It occurred to her maybe she should wait for Josh before ordering a drink, but she needed a bit of liquid courage before broaching the subject. Despite the rational part of her brain telling her that there was no future with him, that a relationship was a no-go, her body seemed yet to catch up. Being around Josh made her feel like some internal string was being plucked: vibrating, tense, humming and alive.

He was unlike any man she’d met before. Maybe that’s what it was. He was a man, not some overgrown college boy who’d never considered what it meant to grow up. He knew what he wanted and what he didn’t want. He wasn’t indecisive or passive or confused.

He was strong—a strong and sexy man who’d happened to ask her to dinner after telling her repeatedly he didn’t want anything long-term. This would either be the night she got permanently put in the friend zone or the night he agreed to faux-date her long enough to point out her blind spots when it came to attracting a man who was worth her time.

Instead of the waitress bringing Hayley’s wine, it was Rebecca. She also set down a dish of olives. “Compliments of the Miller siblings. I’m about to head home, it’s close to my bedtime, but I just wanted to stop by and say hi before I leave.”

“Thanks! How’s the chili tonight?” Hayley asked.

“It’s good,” Rebecca said. “But it’s always good.”

“I’m meeting a friend, and he’s had a rough day. I think he’s going to order chili, and I’m hoping the kitchen can make it the best ever. Like, your most special bowl. However you’d go all-out on a bowl of chili, could you do that for him?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Rebecca looked to the door. “Is that him?”

Hayley exhaled a shaky, happy-nervous breath as she took in the sight of Josh. His face was reddened from the cold and looked tired from what she knew had been a long and emotional day. Still, when he saw her, he smiled.

“That’s him.”

“Dang, girl,” Rebecca said. “He was at Singles Night, right? He’s a firefighter?”

“He is.”

“You know, I think he’s Mr. December on this year’s calendar.”

“Mr. December—oh, my!” The firefighters did a risqué calendar every year as a tongue-in-cheek fundraiser for charity. “Dare I ask what he’s wearing?”

“Not much,” Rebecca said. “So … just a friend? Are you sure about that?”

“Unfortunately,” Hayley said with a sigh.

Rebecca smiled in sympathy. “I’ll make sure the kitchen gets that chili going.”

Hayley stood to greet Josh and was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek. Her eyes fell closed, and she felt an electric tingle across her skin, all-too-aware that his lips lingered a moment or two beyond a merely friendly kiss.

“Cold lips, warm heart,” he said when he pulled back, and Hayley liked the new sparkle in his honey-brown eyes.

She wanted them to sparkle even more, and so she stepped closer and reached for the top button of his long wool overcoat while giving him a smile. It made her think of taking off more than just his coat. His shirt … his pants … his boxers … seeing his firm muscled body beneath … running her hands across every chiseled inch of him. It was all too tempting, like unwrapping a present before Christmas. She felt her cheeks flare with heat.

But she barely knew the man. She’d talked to him for a total of at most twenty minutes—although he’d lingered much longer in her nighttime fantasies—and so she when she reached the last button, she behaved herself and let him take over from there. After a moment, Josh stepped back and shrugged out of his coat, then hung it on a wall hook behind him.

“I hope I’m not late,” he said as they slipped into their chairs.

“Not at all,” she said. “How did the rest of the event go?”

“Fine,” he said. “They ended with ‘Taps’ and a twenty-one-gun salute outside.”

Hayley clutched her hands over her heart. “That always gets me.”

He smiled. “It’s supposed to.”

The waitress came by, and Josh ordered a glass of wine as well. Hayley inexplicably warmed to hear him say, I’ll have what she’s having.

“Thank you for agreeing to have dinner with me,” Josh said. “I’d been having kind of a shitty day—until you showed up.”

The waitress returned with Josh’s wine and took their order. Hayley, newly determined to eat healthy, ordered a grilled salmon salad. As expected, Josh ordered chili. The waitress smiled a little when she took the order, and Hayley was glad it seemed her request to Rebecca had been noted.

“Let’s get a second glass of wine in a little bit, too,” Josh said.

“Sounds good to me.”

A second drink would give her a definite buzz, but it would also give her the courage to ask him to be her dating coach. To look at her with a critical eye and tell her why she hadn’t managed to snag herself a good man. She drank the last of her first glass and realized the buzz had already kicked in. Or maybe it was the excitement at being with Josh, who was incredibly easy on the eyes.

She took a deep breath and almost broached the subject, but then found herself saying instead, “I hear that you’re Mr. December on the firefighter calendar.”

Some men would have blushed, but not Josh. He merely raised his eyebrows to see where she was going with it.

“I’ll need to take a good look through it when I get home,” she said, giving him a once-over.

“Are you objectifying me?” he teased. “Because I’m so much more than a pretty face.”

“So why no long-term for you, Mr. More-Than-A-Pretty-Face?” she asked. “If it’s not too personal.”

Josh sipped his wine and then popped a couple olives into his mouth. The whole time, he kept his insightful eyes on hers.

“You have this skill of asking questions,” he said. “And it’s very flattering, but I wonder if it’s designed so you don’t have to talk about yourself very much.”

“You mean like you just did right there?” she said.

He laughed. “Touché. No long-term for me because it just doesn’t fit with where I am in life. I work, I sleep, I train the dogs, and I don’t do drama. The longer the relationship, the more drama.”

“So you prefer flings,” she said.

But he didn’t answer. Instead he sat back and regarded her, his eyes blazing warm, crinkled at the corners as if smiling inside at some thought.

Hayley’s heart did double-time. When she was in Josh’s presence, it felt like a missing puzzle piece to her life. She couldn’t explain it, except that she must be more deeply in lust than she’d ever been before. No use thinking about a relationship, so don’t, she told herself sternly. But oh, she could think of other, diverting, short-term pursuits with the man in front of her.

“In the past I’ve preferred flings, yes,” Josh said at last, which didn’t quite answer her statement. “But you don’t do flings.”

For you, Josh, she thought, I just might make an exception.

* * *

Josh waited for Hayley to tell him, No, I don’t do flings, that’s that. But instead she said, “My flings have been more fun than my relationships, actually. But still, I want a serious relationship now. I need a serious relationship, even.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear in an almost self-conscious gesture. Beautiful earlobe, he thought, and imagined brushing her hair back further, exposing the creamy smooth curve of her neck, which he’d very much like to kiss.

“Is your biological clock ticking?” Josh arched an eyebrow. “Or was it sexist of me to even ask?”

“I’ve never even thought about babies, to be honest,” Hayley said.

Inexplicably, Josh was glad to hear it. He realized he’d never thought one way or the other about having kids, either. Hayley’s response changed his impression of her from a woman who had marriage-and-babies on the brain to one who simply knew what she wanted at this stage of her life, and took one thing at a time.

“Then why forever?” he asked.

“Josh, forever is the why.”

“So tell me about this ulterior motive you have for accepting my dinner invitation,” he said.

Hayley tilted her head and put a considering finger on her lips. “First you tell me what went wrong in your last relationship.”

Josh wanted to kiss those lips, nibble on that finger.

“Shannon failed the sleep test,” he said.

“The sleep test?” Hayley sipped her wine. “Do tell.”

“Well, my dad and I are both non-sleepers,” he explained. “We toss and turn all night. He told me the other day that you know you’ve found the right woman when you sleep well beside her. I had no idea that could be a thing because it’s never happened to me.”

As he said it, Josh took in Hayley’s warmth. It came through in so many ways—her personality, her smile, her rich auburn hair, which shone as if she were basking in sunlight. He imagined being in bed with her. Holding her in his arms, inhaling her summer-orange scent. He thought he probably could drift off to sleep quite nicely beside her … although there were other things he’d rather do with her first.

“You’ve never slept well beside a woman?” she asked.

“I’ve never slept well, period.”

“That’s tragic,” Hayley said. “I love my sleep.”

“I envy you your sleep.”

“Aw. I’d share it with you if I could.”

The sweetness of her words struck Josh’s heart like a thunderbolt. Was it possible he’d never before known a woman so kind? He couldn’t help but smile at her, and her eyes brightened in happy response.

“So …” he asked, “if you’d share your sleep with me, does that mean …?”

“Don’t get any ideas,” she said, but her tone was teasing, sexual.

“It’s too bad you’re not interested in a fling. I think the two of us could have a lot of fun.”

“Who said I wasn’t looking for a fling?”

“You did,” he said.

“That’s before I came up with my plan.”

Josh’s eyebrows went up. He liked the sound of that. “Now you have to tell me about this plan of yours.”

She took a deep breath and said, “Ok, so … it has to do with blind spots. I offer a service to my male clients called Blind Spot Boogie, during which they take me on a date, over the course of which I observe them and try to figure out a few less-than-flattering behaviors they engage in that might be holding them back from progressing beyond the first date. I help them understand why that is, and how to correct it.”

She told him about a recent session with a client—“I won’t name him,” she said, which made Josh think it was someone he’d know—and how oblivious the client was to the many things he did wrong with women.

“And the thing is—I need help with my blind spots, too,” she said. “I really do want to find a good boyfriend. Husband material, even. And I need a guy I can trust to help me see what I’m doing wrong—because, clearly I’m doing something wrong”

Josh had studied her as she talked. “Why the rush?”

She blushed. “Do I seem rushed?”

She even said it fast. He laughed. “You seem rushed.”

“Well, I am,” she admitted. “Have you heard of Devotion.com? The online dating site?”

“Sure.”

“Well, they contacted me about my ‘Bring Your Heart to Golden Falls’ campaign and my business model, and they offered to partner with me. I’d get national advertising and exposure for my business, and it’s basically a huge break for me. But the problem is, they want me to be the face of this new personalized service they’re offering, and to do a high-visibility profile on me, my relationship, and my own success story.”

“Ah,” Josh said. “The problem being, you don’t have a relationship.”

“Exactly.”

“When’s the profile?”

“January.” She bit her lip. “So I don’t have a lot of time. I really need to get my act together.”

Josh processed her words. She wanted him to be her dating coach. You could get closer to her. It would be a good excuse. The idea of dating Hayley, even in an advisory capacity, was a tempting one. Then he realized her goal was a forever relationship, and his wasn’t. You’ll be setting her up for some other guy. That, he didn’t like the sound of. Not at all.

But he remembered all the nice things she’d done for him that day and realized how selfish he was being. Helping her as a friend was the least he could do.

Another thought occurred to him. “Why don’t I just pretend to be your boyfriend for the profile itself?”

Her eyes sparkled. “The thought had occurred to me to ask if you would,” she said. “But, no. For one thing, I do want a real relationship. And for another, how can I be credible as a matchmaker if I’m deceiving the world about my own story? Not to mention how it would look if—and when, this is a small town, after all—people found out. But it would be a huge help if you would just coach me a little to get me over whatever my hurdles are.”

He had to smile at her. He wasn’t surprised she refused to play a charade about her relationship status. He hadn’t known her long, but everything about her was pure authenticity.

Their dinner arrived then, Hayley’s plate of salmon and Josh’s monster bowl of chili, loaded with sour cream, green onion, sliced avocado, diced tomato and cilantro.

“What’s this?” Josh said, stunned by the dish before him. It was the biggest bowl of chili he’d ever seen in his life, and to get fresh avocado in November was a real treat.

“Hayley asked us to make your chili extra special,” the waitress said. “She said you might have had a tough day. So the chef made up a fresh batch of venison chili for you.”

“Well, thank you.” Touched, he cleared his throat. “It looks fantastic. Please thank the chef for me.”

He waited until the waitress was out of earshot, and then he locked eyes with Hayley.

“First hot chocolate, now this.” His heart lifted in admiration. “You’re so damned thoughtful.”

She laughed awkwardly. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No!” Josh leaned forward and took her hand across the table. He felt the soft squeeze of her fingers in response and felt a peculiar, almost protective desire to keep holding her hand and never let go. “You kind of swept me off my feet today, Hayley. You’re the real deal.”

“So help me out.” She gave him a sweet smile. “Be my fake boyfriend for a few days so I can get myself a real one as soon as possible. Please?”

“All right,” he said. “Whatever you need.”

“Thank you, thank you!” Hayley took her hand back so she could clap her excitement. “I promise it’ll just be a one-day thing.”

“No falling for each other,” he said.

“Definitely not.”

Damn it, he thought, looking at her uninhibited wide smile. Half of him already had fallen for her.

“And I won’t try to change you, and there won’t be a messy breakup. None of the things you hate,” she said. “You’ll point out my blind spots; I’ll fix them; and then I’ll go on to live my happily ever after with someone else.”

Josh drank in the sight of her gleaming auburn hair, her full pink lips, the warmth of her eyes, and wasn’t at all sure this was a good idea. But he did want to spend more time with her. Could hardly bear the thought of not, actually.

“Will there be sex involved?” he asked. “I mean, you do want a full critique, right?”

“I don’t know if my fragile ego can handle you critiquing my boudoir techniques.” By the way she said it, he could tell she didn’t really have any such qualms. She playfully raised an eyebrow. “But then again, you are Mr. December … so … I’d have to say yes, there may be sex involved, if you play your cards right.”

“I will definitely play my cards right,” he said.  

“Well, good,” Hayley said, an almost-wicked smile still playing at the corners of her mouth. “I want to be as thorough as possible.”

“Always,” he said.

With that, they dug into their food with the heartiest of appetites.