Josie had just fastened the safety clasp beneath her chin when she felt Evan's eyes on her, alerted by the slow spread of heat over her body. Jerk. How dare he make her be attracted to him? She'd already blurted about a hundred embarrassing sexual references in the five minutes she'd been in his house. Even when she'd tried to stoke her hostility, that raging sexual inferno inside her had just kept building.

Thoroughly irritating.

"You're riding your bike back to Brighton?"

"Uh huh." She swung her leg over the seat, trying to look completely at ease with the fact she had a twenty-nine-mile bike ride ahead of her. On an eighty-five-degree day. Why had she worn jeans?

To hide her cellulite, of course, reasoning which wouldn't feel quite so sound when she was passed out on the side of the highway from heat stroke.

"That's twenty-five miles."

"Twenty-nine actually. Piece of cake." Be positive, Josie. Enough of these bike rides, and she'd be able to start pulling all those jeans out of the back of the closet and start wearing them again. Okay, only if she also stopped consuming anything except water for the next ten years, but hey, it was a start.

"You want a ride?"

"And be indebted to the brother of the man who stole everything from me? No, thanks."

She was aware of Evan watching her as she tucked her jeans into her socks and anchored her helmet, but even in her most creative fantasies, she couldn't quite convince herself that he was ogling her beauty. Nope, she was definitely the only one being tortured by sexual fantasies right now.

"You're leaving."

"Actually, I was going to ask you if I could ride my bike through your halls for a while."

"You aren't going to ask for the money?"

"What money?" She set her sneaker on the pedal, another foot on the ground, and twisted around to look at Evan, nearly toppling off her bike when he came into view. The world would be a safer place if Evan Dorsett would keep his blasted shirt on. How was a woman supposed to concentrate on hating him and all his kin when all she could do was think about how her cheek had been pressed up against him?

"The ninety thousand you say Buddy stole from you."

Josie dragged her eyes off his chest and looked at his face. Just as ruggedly handsome there too. She cleared her throat and tried to think of burnt waffles. "What are you implying?"

Evan folded his arms across his chest. "You found out I had a brother who'd had a few scrapes with the law, and you're trying to extort money from me."

"I'd find that remark offensive if I valued your opinion in any way whatsoever." Okay, she was insulted, but no need to let Evan know that. And...with a house like this, he probably did have to be careful about people trying to bilk him out of money...but she really wasn't in the mood to give a Dorsett brother the benefit of the doubt. "I don't want your money."

"Then why did you come here?"

"Because I want my money."

"I don't have it."

"I know that, now." Evan was just as aggravating as his blasted brother. No, stay calm. "I thought you might know where Buddy was, so I could collect from him."

"Buddy doesn't have that kind of money."

"He does now."

"You're wasting your time, Ms. Harper."

"Obviously." She'd just have to find another way to earn all that money in time to start school in eight weeks. Ninety grand in eight weeks? Not a lot of options. "Do you have any contacts in the expensive call girl industry?"

"What?" He looked dutifully shocked.

"Classes start on September twelfth. I need to earn a lot of money in the next eight weeks, and I hear those gals can earn bucks. Might be worth it for two months, don't you think?"

"No."

She actually got goosebumps from the iciness in his voice. Talk about vehemence. "Yeah, you're probably right. Too many risks. I'll think of something." She nodded at him. "Have a nice day."

"Don't crash."

She grinned over her shoulder at him. "Or maybe I should. I bet I could get a settlement worth a bundle, don't you?"

He just shook his head at her, as if to remind her he wasn't falling victim to her ploy.

Yeah, some ploy.

He'd been her last hope to see a cent of her money again.

Maybe it was time to ride in the middle of the road and see what fate had in store for her.

Except she was a wimp when it came to pain.

Think, Josie.

There simply had to be a way to survive this little...ahem...downturn without prostitution or serious bodily harm.

And she would not let herself think about how she couldn't even make Belgian waffles with loads of strawberries and whipped cream.

Hitting the lowest period in her life without having her favorite comfort food available. Unfair.

She should make Evan stand naked in her living room for the next two months. That would distract her from her misery.

And help her work on her willpower.

And think how popular she'd become with all her girlfriends...

Ah, the power of positive thinking.

* * *

"Evan's a jerk," Josie announced, as she leaned against the leg press machine that her best pal Monica Miller was trying to adjust. Sunday morning at the gym. Not her idea of fun.

"Sounds like it." The pin slipped and pinched Monica's finger. She yelped and stuck her index finger in her mouth. "These gyms are a health hazard. Why did we join?"

"So you could meet the man of your dreams. Physically fit is one of your requirements for your dream man."

"Right. But so is sane. Why don't we lie out in the sun on the Esplanade and check out all the men jogging by? Then we wouldn't have to risk our health by being at a gym." Monica gave the machine a frustrated kick, only to scowl and grab her foot. "Ow. That was so not a good idea."

"No. I can't imagine it was." Josie flopped down on the seat of a nearby leg extension machine. "So, what do I do now?"

"Make a list." Monica was a big fan of lists.

"Of what? Ways to kill Dorsett men?" Josie shook her head and propped her feet up on some padded arm machine thing. "Evan would have me arrested. He's a bit cynical."

"Well, it's not like you'd actually have to kill them. It would just be cathartic." Monica peered over her shoulder. "There's a really sweaty guy giving you dirty looks. You should at least pretend that you're going to use the machine for more than a lounge chair."

Josie sighed and swung upright. Her legs were about as strong as overcooked spaghetti after her fifty-eight miles of biking yesterday. Not that they were strong before that, but now? Forget it. "Oh, my gosh. There he is." Monica started pumping the leg press. "Is he watching me? Does he see me?"

Josie peered across the room, trying to look for Monica's latest crush, but all she could think about was Evan. The men here had nothing on him.... Argh! Stop thinking about him!

"Josie! Does he see me?"

The man in question was concentrating very hard on his biceps curls. "No. He's watching himself in the mirror. Egoist. Forget him."

Monica let the weights drop with a slam. "I'm not in good enough shape to show off at the gym."

Josie leaned forward and rested her arms on the machine. "Seriously, Mo. I need some help here."

Monica blotted non-existent sweat off her chest. "Okay. List your top three problems."

"I'm broke. Buddy's brother is a jerk, but I spent the night fantasizing about him. And I have no comfort food. So, basically, I am much worse off than I was when my husband announced he was leaving me, and I was pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel then."

"No way. When you were married to Tom, you were definitely worse." Monica tucked a non-sweaty tendril behind her ear and stole a glance across the gym. "You had no identity, no goals, no self-esteem. You were just a dependent female snookered into a bad marriage. Now you're strong and fighting back. Okay, so maybe you've hit a bit of a snag, but at least you're on the right path."

Josie wrinkled her nose. Listen to Monica. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. "I'm much better off." The words sounded pretty good actually. And she was in control of her life. Well, sort of. But more than she would have been if she'd stayed married to a man who fell in love with other women. And the day the marriage had ended...that really hadn't been a good day. Her self-confidence and ego had been severely trounced until it was completely mashed. At least now she had a goal and some plans, even if she'd hit a bit of a delay in accomplishing them. "I'll find Buddy."

"Of course you will."

"And I'll get my money back."

"You better believe it," Monica agreed.

"And I'll never date a loser again."

"Excellent."

"And I'm not getting married again."

Monica rolled her eyes as she climbed to her feet. "Well, I wouldn't go that far. You wouldn't be happy not being married."

"I'd be fine." She slung a still-dry towel around her neck and followed Monica toward the dumbbells. "I don't even need a relationship. I figure I'll get some random sex as the urge strikes, and that should be just fine."

"Liar." Monica picked up a set of three-pound dumbbells. "Don't get me wrong. Your marriage to Tom wasn't a good thing, and divorces are always hell. And I think it's great that you're trying to find yourself, but you'd be miserable if you never got married again."

"That's so untrue." Josie flopped down on a weight bench while Monica lifted. It had to be untrue. Being a warrior Amazon woman meant she didn't need a man for anything. Period. Which was the whole problem with Buddy stealing everything from her. He had disarmed her in her quest for female empowerment. "I'll become a vet with a satisfying career and..."

"No way. You grew up with nine kids in your family. You have nieces and nephews everywhere. You do your family dinner thing at least once, sometimes twice a week." Monica grimaced as she tried to lift the weight again. "You're obsessed with family, and you'll never be happy if you don't have a family of your own. With the right guy, of course."

"Nope." Josie folded her arms across her chest. "I'm going solo and I'm going to be happy." Even if she made herself miserable trying. "I obviously have no skills whatsoever in weeding out the losers from the decent guys. Why get married again? It'll be another Buddy or another Tom, and then I'll have multiple divorces on my record and I'll never recover emotionally. Much better to just stay out of that whole mess."

Monica dropped her weights and eyed Josie. "I'm not going to have to start worrying about you, am I?"

"Of course not. All I need to do is find Buddy, string him up by his toenails, and reclaim my property. And then I'll be fine."

"And you'll keep your mind open toward finding the right guy, even as you embark on your career? The two aren't mutually exclusive you know."

Nope, she wasn't going to agree to that one. At least not yet. Three years was her minimum until she was allowed to consider being interested in a man again. And not a day less.