“Is it just me or is this the most awkward date in the history of dating?” Cori asked.

“She definitely looks tense,” Brynn agreed.

“And he looks annoyed,” Cori said.

“He’s smiling,” Brynn pointed out.

Yeah, he was. But it wasn’t real. Maybe no one else in the restaurant could tell, but Cori knew that Evan was forcing it. He’d given Ava a few genuine ones too throughout their dinner. But this one was definitely fake.

“Well, you can’t really blame the guy, can you?”

Cori looked up as Noah pulled out one of the empty chairs at their table and dropped into it.

“Hey,” Brynn said, with a big grin, “what are you doing here?”

Cori wondered if Noah realized how unusual that grin was for Brynn.

“I’m here for the show, same as everyone else,” he said, reaching for a roll from the basket in the middle of their table. He pulled off a chunk and put it in his mouth.

“The show?” Cori asked.

“Evan’s first date with Ava, of course.”

Cori frowned and glanced around. “Everyone is here for that?”

He nodded as he chewed. He gestured around the room with the rest of the roll. “Ninety percent of these people are from Bliss,” he said. “And the other ten percent know Evan and all about Ava.”

“And she’s super interesting?” Cori asked.

“Well, she and Evan are super interesting,” Noah said, reaching for a cherry tomato from Brynn’s salad. Did he know that Brynn didn’t like tomatoes? “Ava is very different from Evan’s usual.”

Ugh. Evan’s usual. For some reason that made her stomach hurt. Because he had a lot of usual and because his usual women who were probably a lot like Cori. Him being with someone not like Cori was interesting to everyone. Great. Ironic that the woman so interestingly unlike Cori looked exactly like her.

“Well, he doesn’t look like he’s having a good time,” she couldn’t help but point out.

“There are two things going on over there,” Noah said, dipping the remainder of his roll in the house Italian dressing on Brynn’s salad.

Cori would be amused by how comfortable the two of them were together—if she wasn’t so unamused by her other sister and the man she was clearly uncomfortable with.

“What two things?” Brynn asked.

“One,” Noah said, “Evan has never been out with a woman he couldn’t charm before.”

“You don’t think he can charm Ava?” Cori asked.

“Can anyone truly charm Ava?” Noah asked.

Okay, that wasn’t a bad point. “What’s the other reason?” Cori suddenly wanted to know.

“He’s never dated someone while the woman he’s actually crazy about is sitting right across the restaurant.”

Cori swallowed as Noah focused on her. “I assume that’s because he always gets the woman he’s crazy about to go out with him rather than sit across the restaurant.”

But Noah shook his head and gave her a small grin. “That’s because he’s never really been crazy about anyone before.”

Cori felt her heart bang against her rib cage as yes went through her mind. But right on the heels of that burst of pleasure was a cold wave of dammit. She loved that Evan was crazy about her. She was feeling the same way. But he couldn’t be. She couldn’t be. She wasn’t supposed to date and, more, he was supposed to be dating. Ava. For Ava. For him.

“I should go.” She pushed back from the table, preparing to stand.

“What? No,” Brynn said.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” she said. “I’m distracting them. Making them uncomfortable. And it’s not like watching them on their date is making me feel good either. I’ll just go. Noah will stay here with you.”

“No,” Noah and Brynn both said together.

Cori frowned at them. “Come on. This is the date place.” Or so the guys had told her when they’d come in for their morning coffee. “You guys stay and—”

“No,” they both said again.

Cori shook her head. “Still no dating, huh?”

Brynn blushed, but she shook her head. “We’re just friends. Noah just stopped over to say hi.”

“I need to spend time with Brynn so I can figure out which guys would be the best ones to take her out.”

Cori lifted a brow. “I thought Evan was kind of in charge of that?”

“Evan seems to have his hands a little full,” Noah said drily.

“Okay. Whatever.” There was something going on there, but Cori wasn’t in the mood to get into someone else’s love life. She had her own problems. Not that this had to do with her love life. Because that would be ridiculous. She pulled her phone out. She’d text Ava and tell her to relax.

“Maybe they need to drink more,” Noah commented.

Cori looked up from her typing and followed his gaze. Evan was leaning in and Ava actually pulled back slightly, before clearly stopping herself, and giving him a stiff smile. Cori glanced around. Why was he leaning so close— but she saw the reason a moment later. Jill’s mother, Holly, had just entered the restaurant on the arm of the man Cori assumed was Jill’s father.

And Holly had already noticed Evan and Ava.

“Well, shit.” Yeah, they needed more than liquor. Or texts.

Evan reached for Ava’s hand, but rather than linking his fingers with his girlfriend, he bumped the bottle of salad dressing sitting next to Ava’s plate. The bottle tipped, hit the edge of her plate, rolled, and lost its stopper.

Ava shot back from the table but not before oily Italian dressing dripped onto her skirt.

“Shit!” Evan also shoved his chair back, standing, and reaching toward Ava with his napkin. In his hurry, his hand hit her water goblet as well, sending ice water splashing into her lap before she sprung to her feet.

“Oh, boy,” Cori muttered.

“This is a disaster,” Brynn said, sounding a little more amused than she should.

“Okay, I’ve got this,” Cori said, pushing her chair back.

“You’ve ‘got this’?” Noah asked. “What’s that mean?” he asked Brynn when Cori stood up.

“Just…be cool,” Cori said. She caught Ava’s eye, then looked toward the hallway at the back of the restaurant.

Two minutes later, Ava pushed open the door to the ladies’ room. Cori pulled her inside, then shut the door and locked it. There were three stalls in the room, so the main door didn’t typically need locking, but Cori couldn’t risk someone joining them at the moment.

“You and Evan are screwing this up,” she told her sister. She pulled her shirt off. “And you can’t screw this up.”

Ava just crossed her arms. “What are you doing?”

Cori popped the snap on her jeans and pulled the zipper down. “I’m saving the day.”

That—or Cori continuing to undress—clearly surprised her sister. Ava frowned. “What?”

“I know, I know. Fixing things isn’t really my forte. But I can help.”

“How are we screwing this up? What’s this?” Ava asked.

“You and Evan are supposed to be falling for each other. But you have no chemistry. No one in that restaurant thinks you’re crazy about each other. And you have to pull this off, Ava. For the trust and the shop and for Evan.”

“For Evan?”

Cori took a deep breath. “He wants to do this because he promised you. And Dad, I guess. He promised to help make sure we fulfilled the trust and this is one way he’s doing that. If it doesn’t work out, then he’s let you and Dad down.” She frowned, remembering their moments on the porch from last night. “He said something about doing what he’s supposed to do rather than what he wants to do. I just get the impression he’s trying to prove to himself that he can follow through on this.”

“And that matters to you?” Ava asked. “That he feels good about this?”

Cori focused on her again. “He’s a good guy.”

“He is.”

“And I’m not totally sure he thinks he is all the time.” Okay, that was weird. That hadn’t really occurred to her, at least not as a full, complete thought, before just now. But yeah, she definitely got that impression. He was fighting against the urge to be irresponsible as hard as she was. Or maybe harder. Because she was completely ready to go out into that restaurant and have a ton of chemistry with him.

“And how are you going to fix all of this?”

Cori pushed her jeans to the floor and stepped out of them. “Take off your clothes.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m going to be you.”

“But…this isn’t like the shop. I’ve already been out there. Everyone’s already seen me.”

“I know. But no one but Brynn will know which of us is which if we change clothes and I go out there as you, I promise. People see what they want to see.”

“You really think this will work?”

Cori sighed. “It’s our best shot. Look—” She faced her sister squarely and took a deep breath. “I know I should have just left him alone. But I didn’t. Of course. And now he’s all distracted and I’m loving that you have no chemistry and kind of encouraging it even. Like by flirting with him and kissing him and stuff I shouldn’t be doing. I should be trying to help. Like telling you how great he is and what an amazing kisser he is and how funny he is and that you should give him a chance. And telling him how smart you are and how to get you to relax. And I really should want you to go out with him. For all the reasons Dad wanted this to happen. You work too much, you take everything too seriously, and you could really use some fun…some hot, sexy fun. But I don’t want to tell you or him that stuff. Because…that would be the mature and sensible thing to do and God knows, I’m allergic to both of those things. Let me try to help this way.”

Ava was regarding her with a bemused expression. “When things get messy you usually just leave.”

Cori gave a short, humorless laugh. “Yeah. I get out of the way. But this time I can’t. I’m stuck here in Bliss. Sorry.”

Ava shook her head. “God, Cori, don’t be sorry for being here. I couldn’t be handling any of this without you.”

Cori stared at her sister. “Really?”

“Really. This is all crazy. And crazy is your specialty. As long as you’re smiling, I know we’re not totally off the rails.”

That was…unexpected. She knew Ava had fun when Cori was around, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever reassured Ava before.

“Well, don’t go by me,” Cori said. “I’m usually the one pushing you all off the rails.”

“Yeah, but…okay, if I’m going off the rails, I want someone with me who has experience. Who’s survived that before.”

Cori laughed. “You need someone who’s climbed the mountain before?”

“I was thinking more like I need someone who’s been in the scary, haunted forest and been chased by a creepy clown with a machete but who’s made it out alive.”

Cori snorted. “That makes Bliss the haunted forest and Evan the creepy clown?”

Ava grinned. “Okay, maybe it’s not quite that bad.” She paused. “Actually, I know why the haunted forest came to mind. Do you remember the haunted house we went to when we were thirteen?”

“You were supposed to be sixteen to go in, but I sweet-talked the guy at the door into letting us go,” Cori said.

“I was scared to death,” Ava said. “Even before we got inside. But you were…giddy about it. I just knew that if you could get that excited and think it was fun, then there wasn’t anything to be really scared of.”

“You hated that haunted house. We all had to sleep in the same bed for like two weeks, with you in the middle.”

Ava nodded. “But you did that for me too. And honestly, that haunted house has always stuck with me. You were diving in because of the adrenaline rush. Brynn wasn’t scared because she was able to look at everything and immediately figure out how they’d pulled off the illusions. It was just me…too uptight and not smart enough to avoid being scared.”

“Hey—” Cori started.

But Ava shook her head. “But in the end, I got the best deal. You two, sleeping on either side of me, laughing and giggling until way past our bedtimes, for two whole weeks.” She gave Cori a soft smile. “Totally worth it.”

Cori blew out a breath. “You think Bliss can turn out the same way?”

“With you making it all fun and exciting and Brynn making it all practical and breaking things down step-by-step? Yeah, I think it can be the same way.”

Cori reached out and squeezed Ava’s hand. “I’ve got you, sis.”

“I’m counting on it.”

“Okay. Now take off your clothes for fuck’s sake.”

“I hate to ask you to sacrifice like this,” Ava teased, but she began unbuttoning. “I mean, making you go out there and act all goofy over Evan.”

“Yeah, yeah, more unbuttoning, less talking,” Cori said, but she was smiling as they exchanged clothes.

Within minutes Cori was in a silk blouse and pencil skirt that was slightly tight through the hips. She needed to lay off the carbs. Or she needed to get her sisters eating more of them. Triple the wardrobe was one of the most obvious benefits of being triplets.

“Okay, let’s do this fixing everything and making it all totally fine again,” she said, as she slipped Ava’s heels on. These were Gucci rather than Louis Vuitton but seriously, Ava had great taste in shoes.

“Hang on.” Ava stepped forward, pulling the clip out of her hair. “Let’s do it right.”

Cori turned and she felt Ava gather her hair back and then twist it and secure it with the clip.

“Okay, now let’s go. I can’t wait to watch this,” Ava said, actually looking like she was looking forward to it.

A minute later, Cori approached the table where Evan sat. She tried to keep her heart from pounding and her breathing from increasing. She wished she could blame it on nerves, but it was pure and simple lust. She wasn’t nervous at all about sitting across the table from him. Or acting like she was falling for him.

That was, unfortunately, something that was as real as the diamond bracelet she’d also taken from Ava.

“Everything okay?” he asked as he stood and held her chair for her.

She gave him a smile and a nod. “Sure.”

Be Ava. Be Ava. Let him scoot your chair in. She knew how that was done, of course, but she didn’t hang out with guys who did it much. Of course, no one really held a barstool for a woman.

She gave him a smile as he returned to his seat in the chair perpendicular to hers. “Okay then, what were we talking about?” She definitely should have asked Ava that question. Instead she’d been busy apologizing…and being shocked to find out that Ava really liked having her here.

Evan hesitated, then he leaned back in his chair. “Cori,” he said simply.

For a second, she thought he’d recognized her and was saying her name to confirm. Then she realized that he meant he and Ava had been talking about her.

Surprised skittered through her. She wet her lips. She should tell him who she was. He could be in on the ruse, of course. And she would. In a minute.

“Cori. Right. What about her again?”

“Her crazy idea about the party in the park.”

The surprised rippled through her again, stronger this time. “Did…I…tell you all about it?” Cori asked, remembering partway through the sentence that she was supposed to be Ava.

“Is there more to it?” he asked. “She wants to call it Parking and Pie and have everyone come to the park for pie and a movie. Like a drive-in. She wants to make a bunch of kids’ pies, like that s’mores pie she made the other night, and really appeal to the kids, who will then bring their parents. She wants to show that animated movie, Jelly Jam. That one is about a bunch of kitchen appliances and tools that cook and bake at night to save their owner’s restaurant, right?”

Cori nodded and reached for her water glass. She was biting her tongue. She had to let him talk, see what he already knew, and act like Ava about the whole thing. And Ava was not practically jumping up and down in her seat over the idea. That much Cori did know. She’d told her sisters the idea that morning and had been met with not a lot of enthusiasm. Ava was worried about the pies and the general logistics of pulling something like that off when they hadn’t been in town long. Which was, of course, why Cori thought it was a great idea. What better way to meet the town and show them that the girls wanted to be a part of the community? Brynn, the more practical one, talked about things like licenses and permits. Which was where Evan could, obviously, come in. He knew the laws and he knew everyone in town. Or maybe even the county. But Cori had figured she would be the one to bring it up to him, and she was surprised Ava had done it. Maybe they hadn’t had anything else to talk about.

“And I told you about the charity part of it, right?” Cori asked. “Where we’re going to give half of the profits to the before-school breakfast program and the snack program for the daycares?”

She’d asked the coffee club that met in the pie shop every morning if there were any food-related charities in the area—a shelter or food bank or something—that they could donate to. The guys had suggested the food bank in Great Bend, but she’d wanted something right in Bliss if possible. Thankfully, the guys had grandkids in the school system and one of them had a daughter who did daycare, so they’d known about both the breakfast program at the school and the program that provided nutritious snacks and nutritional education to daycare providers in the county. Which tied in perfectly with the kids’ theme for the event, as well.

“You did,” Evan said. “And I agree that knowing it’s partly for charity will make everyone even more likely to come and participate.”

“Oh, good. I didn’t remember if I’d mentioned that.”

Cori felt a little warm that Ava had brought all of this up. Cori had wanted to tell Evan about it. As more than the local attorney and guy-in-the-know. She’d wanted to tell him because…okay, because she’d wanted to impress him. The entire Parking and Pie event idea wasn’t for Evan’s benefit. The idea had come to her in the shower actually. But, she’d wanted to let him in on her idea and see his reaction. It was stupid, but she’d liked the look on his face when he’d accepted that first cup of caramel macchiato, and heard about Nutella-dipped bacon, and when he’d heard her talk about putting a photo booth in the pie shop, and when he’d watched her toast the marshmallows on the s’mores pie and taken that first bite. She liked the look of amusement combined with a touch of admiration on his face. It had seemed as if he’d liked all of those ideas, but even more, he’d been kind of intrigued by her out-of-the-box thinking.

Captivated.

The word whispered through her head and she had to fight a smile. That was the word he’d used last night to describe how he felt about her. She freaking loved that. And yeah, she wanted more. She wasn’t throwing a pie party in the park—and she also really loved that alliteration—but she did want to tell Evan all about that party. And yes, she also had the feeling that he’d jump right in on that good time and help her make it even better.

“But I do agree that it’s probably taking on too much too soon,” he said, picking up his wineglass and taking a sip.

Cori let that sink in. “You don’t think we should do it?”

“Not yet. Not if you’re not ready.”

Pop. Cori swore she could hear and feel her little bubble of excitement break.

“You need to get things at the shop going smoothly before you take on a big publicity stunt.”

“But it’s not a stunt. It’s a way to get people trying our pies, first and foremost. And we need something to do that. And in addition, this would associate our business with fun and show we want to participate in the community.”

Evan’s eyebrows rose. “I thought you didn’t like this idea?”

Oh yeah, shit. Ava didn’t like this idea. “Well, I’m just surprised that you are dismissing it so quickly,” she said honestly. “This seems like something you’d enjoy. I know you organize the 5K every year that raises money for the medical clinic here.” It was a satellite clinic to the big medical group in Great Bend, but it provided all of the basic care the people here needed as well as bringing specialists in on a monthly basis for consultations. She’d heard all about that from her coffee group as well. Walter was followed by a cardiologist once a month and Ben had just been in to get his prostate checked. She’d heard way more about that than she’s wanted to.

“I do,” Evan said.

“And I know that it’s more than just a 5K. You give it a theme every year and the runners and spectators dress up accordingly and the after party follows the theme as well.”

He nodded. “Running kind of sucks. Even if it’s for charity. I wanted to make it more fun.”

Yeah, she’d loved hearing about that. The guys that sat in the front of her pie shop and raved about her coffee and kept her constantly buying more whipped cream, had given her more insight into the town—and Evan—than she could have ever hoped for. She’d gladly buy sprinkles and caramel syrup out of her own account in exchange for the steady flow of information. And laughter. The guys were great, and she couldn’t help but think that if these guys had been her father’s friends, then there was definitely more to Rudy than she’d thought.

“And I know that you do a lot of your business meetings while hunting or fishing. And that you throw amazing tailgate parties…and have everyone throw in money toward the youth football program while they stand around and talk sports.”

Her heart thumped again as she repeated the story that Roger had told her a few mornings ago. Everyone knew about Evan’s fondness for a good party and having fun. But those extra things, like the fact that he preferred talking business while floating on the local fishing pond, or the fact that he found ways to make the fun into something more, were not as widely known. Or at least, they weren’t as widely talked about. Not every party or get-together turned into a client meeting or charity event, of course, but the idea that some of them did made her stomach flip. Evan was a good guy. Just as she’d told Ava. A really good guy. Who didn’t really see it about himself. This all seemed like something he just did without thinking about it. And she was incredibly grateful, again, that her sister was not attracted to him.

“It’s easier to get generous donations when people are full of beer and brats,” he said, again casually lifting his wineglass for a drink.

She nodded. “I’m sure. But my point is, you’re all about having a good time and you’re all about supporting this community. And,” she said, leaning in slightly, “you’re all about supporting me and my sisters. What’s with your hesitation on this park party?”

That bugged her. Sure, he thought she was Ava, and Ava had probably spelled out all of her concerns earlier. But still, this really seemed like something Evan would get into. She hated hearing he didn’t like it. She had bad ideas sometimes. She had crazy ideas a lot of the time. And she’d accepted the fact that sometimes people were not going to buy in. But she hadn’t expected it from Evan and it stung more from him. Whatever that meant.

And she didn’t really want to know what that meant.

Evan shifted on his chair, leaning in and resting an elbow on the table. He met her gaze directly. “It’s just a lot,” he said. “The stuff I do has evolved over time. The 5K was always for charity, but someone else did it for three years before I took it over.”

“They didn’t have themes or a big after party though, I’m guessing,” she said, knowing that those had to be Evan touches.

If he was surprised that “Ava” would have that kind of insight, he didn’t show it. He just smiled. “That started out because the prior Halloween, Noah told me there was no way I could ever get Parker to dress up. Doing it for charity was my only chance. And I won fifty bucks off of Noah for that.”

She laughed at that. She couldn’t help it. Surely Ava would too. If nothing else, the idea of Parker Blake in a costume of any kind was just too funny.

“But the tailgates were just an excuse to get drunk and be loud at the game at first,” he said. “And the fishing…I like fishing. One day a guy and I went out on the pond. We weren’t going as client and attorney, just as buddies. But while we fished, we got to talking. And I found that he was a lot more amenable to the other side of the case while the fish were biting.”

“You mediate a lot more than you actually sue or take people to court or whatever,” Cori commented, unable to help it. Walter had told her that little tidbit and it had fascinated her. Of course, Ava wouldn’t have said “whatever”. She would have known the right terms for all the legal stuff Evan did. But Cori could hope he didn’t know that.

“I do,” Evan confirmed. “This is a small town full of people I’ve known and cared about my whole life. I don’t like when they fight.”

He gave a little smile, and Cori felt that flip in her stomach again.

“And don’t you want these people you care about to have an amazing pie party in the park?” she asked.

Evan’s smile dropped and he took a deep breath, his gaze going to his wineglass instead of holding hers. “I just think you girls might get in over your heads with it. Maybe next year.”

Yeah, well, they weren’t supposed to still be here, running the shop next year. And Cori couldn’t deny that she felt a stab of sadness at that idea. Sure, things were anything but smooth and easy, but she couldn’t say she’d hated her time in Bliss so far. Hanging out with her sisters at the shop all day, painting and stitching with Brynn, coaching Ava and resisting the urge to just push her sister out of the way and take over, listening to the coffee club, watching Noah and Brynn pretend not to flirt, watching Ava and Parker face off, anticipating seeing Evan…it had all been fun.

She shook all of that off. There was a long way to go before this year was over. She might feel differently by this time next year.

Okay, this party thing was a lot. And her sisters didn’t love it. And Evan wasn’t sold on it. But it was a good idea, dammit.

Cori took a drink of water, then said, “Well, Cori isn’t very good at very many things, but she definitely knows how to throw a party. Maybe we should let her develop the idea a little bit.”

Evan nodded. “Yeah, a huge, blowout good time seems right up her alley. But—”

“But?” Cori asked.

“I wouldn’t say Cori isn’t good at very many things.”

“Oh?” Cori set her glass down, her palm suddenly feeling a little tingly. “What do you mean?” She was very good at kissing this guy, that was for sure.

“She’s very good at making the coffee guys feel welcome even when they’re completely underfoot. She’s very good at making you and Brynn smile. She’s very good at being absolutely exactly who she is, even when we’re all telling her to pull back. And she’s very good at winding me up tighter than any woman ever has, simply by laughing, or wetting her lips, or taking a drink of water.”

His gaze was focused on her mouth now, and Cori wet her lips without thinking as her heart pounded in her chest. His eyes darkened and he reached out for her hand, then tugged her close as he leaned in as if to whisper in her ear.

“In my dreams, your nipples taste like whipped cream,” he said softly, huskily, against her neck.

Shock—and lust—shot through her. Followed immediately by confusion. Before she could speak, however, he lifted a hand and traced his finger over the C tattooed behind her ear.

Oh.

She turned her head and put her lips against his. “Funny, your cock tastes like whipped cream in my dreams.”

He gave a soft groan and kissed her. Not deep and hot the way she wanted, but more like a promise of the deep and hot to come.

“When did you know it was me?” she asked, when he lifted his head.

“When you walked across the restaurant toward me.”

“Really?”

“You and Ava move differently. And…”

She pulled back to look in his eyes. “And?” she asked, arching a brow.

“The skirt is a little more snug on you than her,” he said, almost hesitantly.

“Dammit, I knew it,” Cori said. “I gotta lay off the pie.”

“Cori,” Evan said seriously, looking into her eyes. “You’re perfect. I love every fucking curve. And I’d like to love them even more. Up close and personal. With my hands and lips.”

She blew out a breath. “Well, I’d say all of this is much more convincing than what you and Ava were trying to pull off.”

“And I think I should take you home,” he said.

“Okay.”

“And fire up the gossips about how long we sat in the truck in your driveway before you got out with your hair messed up, your blouse buttoned wrong, and a very big smile on your face.”

She swallowed hard and nodded. “I can probably pull that off.”

“I can definitely help.”

They stood simultaneously and linked hands as they started for the door.

“Fuck.” Evan pulled up short all of a sudden.

“What?” Cori felt almost breathless and it wasn’t from the quick walk to the door.

“I should probably pay.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “Kind of got distracted there.”

She laughed and watched as he pulled his wallet out and headed for the waitress to settle the bill. She caught her sisters’ gazes. They looked amused. And happy. For her. And Cori felt a warmth in her chest. The shared looks, the knowing what they were thinking from across the room, the joke that the rest of the town wasn’t in on, the fact that they wanted her to be happy…it was all just really good. And it was thanks to being forced to be together. By their father.

“You ready?” Evan was back at her side.

She gave him a huge smile and linked her fingers with his again. “So ready.”