“I told you we were going to hire you,” Taryn corrected, knowing that was still going to happen. “Jack, Kenny and I want someone local. You know the area, you can stay on top of the vendors and you can steer us away from anything that’s going to be a problem for the town.”

She paused, not sure how to get to what she wanted to know. “But Sam has some kind of problem with all of this and I want to know what it is.”

Dellina shrugged out of her blazer and leaned forward. “Is that the holdup? Sam?”

“Yes. He’s going to be handling the party. Only he won’t get started and he’s resisting working with you.” Taryn studied the other woman closely as she spoke. “Do you know why?”

She’d thought Dellina might squirm or make an excuse to leave. Both of which would have been warning signs. Instead amusement tugged at the corners of her mouth and brightened her eyes.

“I have a good idea what’s going on with him.”

Taryn sighed happily. “I want to hear all of it in as much detail as you’re willing to tell.”

Dellina chuckled. “Okay, but there’s a few things you need to know first.”

“I’m listening.”

Dellina had a mug of tea. She picked it up, then put it down. “I have two younger sisters. Last year Fayrene met this great guy—Ryan. He’s an engineer who works in town. Fayrene and Ana Raquel are twins and four years younger than me. They’re both driven. Fayrene has a business in town. A temp agency with a pet-sitting business on the side.”

“Eclectic.”

“You have no idea. Anyway, she has very specific goals, and falling in love wasn’t one of them. So when she and Ryan got together last spring, she told him she didn’t want to get married for four years.”

“That’s pretty sensible,” Taryn admitted, impressed that someone that young had so much self-control.

“It is, except she’s now decided she doesn’t want to wait. But she has it in her head that she can’t simply tell Ryan she’s changed her mind. She needs him to propose on his own. Unfortunately Ryan’s a really good guy and wants her to be happy, so he’s totally respecting her need to wait.”

Taryn saw the problem. “The immovable force meets the irresistible object.”

“Exactly. Fayrene has been brainstorming ways to get Ryan to propose. It’s kind of a family thing now. I have a dry-erase board in my home office and she has a running list of—” she held up her fingers to make air quotes “—‘ten ways to get him to propose.’”

“Not my style, but sure.” Taryn wondered what this had to do with Sam.

“Adding to the excitement at my house,” Dellina continued, “is the third bedroom. Right now Isabel is using it to store wedding gowns.”

Taryn nodded. Isabel was expanding her store, Paper Moon. In addition to wedding dresses, she would also carry designer clothes. Taryn didn’t want to think about how much money she’d already spent at Paper Moon.

“Last Valentine’s Day I went out for drinks with some girlfriends,” Dellina said. “I’m chronically single and I figured looking at all the happy couples would either cause me to throw myself back into the dating pool or reaffirm my single state for the next five years.”

“Logic I support,” Taryn told her.

“Well, I saw this handsome guy sitting across the room.”

Taryn straightened. “Sam?”

Dellina nodded. “I would like to say that I’m not the one-night-stand type. Counting last Valentine’s Day, I’ve done it exactly once. But I figured he was cute and he had to know what he was doing, right? I mean based on volume alone. Sam’s a famous football player guy. There have been a lot of girls.” Dellina paused as she began to blush.

Taryn felt the laughter bubbling up inside her. “You took Sam home?”

Dellina nodded.

“To the house with the wedding dresses and a list on how to get him to propose?” Taryn grinned as she imagined what had happened next. She wished she could have been there.

Dellina sighed heavily. “Yeah. That was me.”

Taryn’s first giggle escaped.

“Don’t laugh,” Dellina said. “Never mind. I know you can’t help it. Yes, we did it and yes, the sex was great. And Sam got up to use the bathroom and on his way back, he went into the wrong bedroom, saw the list and dresses and totally freaked.”

Taryn burst out laughing as she pictured the look on Sam’s face. He would have been horrified. It was a difficult situation for any guy, but for Sam it would be a total nightmare. “Did he get dressed before he bolted?”

“Not really. He was pretty close to na**d as he scampered away across my lawn.” Her mouth twitched. “I tried to call him to explain, but he didn’t want to talk to me.”

Taryn struggled for control. “Of course he didn’t. Sam has the worst luck with women. There have been massive disasters. Oh, honey, I’m so sorry if you were hurt.”

“I wasn’t. It was weird. Like I said, I enjoyed the night, but when he dashed out the door, it was a real mood breaker.” Dellina looked at her. “You’re going to torture him with this, aren’t you?”

“Every day for the rest of my life.”

“I’m kind of okay with that.” Dellina sighed. “Now you know why he’s not thrilled at the idea of working with me.”

Taryn drew in a breath. “Of course. He’s terrified of you. It’s settled. You are so planning that party. If nothing else, I’ll be entertained watching him squirm.”

“You could explain about the misunderstanding.”

Taryn shook her head. “No way. Let him man up and ask you himself. Until then, he deserves to suffer.”

“Remind me never to cross you,” Dellina said.

“Advice to live by,” Taryn told her with a grin.

* * *

“SERVICE DOGS HELP people in different ways,” an obviously pregnant Montana Bradley said. “Who here has seen a service dog before?”

Angel and his Acorns sat on a wide expanse of lawn. They’d all come to K9Rx Therapy Dog Kennels, outside town, to learn about their community service project. As promised, Denise Hendrix had set up everything. The girls would visit the puppies once a week for the next six weeks. They would play with them, learn how to teach simple commands and generally enjoy being kids having fun with puppies.

Taryn was there, as well. She sat on the grass, surrounded by girls and puppies.

“While all dogs need to be socialized,” Montana was saying, “it’s even more important for service dogs. Who can tell me why?”

Several of the girls raised their hands. Angel noticed Chloe put hers up by her shoulder, as if she knew the answer, but didn’t want to draw attention to herself.

Montana talked more about the dogs and how they worked in the community. She mentioned a reading program and one of the girls said her best friend’s brother had been a part of it. Angel waited until they stood to sort out the puppies and divide them among the girls to approach her.

He quietly explained about Chloe, and Montana motioned to one of the puppies that seem to hang back from the rest. Angel scooped up the small blond Lab mix and carried him over to Chloe.

“Hey,” Angel said as he sat by the girl. “I need your help with something.”

Chloe looked at him with big green eyes that were more sad than confident.

“This is Riley,” Angel told her. “He’s a little more shy than the other puppies. I wondered if you could make him your special project. He’s going to need one-on-one attention to help him become social. Montana thinks he has real potential, but only if he can be a little more outgoing.”

Chloe’s big eyes widened. “What happens if he doesn’t make it in the program?”

“Nothing bad,” Angel told her. “He’ll be adopted by a family. He’s a cute guy—he’ll find a home easily.”

Chloe took the puppy from him and settled him across one leg. “Hey, Riley. Are you sad because you miss your family?”

The puppy rolled onto his back and wagged his tail. Chloe giggled. “He’s funny.”

“He’s a good guy.”

Chloe nodded as she patted him. “I’ll help Riley be braver with the other puppies.” She stood and patted her leg. “Riley, come on. Let’s go walk around.”

Angel watched her lead Riley across the grass. The puppy scrambled to keep up at first, then started to run. The other dogs joined in. When Riley stopped, as if not sure what he was supposed to do with all the attention, Chloe got on her hands and knees right next to him. A couple of the girls joined her. Soon there was a giant Acorn-puppy tumbling game going on.

He’d noticed that Chloe’s first question to the puppy had been about missing family. Because of her father, he suspected. The loss— Well, he could relate to the pain.

Had it been like that for Marcus? he wondered, having his father leave all the time? Marie had never tried to make him feel guilty when he was deployed and she’d counseled Marcus to be strong, but it had to be hard on a kid when a parent went away.

For a second he thought about trying to say something to Chloe. About being a soldier and serving. But how would words make her feel better?

Angel let his attention drift to where Taryn was helping Montana and the rest of the Acorns teach a couple of puppies to sit. The session seemed to be more about laughing than actual instruction. Taryn grabbed one of the puppies and held her up in the air, then leaned in so the dog could lick her nose.

“Too cute,” Taryn said with a sigh.

He had to agree, although his interest had nothing to do with the Acorns or the puppies.

He stood and checked in with each of the groups of girls. They got a big game of tag going with all the Acorns and all the puppies. Soon there was plenty of laughing and yipping. When the puppies started to get tired, the girls helped get them all water, then sprawled on the grass with them.

The two hours sped by quickly. A few minutes before the parents were due to arrive for pickup, Angel got out the bag of beads and passed them out to the girls.

“For service,” he said. “There’s a second bead when we finish with the puppies.”

The girls put the bead on their leather bracelets, then watched as he and Taryn did the same. Once they were done, he walked them all to the waiting area.

When the last of the girls had been delivered to her parents, Taryn turned to him and adjusted the leather thong around his wrist.

“Lucky for you accessories are very hot this year,” she told him.

Her touch was light but arousing. She was standing close and he wanted her closer. Soon, he thought, thinking about their last kiss. Anticipation was great, but eventually they would both want more.

She smiled as her fingers lingered. “I’ll give you credit, big guy. You’re not intimidated by a grove of little girls anymore.”

“You think most men would have held out long in fear?”

“I know they would have. And I know there are very few who would be comfortable wearing this.” She tapped the leather. “You know I’m coming to CDS, right?”

“Justice mentioned it.” Something about branding and how their clients viewed them.

“So you won’t mind if I’m in charge?”

He smiled slowly. “Is that what all this is about? No, Taryn, you don’t intimidate me, either. I like that you’re good at your job. I like that you boss your football players around.”

He liked her, but saying that would take them a place neither of them needed to go. They were looking for something fun, not romantic. The challenge, not the fall.

“You’re saying I can boss you around, too?” she asked.

“Never going to happen.”

“You sound sure of yourself.”

“I am.”

She leaned against him for a second, then stepped away. “Good.”

* * *

TARYN HAD REACHED the point in her career where she was rarely nervous before a client meeting. But heading to CDS was different. She knew the cause—a certain man with gray eyes and a way of looking at her that made her feel feminine and flirty. She would say uncertain, only that wasn’t one of the emotions she allowed herself.

Still, she’d dressed carefully, choosing a Hervé Léger bicolor jacket in black and white and a black pencil skirt. Her shoes were Valentino Rockstud open-toe pumps with a two-inch platform and a five-inch heel. She wanted to be close to the tallest person in the room. With size came power. Kenny had taught her that. She wasn’t willing to bulk up, but she could rock a high heel.

She crossed the parking lot to the entrance and stepped into the offices. Justice was waiting by the front desk. He greeted her and shook her hand before leading her back to a conference room.

When they were seated, he offered her coffee, then flipped on a computer that began a PowerPoint presentation.

“As I told you,” he began, “our business is divided into two main parts. We provide professional training to people entering the service protection industry.”

She looked at him. “You don’t really call it that, do you?”

He flashed her a smile. “No.” The slide changed from a man in fatigue cargo pants and a T-shirt to a group of men and women in suits. “We also provide corporate events. A chance for a group to experience something outside their comfort zone. It allows them to bond as a unit. We are the shared adversary.”

He went over the structure of the company. Justice ran the business, Ford brought in clients, while Angel designed the various exercises, obstacle courses and training programs. Consuelo ran most of the classes directly.