Page 1 of A Lucky Shot

PROLOGUE

She wouldn’t be here if she’d just ignored his text.

She could be movie marathoning with Libby, wearing comfy pants, and indifferent to the frizz level of her hair.

Instead, Cassidy St. Claire was praying her back would forgive her for wearing shoes without arch support.

But ignoring him was her weakness. An Achilles heel swapped for some other body part, defenseless against his charms.

No. Not charms. Charms were … charming.

He had wiles.

She peeked over the top of her menu at the man smoldering beside her and a fresh shiver ran over her thighs. It wasn’t her fault a corner of his mouth ticked up in a way that turned any smile cheeky. Or that the man knew how to dress to show off his athletic body. Or how his faint accent rolled over her ears like auditory catnip.

Tonight, his dark eyes had cruised over every inch of her curves when he met her in the lobby of the exclusive restaurant, and his brilliant grin sent a flutter straight to the silky seam of her black underwear.

“Hey, gorgeous. You ready for some fun tonight?” His whisper in her ear sent a cascade of goosebumps down her neck. Catnip.

Fine. She had a lot of weaknesses where Nick was concerned. Including remembering that approximately half the women in a two-kilometer radius were susceptible to the same wiles she was.

He’d flirted with the coat check girl, who batted her lashes at him. He’d left the hostess giggling like a schoolgirl chatting up her crush. Even the server, whose job was to act interested in the hopes of a good tip, lingered at their table longer than necessary.

Cass felt like a fifth wheel on her own double date.

The couple across from her were all doe-eyed and distracted glances, fingertips trailing over each other through the night. Cass picked at the edges of her salad and glanced at her date’s hands all the way over on his side of the table. Hands that had explored her entire body, but fingers that never interlaced with hers. She swallowed her envy along with a ripened tomato and stared out the picture windows, letting in the last of the sunset.

“The tarte tatin looks delicious.” Jill bit her lip and flicked her eyes between dessert options. “But so does the lemon cheesecake.”

“Get them both and I’ll eat what you don’t,” Alex said, and whatever Jill whispered into his ear shook his shoulders.

Nick blinded the server with his thousand-watt smile. “What’s the most delicious thing I could eat here?”

“Oh, um, everything you see would be delicious,” she flustered out, then pointed at the menu and added in a low voice, “but this will melt in your mouth.” She turned an awkward glance at Cass. “What would you like, miss?”

To be wrapped up in the tablecloth and defenestrated? Forty floors to the pavement below would give her enough time to rethink every one of her life choices that led to opening his text that night. Cass folded the menu. “I’d like what she’s having, please.”

The gilded bathroom looked like it should have its own cover charge, and Cass stepped up to the rows of deep copper sinks. The ridiculous riot of curls she’d spent an hour trying to tame refused to behave. She adjusted a willful strand into order and applied a fresh layer of her signature Ruby Woo. Bold lipstick equalled big confidence. She needed it.

“You two are just the cutest,” Cass said. “I’ve never met Alex before, but Nick talks about him all the time. I don’t know what he was so worried about.”

Jill stilled and didn’t meet Cass’s eyes through the mirror. “Oh?”

“I just mean,” Cass continued as she tried to extract her foot from her mouth, “he gets a little twitchy where Alex is concerned. They’ve been friends a long time. But I think he warmed up to you quickly.”

“Right.” Jill made a doubtful noise in her throat, washing her hands and keeping her eyes trained on the shiny faucet. “So, you and Nick have been together for a while?”

Did a year of an on-again, off-again situationship count? Cass managed what she hoped was a genuine smile and shrugged a shoulder. “We can’t seem to figure each other out.”

That was one way of putting it.

Jill’s fair brows drew together. It didn’t take an empath to pick out the concern in the storm of emotion that crossed her face. “Well, I hope you figure out what’s best for you.”

All that time not-exactly together, it seemed more unlikely by the minute.

Jill fiddled with her lip gloss a moment and added, “That textiles exhibit you mentioned sounds fun. Maybe I could tag along?”

The exhibit Cass had raved about while Nick ignored her to snag Alex’s focus away from his date. Jill had listened with rapt attention.

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