“We broke up.”

“But I thought Jake was nice!”

Of course Gemma had thought Jake was nice, because he was. Too nice. He was seriously the whole package, except he was so freaking nice that Gracie had found herself doing things just to try to piss him off, to no avail. He was all about calm, open communication and Gracie had spent the last month bored to tears with him, but too embarrassed to tell her friends. She already had a reputation in town for being a man eater; once word got around that she had dumped handsome, sweet Jake Paulson, the town would be abuzz.

If Miss Know It All didn’t print it in Small Town Scandals first, the Rock Canyon Press’s new gossip column. Everyone was already addicted to it, and the woman had an uncanny ability to scoop even the veteran busy bodies. It was unnerving.

“Yeah, well, it just wasn’t going to work.” She reached out to grab a glass from the center table and pour herself a beer, when she caught a knowing glance between Gemma and Mike.

“What was that look about?”

“Nothing.” Gemma reached down for her purse and started fumbling through. Then she pulled out a twenty and handed it to Mike, who was grinning like a sinner in Vegas, Gracie understood.

Sounding more outraged than she actually was, she gave them her best crestfallen frown.

“I can’t believe you two were betting on my relationship!”

“Yes, you can. You’re just mad because I’ve gotten so good at predicting when you’re about to dump a guy,” Mike said.

Gracie’s gaze narrowed on her best friends. Gemma, she’d known since the two of them were in diapers and considered her more of a sister. While Gracie had been the extrovert, Gemma has been the level-headed bookworm, but their relationship had survived nearly thirty years.

They’d met Mike in high school, and although he was adorkable, Gracie had never felt that pull to be anything more than friends. Considering what a trouble maker she’d always been, it was a little weird that her best friends would be just like having two angels sitting on her shoulders.

If only she had the same kind of longevity in her love life that she had in her friendships.

“And how do you know that he didn’t dump me?” Gracie asked.

“Because you have that super power that renders most men blind to your faults.”

Gracie leaned over and kissed Mike’s cheek. “Aw, thanks, but I have no faults.”

“Ha!”

“Be nice, Mike,” Ryan said, her blue eyes sparkling mischievously. “She’s just picky.”

“Hey, I made you! I can destroy you!” Gracie was joking of course, although she had helped Ryan discover the confident, sexy woman she had been hiding just five months ago. Now, Ryan was engaged to Gregg, and the two of them would be celebrating their happy union in three weeks.

Gracie liked to take partial credit for that too.

“But you won’t ‘cause you love me,” Ryan said.

“Poor Eric,” Gemma said, suddenly. “He looks stressed out.”

At the mere mention of her nemesis, Gracie turned in her seat. Eric Henderson appeared worse than stressed, he looked like he was about to start making heads roll. His eyes seemed to be shooting laser beams at the customer currently ordering drinks, and Gracie had to admit, he was tall, dark and handsome enough to pull off the whole Clark Kent/Superman thing.

Mmm, another fantasy to add to the bank?

Shit. She turned her back on him, cursing herself. Ever since he had kissed her in that locked storage closet, she had been dealing with residual dreams, and yes, okay, fantasies of her own making, but they were all against her will. Sometimes, she forgot how much she hated his guts.

Especially since that kiss had almost made her throw all of her principles out the window.

“Maybe I should see if he needs some help,” Gregg said.

“What do you know about working behind a bar?” Mike asked.

“Like it takes a genius to pull a tab and fill a pitcher,” Gracie muttered.

But Mike heard her, and grinned evilly. “Then why don’t you go help? You’re sober, and besides, a hot blond behind the bar is always a help.”