Page 13 of The Boyfriend Material Novellas

I’d been shocked and broken. All my plans capsized.

So I poured my heart into my business because my business couldn’t leave me for someone else.

No one will blindside me again.

I can’t handle that kind of hurt, so I’ll avoid the possibility entirely.

That’s what I remind myself when I shove all my sister’s loony ideas out of my head.

* * *

The next night I wade through my closet, considering the best outfit to wear for the meeting.

My favorite jeans and that cute green top?

Or maybe the red skirt that fits just so?

I tap my chin, noodling on the options.

Ooh, those black boots are great for chilly weather.

I try them with the jeans, with the skirt, then with a dress, and decide on the skirt and the boots.

As I shower, I review the venues one more time, picturing each place, preparing to shift into full-on party planner mode.

Still, even party planners could use a shave . . .

5

VAUGHN

I haven’t broken my guidelines.

I haven’t even bent them.

The dinner with Quinn the other night was merely a momentary flirtation, a few accidentally naughty comments.

Well, maybe notentirelyaccidental.

But there were only a couple.

Hell, if I wasthattempted to fall off the wagon, I’d simply remove the opportunity. I’d can our venue recon plan and schedule a simple phone call instead.

But I can handle being near her, even without Josh as a safety net. Even without the hard deadline of jetting out of Manhattan at the start of the new year to expand our firm and open the Miami offices of Premiere.

And if I waver, there’s the still-fresh memory of Lexi reminding me why I laid down the law in the first place. My ex was dangerous and delicious, a combination that was my downfall with her. She convinced me to jump ship from the first agency I worked at to a company headed by Dick Blaine.

When I wanted to walk away after Dick asked me to do something unethical—make sure every single client had a fall guy, a friend who could take the rap if an athlete was driving drunk or screwing prostitutes—Lexi said I should stay. And that we should get married.

That was when the light bulb went on—she’d hitched her star to mine, figuring I was on the path to making more dough with Dick.

It’s easy to dislike Lexi in hindsight. But then I’d have to dislike myself because I was in love with her.

Or so I thought.

Hard to say now if it was love, or if I was simply a fool. All I know is I don’t want to get hoodwinked again.

That’s why romance is off the menu.

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