Shelby turned back to Taylor and smiled brightly. “Okay. Sugar cookies it is.”

Jake let himself into his house and was immediately attacked by an ecstatic Golden Retriever. “Hey, buddy!” Jake pushed the dog down then crouched to rub him all over. “I left you all night, didn’t I? You must’ve been wondering where I was. Sorry, big guy.” He rubbed Wayne’s ears. Guilt rose up in him. God, that wasn’t fair to the poor dog, to be left all night. Thank god he’d asked his neighbor to let Wayne out last evening, since he hadn’t known how late he’d be. Even so… “Need to go out?”

Wayne leaped toward the door and Jake let him out into his small backyard and watched him, leaning on the door. Poor Wayne.

When Wayne came back in, all happy, tongue lolling, Jake said, “C’mon, buddy, let’s go for a run.” He quickly changed into his running clothes, laced up his sneakers and grabbed Wayne’s leash, which made the dog delirious with pleasure. He gave a couple of short, sharp barks and Jake laughed.

Hopefully the run would clear his mind. Was he kidding himself when he told himself sleeping with Shelby wasn’t what he’d planned when he’d offered to help her?

He had to admit he’d always found her attractive, every time he’d seen her in the coffee shop. He truly didn’t think he’d had that ulterior motive when he’d made the crazy offer, but the chemistry between them was pretty damn explosive. It was no surprise they’d ended up burning up the sheets in Shelby’s bed.

He wiped sweat from his brow as he and Wayne ran through the park, the same park where the picnic had been held yesterday.

What was eating at him was the dilemma of what to do next.

Shelby was a sweetheart, and he’d done her a favor and that should be it. He’d complicated the hell out of things by having sex with her. It didn’t mean he ever had to see her again. But he wanted to. He’d had fun with her. And not just in bed.

And as if that weren’t complicated enough, because hey, if he wanted to see her again, why the hell shouldn’t he—there was Andrew.

Andrew was Shelby’s boss.

Fuck, what did it all mean? Jake actually stopped running and pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. His heart was pounding and sweat dripped off him, soaking his loose, sleeveless shirt. If he’d had any notion of actually calling Shelby and seeing her again, the fact that she worked for Andrew should make him put that thought firmly out of his head.

He lowered his hands, chest heaving, lungs straining for oxygen, and grinned at Wayne, sitting patiently and panting. They started into a slow jog along the paved path lining the beach. Palm trees provided some shade from the hot summer sun for all the people out enjoying the beautiful Sunday afternoon beside the Pacific Ocean.

Did Andrew want Shelby? Andrew had seemed annoyed when Shelby’d introduced them. Was it because it was him? Or would Andrew be annoyed at whoever she was dating? Jesus, he hated to think that Andrew would be like that. Would he cheat on Gianna? Would Andrew put the moves on someone he worked for? Jake had to admit he didn’t have very friendly feelings for Andrew since the day he’d found out his girlfriend was in love with him, and maybe that was influencing his take on this whole thing. But hell, if Andrew had been such a douchebag as to steal his best friend’s girlfriend, who was to say he wouldn’t cheat on her with someone else? Fuck. Jake picked up the pace of his running, his Nikes hitting the pavement in a steady rhythm.

And maybe that was a good enough reason to see Shelby again. To make sure Andrew didn’t screw around with her. To make sure he didn’t cheat on his wife. Gianna. Jake’s gut tightened at the thought of Gianna.

She’d left him. For Andrew.

But that had been a long time ago. Over a year ago. She was married to Andrew now, and that wasn’t going to change. Or was it? What was going on with their marriage? Strangely, he would’ve thought he’d feel some sort of satisfaction if things didn’t work out for them after what had happened. But he didn’t.

Shelby didn’t need to know about all that. She was the one who’d needed a fake boyfriend. And he’d already admitted he liked her. A lot. The attraction between them was real. Why not explore it?

He could just tell her the truth—that her boss was an asshole who’d stolen his girlfriend. He mulled that idea over as he reached the end of the beach where the smooth rocks that gave Rocky Harbor its name rose in rounded heaps. The paved path ended, and he stopped at the edge of the grass. “But what good would that do?” he asked Wayne, sitting there looking at him with his tongue hanging out of his mouth in what appeared to be a wide smile. Wayne had no answer for him so he started running again, now across the grass toward Ocean Drive.

He didn’t want to make Shelby and Andrew’s working relationship even more awkward. He also didn’t want Shelby feeling sorry for him, like he knew Gianna had been at the picnic. Shelby already suspected Andrew was scum. She just needed a way to keep him away from her and keep her job. And Jake could help with that. She didn’t need to know all that history.

Maybe Shelby didn’t want to see him again. Maybe he was stewing about this all for nothing. She’d gotten what she wanted—and he didn’t mean the three orgasms!—and maybe that was enough to let Andrew know she wasn’t interested in a little office nooky.

The only way to find out was to call her.

He crossed Ocean Drive and started a sprint toward home.

“That was quite a surprise seeing you with Jake Magill.”

Shelby smiled at Andrew across the small table in his office Monday morning despite the tightening of her stomach. “Oh that’s right, you two know each other. I forgot about that.”

“It’s funny he never mentioned me to you. How long have you two been seeing each other?”

“Um…” Shelby’s mind went blank. What had they talked about Friday night? Something about meeting in April…which was two months ago. “About a month,” she finally said. Crap, she was such a bad liar. Why had she thought she could get away with this? She smoothed damp palms over her knees beneath the table. “I guess I never mentioned your name to him.” Which was true.

Had Jake had forgotten to share something significant with her? Now she might blow the whole thing because she didn’t know about it.

She hadn’t thought much about Andrew and Jake knowing each other, though she’d commented to Myra when they’d gone antiquing yesterday afternoon on the uncomfortable tension she’d noticed between Jake and Andrew. Something had happened and now she was curious. But she’d have to ask Jake that question, because for once Andrew changed the subject from personal to business.

“Have you started on your project charter yet?” he asked.

She blinked once, twice, then opened the file folder on the table. “Yes, I’ve started it, but I wanted to ask you about a couple of things.”

They finished their business meeting, and as Shelby passed by Susan’s desk, she paused to smile and say hello. This time Susan returned the greeting with a smile of her own and Shelby spent a few minutes chatting with her about the picnic before returning to her cubicle, for once without feeling frozen by Susan’s animosity or weirded out by Andrew’s attention. He’d been quite cool, actually. She nibbled her bottom lip as she entered her password into her computer. She’d just wanted him to not have any ideas of being more than business associates, but she didn’t want him to hate her. Guilt at lying to him gripped her insides and twisted.

She opened the document she’d started for the project charter just as her cell phone rang. She reached for it and flipped it open, typing with one hand. “Hello.”

“Hi.” Jake’s deep voice had her fingers going still.