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The high-pitched yell had hi under his breath

"They’re ba-ack," Ford said as he ran past

Most s of coffee They sat and watched until the ga that shirts weren’t the only thing that should come off

He had no problem with that It was that one of the old ladies seemed especially interested in hio at one of the town festivals and he would swear she’d pinched his ass

Justice scored for the other teaot into place and caught it, then passed it to a teaht that if soo after his ass, he would pick Dellina They’d only been together that one time, but it had been ht as he turned and reached for the ball Her mouth had made him--

He came to a stop involuntarily as his facehard and sharp Pain exploded by his eye, but before he even started swearing, he passed the ball to Clay Only then did he reach up to touch the rapidly swelling luive him a black eye He turned to Consuelo

"Seriously? You had to do that?"

"You weren’t paying attention You know I hate that" She sounded more defensive than contrite Then she pointed to his face "Your nose is bleeding, too"

He rubbed his chin Sure enough, his hand ca toward hi," Sa blood would et so to say I’m sorry," Consuelo yelled after him

He smiled No, she wouldn’t, and he liked that about her

Sam walked across the street It was still before seven but when he entered the offices of Score he found Taryn in the foyer She took one look at him and shook her head

"No," she said fir you up And don’t bleed on the carpet" She walked to the phone at the reception desk and picked up the receiver A second later she said, "Saot injured" She paused and looked at him "Black eye and bloody nose" Another pause "Yes, they are idiots"

She hung up "Larissa will meet you in the locker room" She pulled a box of tissues from the reception desk and thrust it at hian

He took the box and pulled out a handful "You’ll what?"

"Be very angry"

"Ooooh I’lared at hi four-inch heels, the pace was impressive

Twenty minutes later Larissa re to have a black eye," she ers over his cheek "You want to go see a doctor?"

"No"

"Typical Use the ice packs for ten minutes on, ten minutes off Don’t press hard"

"I kno to do this," he re how to treat a black eye? Not getting hit in the first place"

He nodded "Point taken"

She started putting away her first aid supplies "It’s not usually you who gets distracted What happened?"

He’d been thinking about Dellina’s mouth Not that he would share that with Larissa "It was one of those things"

"Poor Sa to one of roups about--"

He was already halfway out the door "Good luck with that"

"You didn’t hear ant to rescue"

"I know"

FAYRENE HOPKINS WAS a big fan of having a plan She knew exactly where she wanted her business to be by her twenty-eighth birthday She understood theto buy a s her own co up real estate in Fool’s Gold She had friends, family, a wonderful age her

It wasn’t the ring itself, she ad represented Commitment Because as much as Ryan swore he loved her, he seeet et on with the next phase of their relationship

She sat on the stool in her sister’s spare bedroo with a client issue Which left Fayrene alone with a dozen or so beautiful wedding gowns Some were samples, others had been ordered for soon-to-be brides Brides engaged toand set the date

Fayrene sighed heavily She knew in her heart she had no one to blame but herself When she and Ryan had firstfor love She’d been interested in building her business She was young and sometimes that meant she wasn’t taken seriously She knew that for the other businesses in town to be willing to use her services and trust her to get the job done, she had to be willing to doin love would only be a distraction

Only Ryan had been sonice, she thought wistfully Sweet and funny They’d ineer while she’d been filling in for the receptionist She’d also been pet-sitting a pregnant cat who had chosen thataround like a crazy person, Ryan had calether She’d been impressed She’d tried to keep her distance from him, but she’d been unable to resist his charms And when he’d kissed herwell, she’d been totally lost

Now, as she picked up one of the dresses and held it against her, she supposed Ryan’s greatest virtue was that he was doing exactly what she’d asked Waiting When they’d ad her chance at her business drea married would have been too reed to wait four years One of which had passed, which left three o

Only she didn’t want to wait anyet that infor hiain Froh the protective plastic, it was a beautiful strapless goith layers of--

"Leave that dress alone!" Dellina walked into the room and put her hands on her hips "Fayrene, that’s either a special order or a sample You can’t mess with the o to Paper Moon and try it on in the store like a norhed "I’m not normal I’ and got engaged iether"

"They also eloped"