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  Copyright © 2016 by Marie Harte

  Cover and internal design © 2016 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

  Cover art by Craig White

  Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

  P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

  (630) 961-3900

  Fax: (630) 961-2168

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  Contents

  Front Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  A Sneak Peek at The Troublemaker Next Door

  A Sneak Peek at Test Drive

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Back Cover

  To all the Marines who have served, are serving, and will serve—Semper Fi

  And to D&R, I love you

  Chapter 1

  Worst day of the friggin’ year. Seattle had its doozies, but this one by far smacked of depression. In addition, it had been overcast and miserable all day, with rain continuing into the early evening. A glance around the surprisingly crowded gym made Landon Donnigan wish for a return to the scorching heat of Afghanistan. Better that than the danger of desperate singles looking to hook up on Valentine’s Day.

  God save me.

  Though life in the Marine Corps had been fraught with risk—and not the bullshit emotional kind of risks—he’d enjoyed his time both overseas and in the States. During his service, he’d thought a civilian life behind a desk would be worse than anything he might imagine. Now he took his current job in stride, pleased to be useful once more.

  But Valentine’s Day surrounded by flirting singles, in a gym no less? Sacrilege. He did his best not to make eye contact with anyone, especially the small group of women who kept looking his way. With any luck, they hadn’t noticed him, their attention on his supposedly charming younger brother standing next to him. He placed the hand weights he’d been using back on the rack, figuring he’d cut himself a break on his workout, just this once.

  His brother glanced over his shoulder at several of the staring women. “Is it just me? Or do you feel almost hunted right now?” Gavin waved, and they waved back. “I mean, I have to be here. I’m a trainer. But shouldn’t all these women be out with their significant others celebrating with flowers and chocolates? I thought lonely women on V-Day stayed at home, sobbing into their Earl Grey and fighting their twenty-plus cats for bonbons. Kind of like you on any night of the week—alone and lonely.”

  “You’re an ass.”

  Gavin chuckled. “Yeah, I am. I’m kidding…about the women.” He ignored the finger Landon shot him. “Seriously though, most of the women I know are either out with friends or pissed off at men in general and sitting at home.”

  “Like Hope, you mean?” Landon drawled. Their little sister had supposedly broken up with her latest dickhead boyfriend yesterday. God willing, the next guy she dated wouldn’t be so toxic.

  “Yeah. Like Hope.” Gavin nodded. “No worries, Bro. Hope’s situation will work out.” Gavin took after their father in looks and temperament. Dark-haired, too laid-back, and for some reason, well-liked by the ladies, who continued to watch him.

  Landon followed his brother’s gaze to the attractive group. “They seem interested. Why not go ask ’em out?”

  “No way in hell.” Gavin frowned. “We don’t fraternize with clients. Mac’s orders.”

  “Really? Because you’ve got a mess of opportunity right over there.”

  “That group is way too loaded for my blood. And by loaded, I mean richer than shit. They’re looking for a boy toy to play with. And rumor has it they break their toys.” Gavin glanced around him, then murmured, “Mac didn’t actually say I couldn’t date gym members. But when I tell them that, they leave me alone. I mean, they don’t want to get me fired from my job.”

  With any luck, Gavin would hold on to this one for a while. The last two jobs hadn’t gone well. Landon wasn’t the only one adjusting to civilian life after the Corps. He subtly leaned closer to Gavin. Good. No scent of alcohol on little brother’s breath tonight.

  “Smart excuse,” he said, trying to cover the sniff check.

  “Smart. That’s me.” Gavin didn’t do smug as well as he thought he did. Not like their youngest brother, who’d come out of the womb smirking at life in general. “But why are you here? I’d have thought you and Claudia would be getting romantic. Hell, man, it’s Saturday. You can’t use work as an excuse.”

  Landon shrugged and retrieved his towel and water bottle from the floor. “I thought I told you we broke up. We were never more than friends anyway.” Intimate friends. He’d been smart enough to end their casual relationship two months ago when Claudia had been hinting about changing their status to something much more serious. He’d been getting bored, and her constant neediness grated on his last nerve. As if Landon had time for more trouble when he had so much work to do fixing his dysfunctional family.

  “Yeah? That’s not what I heard.” A pause. “From Claudia.”

  Crap. “She’s been to the gym lately?” She’d quit when they’d broken up. Landon had only seen her once since then. Just last week. They’d exchanged a pleasant greeting, nothing more.

  “Yep. Heard her talking to Marsha about you yesterday, as if you two were still an item. Then she told me to say hi from her.” Gavin smiled wide. “So hi.”

  “Shut up.”

  Gavin snickered.

  Landon glanced around, praying the woman hadn’t arrived tonight. He hated hurting anyone, and he’d been surprised she’d taken their “friend” breakup so hard. Which only reinforced the notion he’d been right to sever the relationship in the first place. Dating should be fun, not a minefield. He’d had enough of those to last a lifetime.

  He scowled, feeling hemmed in. Jameson’s Gym was supposed to be his refuge in this chaotic, civilian world. Landon appreciated the hell out of the owner giving his brother a job. Mac Jameson seemed to be a stand-up guy. He’d been a master sergeant in the Marine Corps before doing permanent damage to his knee, ending his time early. They shared that connection—common core values
, an appreciation for discipline and order, and medical bullshit ending a guy’s dream.

  “Mac here?” he asked.

  Gavin shook his head. “Seriously? You’ve seen his wife, right? She’s hot as hell. No doubt they’re hanging at home for some ‘alone time.’” Gavin sighed. “I miss uncomplicated sex.”

  At his words, a pretty blond in tights stopped behind him and gave him a toothy grin. “Hey, Gavin. How’s it going?”

  His younger brother cringed, then turned around and gave her an insincere smile back. “Oh, ah, hi, Michelle. How are you?”

  “Great. I just finished my workout.” She eyed Gavin the way a lion would a helpless gazelle. The comparison made it hard not to laugh, especially with the hunted look on Gavin’s face. “Shouldn’t you be out with your girlfriend tonight?” Michelle asked, her voice breathy. “Hope, right?”

  “Hope’s my sister.”

  “Oh, so you are single then. Megan and I were talking.”

  “I’m single, yeah, but I don’t mingle with—”

  Michelle grabbed him by the arm, her sharp nails a bright pink. “How lucky for me you’re here. I could really use a spotter.”

  “I thought you said you were done with your workout.”

  “I mean I’m almost done.”

  Gavin couldn’t rightly refuse to help Michelle train. Landon ignored the beseeching look his brother shot him and subtly stepped away.

  “Ah, sure.” Gavin blew out a breath. “Are all of you training together?” he asked, staring at the three women watching them.

  “Yep. We need someone to show us the proper way to use some of the equipment.” The same equipment she’d been using for as long as Landon had been coming to the gym. She tugged Gavin with her. “Then after, maybe you and I can do a casual dinner.” She blinked at Landon. “How about you, Landon?”

  Gavin hemmed, “Well, I don’t know. My brother and I were supposed to—”

  “Go ahead, Gav.” Landon almost felt sorry for him. Then he remembered what Gavin had said and smiled. “Sorry, Michelle. I have plans. I’ll be at home drinking Earl Grey and playing with my cats.”

  Gavin scowled at him. Michelle shrugged, her claws still hooked into Gavin. “Oh well. Gavin, I know there’s a no-dating policy, but it’s not a date if it’s just dinner. Or dessert,” she purred.

  Knowing his brother could take care of himself, at least when it came to women, Landon headed for the men’s sauna before Michelle’s rabid pack of singles decided not to take no for an answer. Not that he considered himself God’s gift to women, but he’d been doing his best to avoid several of her friends since he’d been coming to the place. He’d never hurt for bed partners, blessed with his parents’ good looks and a body built from constant exercise.

  He didn’t spend his free time at the gym to hook up. He wanted a workout.

  As he sat in the sauna, he struck up a conversation with some other poor fool with nothing better to do on Valentine’s Day. At least Landon wasn’t the only guy not all that keen on hearts and flowers.

  “Yeah, well, don’t feel bad for not getting all the hype about V-Day, man. Frankly, I’d rather soak in here than deal with trying to figure out what women want.”

  “Or what men want,” his companion griped.

  “Amen.” Landon chuckled, not surprised that any relationship could give a guy a headache. “Time for me to go. Later.” The guy nodded, and Landon left to grab his stuff and head home.

  The house he—and now Gavin—rented sat in the heart of Queen Anne. He lived close to his aunt and uncle and a bevy of annoying cousins, but a neighborhood over from his parents, who had a big home in Fremont. Since moving back to Seattle, he’d already been to an engagement party and had invitations to three weddings.

  At least his cousins were getting married and growing up. To hear Linda Donnigan tell it, her own children could take lessons from their McCauley cousins. The Donnigans were seriously screwed up.

  Frankly, Landon agreed.

  He entered the house after locking up his car and grimaced at the mess Gavin had once again left in the kitchen. After doing the dishes and straightening up the living room, Landon took his things into his bedroom and put his laundry away before taking a quick shower.

  Yeah, his mother had it right. She was a type A workaholic, balanced by his mellow father who thought the world would be all right with a little more love. Landon snorted. If love came in the form of some hand-to-hand combat or a grenade, then yeah, he agreed. It never failed to amaze him that his father had served as a Navy corpsman, taking care of Marines in combat, with that peace-love attitude. But while Van Donnigan didn’t worry about much, Linda and Landon stressed for the lot of them.

  Landon finished his shower and dressed in comfortable sweats, dwelling on the mess his family had become. Gavin had a bad case of PTSD he was trying to drown in booze. Hope kept bringing home clones of Jack the Ripper, and Theo had his head buried up his ass, in denial that high school was over and he had to grow the hell up.

  With a groan, Landon settled on the couch and pulled up a kung fu movie on television. After the week he’d had, he deserved the break. Though he’d been relieved to find transitioning to civilian life a lot easier than he’d anticipated, his job had taken some getting used to. No longer able to take long runs during lunch or bark orders at his subordinates, he’d gotten back into the swing of business management, landing a sweet job thanks to an employment recruiter and some old friends. Being an officer had its perks, even on the outside.

  He could manage the employees of D&R Logistics with his hands tied behind his back. His biggest challenge had been learning the company’s mission and getting on board with their management structure. That and convincing his buddy Daniel to stop treating him like a friend and act like a boss.

  With a sigh, he ran his fingers through his cropped blond hair, aware it had never been so long, not in over thirteen years. But a high and tight haircut in Seattle, during the winter, was sheer idiocy.

  He grabbed himself a beer and settled in for some amazing martial arts. Between one blink and the next, the show had ended, the room seemed much darker, and the front door opened. Gavin stumbled in. A glance at the clock on the mantel showed a glowing two in the a.m.

  “Yo, Bro,” Gavin slurred and chuckled. “What a night.”

  Landon sighed. “I thought you were done drinking.”

  “I was. But it’s Valentine’s Day! A night for lovers.” He walked out of his shoes, dumped his bag on the floor, and tripped into the couch, sprawling next to Landon. “Michelle’s a real snob, but she sucks better than a Hoover.”

  “TMI, Gavin.” Landon shook his head, concern for his brother growing. “You didn’t drive, did you?”

  “Nah. Took a cab.”

  Thank God for small favors. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

  “Sure.” Gavin grinned and closed his eyes. “Not gonna dream tonight. I’m plastered.”

  Landon dragged him to the nearby bathroom and nagged at him to piss. Then he half carried the idiot to his bedroom and covered him up in bed. Hopefully Gavin would get a decent night’s rest. Then tomorrow, Landon would arrange for the family to plan that intervention his little brother needed, before it was too late.

  He returned to the living room to lock the door, turned everything off, then went to bed. The world around him might be spiraling out of control, but he controlled his own environment.

  He snorted. Valentine’s Day with hearts and flowers? More like a drunken brother, a half-finished kung fu movie, and a beer. Yeah, that sounded about right.

  * * *

  Ava Rosenthal smiled at her date and did her best not to draw on preconceived notions of what a healthy beginning to a relationship should entail. Turn it off, Ava. She had a bad habit of overanalyzing everything, a holdover from constantly counseling her patients about their
lives, no doubt.

  Ten minutes into her date with Matt, she suspected he had narcissistic tendencies. But she was determined to give it time. She made it past the hors d’oeuvres and salads, nodding, smiling, and trying to interject a comment here and there, to show she was engaged.

  “Yes, I agree, I—”

  “Then I made sure he was satisfied. I mean, I won’t get repeat clients if they feel like we’re not working with their insurance companies.” Matt smiled, and his dimples winked at her. Such bright blue eyes. He was slender, neat, and handsome. Just her type.

  She took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. She could handle a chatty date. “Exactl—”

  “So I told Alice to relay that to our providers. Then I created a new system where we…” His words ran together, and since he stared more at his plate, shoveling food in while he talked, he didn’t notice her eyes crossing.

  Good God, Matt, shut up for two seconds and swallow before you speak, at least.

  He continued to discuss his dental practice, somehow segued into why he’d chosen online dating, and throughout dinner and into the dessert she’d tried to avoid, finally brought up his ex.

  “They say you shouldn’t bring up an ex on the first date,” he said between bites of bread pudding, which she loathed. “But I figured we should get to know each other. I feel like we’re really hitting it off, you know?”

  How he could think that when he hadn’t let her get a word in edgewise, she had no idea. Usually people asked her questions about what it was like being a clinical psychologist. Fascination with people and their problems she understood. This guy couldn’t care less. Maybe her online profile had told him enough.

  Stay positive. It’s only a first date. “The food is delicious.”

  He nodded and smiled, and she saw more of his masticated dessert than she wanted. Now feeling a little queasy, she pushed aside her tiramisu and sipped from her water glass. I am in a desert, thirsting for a meaningful connection, and I’m dying. An image of her crawling through sand for water felt all too real.

  She guzzled her glass.