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  The sound of Abby’s cell broke the seconds of silence that followed as she tried to settle her pounding heartbeat. Without thinking or looking, she grabbed it and answered.

  “Abby?” As if it couldn’t get any worse, guess who. Carter.

  Oh shit.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Carter stared at the montage of traffic and waited. Was Jackson going to answer or what? They hadn’t spoken in a long time, and it was about time to actually talk rather than text. Not to mention he needed to discuss the project for a few minutes and get background on his client—something Jackson could likely provide.

  “Hi, Carter,” said a definitely feminine not-Jackson voice he was familiar with. Too familiar with. Had he dialed wrong? He checked the display. Abby answered Jackson’s phone? “Hang on a second.” Her voice became muffled as she spoke to someone else. “You need to tell him. Straighten it out. It’s not my place to air your shit.” Obviously that was to Jackson.

  Carter growled and raised his voice. “What are you doing answering Jackson’s phone?”

  “Technically, it’s not Jackson’s.”

  He heard a muffled noise on the other end then Jackson spoke, “Hey, Carter. What’s up?”

  “You son of a bitch.” He punched the End button and hung up. So it was true.

  He was an idiot to think maybe there was a woman somewhere who Jackson hadn’t screwed or at least charmed into wanting him. Why would Abby be different? Was the entire time spent with Abby just a fluke? His imagination? No, there was a connection—he was sure of it. Am I forgetting the night her phone went crazy and she ran out like there was a fire?

  He was already late for his meeting and the traffic was shit. He cursed. The traffic was always shit in Bangkok, so what was different now? Other than his thoughts were only partially on the meeting that waited. He grabbed his satchel from the floor of the cab, paid, and shoved his way toward the building. Well, at least now he understood why the guy never showed up for their group lunches or any of the baseball games. He had been brave enough to go after her without him present but not to face him while doing so.

  Carter had known Jackson for twenty years, ever since the thought of girls made them puke. Their competiveness had always been a fun part of their friendship. Until now. Now it was so—over. If it weren’t for this contact and Jackson’s ties, he’d never deal with the man again. Ever. In fact, he’d just—

  Carter lifted the phone from his pocket, scrolled through the contacts to Jackson’s name, and started to press the Delete key. He hesitated and moved to Abby’s. Now he understood why she’d never given him her private number. What an idiot. Still, he couldn’t delete the numbers. He told himself it was because his business still had a contract for plant maintenance and Jackson was still a business contact. For now.

  He needed to vent and brought up the chat app as he walked. He tripped on the curb with the first keystroke, so stopped and leaned against the wall for a minute.

  He typed:

  Hey. I could use a kind word right now. You there?

  She Hearts Dogs: Sure, what’s wrong?

  Should he really spill his guts to a stranger? He shrugged.

  Just one of those days. Listen, I’m thinking we need to give this meeting thing a shot. After all, we’re in the same territory and talk a lot already. It would be shame not to at least have one face-to-face. What d’ya think?

  The screen blinked at him as if to say no, no, no, no. He waited.

  She Hearts Dogs: OK.

  He smiled and pulled from the wall, nearly smacking a bicycling woman with a stack of bags on her handlebars. Okay, then.

  Fortunate for Carter, he did his best work when angry. The meeting went fantastic. A lot was accomplished, and he was certain another contract was in the works that would up their earnings significantly.

  Later that night, he stood at the window of his hotel suite absorbing the twinkle of a busy city. The moon striped a bright sheen across the water beyond, as if to remind him it would be on the other side of the world when he woke up. He shrugged. Maybe he should go out for a while, immerse himself in the local culture and take in one of the night spots. Why not?

  From the desk, his computer signaled an incoming Skype call. He frowned and strode to the screen. He hadn’t scheduled a meeting tonight. The video chat showed a message.

  Carter, are you there?

  He pecked a response:

  Who is this?

  It’s Abby. Can we talk?

  Should he connect? Hell, he’d already been through this once in the last six months. There was something sick about subjecting yourself to it on a regular basis. He pecked in two letters and strode out of the room to enjoy a little nightlife. The door crashed shut behind him and he was certain it probably woke everyone down the hall—not that he cared.

  • • •

  “For a guy who seemed so much fun in the beginning, he sure gets riled up about stuff.” Caroline signed a delivery slip from the cute FedEx guy, gave him a wink, and carried the new package toward the back.

  Abby had to appreciate her work ethic. The woman lifted boxes as if they were filled with air and never minded the dirt, labor, or hours. Her outfit was a little quirky sometimes—today particularly: pink leggings with black stripes under a wild green shirt that hung to her hips, with cargo boots. It was a small price for her dependability and support. “I can’t exactly fault him for having a problem with his best friend sleeping with the girls he’s interested in. That’s like me going after one of your boyfriends.”

  Caroline turned, package in tow, and lowered a brow. “Seriously? I don’t think we shop in the same supermarket when it comes to men, girl. I doubt that will ever be an issue.”

  “Good point.”

  Caroline shoved through to the back as the door jingled to announce a customer. Abby put on a smile to greet—Roger.

  “Hi, Abby.” It was the first time he’d spoken her name, and thankfully he didn’t do something gross and lecherous like stare at various body parts.

  “Hi there! What a surprise.”

  Caroline returned from the back. “Say, you think we can make requests on who delivers our FedEx packages? That guy was seriously—Oh.” She stopped when her eyes locked on Roger.

  “Caroline.” He nodded and shuffled his feet.

  “Dickwad,” she acknowledged.

  “Hey!” Abby frowned. “Customer talking.”

  “Sorry.” Caroline shrugged and reached under the counter for a pair of scissors.

  Roger frowned. “You’ve changed a lot, Caroline. The years have been good apparently. I didn’t even know it was you at first.”

  “Yeah, well, people usually do when they get older.” Caroline snipped some ribbon loose from a roll and started putting together some bows.

  Huh, what?

  “I didn’t say it was bad, just different.”

  Abby’s mouth dropped. “You guys know each other?”

  Roger nodded. “Sort of. Ask her. We uh, hung out in college a while before Caroline ran off to find herself.”

  “I didn’t run off and I certainly wasn’t looking for myself in the process. Except for college, I’d never been farther than an hour from here growing up. I wanted to see the world and write about it.” She jabbed the newly made disaster-of-a-bow into a pot of ivy and wagged the scissors his way. “I called.”

  “Yeah, for a while. Then—nothing.”

  “Well, you were busy becoming Mr. Big Shot Businessman. I was …. We had nothing to talk about.”

  Roger shook his empty cup of ice and drew a sputtered slurp from the straw. “No kidding. It doesn’t seem like the world met your expectations, Caro.”

  Abby noted the weird nickname and raised a brow. Obviously, there was a lot more to Roger than met the eye. “Caro? As in Karo syrup?”

  Caroline threw the scissors on the counter and came around to meet him face to face. “Why are you here, Rog?”

  He stepped back into a rack of ros
es and held up his hands. “God, you’re angry. Did your hair start spiking up like that when your personality began bristling too? Or is that something you caught over in Germany or Scotland, kind of like the foot and mouth disease they had in two thousand one?”

  That was all it took for Caroline. Her eyes bulged and her face went crimson. She dropped a couple of creative f-bombs before she stormed to the back to unpack the new delivery.

  “Soooo, Roger, that was interesting.” Abby had no idea what to say next other than, “Can I help you with something?”

  He stared at the door as if he expected Caroline to storm through again. She didn’t. He blinked and turned her way. “Yeah, um, I noticed something a while back, then last night I got a crazy call from Carter, just before another one came from Jackson. I started digging through my phone messages and voila. He thrust his cell phone in front of her and showed a text. The one where she commented on her physical attributes. As Jackson.

  Her skin tingled and heat crept up her neck. “What’s that?”

  “As if you don’t know.”

  “Okay. You caught me, so what. It’s not my fault. He started it. He texted me first. I just didn’t have the heart to correct him when he said she dumped him.”

  “Huh?” He glanced back at the unmoving door then shifted to peer over the plants Abby decided to move between them. For lack of anything else to keep her busy.

  “It’s a long story.”

  “I have plenty of time.” He leaned against the counter and stuffed his hands in his pockets, awaiting the explanation she’d already botched once. With Jackson and Amanda. Thankfully the door burst open again and a group of teenage boys bustled in.

  She grinned and greeted them, thankful for the reprieve. “As you can see, it’s a little busy here. Maybe another time?”

  “You and I need to talk. Meet me at the coffee shop down the street when you guys close.” He was out the door before she could decline. Judging by the exchange with Caroline, she wasn’t getting any backup either. The teenagers ordered a round of corsages for an upcoming dance at school. As they left, Abby’s cell rang. She answered.

  “Well, imagine that. Hello, Abby,” Roger drawled. “Surprise.”

  “How’d you get this number?” She hadn’t forwarded the shop phone since she was in it. He’d called her direct.

  “Hmmm. I don’t know, let’s just say—a little text messaging exchange maybe? By the way, it’s a beautiful day out … side. You should come out and play.”

  Abby whirled around to stare through the window—where Roger waved. Dang it, and to think I said that guy was shy.

  “I c-can’t. I’m working.”

  He laughed. “Chicken. Seriously, we need to talk. See you after work.”

  Yikes. “’Kay.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “What’s the story with Caroline?” Abby figured if she interrogated Roger first, it might take the focus off her. Judging by the fact Roger had spotted the texting error, she assumed he also knew everything that was said. What she didn’t know was whether Jackson had told him about Amanda. Or what Carter may have said either.

  “Ask her.” He swirled some cream into his coffee and lowered into the chair opposite.

  “I did. She clammed up like a steel cage, said it was ancient history.”

  He shrugged. “There you have it. So, Carter thinks you’re Jackson. Right?”

  Abby took a sip of her latte and cringed when it scalded her tongue. “It seems that way.”

  “So, why are you pretending? Why haven’t you cleared it up?”

  “I’m not—I wasn’t. He just started texting me out of the blue right after she broke up with him. Something about the tickets being a shit idea. Did you see that message too?”

  Roger shook his head and rolled the cup in his fingers. “Nope, I’ve only seen the group messages. I got a laugh out of the one you sent—but I bet he didn’t.”

  She rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “That’s not the half of it. Tell me something, what do you know about Jackson?”

  “A lot. Why?”

  She leaned forward on her elbows. “So you know everything?” As in, he’s boinking Amanda and planning to marry her right under Carter’s nose?

  “Everything.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell him? I mean the guy’s a jerk. He was sneaking around with Carter’s girl behind his back and telling him to buy her tickets as a gift—a stupid idea, by the way. Don’t ever do that. Then I went to Carter’s mom’s and saw all those pictures of them as kids and—”

  Roger’s eyes popped. “You did what?”

  “He texted me thinking I was Jackson and asked me to go check on Becky—”

  “Now you’re on a first name basis with his mother? Holy shit.”

  “She’s nice. Carter said her meds had to be refilled before he got back—since he thought I was him, what was there to do? I mean, Jackson sure as heck wasn’t interested in helping out or he never would have—”

  “You don’t know that.”

  Abby snorted. “Where I come from, best friends don’t steal each other’s girls—or guys—and if they do, well, that’s a good way to become an ex-friend real fast. Isn’t there a guy code about that too? Or am I living under a rock?”

  Roger sipped again from his cup. “I suppose that depends on the guy, but most guys don’t go that route. All I know is, she knew Jackson before Carter. They were involved a long time ago and then something happened. Carter brought her to one of our after-work binges and ta-da, old flame reunites—only technically there were two flames.”

  “She kept stringing Carter along even when Jackson was back in the picture? There’s a word for girls like that, you know.” Abby took another swig of coffee then cursed and pulled off the lid. She pursed her lips and blew on the steaming liquid.

  “Well, in most cases I’d agree with you, but according to Jax, she agonized over it for weeks before she finally had the courage to tell Carter. Apparently there were a lot of issues to work out between her and Jackson as well. Then when she finally told Carter, she didn’t have the heart to give him the details. She wanted Jax to do that part.”

  Abby sighed. “Well, he really screwed that up. No surprise … and no pun intended. Where did I get pulled into all this?”

  “You were the first.” Roger finished off his coffee and went to put the cup in the trash. When he returned, he checked his phone briefly.

  “I most certainly was not the first.” She wasn’t that stupid. Nor was he that, well, inexperienced.

  “He saw you first—at the park. He mentioned you a couple of times. Hell, we even followed him to the park once and made bets on—”

  Abby held up a hand and shook her head. “Don’t tell me. Some things just don’t need to be shared.”

  He grinned. “We made bets on how long it would take him to talk to you. The rest was just a way of goading him into it—making him prove us wrong. No one really thought that.”

  She furrowed her eyes. “Need I remind you exactly who said what? I saw the messages, remember?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, well, it worked, didn’t it? He finally met you and you guys hit it off, didn’t you?”

  Did they? Sure, it was fun too. But now? If Carter knew the whole story, he’d hate her even more for spying on him all this time—not to mention she’d completely withheld the business about Jackson and Amanda. Oh, and his mother. The list was growing along with her heavy conscience.

  “Yeah, except now he thinks I’m involved with Jackson and won’t talk to me.”

  Roger snorted. “He won’t talk to Jackson either. Not that I blame him. Do you think he’d be the same way if he actually knew the truth?”

  “Which truth?” It was all getting pretty muddled, but there didn’t seem to be any truth left.

  “That it was Amanda with Jackson, not you.”

  She shrugged. “Does it matter? He hates me and I’m not really all that big on him anymore either. I still have to get
the shop in the black in the next few months—or at least stop the bleeding.”

  “You guys looked like you were doing pretty well to me.”

  “Call me crazy, but from what I could see, you never looked past my partner long enough to see the place was empty. We’re getting orders slowly, but it’s sporadic.”

  “It’ll turn around.”

  She wished she had his confidence.

  “Give it time.”

  “Time I have. Money—not so much. So, do you plan to spill the beans to Carter that I’ve been eavesdropping?” She sipped the coffee, which had finally cooled enough to taste.

  “Nah, not yet. I’m saving that for the right time.”

  “There is a right time to out me? When exactly would that be?”

  He laughed. “You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?”

  “Uh oh.”

  He shrugged. “Just because I have a foul mouth doesn’t mean I’m a bad guy. Besides, I have my reasons. See ya, Abs.” He winked and left.

  • • •

  The following afternoon the door jangled on opening and Abby’s stomach dropped. “Don’t come near me.” Abby’s eyes popped as Jackson entered the store. She searched behind him for the crazy fiancé.

  Jackson held up his hands in surrender. “Ease up. I didn’t come to cause trouble. I just wanted to clear the air.”

  “Look, I don’t mean to sound skeptical but clarity doesn’t seem to be following you around much. In fact, a putrid cloud of confusion would be more the description.”

  He grinned. “Probably so, but you need to know it’s not all my fault. You were supposed to meet Carter. It just went to crap thanks to Roger.”

  Abby hitched a brow and cross her arms. “Seriously? So, you’re going to blame this all on him? He’s not the one chasing someone else’s girlfriend.”

  Jackson lifted his thin shoulders. “She was actually mine first but skip that for now. Carter and I used to meet at the park Saturday mornings to shoot hoops. Sometimes Roger would show up. As much as he pretended not to, Carter watched you run like you were ice cream. Crazy thing is, he’d never go talk. Said it would be creepy to do so at the park.”