Without a Net (21 page)

She felt suddenly embarrassed for him and the other performers, baring themselves for the lewd appreciation of women who were clearly more sex-starved than Isabelle herself. This wasn’t what she’d envisioned when she’d booked the show. It felt tawdry and somehow desperate. And it was starting to give her one hell of a headache.

She breathed a sigh of relief when the man winked and moved on to the next table. If she hadn’t skipped lunch and dinner, if the pressure weren’t building behind her right eye, if the sleep-deprivation and physical exhaustion of the last few years hadn’t finally caught up with her, then…what?

She pressed the chilled glass against her forehead and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, Sam.”

A moment passed, and then a slim hand settled on her arm. “You’re a brat, Iz, but I love you anyway.”

“Thanks.” She opened her eyes.
“So. About this Luca…”

Jane cleared her throat.
“Yes, Luca. He’s a good guy. You’ll like him.”

“He’s easy on the eyes,” Sam agreed. “But he’s a player.”

“Don’t scare her off, Sam. Ross and Alex wouldn’t have taken him on as a partner if they didn’t think highly of him.”

“I didn’t say he was stupid.”

“Of course he’s not stupid. He got tenure at Princeton.”

Sam dismissed that with a flick of her hand. “The fact that he’s smart has nothing to do with how he treats women. I’ve never seen him with the same woman twice.”

“He’s been burned,” Jane countered. “Went through a nasty divorce last year. Give the guy a break.”

“Like I said, Izzy.
Enjoy yourself, but don’t forget the condoms.”

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This Time for Keeps

Jill Blake loves chocolate, leisurely walks where she doesn’t break a sweat, and books with a guaranteed happy ending. A native of Philadelphia, Jill now lives in southern California with her husband and three children. By day, she works as a physician in a busy medical practice. By night, she pens steamy romances.

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First Kindle Edition, June 2014

Copyright © 2014 by Jill Blake

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without express written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction.
All characters and other entities appearing in this work are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, dead or alive, or other real-life entities, past or present, is purely coincidental.