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Oh no! What was she going to tell her sister? Brielle would be furious that she had accepted a date from her ex.
Then again…
Hadn’t Brielle technically dated James before Constance did? Maybe she wouldn’t bethatmad?
Heat rippled through her body as she forced herself to take one step, then another. The way Brielle had been lately hadn’t been the most predictable. Eloise didn’t think it was possible, but Brielle was far moodier than she’d been before. She’d gone from the carefree older sister who wouldn’t settle down if her life depended on it, to someone who seemed to despise the fact that she was one of the last ones standing.
Eloise didn’t mind being one of the last. The pressure to get married was off her shoulders and she could date whomever she pleased.
Sorta.
Brielle still seemed to have something against Marc. And while she didn’t seem to like Shane that much anymore, she could at least tolerate him.
Eloise shook her head. She needed to clear it—to get into the right mindset for work. Too much had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and she was ready for everything to return to normal.
She stepped into the kitchen, placed her apron around her waist and stood by the counter she normally shared with Hannah. But instead of her new friend, there was someone else.
The young man offered her a small smile, then ducked under the counter to retrieve a few things.
“Where’s Hannah?”
He glanced at her, surprised. “Oh. She called in sick. I’m Todd.”
Well that was just great. Eloise could have used a friend to bounce ideas off. She didn’t know how to tell her sister what was going on, nor how she was going to explain to Marc that she was now dating both of them—casual as it might be.
It was probably just as well. Hannah was likely to put her in her place and remind her that she needed to stop being such a pushover.
Eloise hadn’t initially wanted to go on a date with Shane, after all. She’d wanted to put distance between them.
There had just been something about the way he looked and the way he acted toward her that had pulled her in. She couldn’t explain it any better than that, which was probably a reason she could be grateful that Hannah wasn’t around.
She’d go on this date with Shane and hopefully figure out what it all meant before she had to see her friend again. Then maybe she could explain why she had been so willing to do something so crazy.
11
Shane
Shane should have felt like a complete dirtbag. He’d done everything Brielle had told him to, right down to making himself look disheveled.
A decent person wouldn’t stoop so low to manipulate a woman to go out with him. A good man would have found a way to convince her of his feelings.
And he felt like he was neither one of those.
He’d been desperate.
And yet, now that Eloise had agreed to see him, he couldn’t deny that there was a little bit of light shining through the darkness of his heart. For whatever reason, he needed this—something to look forward to.
Was it wrong to play a part to get her to say yes?
Definitely.
But he had no intention of hurting her, no intention of making this permanent. And from the looks of it, Eloise felt the same. She was willing to keep this casual.
They would go on a date. They could remain friends after the fact. As long as he had a chance to show her what Marc’s true intentions were, he’d be golden. Then Madeline wouldn’t win and he could go back to the way things were.
There was only one problem with his plan.
Madeline didn’t give up easily. Whatever she had in store for him would likely destroy him. He had to be ready for anything.
