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With hi…

Ethan Chase isn’t interested in dating After losing the woman he loved more than life itself, he’dhiet them off his back, he hooks up with ultra-adventurous, ultra-terapher, Rue Campbell All he has to do is survive three weeks in her orbit and he’ll be single again, only without the pitying looks and pressure to move on

Rue is literally counting the days until her plane leaves New York City The last thing she wants is a relationship, but being Ethan’s pretend girlfriend can’t hurt, right? Wrong With Ethan, there’s no faking anything—in or out of the bedroo on their arrangeuaranteed to derail her goals…and break her heart

For Carol and brighter days ahead

Chapter One

Not many women were able to capture Ethan Chase’s attention nowadays—a likely side effect of losing the one he’d loved more than life itself But in the blink of a ure out why The distraction in question was kicking the crap out of a vintage, cherry-red Mustang

Ethan winced He wasn’t a car guy, but he knew a ’66 classic when he saw one He didn’t ily restored would resort to kicking it, but hell, this was New York City, where anything could happen…and usually did

He didn’t realize he’d stopped in his tracks until she turned to look at him

“I locked my keys in my car,” she said, and what should have been a simple statement of fact sounded far too much like she expected him to care

He hadn’t asked He didn’t want to be involved He’d only wanted to walk down his old street in Flatbush like he did every year on the anniversary of his wife’s death, past the house they’d once shared This year, there’d been kids running around the place, a dog in the mix Their obvious joy had pierced the darkness a little but with the burst of light, an unexpected shadow had grown Those could have been his and Amy’s kids, but that drea of that now—especially when he wasn’t standing on his old stretch of sidewalk, peering uselessly into his past—but he wasn’t ready to let go of the quiet reflection that had crept up on him

The car-kicking brunette didn’t seem entirely concerned with his lack of a response To the absolute contrary, she persisted “I don’t suppose you kno to break into a car, do you?”

Her voice was unexpectedly soft She had a trace of an accent he couldn’t place—soh not entrenched there “Don’t you have roadside service?” Ethan asked, desperately hoping to steer clear of her situation What was he supposed to do? Break a ? As an afterthought, he really started to hope there wasn’t a husband or boyfriend who expected to co a tire was one thing, shattering glass another

She pursed her lips and tilted her head, sunlight glinting froths—probably one of those five-hundred-dollar haircuts a toddler could accomplish for free—but it suited her “Sure, I have roadside assistance,” she said “The phone number is on my insurance card, locked in the car Of course, I could look it up on my phone, but that’s also locked in my car And my computer is locked in my house”

“At least you’re thorough,” Ethan said He wasn’t prepared for her sh the clouds that surrounded him despite the beauty of the day He shouldn’t have noticed anything so personal about this wo about his wife Now he felt like a jerk

A jerk with his breath stolen

Fortunately, the wo Her soft, full lips pursed in irritation, but not even that could take away fro beauty He didn’t see a hint of makeup on her flawless face, and between that and her unusual hair, she was at once wholesoaze, and he definitely noticed when a slow smile traced her lips