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and he’d known her since she was a kid. Of course she’d been with women

before, but dating? She couldn’t go as far as to classify her no-strings

attached relationships as dating. Kiera had always kept her love life very

quiet, separate and secret from her family, but she was sure there were more

than a couple times when he caught her staring, flustered, in the presence of

female company over the years.

If anyone could just know things, it was Wynn.

She was pretty sure Wynn knew she wasn’t actually into Shane. Wynn

might even know Shane wasn’t even her real boyfriend. Technically, he was

her boyfriend, but he wasn’t real. At least, their relationship wasn’t.

She’d met him through an intimate acquaintance who had remained a

friend. Crystal worked with Shane, and since she knew all about Kiera’s

dilemma when it came to her family, she asked if she would be interested in

fake dating a guy whose mom wouldn’t leave him alone when it came to his

having a girlfriend. The lady was seriously crazy worried about her son

dying alone. She’d taken on the challenge because it seemed like a good

cover. Shane was a nice guy. He just wanted to live his life. It wasn’t his

fault his mom was basically a level five stalker and called him

approximately eighteen times a day. She put in a few appearances here and

there and Shane’s mom calmed down on the girlfriend front. He put in a

few appearances of his own and everyone thought she had a boyfriend. It

was a good arrangement.

Even if it was lonely.

Lonely was safe. Lonely kept a person’s heart from falling apart. No one

wanted to shatter. No one wanted to hurt. No one wanted to disappoint the

people who loved them. Love was something that was better off kept at a

distance.

Kiera had always practiced that theory. So why couldn’t she banish the

annoying thoughts of Romi Belleview from her mind? She’d been haunted

by a set of emerald green eyes for days. And nights. But she wasn’t going