I adjusted the blankets around my lap from where NB had smooshed them. "Does that mean you don't want to hear?"

"The opposite. I want details unless they'll make me an accomplice."

That's what I figured.

I drew in a breath, preparing for the battle, and decided to just spit it out. "I promised Kelvin at the morgue to be his fake girlfriend for a family dinner at his mother's house."

Broadrick's eyes narrowed. They were such a pretty green, but when they got all deep set with anger, he more resembled an angry Irishman.

"Kelvin, the nerdy guy at the morgue who has a real Lord of the Rings fetish? That's what you promised for your information?"

It seemed Broadrick had been getting around a bit if he even knew Kelvin's hobbies. I wasn't touching the fetish part.

"It's one family dinner where I pretend I'm the love of his life."

He sat still as he processed my words. I worried he'd died that way and I'd have a lot to explain to dear Kelvin when they took Broadrick's body into the morgue. Finally, he blinked and wore a little smile when he answered. "Okay. Have a great time."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If he even looks at you wrong, he'll be sorry, but I'm sure you'll have a wonderful fake date."

He wanted me to argue with him. I read it in his eyes but would not take the bait.

"Thanks. I'm sure we will. I'm glad you won't freak out about it or anything." The other SEAL boyfriends in Pelican Bay would have had a total meltdown. They'd have gone all He-Man about it.

Honestly, it stung a little.

"Nope," he said and then typed something out on his phone.

"Good, because I really want this date to go well. It's important."

His head whipped up from his phone screen. "Fake date."

Got him. He cared. "Right. Right. Fake date. Totally."

NB jumped off the couch and ran for the door with two glances toward my bedroom door. "I'll take him," Broadrick said.

He'd barely left the couch when my phone gave a ding from a text. I'd updated Tony's contact for a little more excitement. Even if I did have to get creative with the spelling.

TONY BALONIE: Care to help me with a thing tomorrow? I'll buy you dinner as thanks.

Hmmm. Interesting. The local bounty hunter was asking little ol' me for help with a thing. Looked like people were finally realizing I had mad skills.

ME: Like a date?

His reply didn't come as quickly.

TONY BALONIE: Sure.

Great, now I had another date. Let's see if Broadrick could fake not being upset about this one.

TONY BALONIE: Don't tell anyone until after, though. It's top secret.

Damn it. Why did men always ruin my plans of creating intense jealousy in my non-boyfriend?

ME: Got it.

**

I spent the rest of Sunday doing my best not to tell Broadrick about the thing with his rival the bounty hunter. Did he know they were rivals? Probably not, but it was obvious. Both were tall with magnificent hair. One drove an enormous truck and the other a motorcycle. One was a Navy SEAL who supported the government and the other a lone rogue-I wasn't a hundred percent sure Tony was rogue, but it made a better mental image-bounty hunter who traveled the country bringing in the worst criminals on earth. Again, I wasn't sure on the worst criminal part, but it helped define the differences, so I ran with it.

The two men couldn't be more different.

It wasn't my fault if they hadn't figured out they were mortal enemies.

Okay, that might be a stretch. But definitely still true on the rivals bit.

"How long do you think will this take?" I asked as Broadrick grabbed his coat from a hook in my apartment.

He waited until I secured the moving box I'd finished packing up to answer. "A couple of hours at best. I'll probably miss dinner, so if you want me to bring home something, let me know."

I froze halfway to the door, where I planned to walk him out. My time was running short, and I needed him to leave but without making it obvious that I had plans. I'd promised Tony I'd keep our date a secret. "No problem. I'll figure out dinner."

Guilt knocked at my chest, but I rubbed it away. If Broadrick didn't care that I was going on a date with Kelvin, he wouldn't mind me doing a small favor with food as payment for Tony.

Probably.

Most likely.

But I felt bad for not telling him. I'd have to confess eventually, but now that I was minutes away from leaving with Tony, I had a bad feeling about the entire thing. Would Broadrick be pissed when I told him where I spent my evening? Would it finally make him leave Pelican Bay? I'd spent weeks trying to force him out and now the thought of him leaving almost crippled my heart. I liked having him here.

Regardless, I had a favor to pay Tony, and I needed to get Broadrick out of the way, so he didn't see who I left with. He hooked NB's leash on to his collar, and I held open the door for them.

No one walked through it, so I did.

I led the way up the stairs, stopping halfway up to turn around and stare at why they hadn't gotten moving yet. "Thanks so much for taking NB with you. He hates to be here with Spencer."

Broadrick finally stepped past the threshold and closed my apartment door. "No problem. The guys at the building love him because he doesn't eat any of their stuff."

"That's great." I held the top basement door open for them and barely stopped myself from tapping my foot to hurry them along.

Broadrick checked his watch, so I checked mine. Shit. Tony said he'd pick me up in five minutes and he was never late.

"Did you take the meds I gave you this morning?" Broadrick asked at the outside door leading to the parking lot.

I nodded. "Right on time. I feel great. Make sure and take good care of the car. Rachel doesn't like the cold weather."

"Sure, babe." He hesitated at the edge of the parking lot to kiss me on the cheek. "Just don't overdo it while you pack."

"Definitely not." NB stopped to pee on a bush. "You better hurry. You don't want to be late."

Why was he lingering? The cold air circled us in the open parking lot and NB moved to another landscape bush to relieve himself a second time. He'd go all day if Broadrick didn't tug him along.

I risked another glance at my watch. Two minutes until Tony's big white truck pulled into this lot and the jig was up with Broadrick.

He took two steps closer to Rachel and then turned back to me and held out his hand. What the hell? Did he need me to drive him myself? Behind him, a tall white truck stopped at the stop sign on the corner.

I ran into Broadrick's arms and gave him a hug, using my hand behind his back to shoo Tony into circling the block before he came to get me. His eyes widened, and he nodded before he let off the brake and continued on straight down the road.

"I'm going to miss you too, babe," Broadrick said when I released my breath and moved away from our embrace.

He finally walked to the damn car and opened the driver's door. NB jumped in and then Broadrick stopped and turned around. He couldn't get in the car if his feet weren't in the right direction.

He was trying to kill me!

Or he would kill me if he saw Tony pulling into my lot.

"No trouble today. Right?" he asked.

I zipped up my coat and nipped my finger with the zipper. He had me distracted. "None at all," I lied.

I'd say whatever it took to get him away.

He finally circled around again and had his body half in the car when I stuck my finger in my mouth to ease the ache from the zipper incident. I waved as he pulled out of the parking lot with NB licking the window.

Less than thirty seconds later, Tony's white truck pulled into the parking lot and stopped two feet from me.

I opened the door to his truck but hurried to switch my bundle of Kleenex from one pocket to the other so I had room to take my phone from the back of my jeans and shove it in my coat. It was hard being a woman who had stuff to carry but no reasonably sized pockets. Carrying a purse was out of the question because I didn't want it holding me back in case I had to run.

"Was that Broadrick driving your car I just passed?"

"No, someone stole my car," I said, pulling my way into his tall truck.

Tony watched me as I buckled my seatbelt with his gaze on my pocket. I shoved the Kleenex deeper so he couldn't see. The Kleenex was a safety net. I felt better but didn't want to chance it in case I had a case of sneezes.

"No BP today?" he asked.

It took me a full five seconds-enough time for him to make it out of the parking lot before I realized what he meant. "His name is NB-kind of. But not today. He's with Broadrick since he's being terrorized by Spencer."

Tony turned away from the ocean and headed inland. "The dude who works cameras with Ridge and the guys?"

My knee jerked at the mention of "the guys" and it hit the button on his glove box. It popped open, but remembering the loaded gun he had in there the last time I snooped around, I kept my knee flexed so it didn't open completely.

"No, Spencer is a cat." I moved lower in the seat and pushed my knee up to relatch the glove box without Tony noticing. What was with all these questions?

All my radars were on high alert. The glove box clicked closed, and I straightened, pretending everything was fine on my side of the car.

"How do you know Spencer?" I asked, making sure I was staring at his profile while I did so.