Best of My Love (Fool's Gold, #20)(13)

He walked into the bakery. Shelby stood at the counter. As soon as he saw her, he was struck by how delicate she looked. A headband held her hair off her face while the back was caught up in some kind of nearly invisible hairnet. She wore a silver-and-white-striped apron over jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She was helping Eddie Carberry pick out cookies.

“Do those have a lot of butter?” the eightysomething woman asked, pointing at a sugar cookie that had been dipped in chocolate. “My doctor told me to watch my cholesterol. I told him I’m too old and he can watch it for me. Now I’m feeling defiant, so I want cookies with butter and later I’ll have a steak.”

Shelby’s mouth twitched, as if she was holding in a smile. “That’s one way to handle it,” she murmured.

“No one can live on salads and nonfat dairy,” Eddie informed her. “Because that’s not living at all. It’s surviving. Life’s too short. Now give me a couple of brownies to go with the cookies.” The old lady, dressed in a bright violet tracksuit with a matching down coat, looked him up and down. “You’re working out more these days.”

He was, but how did she know?

“Gladys and I see you on the treadmill when we’re at the gym for our water aerobics class. You should wear tighter clothes.”

“Ma’am?”

Eddie rolled her eyes. “You know what I’m saying, Aidan. You’ve got the goods. Let’s see them. Share the bounty. Take off your shirt once in a while. Put on tighter shorts.” She sighed heavily. “Young people today. You’re not as bright as my generation. That’s for sure.”

Eddie paid for her treats and left. Aidan stared after her.

“I honest to God don’t know what to say,” he admitted.

Shelby laughed. “I so want to be her when I grow up. Speaking my mind and ogling younger men. It’s fantastic.”

“Not if you’re the younger man.”

“Afraid?”

He grinned. “Terrified.”

She held up a chocolate-dipped cookie. “How’s your cholesterol?”

“Excellent.”

She passed over the cookie.

“Thanks.” He took a bite. “I’m starting to wonder if you’re in league with Eddie. Feeding me all this stuff so I have to work out more.”

“While it’s a great plan, I never would have thought of it.”

“Eddie would.”

She laughed again. “Yes, she would, but I promise I have no ulterior motive for offering you a cookie.” She raised one shoulder. “Okay, maybe I have one reason, but it has nothing to do with Eddie. Did you think about what we talked about?”

He nodded as he finished the cookie.

“A lot?”

He nodded again.

“And?”

She was pretty. He liked how she met his gaze steadily. He didn’t have a type so much as he enjoyed all women, and while under other circumstances he would be tempted, he knew his relationship with Shelby wouldn’t be about sex. It would be about something far more important.

He thought about what she’d told him about her past. How her father had hurt her. He felt the anger rise up inside of him again, along with the need to protect. Not that he could do anything, but he told himself it was good that he still had that much empathy. He wasn’t a total jackass.

He wanted to be different and as far as he could tell, Shelby’s plan offered a way to make that happen.

“I’m in,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

She clapped her hands together. “That’s great. I’m very excited. I was hoping you’d agree. I’ve been thinking about the plan and we need to make sure we agree on terms.”

“Friends for six months.”

She nodded. Her eyes were wide and blue and right now filled with earnest determination.

“We’ll hang out and do things together,” she said. “Get to know each other. Develop trust. I’ll see you as a man who doesn’t threaten me and you’ll see me as a person, not a bed partner.”

“Agree. No sex. Nothing romantic. We’ll hang out and do stuff.”

She squared her shoulders. “Then in six months, we’ll both be better people. Healed. We’ll finish our experiment and go our separate ways.”

“That’s easy for you to say, but I’m not sure you can keep your end of the bargain.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

He grinned. “I’m a great friend. You might get hooked. I’m still friends with guys I knew in grade school. I can’t seem to shake ’em.”

She laughed. “I’m an excellent friend, as well. What if you don’t want to stop being friends with me?”

“That could be a real possibility.”

“All right,” she said slowly. “What if we commit—” She shook her head. “No, you hate that word. What if we dedicate ourselves to our plan for the next six months? Then, if we still want to be friends, we still will be. But regular friends, without a plan for mutual personal growth.”

He couldn’t imagine any man on the planet coming up with something like this, he thought. Which was why women should be ruling the world.

“Sounds like a plan.” He held out his hand.