“Greg has asked around, and there is no sign of any reporters or photographers in town. So you’re good to wander around if you feel like it. Come back here for lunch if you get hungry. The shrimp salad is good.” He paused. “No one is going to bother you, Jo. Not with Greg around, ready to uphold the law, and Mel with that temper of hers.”

He called her Jo, Ashley thought. Not Joanna. Jo.

Joanna looked directly at him. “And what about you? What do you bring to this protection detail?”

“I don’t know.” Nate smiled. “Macadamia cookies?”

That smile.

Ashley decided that if Nate was just a little younger, and she wasn’t secretly in love with Jon, she would have dated him herself.

The smile wasn’t lost on Joanna, either, if the flush on her cheeks was anything to go by. She was normally so composed, but right now she looked like a flustered teenager.

So either that was because this was Nate, and she was finding it awkward, or because this was Nate, and she found him attractive.

It had to be weird, seeing someone you were once in love with. And it didn’t seem as if they hated each other.

But Joanna had been loyal to Cliff for two decades.

Joanna thought relationships were too much trouble.

Joanna didn’t want to date.

“We might be too busy shopping to make it for lunch,” Ashley said, “but we’ll be seeing you tomorrow evening for a barbecue. Mel invited us.” And maybe, she thought, the best way to persuade Joanna to expand her social life was to ease her into it. A barbecue wasn’t a date. But maybe it would turn into that?

What was the point of setting up a dating profile when a suitable candidate was right under your nose?

“Is that right?” Nate’s gaze shifted to Joanna. “Then I look forward to catching up properly then.” He waved away her offer of her card. “Breakfast is on the house. I’ll see you tomorrow. Is a blue cheese burger still your favorite?”

“No,” Joanna said. “I’m vegetarian.”

Joanna wasn’t vegetarian. Ashley had seen her eat meat. And fish.

“No problem. I make the best veggie burger you’ve ever tasted. See you tomorrow.” He strolled to take an order from another table and Ashley gave Joanna a look.

“You’re not vegetarian.”

“I could be. I’ve been thinking about it.”

“Well, that’s good, because it looks as if you’re eating a veggie burger tomorrow.”

“Fine.” Joanna gave Ashley an exasperated look. “Why are you smiling?”

“Because for the first time in months I don’t feel totally crap. My tummy is full of pancakes, the sun is shining and I like your friends.”

“Good. Because you’ll be on your own with them tomorrow. I’m not going.”

“Because of the veggie burger?”