His note put a smile on her face that stayed there while she showered, dried her hair, got dressed and had breakfast. It stayed with her until her cell phone rang with a local number she didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Jenny, it’s Linc Mercier.”

Oh jeez… “Hi, Linc. How are you?”

“I’m good. I’ve been crazy busy, though. I meant to call you before now. How are you?”

“Same. Busy. Lots going on.” Jenny’s face heated when the sensual memories resurfaced to remind her that she had no business talking to Linc when she was sleeping with Alex.

“So I know you said things are kind of weird right now, but I haven’t stopped thinking about what a good time I had on our date. I was hoping to see you again.”

“I…ah… That’s really nice of you to say.” She grimaced at how stupid she sounded. “But I, um…”

“Not going to happen?” he asked softly.

“No, I’m sorry. Some things have happened, and… Well, it’s complicated.” She couldn’t very well tell him she’d met someone else before she first went out with him, which had been a mistake. So much for doing what she thought was the right thing. Damned hindsight.

“No worries. I figured it was worth a shot. I hope I’ll see you around.”

“I hope so, too.”

“Take care, Jenny.”

“You, too.” As she put the phone in her purse and grabbed her keys to head to the store, she felt like total shit. Her reasons for keeping the date with Linc had been noble—her friends had gone to some trouble to arrange the evening with him, and she’d only just met Alex the day before. She hadn’t yet realized that he might be someone special.

“Now you’re just lying to yourself, girl,” she said out loud. “You knew the first time you kissed him that he was different.” But I didn’t know then that he felt the same way or that he’d be back for more or that we would form such a deep bond. I didn’t know any of those things then. While Jenny knew there was no sense rehashing the past, she truly wished she hadn’t gone on the date with Linc. She hated to think that something she might’ve done could’ve hurt someone who didn’t deserve it.

He was a nice guy, and he’d be fine. It wasn’t like she’d gone out with him and made promises that she was now reneging on. It wasn’t like that at all.

Still, the lingering sense of having done the wrong thing stayed with her all morning as she worked side by side with Alex’s brother at the store until he felt she was adequately prepared to handle things on her own.