“Hope you didn’t get too accustomed to that.”

“Don’t worry—I’m already anticipating the condition of the house.”

He chuckled again, and Kate let a comfortable silence fall as she settled back into the leather seats.

“My flight’s running on time. The question is, will you be?” she joked.

“Only time will tell,” he retorted.

“Is that supposed to be a pun? It might help if you wore a watch, you know.”

“What fun would that be?”

Kate chuckled. He was hopeless. “I guess I’ll meet you outside baggage claim. You have my flight number?”

“Uh, let’s see.” She heard crackling, like he was holding the phone between his ear and shoulder. He was probably riffling through his cluttered wallet.

Some things never changed. “Here, let me give it to you again.” Kate consulted her ticket and rattled off the flight number and arrival time.

When they hung up, Kate tucked the ticket into her suit coat and looked out the window, watching palm trees and tall buildings go by. In two weeks the show would be broadcast, and the sales of her book, already good, from what Rosewood told her, might just skyrocket. Would it hit the New York Times bestseller list? She could only keep her fingers crossed. It couldn’t hurt to have Dr. Phil announcing her title on the air.

But she couldn’t quell the niggling fear that national attention would expose her to personal scrutiny. And now that she’d gone so public, what was to stop someone from digging around and finding out the truth? The answer was as close as Bryan and his family. Or, more likely, Stephanie.

Now that she was in the public eye, reporters would jump at the chance to smear her reputation. And, for the first time, she realized it wouldn’t only be her reputation that got ruined. What would the exposure do to Lucas and his family? Jamie might already know the truth, but the rest of his family would feel betrayed, and Lucas would suffer the scrutiny and distrust of his own hometown.

What am I doing?

It felt as though she’d been asking herself that question every day for the past month. And she still didn’t know the answer.

Seventeen

Seventeen

There’s chemistry, and then there’s chemistry. Don’t be blinded by mere sexual attraction.

—Excerpt from Finding Mr. Right-for-You by Dr. Kate

“Ready?” Kate heard Lucas call from the shop downstairs.

She saved her article and grabbed her purse. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Lucas was waiting, keys in hand.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Taking you home to watch the show.”

“Oh.” The realization that he wanted to see it sent warmth through Kate. She avoided his gaze as she slid past. “Well, come on, then. It starts in fifteen.”