Shelby breezed into the apartment. She’d spent the day with Allan and was in a great mood. “Juliet! Guess what? Remember that first-year associate at Allan’s office who was cheating on his pregnant wife with his secretary like a total cliché? Turns out the secretary is pregnant, too, and she showed up at his house and made a huge scene. His wife is divorcing his slimy butt.” She had dropped her purse and keys on the kitchen counter but stopped when she saw my face. “What’s up with you?”

“Um, Noah Douglas wants me to come over and wash his dog.” I put my cell phone down on the coffee table and dropped the remote on the couch. My pulse was jackhammering all over the place, making my blood feel too thick for my veins. I had to suck in a couple of deep breaths.

“What?” she shrieked.

“Not one word,” I said. I didn’t want her trying to turn this into something it wasn’t as I headed into my bedroom to get changed. I needed to calm down, not keep getting more amped up.

“That is not possible, because I have so many words!” she said as she followed me. “What are you going to wear?”

“Uh, my clothes?” What kind of question was that?

“You’re not going to get dressed up?”

“To wash his dog? No.” I went through a pile of clothing on my floor looking for a pair of jeans to throw on.

“I can’t believe you’re about to go over to Felix Morrison’s house and that you’re going to fall in love with him now. That man is so attractive. I’d let him Felix my Morrison any day of the week.”

“You’re engaged,” I reminded her as I pulled one of my business’s polo shirts out of my closet.

She sat down on the edge of my bed. “Obviously I’m speaking in a metaphorical sense, because I’m never going to date him. Mostly because I’m ridiculously in love with Allan, but also because he’s so obviously interested in you.”

“Asking me to clean his dog does not indicate interest,” I said, tugging my shirt on over my head.

“Hard disagree.” She paused. “If he asks you out, will you go?”

“No,” I immediately responded as I opened my top dresser drawer to get a clean pair of socks.

“But why won’t you date Noah Douglas?” She sounded like a little kid who’d just been told she couldn’t have an ice-cream cone. “He seemed so nice.”

“Your opinion is wrong. When I talked with him, he was infuriating, and I kind of wanted to stab him and I think God would have understood.”

“Pretty sure you’re not supposed to kill people. And you know that’s an important one, because it made His top ten.”