Susan Mallery: Her Last First Date

“You really do want us to just befriends.”

“It’s not what I want,” she admitted, “but I think it’s the most sensible solution.”

She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Did it matter? She’d long learned the only person who was going to take care of her was her.

“It’s your call,” he said. “We can be just friends. But I refuse to forget what happened.”

She was torn in two. Part of her applauded her rational, mature decision. The other part snorted in disgust and warned her she would be very sorry to be sleeping alone tonight.

“I won’t forget, either,” she told him, and meant it.

SUSAN MALLERY

is a USA TODAY bestselling author of over eighty romances. Her combination of humour, emotion and just-plain-sexy has made her a reader favourite. Susan makes her home in Washington State, where the whole rain thing is highly exaggerated and there’s plenty of coffee to help her meet her deadlines. Visit her website at www.SusanMallery.com.

Dear Reader,

There’s something wonderful and magical about falling in love, but family complications can really get in the way. Why is it the people we love most in the world are also the ones who make things the most difficult? Sometimes without even trying.

In Crissy’s case, the family in question is the amazing couple who adopted the baby she gave up. Twelve years after the fact, she really wants contact with her son. Which seems simple enough, but, of course, it isn’t simple at all. Then there’s the falling in love part. Talk about the right guy at the wrong time…and in the wrong place!

I love writing about families and friends. HerLast First Date gave me the chance to explore the best of both worlds. If you read the first two books in the POSITIVELY PREGNANT series, you’ll have a chance to catch up with old friends. If you’re new to the series – welcome. Her Last FirstDate will stand on its own.

Enjoy and happy reading!

Susan Mallery

SUSAN MALLERY

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Chapter One

Crissy Phillips believed in chocolate as a cure for heartache, exercise as a cure for everything else and second chances…for everyone but herself. Which was why she’d been standing outside the Kumquat Diner for the past fifteen minutes, instead of going inside for her meeting. Going inside was too much like forgiving herself and Crissy wasn’t ready to do that just yet.

She knew all the arguments. She’d been young. She’d made the best choice she could at the time. If a friend of hers were in the same position, Crissy would cheerfully tell her to get over it and move on. Why was it always so much easier to give advice to other people, than to herself? Why did everyone else’s life look so easily fixable, while elements of her own seemed an unfathomable mess? Why was she talking to herself in the middle of a diner parking lot?

She took a single step toward the front door of the diner, then stopped.

Just do it, she told herself. Do it, do it, do it.

When the chanting didn’t work, she tossed her head and felt the light brush of her newly clipped hair on the back of her neck. She’d spent over two hundred dollars on red and gold highlights and an impossibly up-to-the-minute cut that actually suited her face. Didn’t she want to flaunt her new and improved self?

She hated being indecisive and insecure. She was a successful businesswoman, a take-charge person. She made decisions easily and except for being an absolute failure when it came to her knitting class, she kicked butt wherever she went.

Not literally, of course.

It was one meeting. How scary could that be? She really needed to—

The front door of the diner opened and a tall, good-looking guy stepped out. He had reddish-brown hair, surprisingly close to her own untouched color, and eyes that belonged on a billboard on Sunset Strip, the color of moss after rain, framed by big, thick lashes. Crissy didn’t consider herself a very sentimental person, but she was thinking an ode or two to those eyes might very well be in order.

“Hi,” he said with a smile. “Are you the one I’ve been waiting for?”

It was an opening line that deserved a movie score, she thought as she grinned. “You forgot ‘all my life.’ For that question to really work, you need the tag line.”

His smile widened, then he glanced at his watch. “More like for the past ten minutes. Are you Crissy?”

She hadn’t had to meet the devil head-on. He’d come to find her. Although Josh Daniels wasn’t really the devil. He was a kind man who’d offered to help, at his brother’s suggestion. Actually, the word “facilitate” had been tossed around, but Crissy could never use that word in a sentence without fighting a fit of giggling.

“Hi, Josh,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I’m not sure nice covers it. You’ve been standing out here, trying to decide if you should come in for the past ten minutes. So is it me or the circumstances that have you dancing in the parking lot?”

“I wasn’t dancing,” she said primly, trying to ignore the fact that he’d obviously seen her and guessed she was slightly ambivalent about their meeting. “I was getting in touch with my inner…”

“Self?” he offered.

While weak, it worked. “Right,” she said.

“Are you in touch now?” he asked.

As much as she was going to be. “I’m fine.”

“Good.” He pulled open the door. “I got us a booth. It has a great view of the parking lot. You’ll like it. Come on, this won’t be so bad.”

As she’d requested the meeting, she had little choice except to follow him into the brightly lit interior. He led the way to a booth in the back which, unfortunately, did offer a clear view of the parking lot.

“So you witnessed my mental moment,” she said as she slid onto the bench seat. “How comforting. Having exposed myself at my worst, I have only one direction to go.”

He settled across from her. “If that’s your worst, you’re a lot better off than most people.” He leaned back and studied her. “Let’s admit the situation is unusual and awkward. So we’ll take it slow. Talk about regular stuff for a while. How does that sound?”

“Good,” she admitted. “You’re being really nice about all of this.”

“I’m a really nice guy. Incredibly intelligent and gifted…but let’s not talk about me.”

She grinned. “How refreshing to meet a man who knows his place in the universe.”

The waitress appeared with two menus. Both Crissy and Josh ordered coffee. When they were alone, Crissy said, “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me. Pete and Abbey have always been so open and inviting. I just never felt right about…”

She stopped and pressed her lips together. No. She was going to tell the truth, even though it wasn’t pretty and didn’t reflect well on her.

“Until recently, Brandon has been more theory to me than the actual child I gave up for adoption,” she admitted. “Every time Abbey sent me a note or called, I never knew what to say. It was easier to stay away.”