Free Mad, Bad and Blonde by Cathie Linz

everything.”
    “Yet he dumped me. The former me. He wouldn’t have a chance with the new me.”
    “Good to hear. After hurting you so badly, Alan doesn’t deserve another chance.”
    “Neither does Caine. I feel like such an idiot. A week ago I was eating pizza with Caine in Italy.” Faith left her last half-eaten pizza slice on her plate. She’d suddenly lost her appetite. She should have lost it sooner, but she was too damn tempted by the deep-dish specialty. Giving in to temptation was turning out to be a big problem with her lately. And not just with food but with men too. One man in particular.
    “Did you fall in love with Caine at first sight?” Megan asked. “I mean, it’s just . . . well, you don’t usually give your body without giving your heart.”
    “I know. What’s wrong with me?” Faith sniffed back the sudden threat of tears. “How could I have messed up this badly?”
    “It wasn’t easy. You must have really been working hard to mess up this much.”
    Astonished by her cousin’s reply, Faith blinked before cracking up.
    “I mean it’s bad enough being a jilted bride,” Megan continued. “But how many women can claim to be a jilted bride and then have a fling go bad in Italy? Not many.”
    “I know.”
    “And it’s Italy. I mean come on. The home of David. Well, the statue of David. The birthplace of hunks like . . . help me out here.”
    “Uh. . . . Michelangelo?”
    “Come on. Hardly a hunk. Think of someone else.”
    “I can’t.”
    “You’re a librarian. If you don’t know the answers, you know where to find them. Where’s your BlackBerry?”
    “Why?
    “Because we’re gonna Google hunky Italian men.”
    “No, we are not. You do that, and I’ll be getting e-mails for penis enlargements by the thousands.”
    “Really? How do you figure that? Have you done this before?”
    “No. That’s one mistake I’m not going to make.” Faith had already made enough mistakes to last her a lifetime.

    The next morning, Faith woke up and rolled off the living room couch, only to clutch her head and wonder why her dining room table was at a weird angle that way. Too much wine. Headache. Elbow ache . She’d hit it on the hardwood floor when she’d fallen, and now her funny bone was making her entire arm tingle.
    Faith felt better after she’d taken a shower and drank her first cup of coffee. She wore one of her new Italian outfits for her first day of work. Most of the boutiques in Positano specialized in summer resort and swimwear, but she’d managed to find a few things she liked. The bold red wraparound jacket and black embroidered skirt weren’t so avant-garde that they would make her look like a runway model. Okay, so it would take more than an outfit to make her look like a runway model. It would also take more than a change in hair color and style. But she didn’t want to look like a runway model so that was fine. She wanted to look more like Jennifer Garner in Alias and less like Jane Austen.
    Faith practiced the stiletto catwalk she’d seen a woman demonstrate on the Today Show once. Her four-inch heels were not at all practical for walking the distance to West Investigations’ office. But damn, they made her feel powerful.
    She packed them in her bag and reluctantly put on more comfortable shoes. Her black Keds weren’t librarian shoes. They were comfortable and sensible.
    She went back and forth, switching between her Keds and her stilettos until she caught sight of the clock and realized she was in danger of being late her first day on the new job. She hurried out, still wearing the stilettos. They went better with her outfit.
    Oh yeah, she felt like one confident woman. Until she stepped outside her building and saw Caine waiting for her.
    He eyed her approvingly, his head-to-toe look up and down her body incredibly intimate. “Nice move, sunshine,” he drawled.

Chapter Five
     
     
     
    Faith gave Caine a dismissive look before taking out her iPod,