Free Crazy in Love by Lani Diane Rich

Despite her best efforts, she ’d let him charm her. The only defense she had left was to make sure he didn’t know it.
    “ Goodbye, Tucker,” she said firmly, holding the door open for him. He winked at her, and she chewed the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling back, then finally he left. When she closed the door behind him, though, she allowed herself one smile.
    Just one, she thought, pulling the edges of her lips firmly down again. You’re a professional.
     
    ***
     
    Jake whistled to himself as he jaunted smoothly along the path to the Arms, willfully ignoring the edgy buzzing in his limbs. This was okay. This was all right. This was workable. So, Flynn was going to lunch with Chase. It was fine. If she was anywhere near as prickly and defensive with Chase as she’d been with Jake, it would actually be perfect. Flynn going out with Chase was in The Plan. It was the crux of The Plan.
    So why did the thought of it bug him so much? There ’d been a moment when Jake had been sitting on the edge of Flynn’s bathtub, listening to Gordon Chase getting his smarm all over her, that he hadn’t wanted her anywhere near Chase. He’d almost let that protective instinct get in the way, but then he remembered The Plan. Get Flynn close to Chase, stay close to Flynn. It was still a good plan.
    It just needs a little tweak, he thought as he turned on his heel and headed to the front door of the Arms. One small tweak, and it’ll be perfect.
    He pushed through the front door. Annabelle smiled when she saw him approach the desk, and he pulled on the most charming, carefree smile in his arsenal.
    “Good morning, lovely Annabelle,” he said, leaning one elbow on the desk.
    “ Hi, Jake,” she said, her blond curls jiggling along with the rest of her. She was a cute girl, Annabelle, but every part of her seemed perpetually in motion, and it got a little unnerving sometimes. “What are you doing here so early?”
    “ Oh, just checking in, helping out, doing my part for life, liberty, and the American way.” He casually straightened a pile of brochures on the counter. “Hey, have you seen the niece yet?”
    Annabelle ’s eyes widened. “Nope. Nobody’s seen her. Except you, right? You picked her up, right? What’s she like? Is she beautiful, you know, like that big-city beautiful, you know, all exotic with Manolo Blahniks and Gucci? Jake?”
    He blinked. Whenever he talked to Annabelle, he al ways felt like that dog in the cartoon, the one that only hears, “ Blah blah blah Jake blah .”
    “ Yeah, sure,” he said. “She’s great. Anyway, she asked me to take care of something for her. She’s having lunch with Gordon Chase at noon.”
    Annabelle ’s eyes widened to tennis-ball size. “Here?”
    “ Yeah. Here.” He blinked innocence. “Why not here?”
    “ Because he never comes here. He knows we all hate him,” she said.
    “ Everybody in town hates him. Man’s gotta eat somewhere.”
    Annabelle sighed. “And the last time he was here Mercy tried to kill him.”
    “ Pffft,” Jake said, waving his hand in the air dismissively. “That chef’s knife slipped from her hand. Total accident. Speaking of Mercy, be sure to let her know to serve him something berry special.” Jake leaned forward. “Write it down. Berry, with a B .”
    “ Berry special?” Annabelle said. “Seriously?”
    “ It’s a Tucker thing.” He grinned. “And when have you ever known me not to be serious?”
    Annabelle smiled and jotted Berry Special down on her notepad, then raised her eyes back to meet his.
    “ So, did Ms. Daly need anything else?”
    Hmmm. Did Ms. Daly need anything else? The idea struck like lightning, and Jake smiled as he ran with it. “Actually, now that you mention it. Go ahead and block out the Rose Banquet Room for... say ... one o’clock. She wants to hold a staff meeting.”
    Ann abelle nodded, scribbling, then looked back up at Jake with hungry eyes. “What’s the meeting about?”
    Jake