Best of My Love (Fool's Gold) Read Free Page B

couple of kicks. After all, he’d earned them.
    He continued walking and quickly recognized the petite blonde. Shelby Gilmore was leaning against his door, but straightened when she saw him. She squared her shoulders, as if she was determined.
    Her thick wool jacket dwarfed her. She had on a ridiculous red knit hat with a pom-pom on the top. She looked young and fresh and just a little bit sexy.
    Aidan slowed his steps as he reminded himself that there was no sexy in his life. Not now and not in the foreseeable future. A—no women. B—no local women. C—see A.
    “Hi, Aidan,” Shelby said, her voice cheerful. “Have a good workout?”
    “Uh-huh.” He tightened his grip on his gym bag. He wanted to ask why she was waiting for him but couldn’t think of a way to phrase the question without sounding abrupt. And these days he was all about the good manners.
    “I brought you some cookies.”
    She held out a small silver-and-white-striped bag. Even from several feet away, he could smell chocolate and maybe peanut butter.
    “I just ran six miles and lifted weights.” He had resolutions, he reminded himself. A need to be virtuous.
    “Then you must be hungry.”
    Her smile was soft and welcoming. Friendly. Which was close to sexy.
    Aidan put the brakes on that train of thought. No sex for him, he reminded himself. Remember A and C. And B.
    “You can’t show anyone the sugar cookies.”
    He sucked in cold air. “Excuse me?”
    She offered the bag again. “Some of them are iced sugar cookies. You can’t show them to anyone.” The smile returned. “Because of Cabin Fever Days. Several of the artists sent me drawings of their designs so I could turn them into cookies. But the designs are supposed to be a secret, so you can’t show anyone the cookies.”
    “Because another guy doing an ice sculpture might steal the shape?”
    She nodded. “Only some of the artists are women. You shouldn’t assume they’re men.”
    “Obviously not.” He eyed the bag, tempted by the delicious smell. “I’m trying to eat right.” The comment was aimed more at himself than her.
    “What could be wrong with my cookies?” Her blue eyes brightened with humor. “They’re really delicious. You should trust me.”
    He wanted to ask why, then remembered she was also trusting him. With her cookies. Which almost sounded dirty. He sighed. The whole virtuous thing was harder than he thought.
    “How do you turn ice sculptures into cookies?” he asked.
    “I use the outline of the basic shape. I can add a few details, but not too many. If the details are too refined, they’ll bake out. Plus they can’t be too hard to decorate or I’ll spend all my profits frosting them. Not the amount of frosting, but the time.” She held out the bag again. “Sometimes I get a special order where I can really go to town, but the ice-sculpture cookies are an experiment. We’ll be selling them at the festival. In our kiosk.”
    She was talking too quickly. Almost nervously. The bag shook a little and he instinctively grabbed it from her. Then wondered if he shouldn’t have.
    “Shelby, why are you here?”
    “I want to talk to you.”
    “About cookies?”
    “No. I brought those because I’m nice.”
    That made him laugh. “Good to know. What do you want to talk about?” He hesitated. “In case it matters, I’ve given up women.”
    Her mouth twitched. “Have you? That can’t be very fun.”
    “It’s only been a day. So far it’s not so bad.” He was lying, but what the hell. She couldn’t know that.
    Her smile returned. “Just so we’re clear, I’m not here because I’m interested in having sex with you. And I don’t want a boyfriend. Well, I do. But not you.”
    He had no idea what to make of her or what she was saying. “So I should be grateful for the cookies?”
    She laughed. “No. I hope you’ll like them, though.” The humor faded. “The truth is...” She swallowed. “Wow, this is harder than I thought. I