Chapter 1

Everyone on the planet could benefit from a good hug, and Shiloh Anderson almost never made an exception to that philosophy. But this guy she’d been talking to about renting an open space for her new daycare business needed about twelve hugs, a spoonful of sugar, and maybe a call from his mom. Even then, she had a feeling he’d still be kind of creepy.

And now she felt bad making a snap judgement on a guy she’d just met. He probably didn’t realize how he was coming across, a vibe that wasn’t helped by the super intense stares he kept giving her.

Shiloh shifted on the hard chair Creepy Guy had offered her, wishing she was anyplace else besides the management office of Vivo. But she needed to open her own business. How else was she supposed to forget that Troy had unceremoniously dumped her—via text message, because of course he had. She’d really thought he was different. He’d lasted longer than any of her previous boyfriends. Five months. And she’d even forced herself to play it cool the whole time, never once mentioning how easily she could picture him being The One…

“Would you like to look at the space, Ms. Anderson?” Creepy Guy asked, leaning forward to steeple his fingers together, which unfortunately made him look like a praying mantis about to attack a bug. She couldn’t stop shivering each time he let his gaze travel to places he shouldn’t.

“Oh, you can call me Shiloh,” she said brightly, thrilled that he’d offered up a way to loosen the overwhelming heaviness in the room.

Something needed to.

After all, she’d prepared for this appointment, sliding into her best suit with the pencil skirt that perfectly matched her pumps. She didn’t often do sophisticated, preferring loose skirts in bohemian patterns to office wear, but launching her own business was a grownup task.

At least she’d been able to skate under her brother’s radar. If he knew she’d scheduled this appointment with Vivo building management, Ivan would have insisted on coming with her, bless him. When their dad died, Ivan had been twelve and determined to fill his father’s shoes. He’d spent an enormous amount of effort since then doing exactly that—or at least his best perception of it, which sometimes went a little too far. Despite that, it wasn’t hard to see that Ivan really cared about her.

But he had enough to occupy his attention right now, and she could do this. She wasn’t a child.

“Shiloh,” the guy repeated in a voice that had all the wrong texture. “You can call me Sergio. I have a feeling this is just the start of us getting to know each other.”

Immediately, she was sorry she’d invited such informality. But it was too late now. Maybe it would be okay if she kept Creepy Guy focused on the task at hand. “Sergio, then. I’d love to look at the space. I’m sure it’s great. Though I haven’t heard anything about the price yet.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,” Sergio advised her with the tiniest lift of his eyebrows, which she had no idea how to read. Then he smiled with a lot of teeth. “We’ll work something out.”

Great. He had every intention of being reasonable. She squared her shoulders. She wasn’t much of a negotiator, but he didn’t know that. She might be the Barbara Corcoran of Dallas real estate. Look out Creepy Guy. Shiloh Anderson could be totally prepared to talk you into a great deal.

“Okay, well that sounds fine,” she said agreeably, and tried not to physically react to his smile. It was not at all reassuring and bordered on sleazy, but again, he probably couldn’t help the fact that he didn’t have one of those warm personalities. “I would like to see the space to make sure it’s got all the features I’ll need to open a daycare.”

Perfect. She’d segued right back to business. Children she knew exactly how to handle—you just loved them, and everything worked out fine. When it came to men, she had no shot.

Or rather, what had happened with Troy had dried up her will to try again.

After Billy, it had been easy to pick herself up—he’d only lasted two months, which was more her usual record. Tom had been a rare exception at three and half months, but he’d had that weird habit of picking his teeth, and honestly, she might have laid on the affection extra thick, strictly to push the inevitable outcome.

Men didn’t like her brand of attention. Clingy, Ivan had called it. She preferred to think of it as enthusiasm. A zest for love. Who didn’t want to be married and have babies? Men, apparently. None of them. And the second you mentioned it—gone. They literally could not get out the door fast enough.

Fine. She got it. She wasn’t the type of woman that men could see themselves settling down with. Crying about it didn’t help, or she’d be in a different spot than on this hard chair with Creepy Guy checking out her legs.

It was time to move the dial on her career. Now that she’d settled in a great condo building—the same one where her brother lived—she could start working on making her dreams a reality. And she was going to spend her day surrounded by children, one way or another. The only thing standing in her way was Sergio.

She stood and pointedly waited for Sergio to lead her through the lobby of Vivo. The common areas of the building always teemed with people but seemed quite empty today. The community feel to Vivo had been the main selling factor for her when Ivan had suggested that she look at the condo for sale on his floor.

Nearly everyone she’d met who lived at Vivo also worked here, like Ivan did. There was a community desk area where residents could rent a space. Management provided office amenities like a printer and powerful Wi-Fi, plus a can’t-be-beat two-minute commute. The only thing missing was a place for those with families to leave their kids as they worked and Shiloh aimed to fill that niche.

“The empty space is near the gym,” Sergio explained as if this might be news to her, when in fact, she’d told him that was the space she was interested in when she’d first walked through the door. “We usually have a long waiting list, so it’s rare we actually have a tenant move out before having a new one ready to move in. It’s very lucky that you came by today. Tomorrow might be too late.”

Yeah, she was aware. But that spot had her name on it. She had a little capital saved and had already had a couple of conversations with her bank regarding a small business loan. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t use some of her natural friendliness to finagle a better price on the rental agreement.

“Really?” she said with a cheery smile. “How many other interested parties are there?”

“Oh, several. But don’t worry about that.” He leaned in as they walked through the public courtyard, the fresh air doing nothing to dispel his cloying cologne. “I have a feeling we’ll be able to arrive at a mutually satisfying agreement.”

Surely he didn’t meant that to come across as smarmy as it had. This was a business deal and that’s it.

“I’m confident we will,” she said, infusing her voice with what she hoped passed for some of that self-assurance because she wasn’t feeling it. If there were a lot of other people in line, what could she really offer as incentive for management to pick her business out of all the others the residents might prefer?

They passed the gym, which had reflective glass so you couldn’t see inside. She kept meaning to check it out since residents got a free membership, but sweating wasn’t her favorite pastime. Ivan’s best friend ran it though, and she’d known Kellan Walker for a long time. She could have at least found five minutes to duck in and say hi.

If she landed this empty space next door, she could say hi all she wanted. Every morning in fact. Across the courtyard, the sign for Relâcher reminded her that Lilith Parker and Eliza Moore, some of the first few friends she’d made at Vivo, would be a stone’s throw away. The idea felt nice, having neighbors she knew, people who would form her community. She craved connections and people that mattered, shared memories, history. Was that too much to ask?

“We don’t have that many residents with kids,” Sergio announced as he unlocked the glass door that led into a lovely entryway that had a lot of natural light. “So I’m not sure a daycare is a viable business.”

Shiloh tamped back the lick of panic that uncurled in her stomach. “I’ve done a lot of market research. There isn’t another daycare within a mile of Vivo. Residents would of course benefit the most from my services, but there are plenty of other condo buildings in the area.”

“Just making the point that your income might not be quite as high as you’d projected. It would be beneficial to keep that in mind when we start talking about what kind of deal we can make.” He shrugged and waved a hand to encompass the entryway. “This is it. Feel free to look around.”

Dismissing him from her mind completely, she did exactly that, with a growing sense of wonderment as she envisioned a play center over in the corner of the main room, colorful animals painted mural-style across the wall, cubbies in a row full of kids’ artwork. Laughter. Cheeks pink from playing. The fulfillment she’d get from caring for each and every child who came through her doors.

“I’ll take it,” she said, and Sergio glanced up from his phone in surprise. What, she wasn’t allowed to make a quick decision? “Let’s go back to your office and see what kind of deal we can hammer out.”

“Perfect.” Sergio let her brush by him in what passed as a gentlemanly gesture of letting her exit first, but she couldn’t help but notice how he angled in as if trying to get her to run into him.

Probably her imagination. She did have an overly active one, as more than one of the guys she’d dated had told her. Repeatedly. As in, she’d imagined a future where none existed.

But then somehow both she and Sergio ended up in the entryway at the same time. It was a pretty tight area. She’d considered it a plus for a daycare. Easy for parents to form an orderly line for pickup or drop-off. Not so much of a positive when it was full of smarmy salesman.

She pushed the door just as Sergio’s arm shot out to grab the handle.

“How about you hold up a second?” he muttered, his breath hot on her ear as he crowded her against the glass. “We can talk about our deal right here. Where there are less ears.”

Every nerve in Shiloh’s body blipped into high alert as she registered several things at once: the guy had just gone from creepy to scary, the deal he’d been talking about had nothing to do with contracts, and she’d never gotten around to those self-defense classes.

“I’m not interested,” she told him firmly and pushed on the door.

It stayed maddeningly shut. Either he’d locked it when she wasn’t looking, or Scary Guy was stronger than he looked. Neither were great possibilities.

“I think you are interested,” he said, his greasy voice turning her stomach.

Her pulse beat painfully in her throat as she scouted around desperately for a way out of this situation. And found it in a familiar figure who walked right by the glass door.

Kellen Walker. Ivan’s friend. He was less than ten feet away. He glanced up and met her gaze through the glass.

Funny how he looked a lot like a white knight all at once.

Waving like a fiend, she smiled at him, hoping her manic face didn’t, in fact, frighten him off.

Kellan’s gaze narrowed slightly, and with a tight smile, he bounded up the steps and flung the door open, nearly pulling Scary Guy off balance.

“There you are,” Kellan said, and before she could blink, he’d whirled her around and tucked her against his side, one solid arm slung around her waist. Like they were a couple and they’d done this a million times, which they totally had not. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere, sweetheart.”

Oh. My. Goodness.

Shiloh’s heart forgot to beat as she glanced up into Kellan’s deep hazel eyes. They peeked out from a shock of dark hair that fringed his forehead, lending him a rakish, mysterious vibe. Then he winked.