Chapter 3

When someone pounded on Kellan’s door less than twenty-four hours after his impromptu rescue mission, he didn’t bother to glance through the peephole to see who it was. Ivan, of course. You didn’t hold hands with a guy’s sister in full view of an entire building’s worth of windows and expect it to stay a secret.

Shiloh’s hand had been far more delicate than Kellan had ever imagined. Just like the rest of her. His acting skills must be top notch because she never once seemed to clue in that he’d just crossed off one of the top three experiences on his fantasy Shiloh List. But she didn’t know he had a list. No one did.

Actually, he deserved all kinds of props for that episode yesterday. For example, the creep from management was still working here instead of being identified by next of kin.

This was one time he didn’t regret an impulsive decision. Ivan would just have to understand.

Kellan swung open the door and leaned on the jamb, arms crossed as he contemplated the expression on his buddy’s face, which was much less irate than he’d been expecting. “You must have dropped by Shiloh’s before coming here.”

“Yeah.” Ivan ran a hand through his sandy-blond hair and blew out a breath. “She told me what happened. Thanks.”

Kellan shrugged. “What was I supposed to do?

The look on Shiloh’s face still haunted him. It had nearly frozen his blood. He’d instantly registered that something wasn’t right. He’d been teaching self-defense classes long enough to have heard some pretty chilling stories from his female students.

Instead of shattering the nose of the guy who’d had Shiloh pinned against the door, he’d jumped first and asked questions later—or rather not at all, because he didn’t need any clarification. Something was wrong. Easiest way to avoid sending her assailant to the hospital was to act like Shiloh was his girlfriend. Then the guy had a graceful out, which he’d wisely taken. No harm, no foul.

But there were still a lot of questions that needed answering, like why she’d put herself in that position in the first place. Which remained unasked, because it was none of his business. Ivan got the job of taking care of Shiloh, not Kellan. No matter how many times he’d imagined otherwise.

“What you did was great,” Ivan said with grim enthusiasm. “Exactly what I would have done, except with less blood, so you get a gold star for that.”

“Trust me, I did a lot of holding back.”

He’d been living with his unholy attraction to Ivan’s sister for so long, he rarely felt guilty about it these days. It was just a fact. The sky—blue. Grass—green. Shiloh Anderson—gorgeous, amazing, and completely off-limits. He almost didn’t think about it much anymore.

Okay, so he thought about it, especially how he didn’t deserve her. He just didn’t obsess over it any longer, choosing to amuse himself over the years with a series of shallow relationships starring bland women who couldn’t hold a candle. Also a fact.

And Shiloh suddenly being thrown back into his orbit after several blessed years away? No problem. He was dealing with it. Not very well, but since she’d moved into the building, he’d figured out ways to navigate Vivo without running into her.

With the exception of yesterday. Thankfully. That was the one time his circuitous route to the gym had reaped an enormous benefit.

Unfortunately, all of that meant Kellan’s gym had a new neighbor. A daycare Shiloh would be running. He’d wondered who would rent that space when the clothing boutique that had operated there moved to Highland Park Village. Never in a million years did he think it would go to the last woman on earth he could ever have.

How was he supposed to avoid the gym he owned?

He’d figure it out. Just like he always had. His friendship with Ivan meant too much to him to screw it up by chasing after the little sister Ivan had sworn to protect when his and Shiloh’s dad had died. You didn’t mess with a deathbed promise, even if you’d only heard about it from your buddy secondhand.

Ivan glanced behind him. “There’s more. Not fit for hallway consumption.”

Kellan faded from the doorway so Ivan could enter because there was no way the dude would squeeze through the opening otherwise, despite being on the skinnier side. Kellan had tried to get him into a workout routine, even offered a discount on personal training services, but Ivan worked ninety hours a week. He barely had time to eat and say hi to his girlfriend, to hear him tell it, let alone cross the threshold of a gym.

“Spill it,” Kellan ordered as soon as he shut the door.

“The creep is stalking her.”

Kellan’s hands curled into fists so tight that his nails cut into his palm. “You came to the right place. I’ll take care of it.”

With an evil grin, Ivan threw up a hand. “As much as I would love to let you do exactly that, we’ll file a police report and handle this according to the rules. I would hate to see this guy skip free because we took matters into our own hands.”

“Then I’ll start sleeping on her couch.” He’d be between the door and Shiloh.

Of course, he’d never get a wink of sleep knowing she was so close and yet so far away. But he didn’t regret his impulsive offer; it was a small price to pay to ensure she stayed safe. Surely Ivan would see the wisdom in that before he went all big brother over the idea of a man invading the sacred turf of his sister. Just as Kellan opened his mouth to argue all the reasons why it was a good plan, Ivan nodded.

“That’s the direction I was headed.” It was all Kellan could do to keep his suddenly weak knees from giving out as Ivan gave his plan the thumbs up. “But you know that would cause a lot of nasty gossip. I’m thinking we need to take full advantage of the groundwork you’ve already laid.”

A very bad feeling stirred in the pit of Kellan’s gut. “What groundwork is that?”

“You and Shiloh need to keep up the engagement ruse,” Ivan said with no small amount of glee. “It’s practically tailor made for this situation. If you’re engaged—or actually tie the knot—it’s reasonable that you’d be spending twenty-four seven with your new bride.”

“Whoa, hold on a sec.” Kellan’s vision went gray as he absorbed all the words Ivan had just strung together, none of which belonged in the same sentence. “That was just a spur of the moment thing to keep the creep from making me leave the room.”

Now he was sorry he’d been so impulsive. He couldn’t marry Shiloh. Not for show and definitely not for real. Nothing in his life lasted.

“You could have said you were her lawyer. You didn’t. Instead, you created the perfect cover.” Ivan’s obvious enthusiasm for this plan grew by leaps and bounds as he started pacing in Kellan’s entryway, building his case with broad hand gestures. “Who better to fake marry my sister than a guy I trust more than anyone on the planet?”

And that was the exact reason he could not be the one.

“Yeah, who better?” he repeated hoarsely. “After all, I owe you.”

Which was the exact reason he couldn’t say no.

Ivan had been his only friend growing up, the one who had stuck, despite his bohemian aunt’s determination to ruin any chance Kellan might have at a normal childhood by moving every six or eight months to a new town.

He’d found his place at Vivo. A niche where he could build the life he’d always wanted. The gym had been a dream he’d never have realized without the loan Ivan had given him. Actually, the money had been secondary. It was the support that had mattered. The absolute belief in him that had spurred Kellan to reach higher than he’d ever dared to before.

He would never betray his friend’s trust. Not even a little.

“Please.” Ivan waved that off. “You already paid back the loan. You don’t owe me a dime. I’m the one asking you for a favor. A huge one. Pretending to be engaged to Shiloh will put a crimp in your active dating life. I could see how you’d be reluctant to do it.”

Um, no, that was not at all the problem. Kellan hated dating. Sure, he’d desperately plowed through every woman he could conceivably ask out, but all of that noise had been in a vain attempt to forget Shiloh.

The back of his neck went hot. How much harder would it get to hide his feelings if he and Shiloh went around holding hands all the time? If he had to pretend to be in love with a woman he was really in love with?

He had to nip this whole horrible plan in the bud right now before it was too late.

“I don’t know man. It is a lot to ask me to give up all other women.” The smarmy grin Kellan shot Ivan felt off, but he’d been selling himself as a good-time guy for so long that it came automatically.

Ivan held up his fingers in a V. “Two weeks. I promise that’s it. Just long enough to give the cops time to do their investigation and for this guy to make a move that they can arrest him for. Then you can get back to your harem.”

Please. He’d never had anything approaching a harem. That sounded like entirely too much work. “This feels like overkill. Can’t we just drag the creep into an alley and scare him into behaving?”

“I know how much you enjoy breaking the rules, but no.”

“I do not enjoy breaking rules.” This was an old argument Kellan never won. “I just forget they exist on occasion. Sue me.”

The legacy of his rootless aunt. She’d never been much of a caretaker, and by the time he’d hit puberty, he’d pretty much had to fend for himself. That didn’t lead to a lot of careful scrutiny of things like lines and when it was not okay to cross them. Obviously. Or he wouldn’t be in this position.

His friendship with Ivan was the one constant that he protected at all costs. The one line he’d never even get near, let alone step over. The one rule he’d never forget—you didn’t mess around with your best friend’s little sister. Especially when the friend was Ivan who had gladly taken on the role left vacant by his father nearly fifteen years ago and watched over his sister like a hawk.

Suddenly, it occurred to him that there was one giant gaping hole in this whole discussion. “What does Shiloh say about all of this? Shouldn’t she be in the room while we’re cavalierly discussing a ploy that requires her to act lovey-dovey with a guy she may not even have very many warm feelings for?”

Surely Shiloh would not go for this plan.

Ivan waved that off. “Don’t be ridiculous. She has warm feelings for everyone. That’s her kryptonite and why you’re so necessary to this equation. You know how she is. She comes in hot on every relationship. She’s so desperate to be in love that she doesn’t see how she comes across. That’s likely how this creep got the wrong idea.”

“So now you’re saying it’s her fault?” Kellan crossed his arms before he decked his friend.

“Of course not. I’m saying she’s a big-hearted person who likes everyone and always thinks people are good. Her judgement is suspect. I can’t get in front of that. But I can plunk down a bodyguard between her and the rest of the world.”

Kellan nearly groaned. When he put it that way…how could Kellan possibly say no when Shiloh needed protection from herself? How could he possibly say yes when the very thing Kellan wanted—Shiloh—would be right there, desperate to be in love, but not with him?

That was the rub. He’d been doing his own thing for so long that it was hard to imagine a worse scenario for him, one where he had to follow clearly defined rules that were in diametric opposition to what he wanted. But if he didn’t keep his hands off Shiloh, he’d lose the place he’d been building here. That was a given.

Just to test that out, he casually shrugged. “It could take longer than two weeks. What if Shiloh and I end up engaged for a while? How is that going to play out?”

Ivan huffed out a sigh. “I know. It’s a lot to ask. But dude, you’re the one guy I’ve never had to warn to stay away from her.”

Well if that wasn’t a spike through the gut.

But Ivan wasn’t done, not by a long shot. “It’s like, you just never even think of her as a woman, which I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate. It would kill me to have to watch her drive you off, and trust me, she will. She’s just got this huge heart that spills over way too fast. You’d be sick of it in five minutes and then I’d have a big mess where the only guy I trust, the one who stuck by me during that whole horrible year when my dad died, doesn’t come around anymore due to the awkwardness. We’d drift apart.”

Kellan threw up a hand. “Don’t get all blubbery on me. I hear you. You know I have an allergy to clingy women. Match made in heaven.”

With a grin, Ivan clasped Kellan’s outstretched hand in a solemn handshake despite that not being the reason he had it out. “Then it’s a deal.”

“There’s no deal until we talk to Shiloh,” Kellan corrected immediately. “This is her life too, and while I know you’re just trying to protect her, she has to agree.”

Ivan rolled his eyes. “Fine. Let’s get this show on the road.”