No Sunshine When She's Gone Read Online Free PDF

chair had been a hammock. She’d been in the mood for a nap. She’d left Richmond’s blustery winds and cool fifty degree temperatures behind. The warmth of the sun had lulled her, leaving her drowsy. She’d started yawning.
    But all relaxation had fled when Lila approached her for a reading. “I had no idea your date would mistake me for Aries Martine,” she told him. “She obviously hadn’t seen me at Steamers.”
    The couple’s confrontation had rattled Jill. She didn’t like arguments. She’d slumped down in her seat, not wanting to call attention to herself. Still, she’d heard their every word. Apparently Lila’s focus had been on Roger and not on the other diners.
    “Gathering what I had learned from last night, I decided to play along,” she said. “I’ve been two-timed, and wished someone had told me what was going on behind my back.”
    Her stomach still twisted when she thought of Darrel Atkins. A man she had dated for seven months. She’d given him her heart and a key to her duplex. They’d lived together. She’d thought they were exclusive, until Sybil Bond, the neighborhood gossip, informed her otherwise.
    Jill had learned that while Darrel spent his nights with her, he enjoyed the company of her landlady by day. The woman lived next door. Darrel delivered more than the rent check several times a week.
    The news had devastated Jill. She’d never been with anyone who was good for her or good to her. She’d closed the door on Darrel. Recovery was a bitch, especially as she bumped into him daily, either in the landlady’s driveway or at their sidewalk mailboxes. He’d had the nerve to smile and wave at her. She’d turned her back on him.
    The job in Florida had come at a perfect time. She hadn’t thought twice about leaving Richmond. She’d been ready for a change. Her landlady had released Jill from her lease. Darrel had stood in the doorway and watched her drive away.
    Looking up at Aidan now, Jill said, “I used my powers for good. I got you out of a bad situation.”
    “I would never have married Lila.”
    “She seemed persuasive.”
    “I’m not a man to be pushed.”
    Jill believed him. Oddly enough, one look at Aidan and she’d felt an affinity for him. He had no idea who she was or why she was in town. Or that she was connected to the Richmond Rogues. She was their executive liaison for Community Affairs. She’d been sent to Barefoot William to connect with the locals and involve them in every aspect of the new spring-training facility.
    James Lawless, along with the other executives, hoped to fill every stadium seat at the start of next season. Jill would make it happen. She planned to pack the ballpark to standing room only. James trusted her, and had given her full rein.
    Her formal introduction to Aidan would come soon enough. They’d eventually be working together. After the reading today, she now knew he hated liars. She could be honest. She’d do her best to be straight with the man.
    A firm knock on the dressing room door turned both their heads. A woman with short blond hair and round glasses frames peeked inside. “What’s going on, Aidan?” she said, her voice low and anxious. “My sales clerk saw you charge in the store and head for the dressing room. One that was already occupied. This is a family shop. You’d better not be fooling around.”
    He looked pained. “Trust me, we’re not, Jenna.”
    Jenna’s gaze narrowed. “Last summer—” she accused.
    “Has come and gone,” Aidan cut her off.
    “I have a long memory.”
    “You never let me explain.”
    “I saw what I saw through the crack of the door,” Jenna said. “Your date was naked. ”
    “She was, but I wasn’t.”
    “Your shirt was untucked—”
    “Not by my hands—”
    Jill listened, taking it all in, until they both stopped talking. This was family business, and they’d said too much in front of a stranger.
    Transgressions on the boardwalk and sex in a changing room were all