Pretend It's Love Read Online Free PDF

was about to let out a string of expletives when his attention caught a colorful flash.
    “Tiger!” he called out, shoving the tray into Noah’s hands.
    Libby turned, shaking her head at him. “I told you not to call me that.”
    She had a box in her hands, a folder sticking out the top. Her mass of copper hair was piled onto her head in a way that looked messy and yet totally perfect. A bright red dress skimmed the tops of her knees, swirling in the light breeze. Again she wore stupidly high heels that looked sexy as all hell.
    “How’s the ankle?” He looked pointedly at her shoes.
    Her lips melted into a sheepish smile. “I was housebound for a few days but there wasn’t any permanent damage…just a big dent in my pride.”
    “And yet I see you haven’t learned anything about choosing appropriate footwear for walking down the street.” He wandered over to her and lifted the box from her hands. “Let me carry that for you.”
    “Don’t you have your own things to worry about?” She gestured at Noah.
    “Nah, he can handle that.” Bottles of vodka with girlie logos on the front filled the box he’d taken from her. “I assume this is your product.”
    “You assume correctly,” she said as they walked, her heels clicking on the pavement. “I had a meeting with your brother.”
    “And?”
    She gave him the thumbs down signal. “No good.”
    “Why?”
    His brother was a huge champion for local business. In fact, he stocked several beers from Victorian craft breweries, and he ordered a chunk of his morning pastries from a woman who ran a catering business out of her home. Why not give Libby a chance?
    “I don’t think he feels that these type of cocktails suit the clientele.” She sighed. “He was very polite, but I didn’t get much out of him.”
    “That sounds like my brother.” He shook his head. “I can talk to him for you.”
    They stopped beside a bright red car, and Libby fished around in her bag for her keys. “You would?”
    “Of course.”
    She opened the side door and bent over the backseat, pushing boxes to the other side. Red fabric stretched across the perfect curve of her ass as she leaned forward, sending Paul’s pulse skyrocketing. Teetering on her heels, she wiggled backward and braced her hand on the car door as she stood.
    “You don’t know me from a bar of soap.” She pushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes and bit down on her cherry-colored lip.
    “Des doesn’t, either. It’s possibly why he wasn’t keen to get your product in.” Paul lowered the box to her backseat and shut the door. “He tends to keep things in the community. All the key employees at First are people he knows and a lot of our suppliers are connections he’s made through friends and family.”
    “I understand.” She nodded, sighing. “But I’ll be honest, I’m desperate. I’ve met with a ton of places this week, and all I’m getting is no, no, no. Getting showcased here would mean the world to me.”
    The frankness in her tone hit him square in the chest. He wanted to help her more than anything and he couldn’t explain why, but his instincts told him to believe in her. For the longest time he’d avoided getting to know any women. He didn’t want to know about their lives or their problems. But something about Libby had changed that. He would help her.
    But there was still the problem of getting Des to feel the same way.
    “Maybe I could try again, I mean, I know he doesn’t have any connection with me but—”
    An idea hit Paul like a bolt of lightning, the perfect solution to her problem—and his. “But you could have a connection to him.”
    “How could I do that?”
    “This is going to sound crazy. But hear me out.”
    Libby leaned against the car and nodded. “Crazy is my specialty these days.”
    “We can get together. Then, as my girlfriend, you can get to know Des and gain his trust.”
    She arched an eyebrow. “You’re right, that’s completely crazy. Why would