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run interference if she catches you sniffing around.”
    “Good to know.”
    It was all good information, but any move Owen made would ultimately be driven by Kim. She was calling the shots whether she knew it or not.

Chapter 5
    Kim opened the door to her cottage to find Harper holding a basket of bagels and wearing her snarkiest grin. “You have coffee?”
    “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
    Glancing at the clock on the wall, she saw it was eight o’clock in the morning, and for a second Kim wondered if she was late for work. But remembering it was a holiday, she had to wonder what her friend was doing in her kitchen. At least she brought food. Kim was starving.
    Harper may have been her employer, technically, but when she came to work for the software executive almost a year ago, they bonded immediately and became friends. Harper was no bullshit, and she appreciated that Kim was pretty much the same. Now, though, the woman who could terrify a room full of executives had trained her gaze on Kim. “I need answers, missy.”
    Kim had selected an everything bagel and was slathering it with cream cheese. Her diet was going to hate this, but she was craving carbs. She always craved carbs when she was stressed. “You want to tell me what the hell you’re talking about, or are we game playing this morning?”
    “No games,” Harper said. “What’s up with Owen?”
    Kim was just about to take a bite of her magnificent bagel creation, but stopped when Harper posed her question.
    “Owen?”
    “Yes, he asked you out and you said no.”
    Kim closed her eyes, annoyed, and put the bagel on the small plate that appeared in front of her. “He asked me less than ten hours ago. How did you know?”
    “Jason told Meg, Meg texted Kevin, and Kevin told me this morning.”
    Leaning back in her seat, Kim folded her arms. This was the price of being part of a big, close, extended family. “Oh, my God. You people have to stop.”
    “Why did you say no? Don’t you like him?”
    “What if I told you it was none of your business?”
    Harper tossed her head back and laughter pealed out of her.
    “That’s what I thought.” Kim adjusted her position on the kitchen stool, realizing she was going to have to talk about this whether she wanted to or not, leaned forward, and took a breath. “I do like Owen, but I’m not ready.”
    “It was just dinner. You’ve gone out to dinner with men before.”
    “Harper, don’t make assumptions. This is different.”
    Harper poured some milk into her freshly brewed coffee, and took a seat on the other side of the island. “Is it? How?”
    “He’s a marine. Been there, done that.”
    “He’s not your fiancé and it seems to me he kinda gets you. You two seemed pretty interested in each other yesterday.”
    “Harper . . .”
    “Oh, I get it! You like him. That’s why it’s different.”
    That was exactly why she couldn’t see him. She’d only known him a day and she liked him too much for her own good already. “I’m cautious. Generally when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.” Tom certainly fell into that category.
    “Owen is as good as he seems. He’s a bit of a stiff, but he’s a good guy. You don’t get better.”
    Kim considered her fingers, paying particular attention to her bare ring finger. For so long she wore Tom’s ring and in the end it brought her nothing but pain. The thought of getting involved with anyone, even casually, scared her to death.
    “I don’t know, Harper . . . it’s not a good idea. What if things go south? You guys are close and I don’t want to be in the middle of anything.”
    “Oh, stop. If I haven’t messed things up with those three bozos, you certainly aren’t going to do anything.”
    Kim had been front and center to the drama that unfolded when all of Harper’s secrets came out—from the baby she hadn’t told Kevin about to her country bumpkin pedigree. Still, she wasn’t going out with Owen.
    “He’s not going to give