He nodded as he finished the cookie.

“A lot?”

He nodded again.

“And?”

She was pretty. He liked how she met his gaze steadily. He didn’t have a type so much as he enjoyed all women, and while under other circumstances he would be tempted, he knew his relationship with Shelby wouldn’t be about sex. It would be about something far more important.

He thought about what she’d told him about her past. How her father had hurt her. He felt the anger rise up inside of him again, along with the need to protect. Not that he could do anything, but he told himself it was good that he still had that much empathy. He wasn’t a total jackass.

He wanted to be different and as far as he could tell, Shelby’s plan offered a way to make that happen.

“I’m in,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

She clapped her hands together. “That’s great. I’m very excited. I was hoping you’d agree. I’ve been thinking about the plan and we need to make sure we agree on terms.”

“Friends for six months.”

She nodded. Her eyes were wide and blue and right now filled with earnest determination.

“We’ll hang out and do things together,” she said. “Get to know each other. Develop trust. I’ll see you as a man who doesn’t threaten me and you’ll see me as a person, not a bed partner.”

“Agree. No sex. Nothing romantic. We’ll hang out and do stuff.”

She squared her shoulders. “Then in six months, we’ll both be better people. Healed. We’ll finish our experiment and go our separate ways.”

“That’s easy for you to say, but I’m not sure you can keep your end of the bargain.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

He grinned. “I’m a great friend. You might get hooked. I’m still friends with guys I knew in grade school. I can’t seem to shake ’em.”

She laughed. “I’m an excellent friend, as well. What if you don’t want to stop being friends with me?”

“That could be a real possibility.”

“All right,” she said slowly. “What if we commit—” She shook her head. “No, you hate that word. What if we dedicate ourselves to our plan for the next six months? Then, if we still want to be friends, we still will be. But regular friends, without a plan for mutual personal growth.”

He couldn’t imagine any man on the planet coming up with something like this, he thought. Which was why women should be ruling the world.

“Sounds like a plan.” He held out his hand.

She leaned across the counter and took it in hers. They shook.

“I don’t work Saturday,” she said. “Are you free?”

He had a couple of tours, but he could trade the afternoon one. “Sure. Say three?”

“Perfect. I’ll come to your place. It’s a date.” She frowned. “Not a date. A...”

“A nondate?”

“An undate?”

He grinned. “A friend date.”

She nodded. “Do you want another cookie?”

“No, thanks. I don’t want to have to work out more and have Eddie think I’m flirting with her.”

“Good point.” She bit her lower lip. “Do you think this is going to work, Aidan?”

He thought about the pain in her eyes when she’d talked about her past. He remembered the accusations the other woman had hurled at him on New Year’s Eve. Shelby had a good job and was part owner in a business he was pretty sure she loved. He knew he enjoyed everything about his company. Each of them had nearly all they could want and yet something was missing. Something big.