“It’s not romantic,” Shelby assured her, knowing in that statement she was being completely honest. Aidan was a great guy. She’d enjoyed their afternoon together. And sure, he was good-looking and funny, but they were friends. Nothing more. She had a plan and nothing was going to stand in the way of success.

* * *

ONE OF THE advantages of being part owner of a business was having access to it during off-hours. So while The Man Cave was technically closed, Aidan had a key, which explained why he and Shelby were playing pool at ten o’clock on a Saturday morning.

He didn’t know how it was possible, but Shelby had admitted she’d never played pool before, so he’d explained about striped versus solid balls and the basic rules of the game. Now Shelby was practicing how to use her cue stick to hit the cue ball. It wasn’t going well.

“I think it’s moving,” she said as her stick sailed past the cue ball and she stumbled forward.

Aidan held in a grin. “It’s not moving. You have to line up your stick with the ball.”

“But what about where I want it to go?”

“Let’s get you to where you can hit the cue ball consistently, then we’ll worry about direction.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “You sound very patient, but I know you’re laughing at me on the inside.”

“Just a little.”

She wore jeans and a blue sweatshirt. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wasn’t wearing much makeup. But when she smiled at him, her whole face lit up.

“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Tell me again what I’m doing wrong.”

Aidan moved toward her. “Better yet, I’ll show you.”

He positioned the cue ball about a foot from the center pocket, then gently pushed her forward. “Stand with your feet a little bit more than shoulder-width apart. Place your left hand on the table. Bend your fingers like I taught you and rest the cue on your fingers.”

She did as he instructed, then moved her right arm back and forth. The cue stick moved with her.

“Now move with a little more force.”

He watched as she drew back the stick, then thrust it forward. It barely grazed the cue ball. The white ball jumped a little to the left and came to a stop. Shelby groaned, but Aidan saw what she’d been doing wrong.

“You’re moving smoothly in practice, but as soon as you try to put some force behind the movement, you pull up the end.”

“And that’s supposed to make sense to me?”

He chuckled. “I’ll show you.”

He moved behind her so he could hold the cue stick with her. He rested his left hand by her left hand and put his right on top of hers.

“This is your practice movement.” He slowly moved the stick back and forth, keeping it even. “This is what you do when you’re trying to shoot.”

He raised the back of the stick as he brought it forward. “You need to be consistent. There’s no pressure.”

“That’s so geeky,” she muttered. “Okay, let’s try this again.”

She completed the smooth practice shot, then went for the ball. This time she managed to keep the stick level and the white cue ball rolled across the table.

“I did it!”

Aidan straightened. “You did. Now try it again.”

Shelby hurried around to the other side of the table. She got in position. “Is this right?”

He nodded because speaking suddenly seemed difficult. Something was wrong with him. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was a tension inside him. Almost a tightness.

He shook off the feeling and circled around the table to watch Shelby get into position. He checked out her arm extension and how she held the cue, then found his gaze dropping to her butt as she bent over the table.