Page 27 of Tristan’s Temptation

“His favorite.”

Sara snorted. “There’s a reason exes are exes.”

“Dang.” Jenny put out a lip. “I wish you’d picked me. I’d love to go on a date with Tristan. Even with you two along.”

“Jenny,” Adam chortled, “even I wouldn’t do that to my brother.”

A date.

Tristan had a date.

Shannon sat at her desk and determinedly fixed her attention on her computer, though she saw nothing through the blur of her tears.

She should have known. She should have suspected. She should have…

What?

She’d wanted him and she’d taken him. He’d told her all along their relationship was little more than a one-fuck stand. It was not something he was interested in pursuing.

She should have listened.

With a heavy sigh, Shannon closed her laptop and gathered her things. It wasn’t time to go home but it was Friday and she was tired and she really didn’t care much if anyone needed her for anything.

Besides, she desperately needed to be alone to think this through. She had to get to a place where she could survive this thing with Tristan, where she was comfortable mentally, physically and, most importantly, emotionally. That she’d been devastated to learn he had a date tonight should be a huge red flag.

The robot would be flailing its arms and bellowing, “Danger, Will Robinson. Danger. Danger.”

They’d never made any promises to each other—he certainly never had. There was no agreement or understanding, certainly no talk of monogamy. She had no right to be jealous. She had no call to be hurt.

They had screwed.

Several times.

That was it.

And it wasn’t much.

But it felt like so much more—to her, at least.

She just needed to remember that most of what had happened with Tristan had happened in the privacy of her own mind. He certainly didn’t share her fascination. She was nothing more to him than a fuck buddy—a fuck buddy who happened to work for him. He had no claim on her and she had no claim on him.

If only she could remember that.

“Have you seen Shannon?” Tristan asked, poking his head into Adam’s office later that afternoon.

“Nope.” Adam turned the page on the document he was studying, a clear and unsuccessful attempt to dismiss this interruption. “Not for a while.”

“Her desk is cleared off and her laptop is gone. It looks like she left for the day.”

Adam shrugged but Tristan could tell it was a halfhearted effort. “No clue. If you need her,” he suggested, “why don’t you call her?”

Tristan shifted from one foot to the other. “She’s not answering her cell.”

Adam grunted and returned his attention to his work. As though he didn’t care. Or something.

Kat entered the room, carrying two garment bags over her shoulder. That caught Adam’s attention.

Before they could get all gooey—and Tristan could tell they were about to start kissing again—he threw out his burning question. “Hey, Kat, have you seen Shannon?”