CRYSTAL BISHOP STARED at her reflection in the mirror and smiled. She had every reason to be pleased with herself, she decided. She was finally back where she belonged—in Joshua Rush’s life and in his bed. And if she had her say in the matter, she wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

      Of course, if she’d had her way, she never would have left in the first place. Their separation had been all Joshua’s doing. After the tacky scene with Marly in his office that day, he’d been worried about what she might tell people, the rumors she might spread about him out of spite. And in his line of work, Joshua couldn’t afford even a breath of scandal.

      So he’d convinced Crystal that the two of them had to play it cool and keep their distance until the breakup with Marly blew over. He had to have—what had he called it?—plausible deniability if she started flinging around accusations.

      But to Crystal’s surprise, Marly hadn’t said a word to anyone about what she’d seen that day. Crystal wasn’t so sure if she’d been in Marly’s shoes that she would have been so discreet. But then, finding her fiancé in bed with a younger, prettier, sexier woman probably wasn’t something Marly wanted to get around.