Two

      Until this exact moment in time, Drew Fleming had never successfully captured Reid Singleton’s undivided attention. She’d recognized him the instant their eyes locked across the room. He looked the same as when her brother, Gage, had introduced him years ago. To summarize: disgustingly, distractingly hot.

      Reid, while still disgustingly, distractingly hot, was also somehow more. More mature. Slightly weathered. Handsome. Stately. Broader, too, his shoulders taking up more space in that button-up shirt than they had a right to.

      Her heart pattered insistently against her rib cage as she walked toward him, and she forced herself to take deep breaths. She wasn’t going to dissolve into Reid’s biggest fan at a conference mixer, nor was she going to have a panic attack and run off in another direction. Drew was proud of who she was, of how far she’d come. She was no longer Gage’s backward, chubby younger sister. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d smiled shyly as she hid behind her hair.

      She put a hop in her next step as she drew her chin up and shook her hair. Reid’s tempting mouth slid into an expression that screamed interested. And who could blame him? She was rocking this skirt.

      Reid and Drew didn’t have much of a past to speak of, considering he’d only known her when she was fifty pounds heavier. She’d been the quiet girl sneaking frosting off the edge of her birthday cake because she couldn’t wait for everyone to sing “Happy Birthday” before she tasted it.

      Back then she’d had either white-blond hair with pink streaks, or jet black—that phase had lasted what felt like forever—before accepting her weight and her mouse-brown natural hair color as an adult. But today Reid was seeing her as her best self. Her rich, dark hair long and flowing over her shoulders. Her smile bright, her lipstick fresh, her new killer heels sexily laced up her ankles. If there was ever a perfect time to run into Reid Singleton, it was right now.

      She’d have to call her roommate, Christina, the moment this mixer was over and thank her for coming down with the plague.

      See, Drew might be herself, but she also wasn’t herself. She was playing the role of her roommate, who’d had the unfortunate luck to contract the flu before the tech event for her company. Christina had been working at the Brentwood Corporation for just under a year and was worried if she missed the first conference they’d assigned her to, they’d never ask her to do another.

      Drew was desperately in need of a break after a messy split with her ex a year ago. She felt was like she was emerging from the shadows after a long, deep slumber, so she volunteered to come here in Christina’s stead.

      Admittedly, manning—or womanning—the booth at the conference wasn’t as fun as an actual vacation, but Drew made the best of it. She’d had a lot of visitors today and smiled and welcomed them even if she didn’t understand what the heck the video she played on repeat was trying to convey. But what she was skilled at was small talk, and so whenever someone popped in, she’d winged it.

      Tonight’s mixer was a great excuse to wear the new shoes, admittedly a splurge, but she’d learned to spoil herself—to splurge on things other than food. Drew splurged on joy. Splurged on clothes. And tonight she might splurge on flirting with Reid Singleton. The way he was watching her hinted that he would enjoy that.

      She ventured over to the quiet, darker part of the room only he was occupying. Reid set aside his glass, an inch of brown liquid in the bottom, and tilted his head as she approached.

      She was tempted to duck her head to hide from the intense eye contact, but she forced herself to hold his cerulean gaze. “Hi.”

      “Hello.” His voice was as rich as dark chocolate and every bit as sinful as those stolen swipes of frosting from her birthday cake. In spite of living in America for over a decade, his accent hadn’t gone anywhere. He perused her from head to toe before those traveling eyes locked on her chest. “Christina. That’s a pretty name.”

      Oh. Damn. Her badge! She’d clipped it on her top to make sure she would be admitted into the party but failed to tuck it away when she arrived.

      Wait...

      Reid knew she wasn’t Christina, right? He had to be kidding. And so she laughed.

      “Christina. Right.”

      “The tag’s a bit of a formality but I’m glad for it. Saved me asking your name. I’ve been watching you dance.”

      Drew felt her smile slip. Damn. He didn’t recognize her. A frisson of hurt rippled through her, and her smile was a little harder to hold. Was she so forgettable?

      “You noticed me,” he said.

      “What?” She blinked as she reframed the situation in her head. She hadn’t seen him in forever and she looked nothing like her former self. Still, she was halfway to offended that her brother’s friend didn’t know who she was...but she was also intrigued. What was the intrigue about?

      Second chances, part of her whispered.

      Reid knew Drew as Gage’s little sis who was a fashion disaster, rarely spoke and was curled on the couch with a book whenever he had seen her. And though the summer she’d been rocking a black bikini at their family’s backyard pool had been more about rebellion than catching Reid’s attention, she remembered him noticing. In passing. He certainly hadn’t looked at her the way he was looking at her now.

      Like he wanted her.

      What was that saying? That there wasn’t a second chance to make a first impression. She’d bet there wasn’t a single soul alive who didn’t want to press a do-over button on something stupid they’d said or done in the past, to leave a totally different first impression. Evidently, she had the rare opportunity to do just that.

      Reid and Drew both lived in Seattle—as did her brother—but she’d done her level best to keep from bumping into Reid on accident. Sure she’d undergone a transformation, but she wasn’t willing to risk being overlooked again. He’d always seen Drew through the lens of “Gage’s sister,” and she doubted dropping weight and changing her hair color would change that. Not that she had to try hard to avoid him. Her social media footprint was almost invisible. She’d endured enough bullying in high school to know better than put up a photo and expect likes and wait for compliments. Nooooo thanks.

      If she was running into him here, of all places, the universe must be nudging her to take action where he was concerned. It was a sign.

      “Can I buy you a drink?” he asked.

      A laugh bubbled from her throat. A second chance to make a first impression on Reid. To find out how long it took him to realize that he was flirting and chatting with none other than Drew Fleming, Gage’s younger sister, and not the mysterious “Christina” from the conference.

      This should be fun. And no less than he deserved