Deal-Breaker
by Siri Caldwell
This was not the plan.After a career-threatening injury, backup dancer Rae Peters crashes at a
friend’s in a middle-of-nowhere college town to recover. She’d rather be onstage performing with a rock star than
stuck in a swimming pool doing rehab exercises, but at least the people-watching is good. Make that person-
watching, because she only pays attention to one person: the cute water aerobics instructor who’s always lugging
around accounting textbooks like she might be smart.Jori Burgess is a grad student with a young daughter
and a blackmailing ex-boyfriend. She’s got her hands full being a single mother, and studying, and teaching at the
pool, and pretending to be someone she’s not. The last thing she needs is one more complication, but Rae is one
complication she can’t resist.Rae has no trouble resisting, because she promised herself a long time ago
that flirtatious straight girls were not for her. Even if they claimed they weren’t that straight.
Especially if they claimed they weren’t that straight. Really, thank you, but no. She’s not going to fall
for someone who’s got red flags plastered all over her very attractive…uh…personality.Being friends,
though? Being friends is not a problem, and neither is dancing together, and neither is holding on a little longer
than is strictly appropriate, and neither is… Yeah. This could be a problem.
friend’s in a middle-of-nowhere college town to recover. She’d rather be onstage performing with a rock star than
stuck in a swimming pool doing rehab exercises, but at least the people-watching is good. Make that person-
watching, because she only pays attention to one person: the cute water aerobics instructor who’s always lugging
around accounting textbooks like she might be smart.Jori Burgess is a grad student with a young daughter
and a blackmailing ex-boyfriend. She’s got her hands full being a single mother, and studying, and teaching at the
pool, and pretending to be someone she’s not. The last thing she needs is one more complication, but Rae is one
complication she can’t resist.Rae has no trouble resisting, because she promised herself a long time ago
that flirtatious straight girls were not for her. Even if they claimed they weren’t that straight.
Especially if they claimed they weren’t that straight. Really, thank you, but no. She’s not going to fall
for someone who’s got red flags plastered all over her very attractive…uh…personality.Being friends,
though? Being friends is not a problem, and neither is dancing together, and neither is holding on a little longer
than is strictly appropriate, and neither is… Yeah. This could be a problem.