Jessica Clare - The Girls Guide to (Man)Hunting

THE Girls

GUIDE TO

(Man) HUNTING

THE Girls

GUIDE TO

(Man) HUNTING

JESSICA CLARE

HEAT
New York

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Copyright 2012 by Jessica Clare.

Cover photograph by Kostudio.

Cover design by Lesley Worrell.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

HEAT and the HEAT design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Heat trade paperback edition / May 2012

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Clare, Jessica.

The girls guide to (man)hunting / Jessica Clare.Heat trade paperback ed.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-101-56910-8

I. Title.

PS3603.L353G57 2012

813.6dc23

2011037775

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

For Cindy and Jane.
This book is entirely your fault,
and I mean that in a good way.

L ike everything else bad that happened in Miranda Hills life, rear-ending old Mrs. Doolittle was purely the fault of Dane Croft.

She could have sworn that shed recognized the broad shoulders, tight ass, and familiar swagger of her nemesis walking into the local coffeehouse. Her most hated enemy. The man who had ruined her life. In fact, shed been so busy craning her neck to see if it really was Dane Croft that she hadnt paid attention to the stoplightand had plowed right into the car in front of her.

Yet another thing she could add to the list of reasons why she hated him.

Miranda put her pickup in park and slid out of the cab to look at the damage shed caused to the other car. Mrs. Doolittle drove a Buick that was older than Miranda herself, and the thing was built like a tanka big, powder blue tank. The bumper wasnt even dinged, not that Mrs. D cared. The old woman crawled from the belly of the tank and scowled at her.

You hit my car, Miranda. If Mrs. Doolittle had a cane, she probably would have shaken it in Mirandas face. What on earth were you thinking, girl?

Miranda gave Mrs. D an apologetic look and self-consciously tugged at the high collar of her pink sweater set. Im so sorry, Mrs. Doolittle. I was justdistracted. She was still distracted, actually. Her gaze strayed to the Kurts Koffee on the far side of the street, but the windows were tinted and impossible to see into.

The elderly woman peered at her. Young lady, were you using the Twitters while you were driving? You know

No Internet, Miranda blurted, tugging on her collar again. I just wasnt paying attention. I thought I sawsomething.

Someone.

A car pulled up behind them. No surprise, given that most of the streets in downtown Bluebonnet were single lanes, with just enough room in the city square to park in front of one of the two restaurants. She waved for the driver to go around them, and then continued apologizing to Mrs. D, even as they exchanged insurance information. Anything to get out of the street and appease her curiosity. She kept glancing at the coffeehouse as she scribbled down her contact numbers.

Finally, Mrs. D was on her way, satisfied. Miranda pulled her truck into a parking space across the street and sprinted toward the coffee shop, but didnt go inside. Instead, she pressed her hands to the glass and peered in. A few people were seated, but she didnt see the man she was looking for.

No Dane Croft. Was she crazy? Had she imagined that she saw him? Chewing on her lip, Miranda straightened the front of her sweater set in the reflection and then went inside.

Well, well, well, if it isnt the Boobs of Bluebonnet, said Jimmy Langan from behind the counter. Jimmy was the town rebel, with purple, red, and black Rasta braids, a face that had never seen a tan, and enormous ear gauges that hed probably regret when he was seventy. He grinned at her, giving Miranda the up-and-down look that shed become far too accustomed to in the past nine years. What can I do for you?

Shut up, Jimmy, she said. Three weeks. She could deal with the jokes and the sneaking glances at her breasts for three more weeks. Moving past the counter, she peered down the hallway at the restrooms. No Dane Croft. She resisted the urge to open the door, and instead wandered back to the counter. Is anyone in there?

You want me to go and check under the stalls for feet? Jimmy said dryly.

Well, no, she stammered, her hand going to the collar of her sweater. Maybe. She hesitated, reluctant to say the name of the man she was looking for. If she even so much as uttered Danes name, the rumors would start flying all over town again.

You know that nice Miranda Hill? She never quite got over Dane Croft. She was asking about him in Kurts Koffee. Poor thing.

Remember that man in the photos with Miranda Hill? Shes still sweet on him. I heard shes still got the hots for him and thats why she hasnt married.

The town librarian? Shes a slut. Want to see the pictures? She spent seven minutes in heaven with Casanova Croft back when they were both in high school. They even took photos of it. Just search for Boobs of Bluebonnet on the Internet and youll see them.

Miranda clutched the collar of her demure sweater even harder. So what kind of customers have you had today?

Jimmy shrugged lazily, adjusting the thick black-frame glasses on his pasty, scruffy face. Hed been a stoner back when theyd graduated from high school together, and he was a stoner still. Asking him to remember the customers hed had that morning might be beyond his pot-riddled memory. Couple soy lattes, couple double espressos, a venti mocha frap with double Splenda

Great, just what she needed: a rundown of coffee orders. She feigned interest, her eyes skimming the restaurant as Jimmy rattled off a litany of special requests.

And a certain someone you might recall, Jimmy added slowly, his gaze dropping to her breasts. We went to high school with him.

She crossed her arms over her chest, doing her best to hide what the underwire minimizer wouldnt. Her heart was thudding hard in her chest, but she forced herself to be nonchalant about the information. Oh? Someone from high school? Whos that?