Made to be His ( The Archer Family 1)

Apparently she'd have to resort to distraction. "Did you make any progress with your mom?"

That sobered her up quick enough. In an instant, all the wonder drained from Shay's face, leaving behind a cool annoyance. "Not this time. She's convinced he's the one."

"And is he?"

"How should I know?" Shay opened her clutch, then closed it again. It was a shade of green just as vivid as her shoes, and both did wonders to accentuate the pretty, white, bandage dress she wore. "The whole thing makes me want to smoke."

"But you didn't?" Andy asked.

"No, Mother." Shay rolled her eyes. "Anyway, they're gonna get married in a few months, so odds are she'll find someone else before then. Or come to her senses."

"That sucks," Andy said.

"Yeah, well. Mothers. What can you do? You can't raise them forever." She opened and closed her bag again, then looked up so quick, it was like she'd been jolted by a cattle prod. "By the way, I saw the interview with Logan in the paper. Good job. Very charming."

"Thanks," Andy said.

"You coached him for it, I'm guessing."

Andy's shoulders tensed, and she glanced at her computer screen, willing it to create some kind of distraction. "Not really. He's a natural with stuff like that."

"You...didn't coach him?" Shay eyed her. "I thought—"

"I knew he didn't need it."

There was a slight pause, then Shay said, "So, his case is pretty much ready, though, right? You talked to him about goal setting and—"

"Actually, I'm glad you mentioned that. I was hoping you could take on his case from here on out. Things are getting a little touch and go with Matt and the league, so I'm going to be really, really busy with negotiations."

Another pause. "Right."

"Good, I knew you'd understand."

"Actually, I'm not sure that I do."

Andy's heart gave a little squeeze, but she didn't say anything.

"You want me to take on Logan as a client...” Shay’s mouth quirked to the side. “But you're his friend."

"Exactly. Conflict of interest."

"If a conflict of interest bothered you, you wouldn't be handling your brother's case, either." Shay pointed out. Annoyingly.

"Well, that's different. He's family."

"You know that makes no sense, right?"

"It does make sense. Really. Come on, can't you just do me this favor?" Andy asked.

"Only if you admit the real reason for needing the favor to begin with."

"And what's that?"

Shay sighed. "You're afraid."

"Afraid?"

"That's right. You're afraid to be alone with him. You still love him."