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mouth went dry and his body froze with recognition.
    It was the Sailor Scout from Comic-Con.
    Only now, she was dressed head to toe in solid black with a pair of daggers on her belt and another peeking out from the top of her boot. Her long black hair hung in a thick braid over her shoulder, Lara Croft style.
    The overwhelming urge to strip her out of her costume layer by layer filled him. He clenched his hands into fists to keep from stripping off those tight leather pants and plunging into her.
    Her eyes widened when she saw him, and her greeting to the rest of the room halted mid-sentence. He caught the slightest shake of her head before Paul moved in to intercede. His old friend wrapped his arm around Jenny’s waist, and a bout of nausea kicked him in the gut.
    “Dan, this is one of my co-workers, Jenny.” He gave her a jostling half-hug that shook away her shock. “Jenny, this is one of my good friends, Dan.”
    She gave him a tense smile and offered her hand. “So good to finally meet you, Dan. Paul’s been anxious to add you to our game.”
    So that’s how she wants to play it. Pretend like we’re perfect strangers . And why not, especially since she and Paul were obviously a couple. He returned her smile and took her hand, squeezing it a bit harder than necessary. “Nice to meet you, too,” he replied, fighting hard to keep his voice level. If there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was a cheating woman.
    Paul glanced between them, his brows furrowed in worry. “Am I missing something here?”
    The silent plea she sent him was enough for him to keep quiet. For now, anyway. “You know how I feel about rogue types.” He gestured to her costume. “Am I wrong about the class of the character you’ll be playing?”
    Her grin widened to crinkle her almond shaped eyes, and the muscles in her forearm went lax. He could almost hear her silent thanks as she said, “Not at all.”
    “Jenny always plays rogues.” Paul gave her one more hug before returning to his throne.
    Dan stayed where he was, his gaze locked with Jenny’s like they were two gunfighters in an old Western, and he was the one wearing the white hat. “Funny. I usually play paladins.”
    “Then this should prove interesting.” Her expression remained wary as she moved to the empty chair between Jessie and the wizard boy.
    Dan took the remaining chair across the table, studying her as they passed around character sheets and rolled the dice for ability scores. Paul talked about the characters and explained the world he’d created for this campaign, but Dan only half-listened. He was still trying to wrap his head around running into Jenny again.
    Awkward didn’t begin to describe it.
    And judging by the way she refused to look at him, she was feeling the same way.
    Time to set her on her heels. Normally, he chose to play a member of the warrior class that upheld the law and fought evil, but maybe it was time for a change. When it came time for him to declare his class, he stared directly at her and said, “Rogue.”
    Her lips parted, but her eyes glittered from the challenge. “There’s usually only room for one rogue in our band.”
    “Then we can either work together or weed each other out.”
    Paul snickered from behind his DM board and scribbled something on his notepad. “I’m going to love this.”
    Dan crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, hoping it concealed the rapid pounding of his heart. His D&D characters were lawful-good to a fault, and no doubt, Paul had created a campaign with some challenges fit for a paladin. Now he was going outside his comfort zone, but he still wasn’t quite sure why. Part of him liked the idea of working closely with Jenny while another part of him was still recoiling from the possibility that she could be involved with his friend.
    And if she was, would he be able to tell Paul about what happened at Comic-Con? After all, Paul had been the one who’d revealed Cait’s infidelity.
    Of