Saving Courtney (Bryant Station Curves Book 4) by Rayne Rachels Page A

dough. You should give me a raise for saving you from a trip to the emergency room.”
    “I was checking the quality of your baking. That’s part of my job description, because I am the boss.”
    “Then get some cookies off the cooling rack, but stay out of the dough.” Courtney laughed as she pointed to the cooling rack filled with trays of cookies.
    Joy snagged a couple of cookies off the rack, and bit into one. “These are better than the cookie dough. I was right. You are a good baker.”
    “Thank you.” Courtney picked up several more of the dough balls and arranged them on the parchment paper lined trays. “What did you do about the guy who took you on the date just so you could watch his kids?”
    Joy grinned. A wicked gleam appeared in her eyes. “I called his ex-wife.”
    “You didn’t!”
    “Yeah, I did. It turned out she wasn’t exactly his ex-wife.”
    “What?” Courtney’s jaw dropped.
    “T hey were only separated and it was his weekend with the kids.”
    “The guy really had some nerve.”
    Joy grinned. “She divorced him and got full custody of the kids.”
    “What about child support?”
    “She doesn’t need it. One of her lawyer’s partners happened to be her mate. Last I heard, he adopted her kids, and she’s expecting their first child, or I should say kitten.”
    Courtney’s eyebrows shot up. “Kitten?”
    “Her husband is a cougar shifter.”
    “So it actually turned out good for her and the children?”
    “Yeah, it did. Just not so good for me.” Joy sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “It was just another dating disaster in a long line of dating disasters. But enough about me. Are you worried the date will be a disaster?”
    “No, that’s the least of my worries.”
    Joy frowned. “Who are you going out with?”
    Courtney refused to look at Joy.
    “It’s not Scott, is it?”
    Courtney shook her head.
    “Then who is it?”
    Courtney felt her cheeks warm. “Todd and Harrison.”
    Joy stared at Courtney. “They may be my cousins, but they were knuckle heads today. You’re not holding that against them, are you?”
    Courtney shook her head. “Men are jerks sometimes, and fighting like that was stupid, but no, I’m not holding it against them.”
    “I’m just glad it was in here and not in the middle of the diner.” Joy rolled her eyes. “Not that I wanted them fighting in here either.”
    “Will the display case be fixed by Saturday?”
    “Abby is sending a crew over tonight to replace the glass and do the final touch-ups.”
    Courtney nodded.
    “So why are you having second thoughts about dating Todd and Harrison? Is it because you’re seeing both guys?”
    “Some people are going to have issues with the three of us being together. It doesn’t bother me.” Courtney blew several strands of hair out of her face. “They are my mates. Honestly, I get that and accept it.”
    Joy watched Courtney put the cookie dough balls onto the parchment paper lined trays.  “Scott said you knew about shifters. Is it a problem having two bear shifters as your mates?”
    Courtney heard the frosty tone in Joy’s voice. She looked at the woman. “I don’t have a problem being mated to bear shifters. Honestly, I wouldn’t have a problem being mated to any shifter.”
    Joy shifted her position and put down the uneaten cookie she was still holding. “I sense a but .”
    “I don’t want them to get hurt because of me.” Courtney drew in a ragged breath.
    “How would they get hurt?”
    “Scott told you about the Jared?” Courtney nervously bit her bottom lip.
    Joy nodded. “He mentioned him…something about him following you.”
    “I never went out with Jared or had anything to do with him. One day he just appeared and started following me everywhere. He turned up at my work. He would be at the grocery store. Then he started showing up at my apartment complex. At night , he stood in the parking lot, staring at my apartment. He never got close. It was really