Earning It

December 18, 2017
Quarles’s taut little contemporary sets up a steamy affair with a forgivably contrived case of mistaken identity. After a 10-year absence, newly minted sports doctor Pepper Rodgers returns to her hometown of Sarasota, Fla. Even before she hangs out her shingle, an old friend sets her up on a blind date. What harm can come from coffee with a good-looking lawyer named Rick? And the man sitting alone at a table in the Mocha Cabana looks more like a young god. Pepper’s just been through an unceremonious breakup and a long dry spell, and just the sight of this guy is arousing. The looker in question is in fact Pepper’s high school nemesis, Luke Haas, a retired SEAL, and he sees no harm in pretending to be Rick the lawyer after Pepper mistakes him for the person she’s supposed to meet. But the coffee leads to a delicious quickie and ultimately to the inevitable relationship-killing confession. The tension plays out as Luke’s hurling team prepares for international competition. Fans of lightweight fluff will consume this story in a single sitting.