Apparently she needed the armor with Archer. Slipping an arm around her waist to give her the support she needed to buckle herself into the FMPs, he waited until she straightened then said, “What the fuck was that?”

“Me doing my job,” she said in a duh voice.

“Since when is dirty dancing with a felon your job?”

She narrowed her fierce eyes. “You told me to get close to him. You told me to ID him and then keep him distracted, whatever it takes.”

“Okay, no,” he said. “I absolutely did not say whatever it takes.”

She glared up at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.” Her voice was like ice.

“Oh boy,” Joe muttered in Archer’s ear. “When a woman says ‘nothing’ in that tone, it most definitely means something and you should be wearing a cup to finish that conversation. Just sayin’.”

Archer put a finger to his eye before it twitched right out of his head. “I told you to make your exit,” he said to Elle with what he thought was remarkable calm while ignoring Joe, who was a dead man walking anyway. “When I tell you something, Elle, I expect you to listen.”

He heard a collective sucking in of air through his comms and ignored that too.

“Wow,” Elle finally said.

“Okay,” Max piped up. “I have a girlfriend now so I know this one. When Rory says ‘wow’ like that, it’s not a compliment. It means she’s thinking long and hard on how and when I’ll pay for my stupidity.”

“Agreed,” Joe said. “She’s simply expressing amazement that a man can be such an idiot. Abort mission, boss. I repeat. Abort. Mission.”

Shit. Archer ripped out his earpiece and then did the same to Elle’s, stuffing both in his pocket.

She shrugged and walked away, leaving him on the dance floor. Watching her go, an odd feeling cranked over in his chest. Irritation, he decided. Frustration. This woman got to him like no one else.

And don’t miss the previous books in Jill Shalvis’s Heartbreaker Bay Series, SWEET LITTLE LIES, THE TROUBLE WITH MISTLETOE and ONE SNOWY NIGHT, now available! Grab your copies HERE!

REVIEW

I have enjoyed each of the stories in the Heartbreaker Bay series, and have been looking forward to Elle and Archer's book for a while, so I was super excited to read it.

One of my favorite things about this series is the closeness between the characters, the residents of the town. They've truly formed a family and want nothing but the best for each other. I love that they saw what was there for Elle and Archer long before either of them admitted it to themselves, much less each other.

Elle and Archer have known each other for years, but the event that brought them into each others lives left very different thoughts in their heads about each other and thus is the cause of their current issues. In other words, they both have feelings for the other, but because of their beliefs, they refuse to act on them. You know typical "I'm pushing you away for your own good" behavior.

Fortunately for both Elle and Archer, things have a way of coming to light and forcing you to communicate and give you the opportunity to understand a situation from the other's perspective. When the two start talking and learn more about what the other thought/felt about the past situation it sort of opens their eyes.

I love loved the banter between these two, it had me laughing often while also shaking my head at them. But there's more to this story than wit and humor, there's also deeply emotional things, a past rife with pain that still haunts Elle, and a family division that affects Archer. I loved how they didn't realize how close they really were, how strong their feelings were, until basically the truth of their feelings smacked them in the face.

Accidentally on Purpose was a great addition to the Heartbreaker Bay series, and Elle and Archer's story may be my favorite of the group so far. I didn't want to say goodbye to these characters I've grown to know and love and I can't wait to see them again in the next book.

About Jill Shalvis: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s sexy contemporary and award-winning books wherever romances are sold and click on the blog button above for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.