Surprise Partners

COURTSHIP OF CONVENIENCE

They were neighbors. Friends. Acquaintances, actually. And about all shy, intense Lydia McKinley and smooth, ambitious Scott Pearson had in common was zero tolerance for romance -- and two matchmaking sisters bombarding them with blind dates. Still, why not join forces to outmaneuver their siblings?

The strategy? Don protective camouflage. Pose as sweethearts at social occasions. A hug here, a kiss there, and they'd barricade themselves against a barrage of misguided matchmaking. But who knew their casual contact would trigger such explosive embraces? That their convenient courtship would plunge them headlong into a minefield of most inconvenient desire?