Love Secrets #44

Kim Bishop has been pining for Dave Anderson for months, so when she spots a chance to finally get his attention, she hatches an audacious plan: she'll pretend to be interested in Tony Danvers, another man Dave knows, and ask Dave to introduce them—banking on spending time with Dave in the process. But when Dave actually agrees to take her to a town dance to meet Tony, Kim finds herself caught between the lie she's built and what her heart really wants. As the evening unfolds, fortune—and Tony's unexpected arrival with another girl—throws her carefully constructed scheme into chaos, forcing Kim to confront what this "pretended" romance has become.

In "Pattern for Marriage," Lucy Carroll finds herself torn between the rigid predictability of her fiancé, Professor David Burgess, and the reckless charm of Ted Foster, a man who lives entirely in the moment. As Lucy navigates secret dates and growing doubts, her carefully balanced world begins to unravel—until a sudden betrayal forces her to reconsider what kind of future she truly wants.

Kathy Wilks has forgiven Tommy Brent's thoughtlessness one too many times—his chronic lateness and careless promises have worn her patience thin. Desperate to shake him out of his selfish ways, she decides to turn the tables and become every bit as inconsiderate as he is. When her bold gamble puts their relationship on the line, Kathy discovers whether Tommy can finally see the hurt he's caused—or if her drastic action will push them apart for good.

Sharon Muir feels invisible next to her glamorous older twin sisters at their father's lakeside resort—until she meets Gary Andrews, a charming young vacationer who treats her as an equal. When her sisters invite Gary to their party, Sharon panics and invents a fake date to keep him away, terrified he'll prefer them once he sees them together. Her desperate lie unravels in tears, but what unfolds next shows Sharon that she's been measuring herself against the wrong scale all along.