“I don’t like the thought of this lovely head being hurt.” Evan brushed a gentle finger over her forehead, pulling Sam’s attention away from cats and cucumbers.

Sam’s beer went down the wrong way and he choked. What the hell was wrong with him tonight? His motives for inviting Layla were entirely self-serving. Even without the game, she would be more inclined to leave the office if her business was going well and she could afford her own space. So why did he feel the urge to punch Evan in the face?

“If you’ll excuse me, I have to make a quick call and check in with my mom.” Layla slid off her chair and away from Evan’s roving hands. “She’s short-staffed at the restaurant tonight and I just want to make sure she’s doing okay.”

After she’d gone, Sam glared at his friend. “I brought her to you as a potential client, not a hookup.”

“She’s sweet, hot, and she’s got a perfect ass. I’ll do the client thing tomorrow.” Evan hesitated. “Unless you two—”

“No.” Sam shook his head dismissively. “She’s chaos in its purest form. The office is a disaster. It’s like she’s never heard of a paper-free workspace. We’ve got a snarky manic pixie dream girl receptionist who looks like she ran through a thrift shop on her way to work, a purple velvet couch with lion’s feet, hordes of aunties tromping through the office, and now John and his partners are going to be coming down every day for free snacks.”

“I like them a bit crazy,” Evan said, watching her talking on the phone across the bar. “More fun in bed.”

Sam clenched his fist by his side. He didn’t want that image in his head. After years in the downsizing business, he’d learned how to keep his emotions in check. What was it about Layla that turned him inside out? They had nothing in common. If she was interested in Evan, there was no reason for him to stand in the way. And yet, that was exactly what he was about to do. Evan didn’t just love ’em and leave ’em. He screwed them and ran away. For the first time Sam wondered why he even called the guy a friend.

“Do me a favor and just help her with the branding,” Sam said. “Keep it professional.”

“Fine.” Evan sighed. “For a start, she’ll need to lose the blue streaks in her hair if she’s looking for corporate clients. What’s that all about?”

“Maybe it’s a New York thing. She worked at a big recruitment agency there, Glenlyon Morell.”

“I’ve heard of them,” Evan said. “They’re very conservative. No way would they be down with blue hair.”

A hipster dude in Doc Martens, torn skinny jeans, and a prefaded fake vintage T-shirt was eyeing Layla from across the room. He nudged his bearded friend, and the two of them sipped from their mason jars while checking her out.

“Maybe she dyed it after she had the bust-up with her boyfriend and moved back to the West Coast,” Sam said absently, his hand tightening around his glass as he watched the two men watching Layla. “He’s a social media star. Jonas James . . . Or something like that.”

“Jonas Jameson.” Evan tapped on his screen. “I’ve heard of him. He’s got a lifestyle channel.”

One of the dudes tossed the end of his plaid scarf over his shoulder and drained his jar. Sam tensed as he walked in Layla’s direction.

“Jameson is a real piece of work.” Evan scrolled through Jonas’s channel. “He’s got the same blue streaks in his hair as Layla. Was she in any of his videos? If she’s trying to make a play for corporate clients, she might want to think about asking him to take them down.”

“I dunno. I never really talked to her about it.” The dude made a sudden turn and put his mason jar on an empty table. Sam let out a relieved breath.

“I think this might be her.” Evan studied a video on his phone. “I can’t really tell because my phone is busted. Third time I’ve cracked the screen. I’ll send it to the bartender and we can watch it on the TV. Maybe she’s giving makeup or hair-dye tips. We could learn something.”

“Let me check it out first.” Sam reached for the phone.

Too late. The video flashed on the screen.

By the time Sam was able to wrap his mind around the fact that the woman in the “Blue Fury” video, hair and face streaked blue, screaming and tossing clothes off a third-story balcony and into the grassy courtyard below was Layla, it was already over.

“I can’t believe that was her,” Evan said after “Blue Fury” was replaced with yet another cat video. “That was fucking awesome.”

“She was hurting. She wasn’t trying to put on a show.” Layla had told him about catching her boyfriend cheating on her. She was a passionate woman, fiercely loyal to the people she cared about. No doubt she had expected her romantic partner to be the same. “I just hope she didn’t see it.”

“It’s got over five million YouTube views, dude. Everyone has seen it.”

Everyone including Layla.

Her stricken expression as she approached the table told him everything he needed to know. “What did you do?” she demanded, her furious gaze on Sam.

“Nothing. It wasn’t—”

“You didn’t tell me you were famous, babe.” Evan gave her a nudge. “‘Blue Fury.’ I gotta say, a woman letting it go like that is pretty hot.”

“I’m leaving.” Layla grabbed her coat, her face an expressionless mask.

“Layla. Wait.” Sam moved to join her and she held up her hand, warning him away.

“How could you do this?” She hitched her breath. “I thought you were doing something nice. But this really is a game to you.” She pressed her palm to her lips. “Did you and Evan set this up? Do you think I’m going to walk away from the office because you humiliated me?”

“No. Of course not. I didn’t know about the video. I mentioned you’d been with Jonas. Evan was checking out his channel when he saw the video—”

“Well, guess what?” She cut him off as if he hadn’t spoken. “I’ve already hit rock bottom, and there’s nowhere for me to go but up. I don’t need any help. Not from you and not from Evan. I’m going to have the best damn recruitment business in the city and I’ll do it on my own.”

“Jesus Christ, Evan,” Sam shouted when she walked out the door. “What were you thinking?”

“Come on. It was hilarious.” Evan ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “Who doesn’t like to see themselves on the big screen? Five million views and she’s worried about fifty people in a bar?”