“Excellent, you’re getting it,” Gavin said during my second week. His eyes sparkled with excitement and his dazzling smile lit up the room.

I’d signed up for four lessons a week and this was week two. Since I’d started my lessons on Tuesday, today just happened to land on a Friday.

The undeniable electric attraction between us had only been growing, and the last couple lessons had gone on beyond forty five minutes.

He’d seemed reluctant to let me leave, so he’d kept talking and there was no way I was going to walk out if Gavin wanted me there.

Yesterday we’d talked for an extra hour, until Peg knocked on the door and asked him what the hell he was doing in there.

We’d laughed and had acted like teenagers caught making out at the front door.

Today was no different. We’d talked for a few minutes before my lesson and now were going over the limit again.

Today we managed to keep up the façade that I was here to learn to play and not flirt outrageously with him. But the good thing about that façade was that I really was learning something about the instrument.

And the man.

“Your finger positions are perfect,” he said and held up his hand, wiggled his own fingers. “Soon you’ll have your own lovely callouses like mine.”

“Thanks,” I said with a satisfied smile. “It feels good to do something with my hands. I normally spend so much time in my head.”

I’d told him a little about my research and my education and he’d seemed duly impressed.

We actually got along really well.

Once you stripped away the weirdness that I was leaning from a guy like him, and once you ignored the insane sparks of attraction that popped off between us like fireworks, we really had a lot in common.

He was smarter than I’d expected, and had a wicked sense of humor.

He could make me laugh like crazy, to the point that I actually snorted once or twice and that in turn made him laugh out loud.

I loved his laugh, he had a big honest laugh and would throw his head back when something really struck him as funny.

Our time was coming to the inevitable end when Gavin helped me flip my case shut and reached out to touch my wrist.

I almost jerked my hand away because of the intensity of our contact.

What was it about him that caused me to feel like I was falling every time we touched?

“Hey, there’s this party tonight,” he said and locked those tiger eyes on mine, making me shiver with excitement. “What are you doing?”

“Um, just stuff,” I stammered and tried to calm down a little at his unexpected invitation. “Things.”

“Things and stuff?” he chuckled. “Care to put them off and join me?”

“What’s it for?” I asked, but I knew already that I would go. We weren’t due to have another lesson for a few days and I would already miss him in my life.

I didn’t want to be another clingy idiot though, yet another horny woman chasing the dream of a single night with him.

I wanted him, but I wanted more from him.

I didn’t exactly know what, but I needed him to look at me as more than a fling or a desperate fan.

“It’s some magazine publishing thing,” he replied and grinned. “It’s a thing, you like things.”

“That I do. I do like things,” I said and couldn’t help it, my eyes dropped to his lap for the briefest of moments. When I looked back up he had a knowing smirk on his face.

I could have died and run away from him at that moment, but I couldn’t. I wanted to spend time with him. I licked my lips and said, “Okay, I’ll go.”

“Perfect. I’ll pick you up at nine. I’ll need your address and digits though,” he said, handing me his phone with a crooked smile.

My fingers were almost shaking when I punched in my contact information. Me, my name and details were now living inside Gavin Pierce’s phone.

I couldn’t wait to tell the girls in chat.

And I couldn’t wait to see him outside of our lesson.

I was almost late getting ready as I talked to my sorority sisters in our group chat.

They were all doing their own resolutions, but had pretty much all freaked out over the fact that I was going on a date with Gavin Pierce.

At least that’s what they called it, a date. I still wasn’t sure if that’s what it was.

I applied the last bit of mascara onto my long lashes and dabbed my lipstick on a tissue when my door buzzer went off.

I was wearing a little black dress that exposed a little too much skin for my liking, but I’d purchased it during a shopping spree with Stacy and a couple girls from my sorority.

They’d insisted it was sexy as hell, and I’d never had a chance to wear it before. I was a jeans and shirt kind of girl normally, so this was beyond my comfort zone.

I brushed my long hair out of my eyes and I slipped on ridiculously high heeled black leather boots to finish out the look.

I was almost breathless by the time I opened my door and Gavin stepped inside. He felt too big for my space, he towered over me even as he leaned against the door jamb. He was at least a foot taller, something I didn’t pay much attention to during our lessons when we were both sitting down.

But here his presence was massive.

He looked around, taking in the surroundings, and said, “This is cute.”

“It’s not mine,” I said. “I’m just here for my post doc research.”

“That’s right, so if I wanted to get a glimpse into how your mind works I’d have to see where you actually live,” he replied with a grin.

“It’s nothing special,” I replied. “I’m not exactly the fancy furniture type.”

“Neither am I, I owe all my taste to my designer,” he laughed. “We should get going though if we want to make it in time for cocktails before the boring speeches.”

I hooked my hand on his arm and he whisked me downstairs to the waiting car. Well, as much as he could whisk with one foot in a cast.

I’d seen the video online of how his accident had happened so I hadn’t asked him about it.

He was so different in person from the man I thought he’d be though, the man I saw in that viral video.

That guy had been insane, drunk, out of control…not like the calm and friendly guitar instructor I’d gotten to know.

But it didn’t matter, I lusted after both of them, all of him. I wanted him no matter which version I got, rock god or mellow musician, I just wanted him.

We climbed into a sleek black town car and the driver closed the door behind me.

The car started off with a jolt and I rolled right into Gavin’s lap as I was reached for my purse.

“Oh,” I said and pushed myself away, shocked at how much I’d wanted to stay there. “I’m sorry.”

He laughed and brushed it off but he kept his arm around my shoulder on the drive over.

We chatted easily though, in spite of my stomach doing mad flip-flops at his touch and before I knew it we were pulling up in front of a fancy hotel on the waterfront.

The door opened and we clambered out and I was assaulted with the flash of a million cameras and people yelling Gavin’s name all at once, each trying to get his attention.

I suddenly felt extremely under dressed and completely out of my element.

I thought I was going to throw up from the intense scrutiny.

I rushed away from Gavin, leaving him behind me since he was unable to keep up with his cast.

Thankfully nobody wanted to take any photos of me so I could slink away in peace and quiet.

I’m not proud to admit it, but I sulked in the corner under the awning of the hotel until Gavin made his way to me.

“I’m sorry about that, I always forget how overwhelming it is when you’re not used to it. That’s why Peg won’t come to these things with me anymore.”

“Oh, you asked Peg first?” I asked. I was a little hurt I was his second choice.

He let out a small laugh, realized I was serious and said, “Of course not, Chloe. You have to understand you were the first person I wanted with me tonight. The only person.”

His eyes shone with sincerity and I believed him.

Maybe he did want me with the same gut wrenching ache that I had for him.

I smiled and said, “I’m just being silly. We should go inside.”

I glanced back and the paparazzi had found a new couple to focus on. I suppressed a gasp when I realized it was Tara Brock, my favorite actress.

“You’ll get used to it,” Gavin said, noticing where I was looking. “They’re just people, and you’re hotter and smarter than all of them.”

I laughed and took the hand that he offered me as we walked inside, and the way he said it made me actually feel like he meant it.

He’d given me a boost of confidence, but being suddenly plunged into the midst of all my favorite actors and actresses, musicians, athletes…basically anyone who was anyone…well, it chipped away at my ego really freaking hard.

I grabbed a flute of champagne off the tray of a waiter as he passed and gulped it down as Gavin spoke with last year’s winner of the Oscar for best actor.

Over all, Gavin was perfectly awesome, attentive and kind to me. He tried to include me in conversations, but I was out of my depth and in over my head.

I was just a dorky post doctorate psychology student in a hundred dollar off the rack dress, I didn’t belong there.

I drank another glass of champagne…and another…and another…

And then the night became a blur.

A wonderful blur of kissing Gavin, but beyond that I couldn’t remember a damned thing.