I had no idea how it happened, but Rhett Hennessy was kissing me. Again.

The heat from the alcohol buzzing through my veins blended with the adrenaline dumping into my system from sparring with him. The result? Enough combustion to create an inferno.

I moaned against his lips as he buried his hand in my hair and tugged my head to the side for better access. The kiss morphed from a maneuver to an obsession in a flash. All day, I’d told myself it wasn’t as good as I remembered. I’d built it up in my head. I might be suffering from some exotic disease.

But no. I was wrong. It was better.

Without thinking, I lifted my leg and wrapped it around his hip, wanting to get closer, to feel more, as his tongue dived inside.

Oh sweet Jesus, he tastes even better too. Spearmint and spice this time, mixed with the bourbon I’d been drinking.

Rhett reached down and cupped my ass—under my skirt—and I melted, drenching my panties.

Even on my boldest day, I wasn’t an exhibitionist, but in that moment, I wouldn’t have cared if he’d boosted me up onto the pool table and taken me in front of the whole bar. Actually, it didn’t sound like the worst idea I’d ever had.

But Rhett came to his senses and tore his mouth away. His hand squeezed reflexively, and my hips bucked against him again.

“We’re leaving.” He growled the words, and I hoped the promise they carried was really there and not a figment of my drunken imagination.

“You should probably kiss me again first.” I leaned up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his, and his growl vibrated through my body.

Within seconds, I found myself flying through the air and upside down, landing over his shoulder.

“Hey—” My surprised screech filled the air, and everyone in the bar started shouting.

“That’s the way to handle her!”

“Nice move!”

Men. Screw them all.

When I struggled against Rhett’s hold, a heavy palm landed on my ass to hold me in place. My cheek stung where it landed.

Oh my God. Did he just spank me? As quickly as that question flew through my head, it was immediately followed by another. And why do I like that idea so much?

While I was trying to come up with answers to both those questions, Rhett carried me out of Molly’s to the sound of the patrons cheering him on.

I was too stunned by what had happened to protest—or to flip them off.

---

Rhett set me on the sidewalk on my heels, grasping my shoulders to steady me. “You ready?”

I crossed my arms, trying to block out the fact that my panties were soaked, and summoned up the proper level of indignation. “Are you seriously asking me that question right now? Shouldn’t that have been the question you asked before you threw me over your shoulder like a caveman and decided to carry me out of the bar?”

One corner of his mouth quirked upward, and there was zero remorse in his expression. “I think you liked it.”

“I most certainly did not!” The denial was instant, and the other corner of Rhett’s mouth lifted as he grinned.

“Eyebrow’s twitching.” He grabbed me by the hand and hauled me against him.

I opened my mouth to sputter something. Anything. But Rhett was quicker.

“Good thing, because I sure did.”

He covered my lips with his, tasting me like a starving man, his hands roaming over every inch of my curves.

“Ms. Sampson, are you okay?” Carver’s voice came out of the darkness in an unwelcome interruption.

I tore away from Rhett and twisted around to face him. “Uh—”

“She’s fine,” Rhett answered for me.

Gathering my wits, I spun back to glare at him. “I’m perfectly capable of speaking for myself.”

I turned toward Carver one more time, straightening my hair as if that would somehow make me not look like I’d been two steps from begging Rhett to take me up against a wall in some dark corner.

“I’m fine, Carver. No need to be alarmed.”

He nodded, his expression giving nothing away. “The car is this way, if you’d like to follow me.” He held out an arm to direct me.

“I’m taking her back to her place,” Rhett replied.

His answer surprised me, and Carver’s attention jumped between us, finally landing on me.

“Ma’am?”

“You can meet us at the house. Thank you.”

With a deferential nod, he stepped back. “Yes, ma’am.”

I twisted back to Rhett, but before I could open my mouth, he pinned me with his green stare.

“You and I are going to have a talk. Let’s go.”

“I get to have a say. I’m a freaking CEO. No one makes decisions for me, but me.”

Rhett’s eyes narrowed. “Not when your decisions put you in the middle of a meat market like you’re out trolling for a random rebound hookup.”

“So what if I had been? I’d be well within my rights!”

“Because I had you under me this morning, and I’ll be goddamned if you’re going to let someone else put his hands on you before we figure this out.”

He guided me down the sidewalk, and I let him, because I was too busy processing his words.

“Figure what out?” I asked a few steps later.

Rhett paused beside the Jeep. “You and me.”

My mouth dropped open as he unlocked the door and lifted me to deposit me on the seat.

You and me.

Holy. Crap.

Rhett shut the door and rounded the hood to hop inside. I was struggling to catch up with the point where you and me had become a thing when he pulled out of the spot and the Jeep rolled forward.

As Carver pulled out behind us, I mumbled, “I feel like I need a flowchart to keep up with what’s happening here.”

Rhett shot me a pointed look. “What’s happening here is I’m taking you home. You’re not going to Molly’s again without me. You want to rub up against a guy in a bar? It’s gonna be me.”

“Did I miss something?”

“What?” he asked, maneuvering the Jeep through traffic.

“This massive shift? You’ve gone from never noticing my existence to all of a sudden hauling me out of bars and kissing me. Yeah, a flowchart would be helpful.”

Rhett said nothing at that point, leaving an awkward silence that hung in the car until we hit the causeway over Lake Pontchartrain and toward my place.

“Last time you were home,” he finally said, “your hair was about four inches shorter. You had blond highlights that looked more like the sun had turned your red into gold. You had on a green dress I wanted to peel off you. Your heels were tall and black, and I spent the entire night trying not to look at you because I kept imagining what they’d feel like digging into my back. I went home and jacked off thinking about how good it would feel to come inside you.”

Oh. My. God.

I didn’t realize I’d whispered the words aloud until Rhett glanced over at me, the heat in his gaze even stronger.

“Don’t tell me I didn’t notice you. I noticed every goddamned thing about you. But because of your brother and the respect I have for him, I wasn’t about to let you know that I’ve been noticing you for longer than I want to admit. You think I don’t see you? I have to pretend I don’t, or I’d end up with my head mounted on Heath’s wall. He’s my best friend, closer than my own brothers, and I wouldn’t have disrespected him like that.”

Okay then. Wow.

Rhett was attracted to me. For real. And I’d be damned if my brother’s existence was going to be a Rhett-proof chastity belt.

“My brother doesn’t get to have a say in that part of my life. I’m an adult.”

“I know. He might not get a say, but he does deserve my respect. I’m going to tell him.”

My entire world shifted on its axis tonight. Rhett wanted me. And he had for years. It pissed me off that he’d held back because of Heath, but it also made sense.

Loyalty. Respect. Honor. Those were qualities Rhett had in spades, and without those, he wouldn’t have been the man I’d been wanting in my life for so long.

And now when I was faced with photographic evidence of Carlos’s cheating, those things meant more than ever.

What would it be like to be with a man who prized his principles as highly as he prized his woman?

I had no idea. I’d told myself I was over Rhett, but I’d been making decisions with incomplete information, which basically meant I was making a different decision. I needed to analyze all these new facts.

But the biggest question was—what am I going to do about it tonight?

My time for evaluating anything was gone because we’d reached the gate and Rhett had stopped next to the keypad mounted outside.

“Code?”

Oh, good grief. I changed the code to every place as soon as I got there . . . and this one was embarrassing.

I rattled off “111723” and Rhett punched it in. It wasn’t until the gate closed behind us that he spoke.

“My birthday and football number.”

Everything inside me cringed. Dammit, sometimes I forgot he was a good detective.

“Coincidence, Ari?”

I looked over at him and focused on my words. “Complete coincidence.”

“Your eyebrow just twitched.”