I thought I’d gotten socked in the gut when I saw Kiara on TV, but watching her head toward me at brunch, completely oblivious to my intended gentle ambush rattled me beyond belief.

She looked so beautiful and still so sweet—neither I nor the industry has ruined her, it seems.

Both my heart and cock throbbed, aching for more of her.

I realize I have a shot too, the way she looked at me once she recognized me.

It wasn’t just surprise that hit her—she and I both are not quite done with each other.

If I push a little, I have no doubt I can get what I want—at least, one part of it—but I don’t only want to be the one to deflower the beautiful starlet; this isn’t totally about proving to my brother yet again that no woman is too complicated for me to win.

I actually do want to see if Kiara and I can have something again. Something lasting.

I call Logan once Kiara and I part ways.

“And we’re officially on.”

“That was quick.”

“What can I say? There’s always a weakness to exploit and in her case, it’s her charity. She’ll be going out with me for the upcoming week or so and I’ll hand over a huge donation to it. Our first real date is tomorrow evening.”

“Awesome. Let me know the deets.”

I certainly will not.

“I…” I almost informed my brother that this isn’t just a fun distraction; I was on the verge of letting him know I have a second chance, an opportunity to right a wrong, a shot at something real.

But I decide against it.

What if it doesn’t work out in my favor?

I’d rather not give him fodder to make fun of me.

He won’t realize how much it could actually be hurting me not to be with her, to have lost the only girl I ever really wanted.

I’ll play it casually as long as I can—especially since it still hasn’t hit him who she is.

“I’ll keep you posted,” I say.

Kiara let me pick her up this evening—her first mistake.

Mine too.

I feel like I might have felt all those years ago, pulling up to her residence in a stretch limo, waiting to see her beautiful face and how she fills out her dress. And definitely looking forward to being in romantic closed quarters with her.

Regret hits me hard unexpectedly as sense memories take over from seven years ago.

I felt bad when I left her hanging, of course, and I eventually regretted it but I got pretty busy partying hard with the crew I decided to hang out with instead.

It wasn’t long before what I’d done became a black cloud over my head, and no matter how much fun I was having with my social peers, I couldn’t shake the guilt over standing Kiki up; I sensed that I’d made a terrible mistake.

Not that it wasn’t obvious—lying about needing to bow out due to illness at the last minute and then showing up with someone else is objectively a dick move.

And it’s not like I laid low while there—the girl and me were even crowned Prom King and Queen so lots of photos circulated.

I tried to reach Kiki the next day and the day after that to apologize, part of me still believing she might forgive me and we could keep dating, but she made it pretty clear she wanted nothing more to do with me and didn’t want to see or hear from me again.

She de-friended me wherever possible, and I understood her withdrawal completely.

I ended up busying myself with the sort of things that eventually made me rich, and soon, I was caught up in the spoils of a different kind of life.

Now here we are again, and I followed through with actually showing up this time.

I’m in a suit and I’ve brought flowers, and we have all sorts of beverage options available to us.

We’ll be in closed quarters with lots of space for all sorts of things.

But I know I must behave, and I keep reminding myself of that.

I take Kiara seriously when she says she’ll bail if I make her uncomfortable, so tonight, at least, I’ll work on making her relax.

I text to let her know I’m here, then exit the stretch car to stand outside and wait for her.

She told me she’d come to me, making it pretty clear she didn’t want me to meet her at her door.

Fear of me inviting myself inside one way or another, I guess.

I don’t blame her.

I can control myself, but I sense parts of me on an edge, as if I’m walking some sort of tightrope.

I’m usually in complete control, but Kiara throws me off, and my feelings for her are so intense, I can’t quite rein myself in as easily.

She has every right to fear I’ll walk her backwards into her apartment, shutting and locking the door behind me, fully intent on seducing her.

I look up at the sound of a door closing and see her locking it.

My eyes stay on her as she heads down the stairs toward me in a flattering red dress, her hair down in waves, her face fully made up.

And she’s wearing heels! And gold jewelry! And carrying a clutch!

It’s wildly amusing yet torturous to see Kiki this way.

She was a wonderful, lovely creature before, and now she’s serving sex appeal in heaps.

I feel sort of possessive of her, though I know I have no claim to her after what I did and after all this time, but I plan to change that very soon.

“I’m sorry, but this just isn’t fair,” I tell her as she approaches me. “You can’t show up looking like that and expect me not to want to… do all sorts of things to you. Maybe you should dress yourself down when coming to see me.”

“Thank you,” she says as if I was just paying her a compliment instead of genuinely warning her.

“I’m serious, Kiara. I will keep my hands to myself as much as I can, but I can’t be responsible for any short-circuiting.”

She just laughs, thinking I’m just laying it on thick, I guess.

Keep it up, Kiki! You’ll get something thick all right.

I open the door for her and watch as she tries to enter the back of the limo with her dignity intact.

She does a pretty good job, but the dress is fairly short, and she gave me a great image of her bending over, one I can use in a fantasy later.

I follow her inside and we settle in on the leather seats.

Kiara smells absolutely divine, and she looks scrumptious, so my cock is awake.

She has no fucking idea how much danger she’s in.

I clear my throat.

Behave yourself, Liam.

“You look stunning,” I say.

“You’ve said that, like, three times already.”

“Nah, I was warning you the first two times. Don’t tempt me.”

“You really think I shouldn’t look nice for a fancy dinner? And who says this is for you? I’ll be surrounded by people dressed appropriately for the occasion and I’d like to blend in as much as I can. You want me in overalls and thick glasses or something?”

“Well, obviously no—not that. But then again, your fashion sense back then didn’t work for very long, did it? I still…”

Watch it. You’ve gone this long without admitting it. To her and to yourself.

“You’re right,” I say brightly. “Even if you dressed down, I’d still see your beauty, so go on and dress however you feel.”

“Thank you for giving me permission to wear whatever the hell I want.”

“You sure have a mouth on you,” I say in a warning tone. Stop right there. “I’d like to see it put to other uses.”

She gives me a cross look.

“Like singing. What? What were you thinking? I want to hear you sing sometime, Kiki—get your head out of the gutter.” I shake my head disapprovingly. “And I’m supposed to be saving this for later, but I’m curious—how did you get discovered? How did I not know about this talent of yours?”

“Well, you knew me—I wasn’t trying to get noticed or anything. But you wouldn’t believe this—I finally agreed to go out with a friend to some seedy bar, and she eventually convinced me to do a karaoke song. It just so happened that in that bar was a guy who would alter the course of my life. He introduced himself to me and it took a hell of a lot of convincing, but he proved to me he really did work in the industry. Meanwhile, I was suddenly feeling inspired and put up a few Muddy Waters covers on YouTune, and combined with that and this guy’s connections, I started to get offers. I thought I’d end up being the voice while they picked a hotter chick to pretend to own it or something, but I guess everyone figured they could work with me and they spruced me up.” She fans her hands out. “So here we are.”

I can’t help but think this is fate, and it might sound delusional, but what happened to her since that karaoke night led to her return to my radar; in fact, the day before my brother pointed her out on my screen, my mind had suddenly returned to her, and I sadly wondered where she was and how my life would’ve been different had she been in it.

“What about you?” she asks. “How did you get...” Her pretty brown eyes glance around the limo, “...here? When did all of this...” She indicates my crisp black evening wear, “...happen?”

“Tech,” I say with a casual shrug, keeping my eyes on her cute, overly made-up face.

It’s hard not to allow myself to take in such a treat before me, and she obviously took care to serve it up to me.

As a deliberate tease maybe?

It tickles me to think she might be trying to get back at me a little, show me what I missed.

I want to warn her again that it’s not a good idea to tease me, especially in a space this small with doors that lock on my command.

“Of course,” she says with a slight roll of her eyes. “So what was it—some ride-share company? A social media platform? A hookup app or BNB couch-surfing thingamajig?”

“A photo-related app that I sold to a social media giant.”

She nods. “Well, no surprise, I guess. You were always good at that kind of stuff.”

“Not essays and shit though. Which is a good thing, because then I might have never met you.”

She’s trying her hardest not to look affected but I know she’s blushing.

“Well, congratulations on your success. I’m glad you found a way to get what you wanted.”

I can’t stop a wicked smile from forming, but I do stop the words that almost tumbled out.

Yes, I have found a way to get what I wanted career-wise, and I also found a way to get her back in my life.

And I sure as hell will find my way between her legs and not only win the dare, but her heart again.

Our booth is quiet and semi-private and the ambience is rather romantic, but Kiki is clearly nervous, almost to the point of fidgeting.

She concentrated on the menu to pick out what she wanted, and now that our orders are in and we’re waiting for the appetizers, she’s got nothing but me to deal with.

I guess we better take care of the elephant in the room.

“Listen, Kiara—I plan to show you again and again, but for the record, I’m incredibly sorry about what happened back then. Prom night.”

She stares at me for a few seconds, silently and firmly meeting my gaze. Then she looks away and says, “Thank you. I do appreciate the apology, though I’m not sure if you mean it for me or you.”

“Both of us, I suppose—I need you to know much I mean it. And I want you to have that dignity, the respect of acknowledgment of a bad deed. I was obviously a shithead back then, and you deserved so much better. I need you to know it weighed on my conscience, that I realized what a horrible thing I did and suffered in the aftermath. I understood the value of what I’d lost. And boy did I regret hurting you—that above all. Not to excuse anything, but at the time, my prefrontal cortex wasn’t yet fully formed; I had no idea how badly I was fucking up when I made that decision. With our current arrangement, I hope you come to realize how different I am, and maybe we can at least be friends again.”

She takes a deep breath. “How much do people really change after high school?”

“You’re not saying we’re essentially the same as we were seven years ago, are you?”

“No—not really. People change, obviously as a matter of course with new life experiences. But I have this cousin, for example, who got right into the work force after high school. She stayed in the same town, pretty much around the same people. She still has the same insecurities, the same reactions to certain triggers. In lots of ways, she’s exactly the same girl I knew growing up; she hasn’t changed much since we were fourteen—beyond the physical. Her initial ideas and beliefs are intact, and no challenges or new information has been introduced in a way that inspired critical thinking. She’s comfortable in what she ‘knows’ and doesn’t need to know anything beyond it.”

“I get what you’re saying, but I definitely had challenges and new information that changed me and I’m not that guy from high school; I don’t give a hell what people think these days. Being successful changed some things, but even before that, I had a lot of epiphanies in the years after graduation; I learned a lot about myself and what I want.”

“And what the heck else could you want now? You can buy it all now, can’t you?”

I smile in response, trying my damnedest to hold a neutral expression.

“To some degree,” I reply.

“Anyway, I’m glad you realize it was your loss,” she says playfully. “In fact, I don’t know if you guessed this or not, but I had planned for you to be my first that night. And what I foolishly thought back then, my only.”

She rolls her eyes and gives a falsely casual chuckle while my grin only widens at her admission.

I don’t think I succeed in keeping anything neutral this time.

I probably look like a wild animal to her based on the slight alarm that passes over her face.

How could I not? Both my chest and cock are throbbing.