“Are you going to touch that champagne? Because if not, girl, I can think of a way better place for it to go.”

Anna didn’t want to give up her celebratory glass of the bubbly, not even to her favorite cousin. Who just so happened to be her only cousin. She stiffed Shaelyn, drawing the glass up to her mouth, and took a hearty swig.

Her red lipstick left a stain on the crystal.

She didn’t bother to swipe it clean.

“Good Lord, she’s moping,” Shaelyn announced to the empty boutique. “We’re celebrating and she looks like I just kicked her puppy.”

Since she couldn’t really dispute the moping thing, Anna testily replied, “I don’t have a puppy.”

“If you did have a puppy, then. Where’s your imagination?”

Probably in the same place where she’d left her heart—with Luke. Anna tipped back the rest of the champagne, swallowing it in one go. Tears sprung to her eyes. “It took a vacation,” she told her cousin, “a much-needed vacation.”

Shaelyn rolled her eyes and then refilled their glasses. “Yeah, well, you need to pull yourself together. We’ve got the news people coming by to do a segment on us in twenty minutes and then a party to host right after that. I need you on your A-game.”

The local news station had recently caught wind that La Parisienne had once again made national headlines, this time as the supplier for Thick of the Woods, and demanded to put them live on air.

Which was why both Anna and Shaelyn had stuck around after the boutique had locked up for the day, waiting for their five minutes of TV fame to sweep them down an imaginary red carpet. On any other day, Anna would have been over the moon that all of their hard work was paying off. Today, she just felt . . . disappointed. And stupid—mustn’t forget that one.

Shaelyn blew out a big sigh and made an out-with-it-already gesture. “Okay, let’s do this. Why do you look like I kicked the puppy you don’t actually have?”

Anna bit her lower lip, torn between keeping the whole thing to herself and opening up to her cousin and best friend. The secret-keeping had been eating her alive these last few days, and she just had to come out with it.

“I had sex with Luke.”

Shaelyn’s champagne glass clattered to the marble-topped table where they kept the register. “You did what?”

“I had sex with Luke.” She held up four fingers, and added, “Four times.”

“Holy crap. I need to sit down for this.” Sweeping a hasty glance around the boutique, Shaelyn snagged a stool and planted her butt on it. She held up a hand, palm facing out. “Okay. I’m going to need you to repeat this again to me. You had sex with Luke O’Connor. The Luke O’Connor.”

“Yes.”

“Four times?” Shaelyn murmured in what could only have been awe. She wiggled four fingers in the air. “Are you sure you counted correctly? How many fingers am I holding up right now?”

“I’m not blind, Shae. And, yes, I counted correctly.”

Her cousin still didn’t seem inclined to believe her. “In one night?”

“No, in eight nights. Yes, in one night.”

“Wow.” Shaelyn dragged her champagne to her mouth and took an unladylike gulp. “Guess you decided to end your five-year re-virginity streak with a bang. Pun unintended, by the way.”

Anna dropped her forehead to the marble top and let out a groan of despair. “I don’t know why I did it.”

“Because he’s hot as hell and anyone would be out of their mind to turn him down?”

Blowing her hair out of her face, she peered up at her cousin. “Are you supposed to notice things like that about your fiancé’s best friend?”

Shaelyn shrugged. “What did you say? Oh, right—I’m not blind. The guy is good-looking. I recognized that way back when. I just always thought Brady was hotter.”

“I’m sure he’ll be glad to know that,” Anna said dryly.

“Oh, Brady does, trust me. That man is my soul mate, and he knows it.” Another easy shrug. “Anyway, enough about me. Let’s get back to you. Sex with Luke? How was it? Scale of one to ten with ten being, my panties are on fire just thinking about it.”

That was easy enough to answer. “Nine for the first round. Ten for the second two, and twelve for the last one.”

“Twelve? Imagine what it’ll be like when you’re sixty. By that ratio you’ll be somewhere up in the hundreds.”

“That’s the thing,” Anna said after taking another sip of her champagne, “there isn’t going to be a when-we’re-sixty thing. It was just that one night. That’s all.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard that correctly. You’re giving sex with Luke O’Connor a twelve-rating and you don’t plan to make the relationship permanent? Are you out of your mind?”

No, but perhaps he was out of his. Sighing, she admitted, “He doesn’t want marriage, kids, any of it. I do. There’s no point in prolonging the inevitable. I’m going to want more; he’s not going to.”

Shaelyn didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure about that?”

“He said so himself. He asked if I wanted more children, and when I said that I did, he got this . . . weird expression on his face. I can’t really explain it.”

Nodding slowly, Shaelyn murmured, “Maybe he was constipated.”

“Oh, my God, Shae, that’s what your first thought goes to?” Had she called Shaelyn her best friend? Anna needed Jade. At least Jade was normal—mostly. Okay, not really. The woman watched way too many crime shows to be considered anything remotely normal.

“I’m just saying, it’s a possibility. You shouldn’t leap to conclusions.”

“He told me that he didn’t want kids.”

“Okay, so that’s when you leap to conclusions. So, what are you going to—ah, crap, they’re here. Quick, let’s put away the bubbly. We have to save it for the party later.”

As Shaelyn went into hide-the-ten-dollar-champagne-bottle mode, Anna smoothed out her hair in a full-length mirror and went to greet their guests from the 6 p.m. nightly news crew.

She spotted Claudia, the main news anchor, right off the bat. Her dress was skintight and the color of the Mississippi River (i.e., a muddy gray). Behind her was the crew itself, equipped with all sorts of tech stuff Anna didn’t understand.

“Hello there,” she greeted as she opened the door and let their guests filter in. “Thank you so much for wanting to feature us this evening.”

Claudia turned around, her brown eyes narrowed. “We don’t have much time to get everything set up the way we wanted. My boss decided to inform me that today is the day we are launching a new series—do you know how hard it is to launch a new series? No, you wouldn’t. TV is hard. It’s hard and it’s always changing, and we’re going to have to get this right from the start otherwise it’s all a waste of time.”

Anna and Shaelyn traded a glance. Straightening her back, Anna feigned a soft chuckle. “I can only imagine how busy you must be, what with your hectic schedule and all. I can never say thank you enough for taking the time out of your day to give us just a small bit of the limelight you hold.”

Beside her, Shaelyn coughed into a closed fist and even Anna had to purse her lips to keep from laughing. It was either that or be insulted, and Claudia seemed the sort to be so wrapped up in her own world that there was no point feeling slighted.

Claudia harrumphed, snapped fingers at one of her cameramen, and said, “There. I want this done right in front of that window.”

A cameraman lifted his finger. “Ma’am, there isn’t any light by the window at this time of day? It’s dark out.”

“By the window, Trevor.”

“It’s TJ.”

“Whatever. Let’s get this done.”

For the next five minutes, the crew set up shop by the window, all mumbling beneath their breaths about their anchor. A makeup artist unloaded her bag on the register counter, snagged both Anna and Shaelyn by the arms, and proceeded to primp them. Shaelyn basked in the attention like she was receiving a massage, while Anna resisted batting at the woman’s hands when she tried to pluck Anna’s eyebrows.

“They’re fine,” she growled, “I just got them done last week.”

“Whatever,” the makeup artist snapped, and then plucked one last hair from the bunch. “There, you’re good.”

Rubbing her eyebrow, Anna wondered if Hell had swallowed them whole. She should have known that things could and would get progressively worse.

Claudia was at the helm.

“Are we ready? We have exactly TEN MINUTES. Do you hear me? TEN MINUTES to get this entire segment done.”

Anna was shuffled forward, thrown into one of those actor’s chairs that was part stool, part lawn chair. A camera light filtered down into her face, interrogation-style.

“Okay, okay!” This from a production team member. “We’re going to be starting in three . . . two . . . one . . . go.”

Claudia flicked her voluminous brown hair over her shoulder, smiled serenely and then, in the sweetest voice, exclaimed, “Thank you so much for welcoming us here to La Parisienne today. It’s such an honor to be sitting here with the both of you.”

Anna’s mouth dropped open at the transformation. Was this the same woman? It almost didn’t seem possible to reconcile the two variations of Claudia Depuy.

Shaelyn, thankfully, recovered quicker. “No, thank you, Claudia. We’re excited to have you here.”

Claudia turned to the camera. “For those of you just tuning in,” she announced in her best news anchor voice, “WWZN is here today with Anna Bryce and Shaelyn Lawrence, co-owners of the hottest lingerie boutique in town. Recently, La Parisienne has been featured in magazines like Cosmopolitan and Fame, and the shop’s apparel has even landed on the set of the major hit series, Thick of the Woods. Anna, Shaelyn, can you tell me how it felt when you were first approached by such a huge production company?”

In the past, Anna had always held the reins when it came to interviews. Shaelyn was new to the scene, having been involved for only a year now, and Anna had never wanted her little cousin to feel thrown into the wild.

She hadn’t given Shaelyn enough credit.

Her cousin seemed to recognize that Anna was still in a “mood,” and didn’t allow for any hesitation about who would answer the question. “It’s been great,” Shae gushed appropriately, “An absolute dream come true. Although, to be honest, I don’t think we even dreamed that this might happen for La Parisienne.”

Claudia nodded her approval. “So, am I to understand that you, Shaelyn, are the designer behind all of the pieces we’ll see on the show?”

Shae laughed huskily. “Just the naughty ones, Claudia. I can’t be held responsible for what the actors look like when they’re fully clothed.”

They all laughed at that, and Anna began to settle down. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. She’d always heard horror stories about Claudia Depuy, aka The Piranha of New Orleans, but her TV persona didn’t seem quite so . . . sharp.

“And, Anna,” the woman said now, “how do you feel about the progression of La Parisienne since you purchased the business over five years ago?”

“It’s been great.” Staring straight at the camera, as she’d always been trained to do for clips like this, Anna offered a genuine smile. “I’ve always known La Parisienne was destined for great things. Other than my son, Julian, this boutique has been my pride and joy for most of my adult life.”

Claudia flashed a grin for the camera. “Speaking of your son, how old is he now?”

Anna shrugged off a sudden bout of uneasiness. “Fourteen.”

“You had him quite young, then,” said The Piranha. “At seventeen, was it?”

“Eighteen,” she bit out.

“So inspiring.” Claudia turned to the camera though her eyes remained locked on Anna. “A single mother who made the Top 40 under 40 List. Doesn’t happen every day.”

Her fingers itched to encircle the woman’s neck. Where did she think she was going with this? Deliberately, Anna slowly said, “I’m sure it’s not as uncommon as one might think.”

“I suppose not. What would you say comprises your success?”

Not punching you in the face, for one.

Anna folded her hands in her lap and counted to five. When she hit ten, because five hadn’t been nearly long enough, she murmured, “Ambition, dedication, and passion. Without one of the three, this boutique would still be selling ‘I got drunk on Bourbon Street’ T-shirts.”

Claudia gave them a winsome, and fake, grin. “Well, there you have it, y’all. You want success like Anna Bryce and Shaelyn Lawrence? Whip up a cocktail of ambition, dedication, and passion and put it in a go-cup. Tell us how it goes on Twitter and be sure to keep an eye out for the new season of Thick of the Woods, which is due to air later this year. That’s all for tonight; this is WWZN 34 News, and my name is Claudia Depuy with your latest social news here in New Orleans, Louisiana. Have a good night.”

The lights flicked off. Claudia clambered off of her stool/lawn chair. Anna wondered if she’d just entered a different universe.

“Did you not want to ask us more questions about the boutique?” she asked, surprised by the quick pace in which the crew closed down the set. A blink of the eye and it was all put away.

Claudia barely glanced in her direction. “We got what we needed. It’s a small segment, not a real interview.” She lifted her wrist and peered down at a large-faced watch. “Our interview is scheduled for thirty minutes from now, which means we have fifteen minutes to get to Lakeview.”

“Do you need anything else from—?”

The anchor cut off Shaelyn with a flick of her hand. “Great to see the both of you. Keep up with your good work, even if you’re just selling panties, yeah? Okay, we have FIFTEEN MINUTES to get to Lakeview for our big interview. Do y’all hear me? We have FIFTEEN MINUTES.”

Their voices cut off as the front door shut behind them.

For a moment, neither Anna nor Shaelyn said anything.

Then, “Do you think she hates us?” just as Anna quipped, “She must be wearing a thong at least three sizes too small.”

“Four sizes,” Shaelyn countered with one of her classic can’t-help-it snorts. “They’re wadded so tight I bet she waddles like a penguin all day.”

Anna cast another glance to the full-length windows. “I need more champagne.”

“God, me too.”

They retreated to the register, where Shaelyn retrieved their glasses and then released a heavy sigh. “Champagne bottle is done.”

“Already?”

Her cousin lifted the bottle and waved it back and forth. “Not even a drop.”

“It’s fine. I’ll grab another from my office. We both need it after that debacle.”

Anna grabbed the empty champagne bottle, dropping it in the recycle bucket on her way down the hallway to her office. The door was unlocked and she let herself in, temporarily kicking off her shoes since no one was around.

Between her new dating plan, Claudia The Piranha, and her hang-up on Luke O’Connor, Anna was feeling dreadfully out of sorts. She plopped down on the cushioned bench, just to rest her feet for a second.

What she really needed was a vacation. When was the last time that she and Julian had gotten away from the city? Anna scoured her memory for an answer, somewhat disheartened to realize that it’d been close to ten years.

Okay, she thought with renewed vigor, in addition to a dating plan that actually worked, she needed to plan a family vacation. Europe was ideal. Ideal wasn’t always reality, and she’d gladly accept even Pensacola, Florida, if that was all they could make room for in their busy schedules.

Christmas vacation was coming up in just two weeks. Surely, she could ask Shaelyn to manage the storefront for just two or three days while she and Julian skipped out of town to make the three-hour drive to Florida’s panhandle. It wouldn’t be the same as summertime swimming, but at least it was something.

Maybe while she was at it, she could invite—

Her thoughts cut off at the sound of knocking on her door. She twisted around, still rubbing the poor, abused soles of her feet, and her gaze almost didn’t compute the person standing in the doorway to her office.

Not Shaelyn.

It was Luke.

And in his hand was a small flowerpot. An orchid.

The normal thing to do would have been to question his unexpected presence or even to ask about the orchid, but Anna wasn’t normal—not when it came to Luke O’Connor—and those weren’t the questions that slipped off her tongue.

“You’re wearing a suit,” she stated with a tilt of her chin toward his body.

He looked down at himself, then lifted his green eyes back to her face. “I heard it was a party.”

“It’s not a suit kind of party.”

That same expression that she’d spotted the other day—the same one Shaelyn claimed to belong to constipation—twisted his features. “Can’t I be a suit kind of man some days?”

She had the distinct feeling that he was trying to tell her something. For the life of her, she had no idea what. “I suppose you can,” she murmured. “Where’s your cane?”

“At home.”

“Don’t you need it?”

“Robb told me that I’d probably be okay enough to get by without it for small periods at a time.”

She didn’t offer for him to enter her office. “How is Robb? And Amy?”

His green eyes lightened. “Good. Better, I think. Had dinner with them and my mother yesterday. Don’t want to say that the two of them are golden, but . . . they seem happy, which is all I care about. Amy’s still lugging around that pregnancy test and showing it to anyone who cares to see it, though.”

“What you’re saying is, no one cares to see it.”

His lips turned up at the corners. “Exactly.”

Testing the waters, she offhandedly put in, “Babies are an exciting part of life. I’m sure she’s ready to pop out a baby girl or boy today if she could.”

“I wouldn’t know,” he told her, his gaze on the orchid, “bachelor forever, if you recall.”

“I didn’t forget.” How could she? She’d thought of nothing else for almost a week now. She’d missed him, and although they’d exchanged a few texts here and there about Julian and his football games, it just hadn’t been the same. “Is that orchid for me?”

This time, there was no mistaking the way he avoided her gaze. “Jules mentioned about the news stopping by,” he rumbled, holding out the potted plant with both hands. “It’s nothing.”

She wasn’t buying that game a second time around. Smoothing the invisible wrinkles from her dress, Anna padded around the bench. Her stockinged feet were silent on the area rug. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured, lifting a finger to touch one of the purple petals. “Thank you.”

Luke shifted his weight. “They remind me of you. Strong, feminine.”

Wishing that the words didn’t melt her heart, Anna countered, “They also die easily. If you let them.”

Green eyes met hers, and the depth of emotion swirling there nearly had her stepping back in shock. He took advantage of her silence, asking, “Can I come in?” before letting himself into her office anyway.

He kicked the door shut with the heel of his leather shoe. Placing the orchid on her desk, he pinched the right sleeve of his suit jacket and drew it off. Did the same to the left sleeve, then slung the black fabric across her desk. When he turned to face her again, his gaze was hot and he’d loosened his navy-blue tie at the collar.

He looked better in a suit than any man had a right to look.

Anticipation warmed her. Hot anticipation that she had no business feeling. “The party doesn’t start for another hour. Maybe we could—”

“How was the filming?” he interjected, calmly folding his arms over his chest. He’d hiked his ass up on her desk, so that his full weight didn’t settle on his bad hip. “You look stressed.”

Pretending that he didn’t exist would be so much easier if he didn’t bring her flowers or ask after her like he cared. If he hadn’t started taking Julian out for “guy’s nights out” with Brady and Danvers like Jules was officially part of the crew.

Now, it was all “Luke said this” and “Luke said that” around their house every night. Anna didn’t understand how Luke had won over Julian so swiftly, but it was no secret that Luke O’Connor was now Julian’s favorite person. Which pretty much summed up how Anna felt about him, too.

“Hey,” said Luke gently, “are you okay?”

No. But she couldn’t exactly tell him that, now could she? Then she’d have to admit that she wanted him—maybe even loved him—when there was nothing between them but old-fashioned lust. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she said, “I’m okay. It’s just the way that Claudia—the TV anchor—questioned us . . . it made me feel like she wasn’t so much as interested in the boutique as she was about sniffing around in my personal life.”

He nodded sympathetically. “Guess it’s a good thing you don’t have anything to hide. My mom calls that woman a piranha.”

“Everyone calls her that here,” Anna replied, her mind still halted on his comment about her not having anything to hide. Little did he know how wrong about that he was. Anna had everything to hide when it came to Julian’s father. Everything.

If anyone ever made the connection between Anna and Anthony Mardeaux, murderer and now prisoner at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, everything she’d worked for tirelessly in the last decade would be all for naught. And if the kids at Julian’s high school found out . . . Anna couldn’t imagine anything worse.

Only her parents, Shaelyn, Julian, and Brady knew about Anna’s ex-boyfriend. Brady, because he’d been the one to arrest Tony last year. And it wasn’t as though she could convince Julian to sit down and have a conversation about his father. His method of recovery was to ignore the problem’s very existence.

“It just left a bad taste in my mouth, is all,” she explained. “I’m sure I’m just overreacting.”

He didn’t look like he believed her. “Is there anything I can do for you before the party?”

“No, I think everything—wait! I have your present here. Don’t move.”

Luke lifted his hands. “Not going anywhere.”

Anna went to her desk and opened the bottom drawer. The package sat nestled at the bottom and she grabbed the two corners with each hand. With her shin, she edged the drawer shut and twisted around to face Luke.

“If you don’t like it, I still have the receipt.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it,” he said in that husky baritone she enjoyed listening to so much. “Should I be sitting down for this?”

Anna slid the gift onto her desk. “If you want.”

Luke’s butt came off the desk as he wrapped his hands around the present, dragging it close. His green eyes were a vibrant peridot and were wide with curiosity. Tearing at the clear tape, he unraveled the present.

“There are three gifts here.” His large hands traced the line of the hardcover edge of a book, then encircled the two DVD sets.

“I thought, maybe, the book might come in handy with your mom’s shop.”

Luke traced the bold typography: Hacking Your Way to Best Small-Business Success. “Thank you. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be there for. You could say I was a temporary employee at best.”

“Really?” Anna’s brows lowered in confusion. “She mentioned to Shaelyn and I during Thanksgiving dinner that she was thinking about naming you co-owner.”

His mouth gaped open. “Co-owner? I don’t think so. Surprisingly, I like it there. It’s relaxing, probably thanks to that New Age shit my mom plays on the radio all day. But I’m not there on a permanent basis.”

“Maybe you should take it up with your mom, then?”

Luke stared down at the book, silent. “I think you’re right.” He switched his attention to the wrapped DVD sets. “Dare I hope this is something scandalous?”

Anna grinned, crossing one leg in front of the other as she watched him with amusement. “I think ‘scandalous’ might be a good word for it.”

His mouth twitched. “Please don’t say that you got me porn.”

“Just open it,” she urged with an impatient flap of her arm.

He did so without further prompting, ripping open the packaging like he was a kid on Christmas morning. His hands stilled at the first glimpse of the DVDs and within seconds his hands were on the desk, his head falling forward as he roared with laughter.

“You didn’t,” he said, reaching up to swipe under one eye with his thumb.

Somewhat smugly, Anna saluted him. “I did.”

Lifting his head to meet her gaze, he announced, “I need to kiss you.”

She barely reined in a surprised squeak. “Right now?”

“Yes. You got me the Dr. Phil and Judge Judy DVD sets. I’m not sure whether to feel pleased or embarrassed. If I’m being honest, probably the former.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“You’re right,” he murmured, cutting around the desk and moving toward her with uneven but purposeful strides, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to kiss the hell out of you.”

Anna pretended to put up a fuss, but the honest-to-God truth was that she wanted to kiss him, too.

His hands came up to cup her face, his thumbs fanning out over the crest of her cheeks. Her knees softened and she tipped her head back. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered, one hand wrapping around his thick wrist. “We agreed to make this just a one-time thing.”

“Sweetheart, we threw that rule out the window when we did it in the courtyard. And in the shower, and on the—”

She covered his mouth with her hand, and she felt his lips widen into a grin beneath her palm. “What are you proposing?”

With a soft grip, he tugged her hand away from his face. He didn’t let her go. Instead he pressed a gentle kiss to her inner wrist. “The last time I was in this office, I wondered what it would be like to fuck you on your desk.”

“That’s your proposal?”

His wide shoulders lifted in a shrug. “It was either the desk or the bench. The desk option fulfills a few more of the fantasies I’ve had about you.”

“You’ve had fantasies about me?” Anna shouldn’t let those words please her as much as they did. “What did these fantasies include?”

He nudged her backward until the back of her thighs hit the desk and her hands came down to grip the edge. His green eyes glittered with desire, and that potent desire had her clenching her thighs together. They should not be doing this again. She needed to tell him that she’d called—

“I’d rather show you,” he said, interrupting her thought process as he unknotted his tie and slid it from his collar. “C’mere, Blondie.”

Anna eyed the necktie like it was a foreign object. “What do you plan on doing with that?”

“Fulfilling a fantasy.”

Shaking her head, she said, “Don’t think it’s quite my color. Now if it was pink . . .”

He motioned for her to give him her hands, and pathetic creature that she was, she held out her hands even as she vocally protested. “Luke, I’m not sure . . . We have guests coming soon.”

“What time is it?”

Her gaze found the clock on the wall. “Just before six.”

“I have thirty minutes. Long enough to do this, sweetheart.” He wrapped the tie around her wrists, and then gently pushed her until her back softly collided with the desk. “We’ve got to talk about these stockings.”

“They’re warm and it’s cold out,” she protested.

“You also look beautiful in them,” he returned evenly. “Doesn’t mean I don’t hate them. Guys bitch about bra clasps. You know what I say? Bra clasps have nothing on stockings.”

He sounded so completely frustrated that Anna couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter that eased out of her. With narrowed eyes, Luke brushed a hard kiss over her mouth before moving down and hiking her dress up. After a moment of struggle, he managed to slide the stockings down and over her feet. He held the offending item up like a conceding white flag and then threw them over his shoulder.

“Next time,” he murmured against her neck, “I’ll be faster.”

Then he fused their mouths together and Anna didn’t have time to ponder what “next time” really meant. She lost herself in his arms, which had slipped behind her shoulders to cradle her back. For a man who reputedly hated anything that spoke to softness, Luke O’Connor certainly had a way of making her feel uniquely individual anytime he pressed his lips to her.

“Is this for the Dr. Phil and Judge Judy DVDs?” she whispered on a pant when he tore his mouth from hers to kiss her neck.

He stilled, dragging his mouth up to her ear and rasped, “I do owe you for the greatest gift to mankind.”

“I owe you.”

“Yeah?”

“For the orchid.”

She felt him shake his head. “You don’t owe me anything, sweetheart. You’ve given me more than I could have ever asked for.”

Why did it sound so final? Slamming her eyes shut against the sudden stinging in her heart, Anna wrapped her legs around his waist and tugged him close. “Kiss me again, Luke.”

And he did. He kissed her until the only word she remembered was his name, until her hips lifted over and over again, seeking what only he could give her, until she was a mess on her own office desk and she didn’t care if anyone stumbled in on them.

Her dress was shoved up to just below her breasts, as Luke’s fingers danced their way down her belly until he pressed his full palm between her thighs. “You’re wet,” he uttered on a groan. “Jesus, I want to taste you.”

Anna lifted her hips again, a silent move that he took correctly as a signal for get on with it then. Flashing her a sexy grin, he hooked a finger around her panties and pulled them to the side. He leaned down, blew a warm breath against the most sensitive part of her, and then, upon hearing her whimper of pleasure, got down to business.

His tongue flicked against her clit, softly at first and then with growing pressure. It was heady the way that he gripped her thighs and held her still under his mouth. And oh, oh, she had never felt more wanted than she did in this moment. He lapped at her core like she was his final meal on earth, alternatively thrusting his tongue inside her body, taunting her with what was to come, and sucking hard on her clit, driving her absolutely mad with desire.

It was good. Too good. But Anna wanted more. She planted her foot against his shoulder and pushed him back. “I want the main course.”

“I’m enjoying the main course,” he countered, already moving back between her legs.

“Luke.”

His green gaze fixed on her face, unrelenting. “Anna.”

“Untie my hands.”

“Why?”

“So that I can touch you.”

He rose up and over her, stretching his big body across her smaller frame. When he kissed her, she could taste her own essence on his lips. “Are you trying to say that you want me inside of you?”

“Isn’t that your fantasy?”

The corner of his mouth kicked up in a grin. “One of them. But who am I to tell you no?”

“Exactly.” Anna pointedly dropped her gaze to his zipped-up slacks. “Strip,” she ordered, secretly delighted when he did as she demanded. The sound of the zipper’s teeth unhitching was loud in the otherwise quiet room, and Anna bit her lip when she realized that he was naked under the pants.

“Now, Luke,” she said when he paused long enough that she swore she aged five years. “this is my fantasy.”

“That I take you hard and fast on your desk?” He pulled a condom from his wallet and then dropped his pants to the floor. “Or that I make you come so hard you’ll see stars bursting like fireworks in your vision for the next twenty minutes?”

“All of the above,” she said, and then gasped when he entered her in one hard thrust. With her hands positioned above her head, Anna had no choice but to accept the pace he set. Which, true to his word, was both hard and fast.

It was hot.

It was spine-tingling.

It was everything she’d never had with a previous sexual partner, and feared she’d never find again after their two-time fling came to a close.

Each time they came together, it was new and exciting and mouth-wateringly delicious. Anna didn’t think she’d ever tire of having sex with Luke. And, sure, it was partly because she was too far too deep with her emotions into their non-relationship. With each thrust of his hips, the urge to tell him how she really felt almost spilled from her lips.

Don’t.

It wouldn’t be smart.

This was all he wanted. Just sex.

Anna could do that. She was thirty-two, still young. Young enough that if she wanted to invest herself in a casual fling, she certainly could. Young enough—

She moaned when he changed his angle. “Yes,” she whispered, “oh, please, Luke.”

“Please what?” he said through gritted teeth. “What do you want? More of this?” He ducked his head to plant a kiss on her mouth, nipping her lower lip when he pulled out of her and thrust back in tightly. Raggedly, he demanded, “More of me?”

Her heart froze, twisted, and her fingers curled into her restraints, powerless. She heard her answer over the blood pounding furiously in her head—an equally ragged yes that shook her with emotion—and then there was nothing but movement.

His hand drifted over her breasts, down, down, down to her right thigh. He hooked her leg around his hip with a promise to make her feel amazing. She already felt amazing. It wasn’t possible to feel even more amazing. Except that he proved her wrong, again.

Blunt fingers found her clit as he continued to thrust, circling in electrifying strokes that arched her back and slammed her eyes shut. Another tight circle against her clit, another pump of his hips, and Anna came with stars bursting behind her eyelids and fireworks crackling all around her.

The jerk hadn’t been lying.

Abruptly he ripped off the tie from her wrists. “Put your arms around me,” he said. When she did, his head dropped to her shoulder and his hips moved in wild abandon against her. Churning, churning, until he completely stilled and then shuddered under the force of his orgasm.

Anna’s head thumped against the desk. “That was . . .”

“Amazing,” he filled in. “The best sex you’ve ever had.”

She reached up to run her hand through his messy hair. “How did you know?”

“Because it was the best sex I’ve ever had, and it seems unfair to learn that the feeling was one-sided.”

Chuckling, she let her hand drift to his forehead which she traced with the tip of her finger. “You’ve earned your participation ribbon today, that’s for sure.”

“No trophy?”

At his peeved tone, Anna laughed joyfully. “Maybe a small trophy. Third place.”

Grumbling something about ungrateful women, Luke straightened and disposed of the condom in her office trashcan. He set himself to rights, tucking in his button down, and, with a subtle gleam in his eyes, redid the tie around his neck. “Want me to leave you here to get ready? I’ll go pretend that I didn’t just make the owner’s day with an orgasm she’ll remember for the rest of her life.”

She rolled her eyes. “Be happy if I remember it for another week.”

He cupped her chin and kissed her square in the center of her forehead. A forehead kiss. Was he trying to make her fall hopelessly in love with him?

“Forever,” he reiterated as he gathered his presents off the desk. “You’ll be old and gray and think back to this day and still feel me between your legs.”

Good Lord, she was having a hard time forgetting him now. She’d be lucky if she forgot this encounter when she was in her grave. She slid off the desk and let her dress fall in place. “Two days!” she shouted at his back, then kicked her abandoned stockings beneath the desk.

There was a knock on the door. Probably Shaelyn, who would never let Anna live this down if she realized Anna had fallen into bed (figuratively) with Luke again. Leaping around the edge of the desk, she scurried to the door. “I’ve got this,” she told Luke.

She swung the door open and felt her stomach drop to her feet.

Her next-door neighbor lifted a hand full of roses, in greeting, awkwardly. “Sorry if I interrupted something?”

Anna wanted to die in a hole where she stood. She could feel Luke’s questions radiating off him like a physical ball of energy. Shame slithered down her spine and she ducked her head to avoid making eye contact with him. “We were just talking,” she said, just as awkwardly.

The men didn’t speak.

Oh, hell. Luke may have told her to get out there and date, but perhaps calling her neighbor for a first date re-do hadn’t been her best plan. Neither was sleeping with Luke, for that matter.

“Sumner,” she interjected weakly, “this is Luke O’Connor, a friend of mine. Luke”—do not look at him, girl, don’t you do it—“this is my neighbor, Sumner Ajax.”

“The vet,” Luke said with no amount of joviality in his voice. “I heard you belong on a naked calendar spread with a goat.”

As if this situation could get any worse, Luke had clearly been talking with Julian. Anna forced a smile and pressed a hand to her chest. All the better to keep her heart still beating in its organ cage. “Ha-ha, that’s funny! So funny.” Oh God, it was so not funny. Why hadn’t the floor swallowed her up yet? “I don’t think that Sumner looks after farm animals, though.”

Ajax didn’t spare her a glance. “You’ve heard of me,” he drawled slowly to Luke, “but I’ve never heard of you.”

In a deceptively soft voice, Luke replied, “Somehow, I’m not surprised by that at all.”

Before Anna had the chance to say anything, Luke had limped his way down the hallway and into the main area of the boutique, taking her heart right along with him.

“He an ex-boyfriend?”

Anna startled and glanced over at the handsome vet. “No, no he isn’t. We’re just friends.”

“Friends, my ass. I think we both know you asked me out for another date because you wanted to get over this Luke fella.”

Under the weight of Ajax’s scrutiny, Anna deflated. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just that you were so nice and Julian adores you, and I guess there was a little part of me that thought . . .”

“That we’d be an easy setup?”

“Yes.”

“It’s possible. But I still think you’d rather take complex with that guy who just walked over there than easy with a guy like me.”

It was true, which really didn’t alleviate Anna’s guilt one bit. “I’m sorry.”

“No hard feelings. Let’s just tell the boys that we tried to give it a go and realized we’re better off as friends. Sound good?”

Anna glanced up at Ajax. “You’re a really good man, do you know that?”

“Tell that to my ex-wife,” he said with a throaty chuckle.

“I thought you said your wife passed away?”

With a half-grin and a wink, Ajax fit the roses in her hand and stepped back. “Let’s just say that a bad divorce and death are pretty much the same thing. Have a good night, Anna. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around very soon.”

Except that a good night was not in her cards. By the time she scrambled to find her shoes and dart into the chaos of the ensuing party, Luke was gone. And when she texted him to let him know that he’d left his suit jacket behind on her desk, he never answered.