Gigi stood outside the doors of Nino’s Gym, soaked to the bone and shivering. Beau had left his phone on the Man Bus and was nowhere to be found. She swallowed what was left of her pride and begged Rex for some ideas of where he might have gone. He rattled off a list of Beau’s favorite haunts when they were in New York as she jotted them down.

“The last two are in bad neighborhoods and I don’t want you going alone. Save them for last and call me so I can go with you.”

She nodded and was on her way out the door when Rex’s voice sounded behind her.

“Gigi?”

She turned and sent him a questioning glance, the concern knitting his brow making her heart ache. “Yeah?”

“Beau was upset when you walked out without at least talking to him. He went out of his way to make things special for you and as weird and fucked up as it sounds coming from a guy like Beau, I think he felt used. He’s not used to being around women who have the power to hurt him, so I’m not sure how he’s dealing with it.”

Her stomach dropped. “What are you trying to tell me, Rex? Just say it.”

“I know he likes you a lot, that’s why I told you where he might be. But you should prepare yourself. You might not like what you find.”

What the hell did that mean?

With that warning ringing in her ears, she took a precious two hundred dollars from her advance and hailed a cab. At every stop, her heart leapt into her throat as she approached the entrances. McDuffy’s Tavern, Lula’s Place, The Jam-Boree.

It wasn’t until she’d gotten through all the clubs that she felt she could breathe a little easier. It had been all too easy to imagine herself walking in to find Beau with a gorgeous woman sprawled across his lap as they laughed and drank the night away. In one night, he’d managed to give her more self-confidence than she’d ever had, but she didn’t know if she could handle a blow like that.

It was almost midnight by the time she’d gotten to the bottom of her list. She’d just left Zee’s 24-hour Music Warehouse, and was about to go to one of the two places Rex had told her not to go to alone. She briefly considered calling him, but the cab driver agreed to wait for her so she decided against it.

It had started raining an hour before and her shoes were spongy with water. She peered into the semi-darkness of the gym before noticing the sign on the door.

Closed.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to will away the oncoming headache creeping up the back of her neck. She could just talk to him tomorrow. Somehow that thought didn’t make her feel any less miserable, and if Beau felt even half as bad as she did, she needed to find him tonight. The thought that she’d hurt him made her sick to her stomach.

With renewed determination, she gave the gym one last look and turned away, when a sound came from inside. She looked back and pressed her face to the wet glass. It was pretty dark, but in the far corner, a dim light burned.

Her heart skittered as she saw him. He was working the heavy bag over as if it had stolen his lunch money. Peering around nervously, she jiggled the door handle and it opened. She turned and gave a wave to the cab driver.

“You sure?” he called.

At her nod he shrugged and drove away.

She ran her hand over her dripping hair. It was plastered to her skull like a plate of overcooked spaghetti. Too bad. There was nothing to do about it now. She sucked in a deep breath and pushed the door open.

She stepped through and it closed with a clang, but Beau didn’t look her way. Headphones, she realized as she got closer. His back was to her, and the view made her mouth go dry. His muscled back gleamed with sweat. Beads of it rolled down his spine then disappeared into the waistband of his low-slung gym pants. His traps were bunched tight as he threw punch after punch, punishing the leather bag.

The music was so loud she could hear it as she approached. Not wanting to startle him, she walked to the other side of the bag. Her knees shook as she watched and waited for him to notice her.

* * *

He smelled her before he saw her. Rain and honeysuckle shampoo. Maybe his brain was fucking with him. But he turned his head and there she was. Rain-drenched, she stared at him with huge, smoky eyes. Dark purple smudges underneath emphasized the paleness of her skin. She was an exhausted-looking wreck, so why did she still look so damn good to him?

He stripped off one glove and yanked the earbuds from his ears. Shock tussled briefly with anger, but anger won out. “Did you come here alone at this time of night?”

She just nodded.

“Bad idea. How did you know where I was?”

“Rex gave me a few ideas. The place is closed though, so I almost left.” “Nino is a close friend. I have a key.”

“If this is such a bad neighborhood, maybe you should’ve used it to lock up behind you. I could’ve come in and killed you before you even knew I was there.”

He eyed her from head to foot and shook his head. “I doubt that.”

She gave him a quivery smile. “I’m stronger than I look.”

“Believe me, girl, I know that.” He bent to pick up his water bottle and took a long pull before swiping his arm over his sweaty face. “So what are you doing here, Gigi? Forget something on your note?”

Her gaze wavered but she didn’t bite. “No.”

“What then? Did you come here for another round? Sorry, but I think I’ll pass. As much as the idea of fucking you for the next couple weeks intrigues me, I find being treated like a piece of meat is kind of a turn-off. Who knew?”

She visibly flinched but he didn’t give a shit. He was just saying it like it was.

“God, I screwed up so bad. I didn’t mean to make you feel like that—”

“It’s no big deal. We hardly know each other. I just thought we were…friends. I don’t have a whole lot of female friends, so maybe I’m off here, but the way I had it figured, things should have gone down a little differently.”

Her eyes filled with tears and she stepped toward him. “I’m sorry, Beau. I really am.”

He threw up a hand and sighed. She’d come to apologize and he was being a prick. Sure, he was pissed at how she’d left it, but what was really yanking his chain was that she left at all.

“I’m sorry too. I’m not being fair. You asked for exactly what you wanted, and I agreed. Maybe I deserved a conversation afterward, and the note was pretty shitty, but you were honest from the start.” He looked away and scrubbed a hand down his face before turning back to face her. “I just hoped…”

She pushed the wet tangle of hair from her face with a shaking hand and waited for him to finish.

Guilt pricked at him as he realized that, although he’d been working out and was sweating his ass off, she was soaked to the bone and freezing. The gym had only been closed for an hour and still held the chill from the air conditioner.

“Jesus, I’m an asshole. Come here,” he said, and motioned her forward.

She took a tentative step toward him and he grabbed the towel on the bench next to him.

“Come closer, let me dry your hair for you. You’re going to get sick.”

Her expression was guarded as she moved closer. He covered her hair with the towel and rubbed gently, starting at the top, making his way to the back of her head. She let out a squeaky sneeze.

“Bless you.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled before pushing his hands away. “But wh-what were you going to say? You hoped…”

He wrestled with himself for a second then shrugged. “It sounds really arrogant. But I guess I hoped I’d done enough to change your mind. It’s okay though. I understand your position and I’ll get over it.”

“I want you to.”

The pulse that had finally slowed from his workout kicked up again, a steady throb in his neck. “Want me to what?”

She laid a hand on his chest, scraping her nails down over his stomach before trailing a path to his hip. She pulled him closer until their bodies touched. “Change my mind.”

His cock grew thick in his pants as she arched forward, grinding her pussy against him. He tried to keep his head clear as the blood rushed south. “I want you, but I don’t want to play games, Gigi. If you don’t even want to try to have some kind of relationship, then I can’t do this.”

He was bluffing. He loved to think that if she said no, she just wanted to fuck him one more time, that he could’ve walked away. But at the end of the day, as much as he might regret it later, he couldn’t deny her. Worse, he couldn’t deny himself one more chance to taste her. To touch her.

His body tensed, readying for the blow.

She met his gaze head-on, her eyes clear. “I want to try. To be honest, I can’t believe you do. That’s why I left the note. I knew the second it was over that I wanted to see where this could go between us, but all I’d asked for was a fling. How could I expect you, Beau ‘Fiddly’ Trudeau, to settle down with some plain chef from Kentucky? I didn’t want to embarrass myself or you by throwing myself at your feet.”

The warmth started in his belly and radiated outward. She wanted him, and not just for a night. He smiled then and lifted her chin with a finger. “At my feet, huh? I gotta say, that’s something I’m real interested in seeing.”

She laughed and rose to her tiptoes. “If you play your cards right, that can be arranged.”

He bent and scooped her up in his arms. He strode toward the back of the gym as she squealed.

“I’m too heavy, put me down!”

He ignored her protests and kept moving.

She stopped struggling and peered up at him, the happy glow on her face all the encouragement he needed.

“Where are we going, at least?”

“We’re hitting the showers. Clean me off and warm you up. After that, I’m going to take you up on your offer.”

They reached the showers and he set her down to turn on the water. She was soaked anyway, so he gave her a grin and thrust her under the hot water, clothes and all. She gasped, but then let out a moan.

“Oh good idea.”

She shivered and turned more fully into the steamy spray. He stripped off his clothes and joined her, pulling her close for a kiss. Her lips were cool and he warmed them with the tip of his tongue. Her mouth was addictive and as much as he wanted to get her naked, he could have feasted on those lips forever.

With a groan, he pushed her away from him, then grasped both of her wrists in his hand and held them above her head. “Time to get you out of these wet clothes.”

He leaned into her, pushing her hard against the shower wall, and ground his hips against her. She arched her back, straining to get closer. His cock grew thicker and he let her feel every inch.

She gasped, rocking against him, “Come on, Beau.”

“Leave your arms up.”

He grasped the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head. The position of her arms over her head thrust her spectacular breasts forward like an offering. His breath hitched as he took in the lacy pink bra plastered to her. The water had made it almost transparent and her nipples were clearly visible. He let out a growl and bent low, sucking one into his mouth, lace and all.

Her back bowed and she murmured wordless encouragement. He slid the strap off her shoulder and yanked it down until her breast spilled forward.

“Your tits are amazing,” he ground out. “I daydream about them.”

He closed his teeth over the straining tip and nipped her before drawing her deep. Her hips fluttered against his as she tried to ease the ache. Pushing back, he gave her the friction she craved as he sucked her. The blood pulsed to his cock and the urge to plow into her tight pussy went from a want to a grinding, aching need. His patience was wearing thin. He tilted his hips away from her, alleviating the tempting pressure.

Gigi whimpered and tried to get close again, but he held back and slid his wet hand down her smooth stomach to unfasten her pants. A second later they were around her ankles with her panties. His body quaked with need as he pushed open her silky thighs. He cupped her pussy and gave a firm squeeze, and she writhed against his hand.

She brought her arms down and tried to touch him, but he grasped her wrists and dragged them up again, pinning her with one hand.

“I want to touch you, Beau.” Her voice was low but insistent.

She wriggled against him, but held tight as he ran a finger down her creamy slit. “Please.”

The husky tone made him wild and he steeled himself against it and worked her clit in tight circles. She cried out and began to struggle in earnest now, pushing herself and him away from the wall with a mighty shove of her hips. He let her wrists go and moved both hands to squeeze her ass, and lifted her high, anchoring her fully against him.

“I am about to lose it,” he growled. “Unless you’re already almost there, you have to let me do what I’m doing, baby girl. I don’t have a condom and I—”

She hummed low in her throat and arched her hips, tilting them forward and back against his throbbing cock.

Her body stiffened as if it was being held up by a wire that was about to snap and he realized she was about to come. She closed her eyes and Beau let her use his cock as he trembled from the effort of holding back. Her wet heat rocked against him faster and faster. All of his senses flickered as he focused on the heat of the spray, the feel of her hard nipple against his tongue, and his swollen cock pulsing against her.

She froze, then chanted in a low voice, “Oh God.”

Beau pulled away so he could watch her at the end. Her head tossed back, eyes closed, she bit her lip hard, water sluicing down her face, neck and breasts. He’d never seen anything so hot in his life.

As she began to quiet in his arms, he let her down easily until she stood again. She looked him straight in the eyes as she reached between them, took him firmly in her hand. She reached for her wet shirt and laid it on the tile to kneel before him. He squeezed his eyes shut as she sucked the swollen head of his cock into the molten cavern of her mouth.

His breathing grew shallow, and he strained to keep from thrusting forward, making her take every inch, jetting the hot cum pooling in his balls into the back of her soft throat. She took him deeper then, humming her approval as his hips flexed into her. She cupped his balls and set a breakneck rhythm, sucking hard, trying to swallow him whole. He slid a hand down, gripping her wet mass of hair to force himself deeper.

The sultry steam that enveloped them felt almost cool compared to the heat of her mouth. He began to move in long, deep strokes, thinking each one would be the last as his body demanded release.

“Damn it, Gigi, you’re killing me.” The heat and pressure coiled low in his loins and then it was over. He was coming hard, his cock jerking as cum jetted into the back of her throat.

“That was awesome,” she whispered as his body quaked against the shower wall. She gentled him with her hand, pressing soft, sucking kisses on his hips and thighs. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

He groaned. “Feel free to experiment on me anytime, baby girl.”

He reached down and set her on her feet again. Her big gray eyes were filled with hope tempered by worry and he wanted nothing more than to erase that last bit of doubt.

“I know it’s not going to be easy. I know you’re working on your business and I promise to support that, okay? We can make this work if we both want it bad enough. Compromises. I travel a lot, and it’s going to be hard not to ask you to come with me all the time. Maybe sometimes though? And I’ll make sure we get to spend so much time together the rest of the time that you’ll hardly miss me when I’m gone.”

The smile she gave him lit up her whole face. “Actually, I’ve been thinking, maybe this is my niche. Personal catering. Instead of events, do wealthy local clients’ weekly meal plans, that type of thing. That way, once I have a staff, I’ll have a little more freedom.”

“I don’t want you giving up your dreams for me. That would kill me,” he said.

“I’m not. My dreams changed the second I met you. I want to be a chef, but I also want to have a life and a relationship. I’ve been working so hard, I lost sight of what I was working for. The love of the job, but also security and happiness. I want to feel secure and happy with you.”

“I’ll do anything in my power to make you feel those things. I swear it.”

She nodded and said, “I know you will,” then pulled him in for a kiss.

Keep reading for Tai’s book!