Autumn stopped outside the door, her hand resting on the knob. Funny, this morning she acted like she couldn’t wait for him to leave and now it seemed like she didn’t want him to go. “I had fun today.” Her voice was soft, a little hesitant. She seemed unsure what to do next.

The adrenaline high of plunging seventy-five feet toward the earth had worn off sometime during supper. Yeah, he’d convinced her to stop and get something to eat. Maybe he hadn’t been ready for the day to end either. She appeared tired, maybe a little jet lagged, but not even fatigue could dull her beauty.

“Me too,” he confessed. Shit, this was more fun than he’d had with his clothes on in longer than he could remember—and in most cases—with his clothes off too.

“I never would have bungee jumped if you hadn’t been there. Thanks for giving me the nudge.”

“My pleasure. The first jump is always the hardest. It gets easier.”

“Sometimes I need to be pushed to do something wild and crazy. But I’m discovering the reward is worth facing the fear.”

Wait, were they still talking about bungee jumping? Because he wasn’t sure anymore and he didn’t know if it was his cock hearing what it wanted to, or if Autumn was drawing a new line in the sand. Either way, that was his cue it was time to go. Honest to God, a man could only take so much temptation, and after spending the day with this amazing, fun, sexy woman, he wasn’t sure he had the willpower left to honor his own damn stipulation. No sex. What the hell had he been thinking? That she’s a vulnerable, confused young woman who doesn’t know what she wants and you will not be the asshole who takes advantage of her? Oh, yeah…that.

“Do you, umm…want to come in for a while?”

Hell yeah, I do. “I can’t.”

“Oh…well…that’s all right.” She quickly tried to hide her disappointment, but it was too late. He’d already seen it in her eyes and something uncomfortable tightened inside his chest. “I guess it is getting kinda late. You probably have more important things to do than play BFF.”

Not really. But he’d been ignoring Bradford’s calls all day and now Connor’s had joined in with a lot of where the hell are you messages. So as much as he wanted to pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist for just one goddamn day, unfortunately that was too much to ask. So much for lying low…

“Okay—” She opened the door and turned to step inside. “—goodnight then.”

“Autumn, wait.” He probably shouldn’t have stopped her. Correction. He definitely shouldn’t have stopped her, because he knew that look all too well. She wanted him to kiss her. Problem was, as jacked as he was after spending the day with her, he was afraid if he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop. And now she stood there, waiting for him to say something. Shit. Real smooth, Kroft. “So, uh… I’ll see you in the morning?”

This was getting awkward. Just last night, he’d had his hand up her dress and his tongue down her throat. Now, he couldn’t even string a few damn sentences together. Maybe that’s because you can’t stop thinking about your hand up her dress and your tongue down her throat, asshole.

She humored him with a smile. “Sure. Goodnight, Balen.”

Autumn closed the door and he exhaled a ripe curse, roughly dragging his hand through his hair. He needed to go home and take a long, cold shower.

* * *

“Where the hell have you been?” Connor demanded from the couch as Balen walked in. He paused his Forza Five race and shot Balen a concerned scowl. The last time Balen saw that look, Connor was getting ready to tell him he’d caught Monica going down on his rival, Scott Cunningham, at a party at Pismo Beach. Dread slowly seeped into his veins.

Man, he was not in the mood for this shit. Bradford had just gotten done reaming him a new asshole because Sex Wax had indeed pulled out of their contract. “Hope your voyeuristic fuck was worth the two-hundred-fifty grand it just cost you.”

Balen refrained from pointing out—again—that he hadn’t been complicit in the whole sex tape scandal because what was the point? He knew he’d messed up. It was simple as that and he wasn’t the kind of guy who made excuses for his behavior. Connor was doing everything he could to contain this and Balen trusted his brother to handle it. Was there going to be fallout? Yep. But he wasn’t the first celebrity to get caught with his pants down and he wouldn’t be the last.

“I told you last night, I had a date. I didn’t realize I had a curfew, Dad.”

Connor lifted his wrist and stared at his imaginary watch. “That was over twenty-four-hours ago. In the future, if you could do your brother the courtesy of answering your phone that would be greatly appreciated.”

“It died.” He held up the cell as evidence and crossed the room to plug it in. “I only had a car charger and I returned Bradford’s call on the way here.”

“Heard you lost Sex Wax. That sucks, man.”

“Yeah...”

“If it helps, I’ve got that forest fire about seventy-five percent contained.”

“Thanks, man. I knew you’d take care of it.”

“I’ll call Sex Wax tomorrow and try to smooth things over with them. Set up a meeting when we’re at Mavericks, offer them some free promo and shit. Maybe we can still save the contract. You know what they say…even bad publicity is good publicity—especially if I’m on the job.”

Balen laughed. “Tell that to Bradford. Maybe he’ll quit crawling up my ass.”

“Speaking of asses… I went out with Carlie last night—”

“Wait, is she the one with the freckle or without?”

“Without.”

“Okay. And…?”

“She told me Monica’s in town.”

“Oh, shit.” It was bad enough he was going to have to see her at Mavericks in two weeks. He did not have the time or the patience to deal with her shit.

“Carlie said she’s telling everyone that you broke her heart.”

His laugh was a sharp, sarcastic bark. “Was that before or after Cunningham’s cock was down her throat?”

“I don’t think she’s telling anyone that part of the story, man. She’s making it loud and clear that she wants you back, though.”

“Not gonna happen, my friend.” That she even thought there was a snowball’s chance in hell of them reconciling proved just how insane that chick was. “What’s the matter? Did Cunningham lose a competition or something? He slip from the number one spot?” Yeah, Balen might be over her, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still bitter.

Connor chuckled and shook his head. “Maybe she found out you’re favored to win Mavericks Invitational. Who knows? That bitch is crazy.”

True that. There was no love lost between his brother and Monica. Connor had always seen her for the wave runner she was and, to his credit, he’d tried to warn Balen about her—several times. It wasn’t Connor’s fault he’d been too stupid to listen.

“You need to lay low for a week and stay the hell away from here. Let this media shit blow over and hopefully Mon-zilla will give up and go back to whatever rock she crawled out from.”

“Yeah, I was already planning on it.” As visions of dark red hair and ocean-blue eyes filled his mind, Balen wondered how Autumn would feel about a roommate. She did have a perfectly good spare room that wasn’t being used. Given the choice, he’d prefer not to draw unnecessary attention to himself by booking his own villa. Even though the resort listings were supposed to be confidential, it wouldn’t be the first time an employee dropped the dime on him for the right price. And the next thing he’d know, wave runners and paparazzi would be all over the place.

He was looking forward to a week of incognito where he could just be himself for a change, and not Balen Kroft—International Surfing Champion. “You mind if I take the Wrangler? I don’t want Monica spotting my ride around the island and trying to track me down.”

“Sure. I’ll trade you my piece of shit for your sweet ride.”

“Don’t you dare fuck anyone in my Hummer.” Balen jabbed a finger at this brother. Connor wasn’t big on boundaries. What most people would consider common courtesy needed to be spelled out for him. “I’m gonna black light that thing when I get it back.”

Connor lifted his hands like what the hell, dude? “But bitches be trippin’ for my ride…”

Balen laughed and shook his head. “Just give me your keys, dumbass. Oh, and if Monica does stop by and you happen to be here, make sure she takes her shit out of the garage. It’s the boxes marked ‘Red Devil.’”

* * *

“What do you mean you didn’t do it? You texted me ‘One and Done’!”

Autumn winced. Closing her eyes, she pinched the bridge of her nose and flopped back on the bed. She’d come out of the shower to find multiple messages from Summer. She’d been putting off this conversation for the last several hours, but the fourth time her friend texted her for details she knew there was no avoiding it. She was going to have to make the call. “I passed out,” she confessed, her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she silently counted down, three…two…one…

Laughter erupted on the other end of the line and she pulled the phone away from ear.

“You passed out? Are you freaking serious? Why would you drink that much? I said get laid, not get murdered! Autumn, you never give up that kind of control.”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“Are you sure? Because it sounds pretty damn irresponsible. And coming from me, that’s scary.”

“You know that guy on the plane? The one you dropped your suitcase on?”

“Mr. Helpful?” The excitement was back in her friend’s voice. “Was it him? Holy shit, did you try to One and Done hot airplane guy and pass out on him?”

Cue the riotous laughter again. Autumn hoped one day she could look back on this day and think it was half as funny as Summer did. “Yes and yes. His name is Balen. He lives here on the island.” Autumn stopped trying to explain. Summer wouldn’t be able to hear her over her cackling anyway.

Her cell beeped, alerting her to an incoming message. It was just as well their call was getting interrupted. She didn’t want to talk about Balen and she certainly wasn’t going to tell Summer she was spending the week with him, doing all their planned adventures together. Autumn knew her friend. She’d jump to conclusions, and the last thing she needed was to hear a lecture about what a bad idea it was to spend so much time with some guy she hardly knew. She would worry about Autumn getting attached. She’d tell her the last thing Autumn needed was to leave the Island of Love with a broken heart. But that wasn’t going to happen because there was absolutely zero chance of this going anywhere. This week was about cutting loose, having fun and relaxing—that’s all.

But then her pulse betrayed her, a nervous flutter erupting in her stomach when she saw Balen’s name come across her screen. “Summer, I gotta go. Another call is coming in.” She cut her friend off before she could ask Autumn who it was. “I’ll talk to you later.”

She disconnected the call and then switched over to her texts. It was a picture of her on the bridge, all suited up for her bungee jump. Jeez, she looked terrified. Her cell chimed again and she opened the message. It was her after picture. Wow, she looked like a different person. Her hair was wild from the bungee, her cheeks flushed, eyes bright with the rush of adrenaline flooding her veins. Her smile was huge. Not one of those cheesy camera grins, but a real, genuine smile. She was squeezing Balen in a side-on hug. His arms were around her, hugging her back. Once again, she was struck by how handsome he was. And she looked…well…happy—really happy.

Autumn couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt that way. The last two years she’d been living under a dark cloud of depression. She hadn’t meant for it to happen, but somewhere along the way, she’d allowed Alex to steal her joy.

Was it possible that Balen was the key to helping her get it back?

Thought you might like to see the difference a leap of faith can make. You did great today.

A smile rivaling the one in the photo tugged her lips as she messaged him back. Thanks for the push.

Anytime. Goodnight, Autumn.

Goodnight, Balen.

She set her cell on the nightstand and plugged it in to charge. As she pulled back the covers and climbed into bed, the red mark on the inside of her thigh caught her notice. She paused, reaching down to run the tip of her finger over the spot, trying to remember Balen’s mouth there. Heat bloomed beneath her touch, slowly spreading to the juncture between her legs as her thoughts meditated on him. Her memory still failing her, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine what it had been like, her fingers softly trailing back and forth over the evidence of his kiss. As she pictured his mouth moving higher, so did her fingers, gently sweeping over her damp cotton panties. Had he curled his fingers around the offending barrier and yanked it aside? She imagined his tongue parting her delicate folds, dragging up to the sensitive bead of her sex.

Why was she torturing herself like this? Because it was safe…and despite her reservations, Autumn wanted him. If she’d learned nothing else, it was the reward of facing her fears and coming out on the other side victorious.

She slipped her fingers beneath her panties. Heat bloomed low in her belly, little darts of pleasure arrowing into her core as her empty channel clenched with unfulfilled need. She moaned in frustration, torn between wanting to remember and wishing Balen was here to give her a step-by-step replay. Since neither would be happening tonight, she’d just have to let her imagination fill in the gaps.

Slipping two fingers inside herself, she pictured it was Balen touching her. It was a poor substitution, but even then, she quickly brought herself to climax. As the last tremors of her release left her body, exhaustion settled over her. It wasn’t long before she was drifting off to vivid thoughts of him playing on an endless loop in her mind. Right before she crossed into the realm of sleep, the idea occurred to her that perhaps she’d been a little hasty in agreeing to his no sex stipulation. What would it take to change his mind? And was she up for the challenge?