I’m driving back to my condo after watching basketball with Eli, and I make a right when I should’ve gone straight.

Then another right.

Before long, I’m a few blocks from Kristin’s house.

It’s half past midnight, and this is the last place I should be, but it’s the only place I want to be.

How pathetic am I? I’m like some lovesick puppy.

I park out front and lean my head back. What the hell is wrong with me? It’s only been a few hours since I’ve seen her. However, the only thing I’ve been able to think about is what happened between us.

Last night was . . . unexpected.

When I went there, my intentions were honest. I didn’t think we’d have a sexfest for almost twenty-four hours. Beyond that, I didn’t think I’d be this consumed by her. Instead of scratching an itch, it made it worse.

I have no idea how she feels now that she’s had time to think. I pray to God I didn’t fuck up to the point that she hates me. Then I remember we still haven’t exchanged phone numbers.

Grabbing a piece of paper, I write my number down and then head to the porch. I figure I’ll stick it in the mailbox and hope she’ll see it.

When I lift the lid, a light in the living room flicks on and the curtain moves across the window.

Now I’m a fucking stalker that’s going to be arrested. My publicist will love that.

The door opens, and Kristin comes into view, holding an umbrella cocked as if it were a baseball bat. “Noah? What are you doing here?”

Reclaiming my balls. “I forgot to give you something, so I was dropping it off.”

“It’s almost one in the morning,” she says, stepping out onto the porch.

It’s dark out, but I can still see how beautiful she is. Her dark brown hair is pulled up, she isn’t wearing any makeup, and there is the cutest pair of glasses perched on her nose, making her sexier than ever.

“I wanted to see you.”

Kristin looks away, but I catch her smile. “I couldn’t sleep,” she explains. “I wanted to talk, but it was late . . .”

“And you don’t have my number,” I tack on.

“That, too.”

I step toward her, not able to keep my distance. My hand touches her cheek. “I’m here now. What’s on your mind?”

Her tiny hand wraps around mine, and she moves to the steps. We both sit at the edge, and she rests her head on my shoulder. I try to wrap my mind around what’s happening between us.

“You. Us.”

“We’re both thinking the same things,” I reassure her.

“Yeah?”

I laugh. “Yeah, sweetheart. This wasn’t exactly my plan when I came to Tampa. I thought I’d hang out with my friend, and then I met you.”

Kristin squeezes my hand a little. “I feel as though it’s all a dream. That I’m going to go to sleep, and none of this will have been real.”

“Look at me.” My voice is low and firm. “It is all real.”

“You’re the first thing in a long time that feels right.”

She humbles me. She brings me to my fucking knees with that statement. I don’t deserve Kristin. I don’t deserve a second chance, but I damn sure want this one.

“Then we figure it out together.”

Kristin lays her head back down and sighs. “What does all of this mean?”

“What do you want it to mean?”

I need her to tell me first because I’m afraid I’ll scare her off. There’s no way to describe how intensely I feel about her, and even if there were, I don’t think she’s ready to hear it.

I’m an overthinker by nature. I like plans and for those plans to stay on track. It’s how I’ve done well in my life. A task is presented and I tackle it head-on.

Kristin is the anti-plan. She’s the walk-off home run that no one expects. She’s the winning lottery ticket. She’s the girl I swore that, if I ever found her, I’d do anything to keep.

“What I want and what reality is are two different things. You’re a celebrity, and I’m a . . . well, I’m a sort of journalist. It’s my job to write things about you, and then we had a lot of sex. Like, stripped my sheets because they smelled like a whore house.”

I chuckle and nudge her leg. “Been to a lot of whore houses lately?”

“Shut up.” She laughs. “I’m awkward, and you’re perfect. I’m divorced with two kids, and you’re a bachelor. You’re rich, and I’m far from it. I live here, and you don’t. It’s incredibly stupid of me to think this is more than just some pretty mind-blowing sex.”

That’s where she’s wrong. If I wanted mind-blowing sex, I could get it anywhere. I’m not dumb enough to tell her that, but it’s true. There are perks to being rich and famous, women want to fuck celebrities. I didn’t fuck Kristin.

“It was more than that for me, sweetheart.” I move so that she can see the truth in my eyes. “You’re not some easy lay for me. I don’t need easy. I don’t care that you’re divorced from some asshole who treated you like shit. You’ve got a past, and so do I. If I thought for one minute you cared about money, we never would’ve made it past the first night. As for you being awkward, that’s what makes you perfect.”

“And then you say that.” She slaps her hand over her eyes. “Could you not be so damn perfect? Just . . . a little flaw. Something to stop me from falling for you. Anything really. I had hoped you had a small dick, but that didn’t work out.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” I say and then burst out laughing.

“I didn’t mean . . . I give up. I’ll blame it on the lack of sleep. You have a very nice penis.”

I pull her closer and kiss the top of her head. “I’m glad you approve.”

Kristin nestles herself a little closer. “I haven’t found anything about you that I don’t approve of—yet.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something soon enough.”

Which is what I’m worried about.

She sighs. “Tell me about your family.”

“My dad left when I was a kid. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a mama’s boy, and that’s about it. What about you?”

Kristin shifts out of my hold, pulls her knees to her chest, and then wraps her arms around her legs. “My parents are amazing, they live in Tampa. They both grew up here, so they stayed, kind of like me. My dad was a salesman, Mom stayed home and was . . . seriously the perfect wife and mother ever. We have a small family, but by the noise we produce, you’d never know.”

I always wanted more family around. My father moved my mother to Illinois when they got married. Her entire family was in Kentucky. I asked her once why we didn’t go there, and she said she needed to stay put just in case.

That’s the one thing I wish I could give her—the years of wasted time, waiting for someone who was never coming back.

Kristin giggles a little. “It’s funny, I never saw the parallels until now. I think I envied my mother for so long that I tried to be her. Married the first boy I fell in love with, had kids, quit my job, tried to be Supermom, but I failed.”

“You’re not failing,” I tell her. “What did you fail at?”

She blows out a deep breath. “I don’t know, giving them stability?”

“You’d have stayed with him for them? You think that would’ve been a better situation than you being single?”

Asking this is a loaded question. I don’t really want to know the answer, but then again, I do.

Kristin’s eyes meet mine, and she shakes her head. “No, I was done. I wish they didn’t have to leave their home and start a new school. No matter what anyone says . . . one day, they’ll blame me. I’m the one who left.”

Relief floods me because the last thing I want to be is the guy she wishes were her ex.

“You’re also the one who told me that when Aubrey was sad you had a dance party. What about when Finn was struggling in math and you watched four hours’ worth of YouTube videos so you could explain it? Those are just the things you told me about last night. Leaving him is the best thing you could’ve done. They’ll see him for what he’s worth one day. Trust me.”

I did with my father. It didn’t take long for me to open my eyes to the reality. He left us. He walked away for whatever bullshit reason he concocted in order to justify it. I didn’t need my mother to say a word, which she never did, to see him for what he was.

“Maybe, God only knows what their father will convince them of in the meantime.”

She told me a little about her marriage last night between rounds, and I want to beat the ever-loving hell out of him. Who the fuck treats a woman like that? Telling her she’s fat, can’t cook, is a shitty mother, and has let herself go. I’ll fucking show him what he let go.

A man doesn’t do that.

A man fights for his family.

A man treats a woman with respect.

Cowards tear people down to build themselves up. I’m not a fucking coward.

I turn to her, wanting her to hear my words very clearly. “You’re nothing that he says you are. You are the woman who tucks those kids in at night, encourages them, and has a mock concert in the living room to cheer them up.” I brush my thumb against her palm. “You’re so much more than he ever saw, sweetheart.”

Her lips part and Kristin rests her forehead against mine. “You’re more than just one night for me, Noah. You’re the whole damn thing, and that scares me. I don’t want to be scared anymore.”

She can be nervous because I’m not, for fifteen years I’ve searched for her. Now that I’ve found her, there’s nothing I won’t do. “I have enough courage for the both of us.”

She lifts her head, and her eyes are filled with unshed tears. “Jesus. I never had a chance against you, did I?”

I run my hands up her back, pulling her closer to me, brushing my lips against hers.

“Told you I was going to win your heart.”