JK Shuckers Raw and Sports Bar was crowded and loud tonight. Kate dipped beer glasses into the soapy water, sanitized them, then put them away.

“What’s the occasion?” her friend Alli asked, referring to the packed tables, as she tied a short white apron around her waist.

“University of Kentucky versus Duke. Most believe whoever wins this game takes the championship.” Kate smiled and tried to act like she didn’t much care either way.

“Seriously? But I thought the Cats were riddled with injuries and limped into the tournament as a four seed.”

“I have no idea what you just said,” Kate lied. She actually knew a lot about the University of Kentucky basketball program, but no one could ever know that she was originally from Lexington, Kentucky, or that she had any connection to the area.

“Come on Kate. You work at a sports bar. You need to know a little about sports. Guys tip really well when you act interested in their sports.”

Kate laughed. “They tip well enough, especially when you show a little cleavage.” Truth was, she hated that her beloved UK Wildcats were playing tonight. She’d much rather watch them from the privacy of her little cottage where she could yell and scream at the TV during the game. And she could change the channel every time they showed the replay of the famous Christian Laettner shot from back in 1992 when Duke beat UK in an obnoxious last-second shot.

She glanced around the room at all the blue and white. She knew the chances of there being people from Lexington here who could recognize her were extremely slim. Especially since she didn’t look anything like she had when she lived in Lexington as the daughter of the president of Samael’s Army.

Kate nodded toward a rather loud table of sailors from the nearby naval base. “The sailors over there have been throwing back whiskey and tequila shots for the past hour. They’ve yet to order food.”

“Tequila and whiskey together?”

Kate nodded with lifted brows. “I just hope they leave before the nausea sets in later. The only puke I clean up is mine or my daughter’s.”

“I hear that,” Alli laughed. Alli had two children at home. Her husband worked days while she took care of the kiddos, and she worked nights when he was home. Kate didn’t know how, but Alli said she and her husband had a better sex life now than when they both worked days. According to her, they’re now just more creative about when and where. “Why are you still here, anyway? I thought you had the lunch shift on Wednesdays.”

“I did, but my daughter is staying over with a friend, so I picked up an extra shift. Thought I might as well earn some extra money.”

“I hear that, too.” Alli gave her a funny look.

“What?” Kate asked.

“I get that you need the money. You’re a single mom and all… But why aren’t you taking advantage of this opportunity to go out on a date? Get laid. Have fun.” Alli nudged her playfully. “I’ve seen three different men ask you out in the past week alone. And what about that handsome man you were flirting with last night?”

“I was not flirting,” Kate said, purposely leaving out the fact that she ended up sleeping with the handsome man in question. She’d even thought about getting in touch with that very man again today until she thought better of it and asked for an extra shift. “Besides, I’m not going to meet my future husband in a bar.” Kate forced a laugh. She wasn’t even looking for a husband. The idea of meeting someone and lying to him about her true identity just didn’t sound like a great way to build a relationship.

She was right to let the previous night go as the one-night stand that it was.

“Who said anything about a husband?” Alli bumped her again with her hip. “I’m just talking about a fun night out and maybe a little romp.”

“A romp?” Kate asked. “Who says ‘romp’?”

“Kate,” Trip said behind her, causing her to jump.

“Yes?” She eyed Alli sideways who was wagging her eyebrows at her and pointing her thumb toward Trip, suggesting that Kate should date her boss. Unfortunately, Alli already knew the history of Trip asking Kate out. Ignoring Alli, she turned more toward Trip.

“You working an extra shift or visiting with Alli?”

“Sorry, Trip.” Kate shot Alli the stink eye. “Where do you want me tonight?”

Trip was in his early thirties, never married, but Kate always thought he seemed like the marrying type. He didn’t date his wait staff or bartenders, though he employed mostly women. Alli had told her he’d been serious about a girl some years ago—one of his waitresses—and she left him shortly after agreeing to marry him. He seemed to stop dating altogether after that, but it hadn’t stopped him from asking Kate out.

“I’ve got a big party coming in tonight in the back party room. You’ll be taking care of them.”

“Got it. What time are they scheduled to arrive?”

“They’re trickling in now. The Keegan party. Should be about twenty of them. We’ll have a full house in addition to that. All here to watch the game. There will probably be more drinking than eating beyond the party room. But if you can take care of the party on your own, that would be helpful.”

“I can handle it.”

Trip smiled at Kate before turning and leaving. He was incredibly hot, and seemed kind enough as a boss. But she still wasn’t looking for anyone to date.

“That man needs a little push,” Alli said beside her. She was staring after Trip as he walked around the corner. “I bet he looks amazing without all those clothes on.”

Kate elbowed her. “You’re awful. And I better get to work.”

She skirted around the bar just as a parade of muscular, attractive men and their dates or wives, she assumed, were led through the sports bar by our hostess, clearly being shown to the back room.

As they passed by, Kate bolted in the opposite direction to gather menus, then followed the parade of people to the party room.

When she got to the private room, the men and women were shifting about the room, breaking up into pairs in an organized fashion and taking seats. They laughed and carried on conversations in a way that told Kate that this was a tight-knit group of friends. A couple of men stood with their backs to her.

“Ice,” a man called, and a woman turned and looked at him. “Get everyone to slide over one seat in that direction.”

Ice. That was a funny nickname for a woman. Ice made eye contact with Kate, then mouthed, I’m sorry. She snapped her fingers at the group. “Okay boys and girls, I think our server is here to give us directions.”

Kate laughed and gave Ice a wave, letting her know it was no big deal. But everyone began to calm and slowly turn their attention to her, including one man in particular. Colt.

Her eyes widened, and her breath caught. His expression appeared equally surprised, but then softened as if he were pleased to see her. She couldn’t help herself but glance to either side of him to see if he was there with a date, or worse… a wife.

“Good evening ladies and gentleman,” Trip said beside Kate. She hadn’t even heard him enter. “I’m Trip. I’m the manager of JK Shuckers. This is Kate, she’ll be coming around to take your drink orders to start you off. I’ve been instructed to bring a sampling from the raw bar, which I’ve already asked the kitchen to prepare. If you need anything during the night, be sure to ask Kate.”

Kate had zoned out during Trip’s introduction. When he touched her back, she gave her head a little shake. “Right. I’ll start at that end of the table.” She pointed toward the end of the table where Ice was sitting. She risked a glance toward Colt, who was smiling as if he’d just won a contest he hadn’t realized he’d entered. She was sure he would have loved to know more about her last night. It was amazing that he had gotten Kate to return to his hotel room, and she was sure he was thinking that this was some sort of fate playing out. He had hinted more than once that their interaction didn’t have to be limited to one night.

Kate almost laughed out loud at the thought. Not because it was funny, but because she no longer had control over her own life to even have that kind of choice. Like it was even possible for her to be involved with someone like Colt, who obviously had people he belonged to by the looks of this huge party of people. With this large of a group came trouble for someone like her—a girl with no past, with more secrets than she could ever tell any one person, and with no ability to change any of that. People like this asked questions. They would want to know where Kate came from, her history, and other things she’d have to lie about or evade. It sounded exhausting just thinking about it.

Colt and Kate had both agreed to keep things casual. Even if she had told him more last night—like where she worked or lived—they both knew he was only in town for a few days, and Kate knew that whatever happened would only be for those few days.

She made her way to the other end of the table. Ice nudged the man beside her. “Wolf, order me a drink. You always know what I like better than I do.”

The man she called Wolf leaned over and kissed her. “Roger that.” Kate’s heart tightened a bit at the way Wolf looked at his wife, knowing she’d never have that kind of relationship with someone.

She made her way around the table, purposefully leaving Colt until last. “What can I get you?”

“That’s it? ‘What can I get you?’” The room grew quiet. Kate looked up and saw that several of Colt’s friends had stopped talking and were looking back and forth between Colt and Kate then at each other. A couple of them shrugged and shook their heads at each other.

A sweat broke out across the back of her neck. She glanced at Ice and Wolf uncomfortably.

“Filly, you know this person?” Ice asked.

Kate narrowed her eyes at Ice, then looked at Colt. “Filly?”

Colt closed his eyes. “Unfortunate nickname.” He nodded toward Ice. “To answer your question, yes.” He stood, squaring his shoulders to face Kate, but spoke to his friends behind him. “I met Kate last night. If you guys will excuse us a minute.”

Kate glanced at the curious eyes around the table. The guys were smirking; the ladies seemed concerned. Colt grabbed Kate’s hand and gently tugged her toward the door.

“I’ll get your drinks right out,” Kate said over her shoulder.

“Oh, please take your time,” Wolf called with humor in his voice. Ice nudged him.

When Colt had Kate outside the room, he pulled her toward a far corner by a window.

“I need to get these drink orders in,” she said weakly.

“They can wait.” He crossed his arms and stared at her a couple of beats before saying anything, and Kate was certainly at a loss. “You left without saying goodbye,” he finally said.

She lifted a brow. “And what would you have liked me to have done. Stayed? Had breakfast in bed with you? Told you that last night rocked my world?”

He titled his head side to side. “All those things would have been nice. For starters.” He had ignored her sarcasm and answered with wit.

“Come on, Colt. We both knew last night was going no further than it already did.” Just saying the words made Kate’s heart constrict. She had no idea what was going on with her. She knew last night should have meant nothing, yet she had experienced a thrill when she first set eyes on him inside that room. And now, here they stood acting like a couple of angsty teenagers. “Look,” she paused a couple of beats while he patiently waited for her to continue. “I like you. I would give anything to spend the next few days—however long you’re in Virginia Beach—learning more about you. I’ve thought about you and our night together this entire day, but…” She squeezed the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“But what?” Colt grabbed her hand and forced her to meet his gaze.

Damn it, Kate thought as tears filled her eyes at the hopelessness of her situation. She’d been so used to shutting herself off to men for the past four years that she didn’t know how to respond to a man who had managed to break through the steel barrier surrounding her heart. It had all started when he helped her get her friends home safely last night.

“But at the end of your time here, you’re returning to wherever you came from, and—” She stopped short of telling him that she would go back to leading a simple life where the safety of her and her daughter were her number one priority.

“My head knows that this isn’t supposed to go further, but my heart?” He ran a hand through his hair, also clearly frustrated. “My heart is telling me that I want to spend more time with you. I would have liked to have seen you this morning before you left. To have told you…”

She grinned when his voice tapered off. “Told me what? How incredible we’d been in bed?” She couldn’t stop the snarky tone her voice took on.

“Again… for starters. Maybe I would have liked to have had a replay this morning just to make sure we had been as good as I remembered from the night before.” He grinned, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t taking her seriously. She could see that. But he liked to redirect with humor. Hell, he made her smile more than anyone had in a really long time.

“Look, last night was great. I just didn’t think either of us needed the awkwardness of the morning after, knowing it was going no further.”

His smile grew. “It could go a little further. I’m here for two more days. And tonight’s dinner is my last obligation. My friends and I are doing nothing but beach time for two more days until we have to leave. I want to spend time with you. You said so yourself that you would like to know more about me.”

“I don’t know,” Kate said, hating herself for how indecisive she sounded. But he was trying to undo four years of solidly formed habits. “I think it would just be delaying the inevitable. And speaking of your friends, I really need to get those drink orders in. It’s going to be a busy night, and if you want to eat tonight…”

“Fine.” He grabbed both of her elbows and pulled her closer to him. “You can have until after dinner to think about it.”

He angled his head and placed his lips on hers, sucking lightly on her lower lip. She didn’t think, just reacted, kissing him back. She slipped her arms around his back and let him press her body even closer into his. Everything about him was inviting her in. He was breaking through each layer of the shield Kate had erected one-by-one, and she knew she was in trouble.

Someone cleared their throat beside them. Kate backed away and met Trip’s gaze. “I’m so sorry, Trip.”

Colt touched Kate’s back.

“You’re sorry for what?” Trip asked. “I’m assuming you two know each other and that you’re not, in fact, sexually assaulting one of my customers. Or vice versa.” He turned a curious eye on Colt.

Colt stood up straighter beside Kate, assessing Trip. She touched his arm. “No. I mean yes.” Her hand flew to her forehead, where she massaged the bridge of her nose. “Shit. What do I mean?” She turned to Colt. “I’m going to put your drink orders in. You never told me what you wanted.”

“Whatever IPA you have on tap will be fine.”

“IPA. Got it.” She turned back toward Trip. “I’m sorry for my complete lapse of professionalism.” She slid past Trip and didn’t even chance a look back toward Colt, nor did she wait around to see if there was any testosterone-fueled territorial dispute between them.

For now, she would definitely think about spending time with him. How could she not when he had awoken every dormant feeling of desire in her body?