Even before Alex opened his eyes, he felt it. Dread.

It pushed on him like a heavy blanket, locking him to his bed, immobilizing his limbs, making him feel all was worthless.

He had ruined things with Paisley. A night’s sleep had not brought him any great realizations or tactics for repairing their relationship. Instead, it had only served to cement the pressing disappointment he had gone to bed with.

Opening his eyes, he rolled over and sat on the edge of his bed. The morning light was bright. It was much later than when he usually woke up. He should have been at the office. Likely, he had a message on his phone from his secretary asking where he was.

Alex rubbed the back of his neck and stood. Perhaps he would skip the office for the morning and instead work out in his home gym. There were no meetings scheduled for that day, so nowhere he had to be at a certain time. Exercise always helped him to get out of his head and stop moping over this or that.

In the kitchen, the silence created an uncomfortable itch in Alex’s ears. Grabbing the remote, he turned the news on and poured a cup of coffee from the timed maker that had brewed half a pot hours ago.

He stood at the counter, sipping his coffee and staring at his phone. There was a reason he had put it out to charge on the kitchen island. He had been adamant that he go to bed with Paisley off his mind.

And now he stood there, barely awake for five minutes, and all he could think about doing was calling her.

His pulse pounding, Alex unhooked the phone from its charger. There was a message from his secretary, but nothing from Paisley. Not even taking time to respond to the text about when he should be expected at work, he opened up his e-mail.

Nothing from Paisley there either.

Fury dug its claws into Alex’s heart. Paul was right. Until Alex became fully honest, he had no one to blame for the current circumstances but himself.

So he opened up their text thread. His thumb shook over the screen.

ALEX: How was your date?

“Aggh!” Alex grabbed at his hair. What a stupid thing to ask! She would probably think he was being sarcastic.

He should have asked her to meet up so he could explain everything to her, and that had been his plan. Only he had chickened out.

The phone buzzed.

PAISLEY: Good.

Alex stared at the screen and shook his head. “Good?”

That was all?

His teeth ground.

ALEX: Did you kiss him?

Again, he was texting before thinking. He knew he needed to pump the breaks, to rein his behavior in before he did something he regretted, but he felt like a man possessed. He could not be stopped.

PAISLEY: Why do you care?

Alex hunched over the counter, phone in his tight hold. He shouldn’t care. Not unless he had plans to man up and tell Paisley he wanted her for his own.

As he was still figuring out what to say next, Paisley sent another text.

PAISLEY: No. There was no kiss and there won’t be a second date. Flynn is cool, but there’s no connection there.

Alex blinked and read the message over several times. He had expected to receive something snarky back, but instead Paisley had chosen to be decent with him – a move that made him feel even more immature.

Exhaling slowly, Alex put the phone down and went to take a shower. He needed to cool off. Perhaps go for a walk in the sunshine rather than hit the gym’s treadmill.

As he showered and dressed, Paisley’s last text spun through his mind. Why was she being so polite? So — from what he could tell – honest?

Could it be she was only burying the hatchet and letting him know they were still friends? Or was there more to it?

Once outside his building, Alex walked with his hands in his pockets and his face down. He thought. He walked. Thought. Walked.

But there were no quick answers. He couldn’t know why Paisley had told him she had no connection with Flynn. After the way Alex acted the night before, it seemed incredible that she would be interested in him.

With a start, Alex looked up and realized he was in the middle of Alphabet City. Paisley’s neighborhood.

His mouth went dry. Had his feet taken him there accidentally? Or had he known all along where he was headed and he merely did not want to admit it?

With slower steps, he found his way to her building and stood gazing up at it. A week before, doing what he now considered would have seemed incomprehensible. He had too much to lose. Now, however, things were different. He had already made Paisley angry. He had already made a fool out of himself. The hole he had dug could not get any deeper.

So, why not go for it?

His insides twisting into a tight knot, he rang her apartment number. A moment passed. Then another. Perhaps she was out at breakfast. Or had gone into work early. Or…

“Hello?” Paisley answered, her voice crackling through the intercom.

Alex’s teeth stuck together. “It is… Alex.”

What felt like far too long passed and then the door buzzed to allow him entry. Too late to turn back now.

Fear and adrenaline pumping in his veins, Alex climbed the steps to Paisley’s apartment. As he reached the last one, she opened her front door. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had on flannel pants and a t-shirt. It appeared she’d only recently woken up herself.

Alex stopped a few feet away, feeling awkward. “Hello.”

Paisley folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Hi.”

He bit the inside of his lip. “Have a minute?”

She twisted her lips and sighed dramatically. “Come on in.”

Alex followed her into the studio apartment, where she took a stand by the couch, her arms still tightly folded.

“I am sorry,” Alex blurted out. “The way I behaved last night was immature.”

To his surprise, Paisley dropped her arms and smiled sadly. “It’s okay.”

His brow furrowed. “No. It is not. It was deceitful.”

She shrugged and looked away.

“Did you not have a good date because of me?” Alex asked.

That possibility had occurred to him on his walk. It could be that Paisley and Flynn would have gotten along splendidly had they not had a third party intruding upon the evening.

“I had a pretty bad night because of you, yeah.” She paused. “But even if you hadn’t shown up, the night would have ended the same. It just… wasn’t there. No sparks, you know?” She turned her big brown eyes up to him, and Alex’s heart cartwheeled.

How had he managed to go so long without kissing her?

“I know,” he breathed. “Sometimes it is not there… and sometimes it is.”

Her eyes widened slightly and then she suddenly looked away. “Anyway, yeah. So, that’s what happened. What’s going on with you and the supermodel?”

“Rylie?”

“Is that her name?” Paisley asked, not sounding like she cared one bit.

“She is not a supermodel.”

Paisley pursed her lips. “No? Well, she looked like one. How was your date?”

“She was not my date.”

Paisley’s gaze whipped up to meet his. “She wasn’t?”

“No. She’s my friend Paul’s sister. She came with me to… uh…”

“Spy on me?” Paisley offered.

“I’m not even sure myself why I showed up there last night, but I just had to see what was going on.”

Paisley’s eyes widened and the apartment became dead quiet. “Why?” she asked.

Alex’s chest ached. “Paisley, do you truly not see why?”

She blinked, her beautiful face peering up at him. He stared into her brown eyes, searching for any clues, looking for an answer to what he should say or do next. Paisley only looked at him, though.

“It killed me to hear you were going out with Flynn James,” he said.

“I thought you were a fan.” She smiled briefly, then shook her head. “Sorry.”

Alex smirked. “It’s fine. And, for the record, I’m not proud of how cocky I was.”

Paisley chuckled. “Oh, yeah. I died when you told him, ‘I don’t believe I caught your name.’”

“I know. Guilty as charged!” Alex raised his hands in the air. “I hated how nice he was.”

Her shoulders rose with a long inhale. “He really is a cool guy.”

“But the connection was not there,” Alex whispered.

“No,” Paisley whispered back. “The connection wasn’t there.”

“You never answered my question. Do you not see why I showed up at that restaurant? Why I acted like such a fool?”

She bit her bottom lip. “Alex…”

“Please, listen.” He could barely hear his own words for the roaring of his pulse. There was so much he had held in for weeks, that he had agonized over. If he did not get it all out now, he did not know if he ever would.

“You told me before we met in person that you would never date someone who is famous, and I have done my best to respect that.” He inclined his head. “With some shame, I admit I have not always done a great job. Like last night, for example.”

“Hm.” She nodded.

“However, it has come to a point where I have found it impossible to keep my feelings to myself. I have been hurting our friendship. Distracting myself from work. Paisley, I care for you as more than a friend. You are on my mind constantly, and even if you do not care for me in the same way, I have to tell you this. It has come to the point where I simply have no other choice.”

She stared at him and heat crept across Alex’s face. He had messed up. Perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut after all.

“Wow,” Paisley breathed. “You’re so formal.”

Alex scrubbed at the heat on his jaw. “My upbringing might have something to do with it.”

She grinned and a lightness entered Alex’s chest.

“I am sorry if this is not what you want to hear,” he said. “When I found out you were going out with a famous actor, I was perplexed. But then I realized perhaps you simply see me as only a friend and entertain no other possibilities. If so, I understand, and I accept that. I—”

His next words were stolen. Paisley stepped forward and pressed her lips to his. Alex gasped in surprise, but a second later he relaxed into the kiss. His lips melted against hers and his arms slipped around her waist.

Paisley broke the touch by stepping back. “Sorry.”

Alex searched her face. “Why? What are you sorry for?”

Her cheeks pink, she pressed her fingers to her lips. “You were talking, and then I just kissed you, and I don’t even know if that’s the right thing to do.” Her hands pushed through her hair. “I don’t know. I don’t know. This is something I thought would never happen, and—”

“Do you care for me, Paisley?” Alex touched her wrist gently. “In a romantic way?”

Her eyes widened and sparkled. Alex could see both fear and elation in them. “In every way,” she said softly.

“That is all I need to hear.” Before she could say another word, he pulled her back into his arms, crushing his lips to hers.