A FEW HOURS LATER, I stood exactly where I wanted to, in the kitchen over a plate of freshly sizzled bacon. A bucket of coffee sat next to it because I hadn’t slept. After I tried to shower the sweat, mosquito guts, my stained conscience clean, there hadn’t been time. And I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway.

A frantic Paige hurried into the kitchen, but stopped as she took in the toast, bacon, and eggs breakfast spread laid out on the island. “Oh, God. I was afraid I wasn’t going to have time to eat.”

Splotches of red brightened her cheeks. She kept fidgeting with the buttons on her flowered top and tugging at the hem of her black skirt. Her hair was done up in a fancy twist at the back of her head, and she wore a little makeup on her eyes and lips. Dressed as a sexy librarian, every inch of her begged to be licked. Somehow I didn’t think she’d appreciate that on the first day of her internship, though.

“Relax.” I placed a full mug of coffee and a full plate in front of her. “And dig in.”

“Did you do this for me?” she asked as she sat.

“For me too.” I shrugged like it was no big deal, even though I could feel her probing gaze. She was probably thinking about masturbating to me last night. Or maybe wondering if that crash she might’ve heard in the hallway while she was finishing herself off was me.

“Thank you, Sam.” She smiled and took a large bite of bacon. “That’s really sweet.”

I plucked some bacon from my plate. “I aim to please.”

She choked on a swallow and took a swig of coffee, her face reddening even more. Her mind was even naughtier than I thought since I hadn’t even meant that to be sexual. Mostly.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked once she could breathe again.

“Uh, yeah. Eventually.”

I nodded and tried to hide my grin behind the brim of my coffee cup. “So, I finished your book last night. Do you want me to tell you what happens?”

“Noooo,” she said and shot me a warning look.

“Everyone dies,” I said and scratched at one of the thousands of mosquito bites on my neck. “None of the characters had a zombie apocalypse plan. When the outbreak spread, things got ugly real quick.”

Her dark eyes sparkled as she chewed thoughtfully. “That’s a real bummer, especially since there’s supposed to be another book with the same characters out in September.”

I held my hands out in mock apology. “They’re all zombies.”

“Funny how the blurb for the new book didn’t say anything about zombies.”

“Time-traveling zombies. Time-traveling, bank-robbing, crime-solving zombies,” I said with a wink and a tap to my temple like it was the greatest idea ever. Which it was. I should be a writer. “That author knows what she’s doing.”

She snorted and tossed a strip of bacon at me, which I caught in my mouth because I’m a badass.

“You’re so full of it,” she said, laughing. “Do you have a zombie apocalypse plan?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Well, we need to take care of that. What if it happens today? What if killer librarians come after you?”

“I’ll throw bookshelves at them,” she said with a shrug. “I refuse to throw books, though.”

“Yeah,” I said. “We need to get you a real plan.”

“All right. After my internship today, we’ll make a zombie plan for me.”

She gazed at me then, every bit of her lighting up. I had to wonder if she was actually looking forward to spending time with me. Me, who had zero direction in life except to pay off 1.1 million dollars to Hill so Rose could start her life again. Yet there Paige sat in my kitchen, so much better than I could ever be, grinning and crunching on bacon. It was probably the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. Being in her company almost made me forget about everything else.

She walked her empty cup and plate to the sink then leaned against the counter, studying me. “Sam?”

I studied her right back, from the cleft of her toes hidden by her shoes, up her curvy legs to her hips, and over the swell of her chest to her long neck and her full, pouty lips. Perfect.

“Were you going to kiss me at the library?”

That was what she wanted to know? It seemed like our public library time had happened a lifetime ago, but the memory of her pressed against me stirred my dick awake when the rest of me wanted to crash.

“Why go in like that instead of just telling me who you were?” she pressed.

A drop of coffee landed on my lip with my next drink. I licked it off while my gaze dragged up and down her body once again. Every time she stood in the same room as me, the need to touch her, taste her, take her, expanded painfully in my chest. And in my pants. If I could affect her with my presence just a fraction of how much she affected me, maybe she’d be mine. And maybe I was starting to affect her if last night’s jill-off proved anything. If pretending to be a good guy and feeding her bacon in the morning made her want me, I’d do it for an eternity. Then, at least in her eyes, I would be good enough.

I took another long drink of coffee while she waited for an answer. “You know why you keep bringing up the library?”

She tilted her head, eyes narrowed. “Are you about to enlighten me about myself again?”

“Because you liked it,” I said and stalked toward her slowly. “A stranger, at least you thought it was at the time, in a public place, pressed up against you. You liked it. You liked it so much, it scared you.”

She let out a shaky breath. Her lips parted as I drew closer. “Really. That’s what you think?”

I stopped just inches away from her, breathing in her spicy candy smell, and leaned in close enough so my lips brushed her ear. “That’s what I think.”

Her eyes sank closed as a shudder went through her, and the corner of my smile touched her cheek. Whether I was a good guy or not, Paige had an obvious naughty streak inside her, too. To a lesser degree than I did, but still. I had to wonder how deep it went, how many sweet layers I would need to peel away until she admitted exactly what she wanted. We could meet each other halfway on the wicked/virtuous scales, which were kind of like the hanging ones in grocery stores, but more judgmental.

Fuck being good enough. I would elect myself to sainthood if she joined me on the bad list for a day. An hour. Fifteen minutes? I could be open to negotiation, especially if Paige was doing the negotiating. A little corruption never hurt anyone. Just ask the rest of my family.

But one step at a time.

I stepped away and asked, “Do you need a ride?”

“No.” She gave me a shy smile that left me light-headed, then picked up her purse from the barstool. “I...I need to calm my nerves and focus so I don’t trip over flat surfaces or something equally horrendous on my first day. I’ll just take the metro.”

I nodded and shoved my hands in my jeans pockets so I wouldn’t scratch the hundreds of mosquito bites.

“Wish me luck today, okay?” she said over her shoulder on the way out of the kitchen.

“Yeah. Good luck.” I stared at the spot where she’d vanished next to the trash can and the empty fruit basket inside.

Speaking of sweet layers, I wondered again who the basket might be from and why Paige had said it was a mistake after she’d crumpled up the card.

One step at a time.