I’m lying in bed when I hear a soft tap at my door. I glance at the clock. One-oh-five am.

I throw off my sheets, swing my legs to the floor, and cross the room. I open the door to find Quinn standing on the other side in a cotton t-shirt and pajama shorts. It may not be a towel or a ball gown, but the sight takes my breath away.

“Did I wake you?” she asks, holding her arms tightly across her chest.

I shake my head. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Me neither.” I’ve been lying in bed for the past three hours thinking about what happened—or almost happened—between Quinn and me. I almost screwed up big time. But that thin towel…that soft body pressed up against mine…the cloying scent of soap and cherry blossoms…

The thought of her only a few walls away made sleep impossible.

“Can we talk?” Quinn asks.

“Uh, sure.” I step back to let her in my room, but she doesn’t move. Her eyes dart around, moving from my bed to me, then rest on my bare chest. I look down to find I’m only wearing briefs.

“One sec,” I mutter, grabbing a barely worn pair of sweats and a white undershirt. I usually sleep in the nude but donned briefs tonight just in case I forgot Quinn was here (not likely) and walk out for my morning coffee in the buff.

I stand back. “That better?”

Quinn nods and steps into the room. “You must think I’m some blushing schoolgirl.”

I smirk. “I’m used to having this effect on women.”

Quinn rolls her eyes. “That’s the Stratton I remember, and why this would never work.”

“And this is the East I know, and why it would work,” I argue. “You’re not some shrinking wallflower, so quit acting like it.”

“Excuse me?” she demands.

“You knock on my door at 1am wearing—” I motion to her sexy pajamas.

She glances down, then back up at me. “Shorts and a t-shirt?”

“Exactly. You know damn well that I can’t keep my hands off you.”

Quinn stumbles back. “Don’t say things like that.”

I let out an explosive breath. I’ve had about enough of this dance. “Why are you here, Quinn?”

“I—I wanted to apologize,” she stammers.

“For what?”

“For earlier. For running away like that.” Quinn glances away. “That hug…I don’t want to give the wrong impression.”

“And what might that be?”

“That we should be more than friends,” she says, but I can tell she doesn’t believe it.

“Friends?” I repeat in a tense voice.

“Yes. I don’t want to complicate things.”

I take a step toward her. “I think they’re past complicated.”

“This has to stay how it is,” she says unsteadily, inching back.

“Why?” Only a few more steps and she’ll be within my grasp…

“Because—” Quinn steps back and bumps against the wall. She watches my approach through wide eyes. “Because I can’t get involved with someone who doesn’t care about me!”

“I do care about you,” I growl.

“I’m not your type,” she argues.

“You’re everything I’ve ever wanted and more.” I stop, just out of arm’s reach. Quinn has to be the one to take that last step. She has to give herself to me willingly, or this connection between us will die before it’s even begun.

Quinn begins to shake. “I’m not a willowy blonde who has men falling at her feet.”

“No, you’re not,” I say, “and that’s what drives me wild. You’re the most beautiful, sexy, annoying woman I’ve ever met. And you do have one man at your feet…”

“Who?” Quinn whispers.

“Me.”

Quinn lets out a breath and closes her eyes. When they open again, I see my own hunger mirrored in their depths.

“Archer…” Quinn drags her tongue over her bottom lip, sending a shot of hot desire pulsing through me. I stifle a moan.

“Yes?” I ask through clenched teeth.

“Kiss me.”

My breath catches in my chest. I remember the promise I made to her in the garden; the one I’ve almost broken a hundred times since. “Are you sure?” I ask, trying to hang on for a moment longer. I know that once we cross this line, there’s no going back.

“More than anything.” She gazes at me for a moment, her chest rising and falling with quick pants, and then steps forward.

It’s all I need.

I curl my arms around Quinn, lift her off her feet, and bring my lips crashing down onto hers. I drink her in, tasting every inch of her sweet mouth with my own. I can’t get enough. I kiss her cheek before slowly making my way down her neck. I tease and pull on her soft skin until she moans with pleasure.

“Archer…”

I scoop her into my arms and reach my bed in three steps. I rest her on the edge and gaze down at her as she draws herself up onto her knees.

“Beautiful,” I murmur. I rake my eyes over her body, up her toned legs to the tiny shorts that hug her curvy hips. I watch the quick rise and fall of her soft breasts through her thin cotton tank.

“You’re not wearing a bra,” I say roughly, trying to remain in control of the urges that rage within me. Quinn is worth so much more than a quick lay.

I reach out my hand and trace the outline of her slender neck up to her delicate face. Pink lips, flushed cheeks. My hunger grows with every passing second. My eyes burn with raw lust as they meet hers.

“What do you want to do to me?” she whispers, biting her lip.

“Goddamn,” I growl, my mind going dark. Those might just be the sexiest words I’ve ever heard.

I reach out and grab her, easing on top of her as we tumble onto the bed. Quinn’s eyes never leave mine as I slide my hand down her stomach to her legs, thrusting them apart as I press her thighs against the sheets. I grip the sides of her tiny shorts and yank, pulling them over her hips and down her legs. I’m aware of everything, and only her, all at once.

My need pushing against my sweats, begging to be freed.

Quinn’s breath catches as she feels my cock jump against her thigh.

Her hands reaching toward my waist.

My pants slipping over my hips and down to my ankles.

The intense desire that sweeps through me as Quinn yanks off her shirt and tosses it to the floor.

And then Quinn reaches down, sliding her hand over my briefs, kneading, pulling, squeezing with those soft hands. She tugs at my waistband and glides her hand underneath the fabric. Quinn gasps as she takes my fullness into her hand.

“Oh…” she breathes, giving me a look that drives me wild. “You’re so big.”

My self-control snaps. Gliding my fingers down her soft thigh, I tug aside her panties and run my fingers over her mound. My hardness presses against her supple curves. “If only you knew how much I’ve thought about this moment,” I whisper, working my hands over her wetness. My eyes never leave hers as she begins to moan and buck against my fingers. “It’s been a long summer, East.”

“Yes…” she moans, her eyes begging me for more. Her breath hitches as I slide my fingers into her sex. I reach down and massage her clit with my other hand.

“I can’t get you out of my mind,” I say. “I think of you when I jerk off. I imagine you in bed…in the shower…touching yourself.” My fingers move faster, sliding in and out of Quinn’s softness as she presses herself against my palm. “Now I’m touching you—giving you what you asked for.”

I watch the need build to a crescendo inside Quinn. She arches her back, giving a sharp cry as her orgasm overtakes her. Her fingers grip the bed sheets as she gives herself over to the bursts of pleasure surging within her.

As the last waves of euphoria leave her, I yank her shorts from around her ankles and drop them to the floor. I pause, breathing in the softness of Quinn’s curves and the seductive laciness of her panties before yanking off my t-shirt.

Quinn’s eyes flutter open and roam over my muscled torso. I stifle a groan; she’s as desperate as I am, and my body aches for hers. For her touch, her lips, her sweet center. I can’t think, can’t reason. I only know that I want Quinn like I’ve never wanted anything before in my fucking life.

“I want you so bad…”

Quinn holds my gaze with pleasure-drunk eyes. “I want you too,” she whispers, sending me over the edge.

I reach over to my nightstand and pull a condom out of the drawer. I tear it open and slide it onto my hard cock. I guide myself between Quinn’s legs, and she gasps as I push into her tightness. I go slow, letting her tight sides adjust to my girth.

“So deep…” Quinn moans when I reach my hilt. My body tenses as a tidal-wave of pleasure crashes over me. I force myself to take it slow, to let her need build with mine. But when she wraps her legs around my waist and arches against me, I lose it.

Quinn groans as I pump faster, moving inside of her with quick, hard thrusts.

“Harder,” she begs, and I plunge into her sex. I lean down and take her pebbled nipple into my mouth, flicking and sucking. Soon her body is tensing with desire, shuddering and clenching as the first few waves of her orgasm sweeps through her.

“Archer!” she cries out, digging her nails into my back as the her body tingles and burns with ecstasy. Hearing her gasp my name removes the last of my sanity.

I grab her hips and drive them into mine, pumping my cock harder and deeper into Quinn’s tightness.

“Quinn,” I moan, closing my eyes as my climax fills every fiber of my body. I thrust a few more times as my seed gushes out in quick bursts. I empty inside of her, the intoxicating euphoria of my orgasm leaving my limbs exhausted and my body slick with sweat.

We collapse together among the twisted sheets, Quinn’s limbs tangled with my own.

“That was…incredible,” Quinn pants, her breath hot on my chest.

I turn onto my back and Quinn moves with me, nestling her head into my shoulder. She gazes up at me with those gorgeous green eyes.

“You’re incredible,” I say, still catching my breath.

Quinn smiles and snuggles a bit deeper into my arm. I kiss her forehead and wrap my arms around her, relaxing into her as sleep begins to tug at my limbs.

“Archer?”

“Mhmm?”

“I didn’t know sex could be that good,” she admits, giggling.

“That’s because you’ve never been with me, sweet cheeks.”

“I knew you were going to ruin a perfectly good compliment,” she grumbles, hitting me in the chest with her elbow.

I grunt. “You’re feisty, East, I’ll give you that.”

“Don’t call me feisty!” she cries, trying to elbow me again.

“Careful,” I say, pinning her arms to her sides, “or I’ll have to give you another ride of your life.”

“Yeah right,” Quinn scoffs. “I doubt you could top that.”

I raise myself onto my elbows. “Challenge accepted.” I roll her onto her back and climb on top of her.

“Stratton!” she scowls.

“Don’t pretend. I know you want me again,” I say, stringing a trail of kisses from her neck to her collarbone. My cock pulses and grows hard, jumping against Quinn’s thigh. She gasps and then moans with want.

I flash her a devilish grin as I reach for my nightstand. “Told you.”

“You’re impossible to say no to,” she breathes, her half-veiled eyes following my every movement.

“And you’re impossible to stay away from,” I say, sliding a condom on and moving toward her. Quinn groans as I slide into her, her hips already shifting up to take my fullness inside her.

We lose ourselves in each other, a mixture of passion and lust as we make love again. And when we finally collapse in exhaustion, both panting from our fits of pleasure, we nestle into each other and slip quickly into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

I wake up to the sound of my alarm, feeling better than I have in months. Sex always makes me feel great, but waking up after sex with Quinn is mind-blowing. I can tell I’m already addicted by the way I’m itching to have her again. Well, there’s only one way to cure that…

I turn over and reach out for her. Her side is empty and the sheets are cold.

I climb out of bed, grimacing a bit at my soreness—it was a long bout of celibacy and we’d gone at it like rabbits—and find my sweatpants. I open my door and listen. I hear rustling in Quinn’s room and figure she’s finishing her unpacking. But when I reach the doorway, I know I’m wrong—dead wrong.

“What are you doing?” I ask, my gaze darting around the room. Clothes, dresses, and shoes are littered all over the place. Quinn’s already showered and dressed as she throws a jumble of all three into a suitcase.

“I’m packing,” she answers, avoiding my eyes.

“I get that. But why?”

“Holly’s wedding is this weekend,” she says, throwing a pair of nude stilettos into the bag and zipping it up. “I’m staying with Holly and the other bridesmaids in the bridal suite tonight.”

“Whoa, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Quinn shrugs. “I wasn’t sure if I was until today.”

“Okay…then what’s changed?”

Quinn doesn’t answer. She walks to her closet, reaches in, and takes out an BHLDN dress bag.

“Is this because of last night?” I run a hand through my tussled hair. “Quinn, are you avoiding me?”

“No.”

“You are,” I argue, walking toward her.

“I’m not!” she cries out, backing away from me.

“Quinn…”

She buries her head in her hands. “Last night was a mistake. It should never have happened.”

“That’s not how I see it.” I suddenly feel like I’m in quicksand.

Quinn looks up at me. “I can’t get hurt again. I won’t.”

“I won’t hurt you, Quinn. I would never hurt you—”

“What about when you forced me to be your fiancée?”

“I’ve made plenty of mistakes,” I say slowly.

“A huge mistake,” she corrects.

“Fine. But believe me when I say I would never intentionally hurt you.”

“I can’t trust you, Archer. I don’t even know if you really like me, or if you were just horny after months of celibacy.”

I clench my jaw. “Don’t assume you know how I feel.”

Quinn throws up her hands. “I don’t know if what we have is real! Everything else about our relationship is fake.”

“It’s real, Quinn,” I say. I can’t believe this is happening. I can see my hope and happiness dying before my eyes. “You make me feel things, hope for things, that I didn’t think were possible.”

“I know, and you make me feel the same way…” Her lips begins to tremble. “But it’s a gamble—you’re a gamble—and I won’t lose my heart to a bad bet.”

“You’re calling us a ‘bad bet’? You’re throwing away something good.”

“Archer…” Quinn’s voice falls off into a whisper.

I take a small step forward. “I’ve never met anyone like you, East. I could be happy with you.”

Quinn shakes her head at my words, her face crumpling as she fights the tension surrounding us.

“You may regret last night, but I don’t. I did what any man would…” My eyes explore Quinn’s face, hungrily taking in her wide eyes, pink lips, and soft skin. I reach out a hand, but she flinches away.

“I can’t,” she cries. “We can’t…”

“Why not?” I narrow my eyes. “Why are you so afraid? Why is this so hard for you?”

Quinn begins fiddling with her sleeve. I can see the battle happening inside of her, her head laying siege to her heart. “Look at me,” I order. She drags her eyes to mine— they’re full of longing…and fear. “You have to trust me, Quinn. You have to let someone in.”

Quinn wrenches her eyes away. “I can’t!” she sobs. She shoves past me, reaches for the suitcase and dress bag, and walks to the door.

“Wait!” I start after her as she turns down the hall toward the living room.

She drops the bags by the elevator, grabs her purse off the landing table, and punches the down button. “I have to go, Archer.”

“Not until we’ve talked about this,” I shout, striding toward her.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Her foot begins tapping against the hardwood floor.

“I can’t believe this. You’re running away—”

“I’ll see you at the reception. Unless you don’t want to come.”

I reel at her easy dismal of me. “How are you even getting there?”

“Uber,” she says. The elevator dings and the doors swing open. She wheels her suitcase inside, hits the wall of buttons, and turns to face me. “I’ll be really busy though, so don’t expect to see me much tonight.”

“Quinn…you’re killing me.”

Quinn ducks her head. I watch a tear roll down her cheek.

The elevator doors begin to close. “You’re making a mistake, Quinn!” Soon I’m staring at my own reflection in the metallic doors.

I turn and let out a huge breath. “What the fuck!” I yell, crumpling against the wall. I have no idea what was going through Quinn’s mind this morning when she thought walking out was a good idea, but do I know one thing: one way or another, that damn woman is going to kill me.