Marissa spent a restless night, her dreams haunted by visions of Aaron and his body pressed into hers. She woke over and over again, drenched in sweat, wrapped in tousled sheets. She would have sworn she actually felt his lips pressed into her neck. Shivers ran through her body while sweat covered her skin.

And then, soon after she’d finally fallen into an exhausted slumber, she was awakened by the sound of trucks and male voices calling to each other. Aaron was moving in.

Crap. She knew he’d gotten immediate possession but hadn’t really expected him to move right in. Especially without taking time to completely clean the place.

She tried to go back to sleep. She tossed and turned, pulling the pillow down over her ears, but nothing worked. Oh, well, time to get up and get this day going.

First on the agenda was to prepare the potato salad she’d promised to make for the cookout. She peeled potatoes and boiled them then added mustard, pickle relish, celery, onions, mayonnaise, boiled eggs and mixed it together. When she finished she still had time to do some work on the house before going to her parents’ home. A few hours later her stomach started to growl, alerting her it was time to go to the cookout. She showered, changed, and called Larry to come along.

She noticed when she pulled out of her driveway things had grown quiet at the house next door. Not that she was looking. She put the car in drive and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. Like she cared what her new neighbor did.

It was just a short drive from her house to her parents’ home. She pulled in to the already half-filled circular drive, parked, collected her potato salad, got out and tugged down the edges of her white denim shorts. Time to head into the melee.

She waded through the crowd greeting siblings, in-laws, and nieces and nephews. Her dad stood by the grill and gave her a hug, beer in one hand and tongs in the other. She made her way inside and deposited the potato salad on the counter. Her mom turned from the stove and gave her a hug, their two heads appearing to merge into one as they embraced. The two women looked very much alike with their strawberry blonde curls and fair skin.

“Missy, honey, you look tired. Are you okay?” Her mom stood back and eyed her. “Are you fretting over ’s death?”

“I’m fine, Mom,” she answered. ‘I just wish they’d catch the guy.”

“I know. I worry, though, you know. I hope you aren’t doing any open houses soon. ”

“As a matter of fact, I’ve got one tomorrow. Lydia has given orders no open houses are to be canceled.”

“Oh, that woman,” Myrna grumbled as she turned back to the stove. She slammed a pan firmly against the stove top. “Well, the fried apples are done. I wonder how the burgers are coming.”

“I’ll go check,” Marissa volunteered. She had just pulled the sliding glass door open when the rumble of a motorcycle filled the air. When it sounded as if the bike stopped in the drive she turned a curious face towards her mother. “Who’s that?”

“I don’t know.” She wiped her hands on her apron and came to join Marissa at the door. They both watched as Aaron Mathews appeared in the backyard, Marcus at his side.

“Holy crap,” Marissa hissed, taking in the sight of his muscular physique clad in tight, faded jeans and a black T-shirt.

“You know this young man?” M yrna   asked.

“Unfortunately, I do. That’s Aaron Mathews.”

“Aaron Mathews…Aaron Mathews…why is that name familiar? Isn’t he a football player?” She tilted her head thoughtfully, “And the boy you had your first date with?”

There wasn’t time for Marissa to do more than flash her mom a shocked look that she remembered that before Aaron approached them.

“Hi.” He greeted them and stuck a bowl in Marissa’s hands. “I brought some of my famous guacamole dip.”

“Thank you. What are you doing here?” she blurted out as she took the bowl from him. “I mean, I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Marcus asked me. He said Chloe would be here, too. And some neighbors.”

“Oh, yeah, right. They’ll be here.”

“Hey, if you don’t want me here, I can leave.” His voice took on an edge, his chin tilting pride   fully.

“No, no, of course not. I was just surprised, that’s all.” Marissa scrambled to ease the tension of the moment and it worked, but there was still a strained air between them. Even as other guests arrived and they all gathered to eat, she was constantly aware of the stiffness between them. Soon she was counting down the time she felt she would have to spend before she could escape back to her own home.

She was still fuming when she headed in to go to the bathroom. She stopped and gave her two-year-old niece Mandy a hug, then moved on and in the sliding glass doors. She made her way to the bath and did her business, rinsed her flushed face and decided it was late enough she could leave without creating suspicion. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned and headed out the door, and ran smack into Aaron’s shirtfront.

“I was hoping we could talk for a moment,” he informed her as she tilted her head up to meet his eyes.

“Actually, I was just leaving. Just going to say goodbye and get on my way.” She tried to make excuses and scoot around him but he looked at her skeptically.

“Afraid to be alone with me?” He asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Afraid…of you?” Marissa tried to sound scoffing. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then you shouldn’t mind talking to me for a few minutes. Why don’t we go to the living room?” He challenged her.

Marissa moved hesitantly towards her parent’s sunny living room. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Aaron Mathews. Her gut roiled at the very idea. But she didn’t want him believing she was scared of him, either.

“Please, sit.” He waved his hand at the sofa like it belonged to him and she felt her resentment grow.

“What happened last night?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Marissa told him firmly as she sat in a chair next to the fireplace.

“Don’t lie, Marissa. You know there was something happening between us and then you freaked out. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she repeated. “ ” Nothing happened. I just had to go home. Like I do now.” She went to rise but he held up a restraining hand.

“That’s bull shit, Marissa. There was something going on. Something very special and you know it. I felt it and you felt it.”

“No.” Marissa tried to deny it. She didn’t want to admit he was right. Just remembering the night before made her wet between her legs.

“Yes.” He stood and moved toward her. “You know it.”

“You’re wrong,” she cried. “It was just a sexy moment between friends.”

“Okay, it was a moment. But what’s wrong with that? A moment can lead to more.”

“But I don’t want more!” she cried.

“I know. What I want to know is why the hell not?” He ran his hands through his cat black hair in frustration.

“Because you’re a player!”

“I’m a what?”

“A player.” She almost whispered the word when she realized what she’d said.

“A player.” He did a face palm. “A player? Really?”

“Yes, really. You’re a celebrity, a desirable bachelor, a player. I’ve been that route. I don’t want to go there again.”

“So , you’ve completely crossed me off your list of possibilities because I’m a player.”

“That’s right.”

“So , I don’t do anything for you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Then it shouldn’t bother you if I do this.”