What’s the one thing you never wish to hear the man you’re falling in love with say to you?

Yep—Travis pretty much nailed it when he told me that someday a man would fall in love with me and never let me down.

What he meant was he wasn’t the man who was capable of falling in love with me and loving me unconditionally.

It was official: I was cursed. Like Sleeping Beauty. She was born to a king and queen who forgot to invite the evil fairy to her christening. The fairy was ill-tempered and got pissed off. She cursed the poor child so that when the princess turned sixteen years old, she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. Luckily for Sleeping Beauty, a good fairy was able to change the curse so the princess wouldn’t die, but would sleep for a hundred years…or until her prince kissed her. True love’s kiss ended the curse and they lived happily ever after.

Great story, except in my case there was no super long nap to contend with—no true love’s kiss to help me. I was cursed forevermore to never find and experience love.

I was just the poor sap who doled out advice on the topic.

Those tears in my eyes? Must be the chlorine in the pool.

“You’re right,” I said, avoiding Travis’s gaze. “I’m sure one day I’ll find an incredible guy who will love me.”

It was a good thing the readers of my column didn’t know the truth about me, or else they’d be storming the paper with pitchforks in hand, declaring I was a fake.

Which I was. A fake everything—including a fake girlfriend.

Hmm. Maybe the paper would be interested in changing things up. I could have a weekly column on how to be a fake girlfriend. Because so far—if you ignored the part about falling in love with Travis—I was rocking that.

“I know you will,” Travis said. “And he’ll be lucky to have you,” he continued, because apparently unwittingly stabbing me in the heart wasn’t enough.

Right. “Well, now that we’ve had that heart-to-heart,” I said, working hard to keep the hurt from my voice, “I think I’ll read now.”

What was I reading? The first Harry Potter book. Again. Why? Because it was a nice reminder that some parents did love their kids. And not only did they love their kids, they were willing to die for them.

I climbed out of the pool, grabbed my towel from where I had folded it on the recliner, and dried myself. Holly and Josh were in their own little world, so I picked up my well-read book, made myself comfortable on the seat, and began reading.

I had read a couple of paragraphs when a shadow fell over me. “Isn’t that a kids’ book?” Travis asked.

“And there’s a problem with that?”

“Not at all. I just pegged you as someone who only reads romances.”

Normally I was—but Harry Potter was one of those few exceptions. “There’s nothing wrong with variety.”

Truth? I thought guys should read at least one romance—preferably erotic romance—to know what women liked. It should be mandatory reading in high school, like Shakespeare. That would save us all a lot of grief.

“True.” He sat on the seat next to mine.

“And what do you read?” All right, my tone might have implied I didn’t believe he read at all. Or at least not novels.

“This and that.”

“So stuff with a lot of car chases in it?”

He chuckled. “My mom got me hooked on the Harry Potter books. She read them first and got a little geeky about them.”

“You’ve actually read the series?” I somehow couldn’t see him being into them, but he would’ve been about ten when the first book came out, so it was possible.

“Did you have any aspirations to go to Hogwarts?” Like I had.

He shifted to the end of my recliner. I moved my feet up to give him more space. “They didn’t play hockey there, so that would be a no. And flying around on a broom while chasing a tiny gold ball with wings wasn’t my thing.”

“Afraid of heights, are you?”

“I’m not a big fan of them. What about you? Were you waiting for your letter?”

I laughed. “You got me. But alas, no such luck.”

He looked away—and I knew not to push him anymore on the topic. It only reminded him of the mother he’d lost.

I opened my book again and disappeared into the story I’d read so many times growing up. But back then, I had borrowed the books from the library because I didn’t have any money to buy my own copies—and there was no way any of my foster parents would have bought them for me.

“You write that newspaper column, don’t you? The Dr. Lovejoy one.” Fortunately, he kept his voice low so that no one else heard him.

But that didn’t stop me from glancing over at the others to double-check.

For a heartbeat, I thought of lying, pretending I had no idea what he was talking about. But the way he was expectantly regarding me caused the wall around that secret to crumble. He already knew so much about me, what was one more thing?

“Yes, I do. But I prefer no one knows it’s me.” Hint. Hint.

“So how come you write it?”

“Because someone asked me to. And because I enjoy it. It’s fun pretending I know what the heck I’m talking about when half the time I probably don’t.” I had meant that last part as a joke, but from the way Travis was staring at me, I got the impression he hadn’t interpreted it the same way.

“I’ve read a few of them,” he said. “Sounds to me like you know what you’re talking about.”

“Says the guy who doesn’t know the first thing about romance.” I looked down at my open book, hoping he’d get the message.

“Hey, I know lots about romance. I just choose not to be romantic. Romance is for guys who want to settle down.”

“Which, as you’ve already established, isn’t you,” I said, my gaze still locked on the words in front of me and doing my best to ignore the tightening in my chest.

Travis didn’t say anything after that, remaining quiet the entire time I read. Eventually, the girls and I started dinner while the men got ready to barbecue the steaks. After our meal, we hit the hot tub.

Before I had a chance to climb in, I spotted a lavender plant nearby. I rubbed a stalk of the fragrant flower between my fingers and inhaled its perfume. “Hmm. I love lavender,” I said to no one in particular. “It was once believed to be the herb of love. Cleopatra was thought to have used it when she seduced men.”

“Maybe you could grow some in your store,” Travis said, “and sell it as a love potion.” He laughed.

“Hey, don’t laugh,” I said, climbing into the hot tub. “Why do you think my lavender scented bath products are so popular?”

He shrugged. “Because girls like the smell of it.”

“Maybe it’s because they’re aware of its magic powers.” I winked at him, knowing his opinion of my so-called magical fountain.

“This is so nice,” Holly said a few minutes later, leaning back against her husband. Above us, the night sky looked like a kid’s art project, with silver glitter sprinkled over black paper.

“It’s gorgeous.” I was sitting next to Travis, a few inches separating us.

Just straddle him and kiss him, a persistent voice said. I swear the voice and my body were in cahoots.

My brain, fortunately, was the voice of reason, so to speak, and pointed out that doing such things would be a big mistake. My heart was bruised enough from everything that had happened in the past.

My heart said fiddlesticks—it was a big girl and could handle so much more.

Fiddlesticks? Clearly Fanny had quite the influence over my heart. It was beginning to sound and think like her.

One thing was for certain though—it wasn’t just Travis I was falling in love with. The more I got to know them, the more I fell in love with Fanny and Travis’s friends. Just not in the same way I was falling hard for him.

And what was I going to do once this masquerade was over? Yes, Josh and Trent were aware our relationship was fake. Only Holly and Kelsey thought it was real. But would they still wish to hang out with me after our time together had ticked to an end? And would I even want to spend time with them, knowing I could never be with Travis the way I longed to be? Knowing that every time I saw them, my mind would torture me with wistful memories of him?

Yes, I was aware of the irony that I’d finally truly let a man into my heart, had finally quit running because of my fear of being abandoned, and it was all for naught.

After we were finished in the hot tub, I headed to my room for a shower and then bed. It was late and I was slightly buzzed from the wine we’d been drinking.

In the bathroom, I stripped off my clothes and climbed into the large shower. With the lavender scented shower gel, I caressed my body, pretending my hands were Travis’s, giving my breasts extra attention—like he would.

My eyes closed, I slipped my fingers between my legs and brushed them against my clit. It had been begging me since Travis’s and my little tryst earlier to let him give me an encore. “You’d better get used to this,” I muttered. “Only three more weeks and then it will be over.”

I imagined Travis’s fingers touching me, but as close to coming as I was, I just couldn’t quite get there. “Traitor,” I muttered to my aching core. It had only gotten achier since I climbed into the shower, but it still refused to let me visit happy land.

Giving up, I turned off the water and pushed open the glass door. I stepped onto the bath mat—and that’s when I saw it, on the floor, next to my clothes.

A big-ass fucking spider.

I stared at it for a heartbeat while the logical voice in my head tried to reason with me, telling me it was just a harmless spider. Unfortunately, the rest of my brain didn’t care if that was true or not. I did what any red-blooded American who valued their life would do—I screamed.

And this wasn’t just any scream. It could be heard even in Australia.

A moment later the bathroom door flung open, with me standing there completely naked.

Startled by Travis’s abrupt entrance, I stopped screaming.

He took a moment to eye-fuck me—or to check that no one had actually attacked me in the shower. It could have gone either way.

I looked down at the spider…but it was gone.

“What happened?” Travis asked. He was wearing only his jeans, but even the sight of him shirtless didn’t distract me from scanning the room for the evil beast.

“Spider,” I managed to get out. “Big spider!” Where the fuck had it gone?

Two possibilities existed—neither pleasant. Well, three, but I didn’t think I was lucky enough that it had spontaneously combusted.

It had either snuck into my clothes—in which case I would have to burn them. Or it had crawled out the bathroom and was currently plotting to attack me while I slept.

I shuddered at the possibility.

Travis handed me the towel from the rack. With my gaze still searching for signs of the spider, I took it from him and clutched it to my body. A little too late at this point when it came to Travis, but I didn’t need the spider to see me any more naked than it already had. Plus there was always a chance someone else in the house would come to check if I was all right.

“I don’t see it,” Travis helpfully pointed out.

“It’s here somewhere. Please get it out of here.” Yes, that might have been near panic in my voice. Oh, who was I kidding? That was it’s-going-to-kill-me-while-I-sleep full-out panic.

“You’re not afraid of spiders, are you?”

I threw him a what-do-you-think? look. “No, I just thought I could invite him to sleep with me tonight.” I shuddered once more.

“It won’t hurt you. It’s only a harmless spider.”

“How do you know? You never even saw it.” It could have been a black widow for all he knew.

I glanced at my clothes lying innocently on the floor and pointed to them. “Maybe it’s in there.”

Travis picked up each piece of clothing and shook them. Nothing fell out.

Which meant one thing…

The freaking creature was planning to sleep with me tonight.

“I can’t sleep in there,” I said, gesturing wildly at my bedroom. My arm shook as did the rest of me. “It’s in there somewhere, waiting for me.”

Travis looked in the direction I was pointing. “If it makes you feel better, you can sleep with me tonight.”

I eyed him for a moment. What were the chances of the spider crawling into his room while we slept? Probably not as high as it staying in my room and terrorizing me.

“Maybe you could try catching it.” Then I wouldn’t have to sleep with Travis and I wouldn’t have to worry about it tracking me down.

Travis let out an it’s-just-a-harmless-spider sigh and turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” I asked, my voice back to its previous state of panic.

“To look for it while you get dressed.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He left the room and I quickly toweled myself off. Two minutes later I was standing in the middle of my room, wearing only a skimpy pair of sleep shorts covered in hearts and a plain white tank top. Both were well-worn, the fabric thin. Which meant there was no hiding the fact that I didn’t have a bra on.

Under any other circumstance, I would have been slightly mortified, but a big spider loose in my room trumped all.

Travis looked behind the chair by the window, then walked to the dresser and looked under it.

“Any sign of it yet?” I inwardly groaned. Of course he hadn’t found anything. If he had, he wouldn’t still be searching for it.

“It could be anywhere—and if it doesn’t wish to be found, it won’t be.”

I glared at him. “You’re really not making me feel better.”

That goddamn sexy smirk on his face? It almost made me forget about the spider. Almost. “I know what I can do to make you feel better.”

“Kill the spider?”

He leaned in. “Fuck you so hard you’ll see stars and forget about it.”

That was definitely tempting. “Did you mean it when you said I can sleep with you tonight?” I asked, scanning the room in case the spider had crawled out of hiding.

“Yes.”

“Even though you hate sleeping with women?”

“Define sleeping.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. When was the last time you actually slept through the night with one?”

“Not for a few years, I guess.”

Why didn’t I suggest we switch rooms? Because if the spider did sneak into his room and I saw it, I needed Travis there to get rid of it.

“Well, you’ll be happy to learn that I don’t bite,” I said.

“Maybe I do,” he said in the voice that always got my girlie parts excited.

Yes—that was my moan…combined with a yawn.

Having a spider scare you to death sure took a lot out of you. The wine and hot tub didn’t help either. But thanks to the monster now inhabiting my room, the happy buzz had long since vanished.

Travis parked his hand on my lower back and nudged me toward the bedroom door. “C’mon, sleepyhead.”

“I have to brush my teeth first. Guard me while I do that, okay?” I didn’t wait for his reply. I trudged back to the bathroom and quickly got ready for bed.

He stood in the bathroom doorway, looking breathtaking. Like my own sexy bodyguard—ready to take down all scary spiders that approached me.

In his bedroom, I considered for a second placing pillows between us on the bed but quickly discarded the idea. We’d already had sex—twice. Creating a barricade between us wasn’t much of a deterrent. If Travis desired sex, my traitorous body was hardly going to say no. If anything, he was more at risk of me jumping him. Spider or no spider, my girlie parts still ached from my unfulfilling shower.

“Which side of the bed do you want?” I asked.

“The left side.”

I slipped under the cover, curled up on my side, and closed my eyes. “Goodnight, Travis. And thanks.”

“For what?”

I felt his side of the bed dip slightly. “For letting me stay in your room.”

“You’re welcome. Now go to sleep.”

Easier said than done. I might have been tired a few minutes ago, but between Travis’s delicious scent now invading my space and my still aroused body, sleep evaded me.

I shifted position, but it didn’t make a difference. I turned onto my back and stared at the ceiling.

“Can’t sleep, huh?” he asked.

“No, I’m good.” At least I would be once my girlie parts settled down for the night.

I shifted again. Nope—still not happening.

“I can help you fall asleep.”

Even without looking at him, I could tell he was smiling. “How?”

Yes—I had my suspicions too about what he had in mind. The smile in his voice gave it away.

He didn’t answer. Well, not with words anyway. He rolled over and his lips were on mine. And because I had no intention of saying no or playing hard to get, I let him in.

That wasn’t the only part of him that got busy. His cock hardened against my hip and his palm cupped my breast. So I did the only thing I was capable of—I groaned.

He pinched my nipple and I groaned even louder.

“Like that?” he asked against my lips.

“Very much.”

“Hmmm. Wonder what else you would enjoy.” And he proceeded to find out.

My clothes were off in record time. His too. Not that it took much to remove his boxer briefs.

“I’ve missed the taste of you,” he said, bending my knees and moving my legs apart. He nipped his way down my inner thigh, rubbing his stubble against my skin. I squirmed at the erotic sensation and bit my lip so no one else could hear what we were up to.

But then decided I didn’t give a damn what anyone thought. They were probably too preoccupied to care anyway.

No sooner had I thought that, then Travis licked my clit with enough pressure to cause me to see stars. “Oh, God,” I groaned, my eyes squeezing tightly.

“I can guarantee God had nothing to do with that.”

Giggling, I opened my eyes. “Don’t worry, in my mind you get full credit.”

“That’s good to know. Now, no more closing your eyes. I want you to watch me make you come.”

“Yes, sir.” I propped myself on my elbows.

His mouth curled up to one side. “Yes, master, will work, too.”

My mouth copied his. “Are you going to fuck me, master, or just talk?”

“Definitely fuck you.” He ran the tip of his tongue against my sex. “I missed you, pussy. Did you miss me?”

“Oh, she missed you all right. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Who’s worried?” He flicked his tongue against my clit, and I had to fight to keep my eyes open.

It didn’t take much in terms of his lavish attention before a rush of heat powered through my lower belly and lit me up like a truckload of fireworks.

July 4th celebrations had nothing on this.

Travis reached for a condom from his nightstand.

“Wow, were you a boy scout?” I asked. “Because you definitely come prepared.”

“More like I’m prepared to make you come again.” He winked at me and my body went all tingly.

“Sounds good, but…” I sat up. “But I want to ride you this time.”

The gleam in his eyes? I translated that as a yes.

He sat back on the bed, a pile of pillows behind him. I shifted my body to straddle his hips and took the condom wrapper from him. But instead of rolling it onto him, I leaned forward and flicked my tongue against his nipple.

He groaned; I grinned. Then I closed my lips around it and sucked. That too was rewarded with a moan. Not wanting the other nipple to feel ignored, I adjusted my body and lavished nipple #2 with the same attention as the first.

The ache between my legs was resting against his hard length. He rocked his body, pressing himself against me in a way that nearly had me coming once more.

I chuckled. “Hint received.” I ripped open the condom and removed it from the wrapper. “I’ve only put one on a banana before.” And they weren’t exactly the same thing.

I peered down at his cock. His was much wider than a banana. Yep—not the same thing.

He laughed. “A banana?”

“Yes, it was Hannah’s idea in high school…just in case.” The just in case I never had to worry about until now.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.” He parked his hands behind his head and nodded for me to continue.

Once I had it on him, with relatively little trouble, I got into position, his tip against my entrance, and lowered myself until he was deeply seated inside me.

I leaned back and thrust my hips forward. My already sensitive clit promised me an orgasm to break all records if I kept that up. So naturally I did it again. “Oh, God.”

“I think this is my new favorite position,” Travis said, his eyes on my breasts. He leaned forward and took an eager nipple in his mouth—and I had to second his opinion.

While he teased my happy nipples with his mouth and fingers, I continued the slow yet deep thrusting movements of my hips. But once he’d finished feasting on my breasts, he grabbed my hips and switched the pace to something faster and harder.

My heat clenched around him as another orgasm rocketed my body into the stratosphere—where Travis joined me a moment later.

Once we had returned to the planet, spent and satisfied, Travis removed himself from me and disposed of the condom. He then climbed back in bed.

Lying next to me, our legs tangled together, he traced his thumb against my lower lip. I would have given anything to know what he was thinking—or not. He was a guy, which meant he could be contemplating a million different things—and none of it to do with us.

“You must think I’m silly being scared of spiders,” I said.

“It’s no big deal. Everyone is scared of something.”

“Right. Are you saying that big bad alpha you is scared of something?” I believed that as much as I believed I would wake up tomorrow a million dollars richer.

“I lost my parents and then I lost my best friend in college to cancer. And I almost lost my grandmother when I was a teen…”

He didn’t finish the sentence but he didn’t have to.

“You’re afraid of losing someone you love?”

It all made sense now. He didn’t keep girls at a distance because of his crazy ex-girlfriend or because he was worried he’d get screwed over by someone only interested in his bank account. It was because he was protecting his heart.

“I don’t exactly have a great track record.” He shrugged as if it were no big deal.

Except it was a very big deal.

Only I had no idea what to say to it. It wasn’t as if I had lost anyone I loved. Not in the same sense as Travis. No one had cared enough about me to stick around—with the exception of Hannah.

“But you can’t give up on love because of that,” I said. “Everyone loses someone they love at one time or another. We’re humans, not immortal.”

Did he look convinced? Not at all. He had spent half his life feeling this way, and nothing I could say would change his opinion.

“Doesn’t matter either way. I’m a hockey player, Emma. We get traded all the time.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t love someone. Are your teammates all single?”

“No, but—”

“There are no buts. If the girl loves you, she’ll be willing to move with you. Or the two of you will work something out so you’re together during the off-season. But either way, you can’t give up on love because you’re scared of losing the person like you lost your parents and best friend.”

I cupped his face and studied his beautiful hazel eyes. But it was clear that no matter what I said, he wasn’t convinced. Not that it mattered when it came to my heart. He didn’t love me. I was just someone to keep his grandmother happy until hockey season commenced.

I gave him a small smile, keeping him from guessing the truth, and kissed his jaw. “Good night. And thanks again for protecting me from the vicious spider.”

Too bad he couldn’t have protected me from my own foolish heart.