For the rest of the weekend and Monday after nudity gate, Malia crashed out at Emily's. Emily was in Cleveland visiting family. But on Tuesday, Malia was determined not to be late. Eyes on the prize. She didn’t care how sexy Zephyr Donovan was, she wasn’t getting distracted. At least that was what she told herself.

She was going to forget what happened in Harrisburg. How she wrapped herself around him. And how his fingers plucked at—See, this is how you got yourself in trouble the last time.

When she opened the door to the classroom they were using for the team meeting, she was the first one. She'd hustled here straight from work and hadn't even taken the time to change out of her maid uniform. She was pretty sure Becky was going to give her hell for it, but she didn't fucking care.

She pulled out her laptop and the printouts of the files she made for the best product decisions along with her research and notes. Go ahead asshole. Tell me I'm not prepared for the workload today. Yes, he had apologized. And they'd called a truce. But then he’d kissed her. So all bets were off. And maybe it was petty, but at this point she was pretty sure he was fucking with her.

Tom was next to arrive and gave her a bright smile before glancing at her stack of folders. "I guess you came prepared. How did you even have time to review what we came back with?"

"Like you didn’t?"

His grin flashed as he pulled out his fancy tablet. "I mean, let's face it. We are being mentored by a Tanashi fellow. This is killer. The products we work on this semester could be chosen as part of their portfolio and actually put into production. I was pumped after Harrisburg."

If she was honest, she was only half listening. She already had way too much to focus on. Jacob appeared next with his laptop and a stack of sheets.

She eyed him. He was her closest competitor as he was number two in class rankings.

Eyes on the prize. This wasn’t supposed to be a competition. But honestly who was she kidding? This was all a competition. Becky was next. She had a wide smile for the guys, but the smile faded when her gaze fell on Malia.

What the hell had Malia ever done to her? Or maybe Becky was simply one of those girls who didn't like it when there was another female in the room. Whatever. Not her problem.

All joking aside, when Becky pulled out a bright pink iPad and stylus, Malia would swear on a stack of Bibles that Becky hitched up her skirt just a little to show more leg. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with her? This was a group meeting, not a dating show.

She was the kind of girl that had no other problems in life. She had Daddy's money to buy her whatever she wanted. She was pretty and decently smart. Must be nice.

Most of the group chatted amongst themselves while they waited for Zephyr. When he strolled in, he was sporting a blazer, dark jeans, and a laptop bag over his shoulder. His gaze landed on Malia immediately before shifting away.

Malia couldn't help but shift in her seat as her skin flushed. Because her lady parts hadn’t gotten the memo that they weren’t boning Zephyr. She tried not to remember the press of his hips against her. And try as she might, she remembered every detail of what he looked like naked.

"Hey guys. I see we're already here. Nice and early."

She refused to look at him, so she couldn't exactly tell if he was looking at her, but she could feel the heat of his gaze. Do not look at him.

"As we discussed in class the other day, we will be working on identifying and determining potential projects. Out of the list of potentials, you’ll select one, and you will see the project from creation to fruition. We brought back two out of five of the biggest contenders.”

As friendly as the group might've been earlier, the electricity of competition crackled over Malia's skin. This was hers for the losing.

Zephyr continued to not look at her. "Before we left class last time, I gave you a list of thirty or so potentials. Anyone here doing research on them? Other than the ones we went to pick up?"

Malia raised her hand. Becky didn’t bother and just cut her off. "I emailed my research to all of you. Obviously, makeup and beauty brands are a passion of mine. I think She's Beauty and Lifestyle Group would be one of our best selections. Female consumers spend millions every year on cosmetics. The products identified are outlined. My personal favorite I would go for is this line of mascara. It's long wearing, hypoallergenic, makes lashes look fuller, and combines to help them grow. That's the number one thing women are always looking for. I think it's a fabulous idea." She beamed up at Zephyr.

Zephyr nodded his head thoughtfully. "Good start, Becky. That's the one you narrowed in on? Did you do any market research on the other products in the Tanashi portfolio for consideration? In terms of what would have the best market share, the best potential for growth? The best ROI? As well as the best differentiation from what's currently on the market?"

She flushed. Becky had cherry-picked her favorite, as opposed to showing a compare and contrast. Malia bit back her smile. Rookie mistake.

Tom raised his hand. "I actually don't even have my laptop so I can't see that."

Becky frowned. "I mean who doesn't bring their laptop to a meeting?"

"Well, I thought this would be more of a discussion group. I brought my notes and research I've done. I have a lot of thoughts after the Harrisburg trip."

Malia froze, determined not to look at Zephyr. But she could feel the tingle of awareness over her skin as if he was trying not to look at her either.

This was ridiculous. She couldn't avoid him forever.

No, but she could try. Good luck not thinking about him naked.

"Tom, next time bring your laptop," Zephyr said. "And Becky, while I admire your willingness to dive in and select something that you are passionate about, you have to do all the research. Not just on what you care about. Any other takers?"

One by one the others went. Trying to shake their moneymakers in front of their mentor. Of the others, Jacob got the highest marks. The problem was his research hadn't been deep enough.

After a moment, Malia lifted her gaze to meet Zephyr’s. The charge of instant electricity stunned her silent for a moment. Aww hell.

No. You have this. Malia stood and handed out the folders. One for each of her classmates and Zephyr. "What I just handed you is a risk analysis and comparison of each of the products that are in the portfolio. I did one for all and a comparison of all thirty. And then I noted out my top ten. There are more in-depth analyses here.”

She held up the stack and passed one around to each of them. “As my research shows, my recommendation is for Tasty Tap. They were one of the facilities we toured in Harrisburg. And we brought back a sample. It has the best market share opportunities, will pair as well with the government health initiatives, and the cost of investment is fairly low depending on where production takes place. Also, as an athlete, I'm passionate about the product. I think it's great. The ability to flavor the water, on the go, at will, makes it pretty amazing. As someone concerned about the environment, the bottle has a green design with an internal side pocket that holds water that can be pulled out and cleaned. I think it ticks all the boxes."

Jacob stared at her. "You did this in two days?"

Malia nodded. It helped that she had no life. And that three of her jobs entailed sitting around doing nothing. So she really had nothing but time to get work done. And, well, she didn't plan on losing out on this internship, so everyone else better catch the hell up.

She dared to glance up at Zephyr again. His silvery gaze was pinned to hers and heat spiked between her legs. He crossed his arms and nodded his head slightly. "Well it seems, Miss Adams, that we have underestimated you. Excellent work."

Becky was not in the mood to be charitable. "I mean, it's a sports bottle. Not that exciting."

Malia shrugged. "Maybe not. But it fits in well with Tanashis’ breadth of holdings and is unlike anything they already have, unlike the mascara. If you want to do follow-up research yourself, you'll see that I cite my references in the notes."

She shifted under the intensity of Zephyr's gaze as he spoke. "Everyone, you know the class standings already. Malia is the one to beat. And her work today shows why. Now let's get to work narrowing down our picks. Each of you had a top five, but with the information that Malia pulled we're going to use her comparison model and see what the top five products actually would be."

After another hour of intense arguing, each team member insisted that their products definitely make the top five list. Becky nearly had a tantrum; Jacob nearly got in a fight with Tom. All said and done, Tasty Tap was at the top of the list. As Malia knew it would be.

As soon as class was over she was on her feet, trying to put as much distance between her and Zephyr as possible. The rest of her group was slower to get moving.

"Malia, wait."

She didn't even slow down her pace. "Sorry, I have to get to work." The lie was easy now. It was almost always true.

Unfortunately for her, though, Zephyr was tall. Extremely tall. Which meant, he easily caught up to her, his stride keeping pace with her furious steps. "Malia, just hold up a second. I want to talk to you."

"Like I said, I have somewhere to be. If you're going to insist, you need to keep up." She made it down the stairs and hooked a left toward the main exit.

"Okay. Fair enough. Listen, you didn't take my calls or answer my email. You took off like a bat out of hell on Saturday. I just want to talk to you."

She swallowed. "Yeah, I gathered. But we're not having this conversation. It isn't happening."

He cursed. "Look, like it or not we need to talk about it."

“No. We don't. It was a fluke. I'm good at what I do. I need this." She deliberately widened the space between them. Just having him stand next to her sent shards of electricity spearing through her. And that was not only inconvenient, it was distracting, and well, hot. Oh no you don't. “So we aren't having any conversation.”

His gaze narrowed to steely slits. "You think I need this?” He pointed a finger between them. “I need this opportunity too. And the shit between us is distracting. So we need to address it. And get it out of the way."

She hurried along the nearly empty hallway. “No we don't.”

"Fuck." He finally took her elbow and stopped her short in a darkened alcove.

She whirled around to glare at him. "What? I said I have to go. When we're in class or group meeting, you have my full attention. Outside of that, no."

He ran his hands through his hair. ”We have to find a common ground, Malia. We're going to be alone again and what happened in Harrisburg ...” His voice trailed.

“Can't happen again. We're in total agreement. No argument. We'll ignore it.”

Zephyr shook his head. “That's just the thing. I'm not sure I can. Just look at us right now.”

He had a point. He was standing so close she could feel his heat. Her hands were trembling and well, she was wet. So that didn't help.

His lopsided smile flashed quickly, and something low and desperate pulled in her belly. Oh hell. An unguarded smile from Zephyr Donovan. Women for miles had probably lost their panties over this. But not you though, right?

"See what I mean? All meeting, it's been a struggle not to stare at your lips."

She swallowed hard and fought not to lick her lips. She lost.

"Okay. I just—" She shook her head. "Talking about it isn't going to make it better, Zephyr."

“Fuck. So, what? We continue to circle each other like a couple of tigers in heat?”

She nodded as the flush crept up her neck. "This is too important to me. So yeah."

He set his jaw. “Fair enough. See you in class.”

She wasn’t trying to be brusque but the comfy chairs went quickly at the library and trying to get any rest in one of the wooden chairs was pure torture.

And it wasn’t like she ran from him exactly. She walked … briskly.

What the fuck had just happened? He was in her head. And under her skin.

She’d screwed this up so badly and put everything in jeopardy. No. He screwed it up when he kissed you. This was just great. A couple of months ago, she'd started the new semester with a plan. It was a plan to get her life back together; a plan to get her sister out from under her aunt’s thumb; a plan to get this internship.

Six weeks in, and all plans had gone to dust. She could use a fucking break. To top it off, she'd missed dinner because of the meeting. Her stomach growled in protest. The library had vending machines. It looked like she’d be getting some random granola and M&M’s for sustenance. In anticipation, her stomach rumbled again. “Yeah, I hear you. You're hungry. You're always hungry.”

She shivered, wondering if she had time to go back to her locker for her blanket. No. She didn't. But at least tonight the library would be warm. She’d find one of the big, comfy chairs on the top floor, get her homework done then tuck in for a decent night’s sleep. She wouldn't be the only student crashing out in the library. It happened more often than not, usually with the grad students though.

But as she lumbered up to the library, her stomach knotted even tighter as her heart sank. Fuck. No. No. No. She glared at the sign, willing it to change, or vanish.

Library closed due to water leak.

How the fuck could she miss this? Fuck. It was already 9:45. She was tired. She just needed to close her eyes. Options. Think. Think.

Emily was on duty tonight, so that wasn’t going to work out. The rules were when Emily was on duty, no guests, no boyfriends—None of that. So Emily wasn’t an option.

There was Adrian. She could call her friend. But Adrian lived out in Monroeville, which meant a long-ass bus ride of at least an hour. It was worth the shot because the options were not looking good.

She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and typed out a quick text. "Hey, long story, but can I crash with you tonight?"

The text response from her friend was almost immediate. “No can do. Remember, I'm in Philly for my project? That's why I wasn’t at work on Friday and I skipped class today.”

Oh shit. Yeah, that's why Adrian wasn’t on duty with her for cleaning Friday morning. Shit, shit, shit. She typed out a quick response so that Adrian wouldn’t worry. “No worries. Thanks anyway.”

What was she going to do? There was the University Center, but there was a game tonight. That meant it was going to be loud and extremely occupied. There would be nowhere to sit. And even if she did find something and was lucky enough, the University Center closed at two, and that would mean trying to find someplace to crash at 2:00 a.m. Not a good look.

How is this my life?

How was it that she legitimately had absolutely nowhere to go? It didn’t matter how she'd gotten here; it mattered how she'd fix it. Now think. You have two options. What are they? There was the temporary option of the student center. At two, she'd have to find somewhere to go for three hours. And a shelter was a last resort. No, she couldn’t do that. Not after what happened last time she'd gone to a shelter. Your next option is the park bench.

Ryland Park was just at the edge of campus.s and also rubbed shoulders with the edge of downtown. It wasn't the safest option, but honestly, for the most part, the park was safe. It wouldn't be the warmest place she’d ever had to sleep, but it would be mostly safe, especially if she picked the memorial bench. It was mostly encased in stone, private. She’d be completely left alone.

Are you sure you want to do this?

Fuck, what choice did she have? Park bench it was. But when a drop of rain fell on her forehead, she got another clue as to why she was shivering. "For the love of Christ. Can I just catch a fucking break?" The rain was light. Mostly just mist. But she pulled out her umbrella from her backpack anyway and still trudged on to the park. The memorial bench had a small awning. She might be able to stay dry under there. Who are you kidding? You know you're either going to get mugged and raped or catch pneumonia. When she reached the bench, luckily there was no one in sight. And yes, the awning had kept the bench mostly dry. With her umbrella still up, she sagged down and finally let out the well of tears.

She let the sobs flow, racking her body and shaking it. She cried with anger. She cried with sadness. She cried with longing for her parents. She just cried. Eventually she wasn't sure what was falling down her face, raindrops or salty tears. When she was so exhausted from the crying, she reached her hand out from under the awning and noticed that the rain had dissipated. Then she laid her head down on her backpack, wrapping her arms tighter around her sweatshirt. Something had to give. She didn’t know how much longer she could do this because at this point she was just about ready to give up.