The ringing of the phone jarred Drake awake. It took him only a moment to get his bearings, and when he did, he smiled. While he’d normally curse the early morning wake-up call, he could get used to it if it meant having a sleeping Allie sprawled over his chest. He reached for the phone on his nightstand, lifted the handset, and slammed it back on the receiver.

She stirred, her thigh bumping into his erection. “Good morning,” she mumbled.

He’d woken her twice during the night to make love. Tying and blindfolding her had been fun, but he’d needed her hands on him. The first time, his little Tornado Allie had left a few mementos on his back with her nails. The thought of it made him harder. The second time, he’d woken her up with his face between her legs before flipping her onto her stomach and demonstrating why lube came in handy. They’d managed to cross off every item from her naughty list. Well, all but a one-night stand.

Wonder if we can get one more round in before breakfast.

He tipped her chin to give her a gentle kiss. “Morning. You sleep okay?”

“Mm.” She skated her lips across his. “Yeah. What about you?”

“Best night’s sleep I’ve ever had.”

“Considering we only got about two hours total, I find that hard to believe.” She laughed, then covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers. “Sorry. Morning breath.”

Her breath smelled like sex. Wild, passionate, kinky sex. He’d take it over the taste of minty toothpaste any day. To prove it, he hauled her up his chest and kissed her hard, his tongue delving and tangling with hers. His cock thickened and throbbed as if he hadn’t already come three times in the last five hours.

Do I have another condom?

Allie whimpered and ground against him, her arousal dampening his skin. She was as insatiable as he when it came to sex and, as it turned out, imaginative as hell. Once he moved to Chicago, they’d probably never leave their bed.

Their bed. Shit, he was getting ahead of himself. One night did not equate a lifetime. They’d have all the time in the world to get to know each other. Starting now.

He swept his hand across the nightstand, searching for a condom underneath the torn wrappers and came up empty. Oh well. Time for his creativity. He was dying for her to take his cock in her juicy mouth, and his mouth watered at the thought of the slick arousal he’d find between her legs. Wonder if she ever tried—

“I need to take a shower and meet Taryn for breakfast. Otherwise, she’s gonna worry,” she said between kisses.

“I have a feeling she knows where you slept last night. Plus, as much as I don’t want to think about my little sister having sex”—he grimaced—“she may have slept out as well. She might not even know you didn’t sleep in your room.”

“What’s the deal between her and Jack? She’s never even mentioned him before.”

“I’m not sure. I introduced them last year when we were in Vegas for my cousin’s wedding, and they barely said two words to each other the entire weekend.” Not ready to let her out of bed, he nipped the tender area between her neck and shoulder, a spot he’d discovered last night that drove her crazy.

“Drake,” she said on a sigh, her thighs tightening around his waist. “We really do need to get ready and go down for breakfast. My plane leaves in a few hours.” Her body betrayed her arousal, her nipples poking into his chest, and her breathing becoming more rapid. Screw breakfast.

“The only thing I want for breakfast is you. Turn around and bring that pussy up to my mouth.”

Her breath hitched, and her beautiful brown eyes widened. Some of her shyness had returned in the light of day. A couple months with him, she’d learn to obey him in bed without a second thought. When she did disobey, he’d finally get to spank that perfect ass of hers.

Before she had the chance to scoot forward, he squeezed her round globes and rubbed his palms over them, exploring the curves. Experimenting, he ran his fingers up and down her crack. She gasped, shuddering. He raised his hand to spank—

A firm knock fell on the door. “Wake up, man,” said Cole. “We’ve got storms developing thirty miles from here. Time to go do our bon voyage spiel and get going.”

The photographer had lousy timing, but he was right. Drake had a job to do.

He rested his spanking hand on her spine and held her gaze as he shouted, “Give me ten, and I’ll meet you down there.”

Her sorry attempt at a smile didn’t reach her eyes. She pressed a chaste kiss on his lips and lifted herself off him, then padded across the room. He watched her go until it became impossible when she shut the bathroom door.

He shouldn’t feel like someone had punched a hole through his chest and placed his heart in a vise. He’d see her again in a few weeks when he moved to Chicago, but something about this moment felt like good-bye, and he didn’t know why.

Had he failed to convince her how good they’d be together? Sure she’d contended she wanted a one-night stand, but after their time together, she couldn’t still feel that way.

Drake rolled out of bed and tugged on a pair of jeans and a semiclean Blow Me Away polo shirt. He wouldn’t miss living out of a suitcase. While he loved owning his own business, he’d never intended to continue personally leading the tours. Now that it had turned a profit, he was eager to hire some fresh blood to run the day-to-day operations, and as he’d learned last night, Jack and Cole felt the same.

Allie came back into the bedroom, keeping her gaze on the worn beige carpet. She picked her skirt and tank off the floor and dressed like their parents were about to walk in on them.

He couldn’t stand how quickly the mood had changed since the knock on the door. “What’s your hurry?”

“You heard Cole. You’ve got to get going,” she said, shrugging on her shirt, “and I want to take a shower before the cab takes us to the airport.”

“I’ll take you.”

She still wouldn’t look at him. “No. That’s silly. Taryn and I had already planned on it because you had work to do before the next tour group arrived. Don’t worry about it.”

How could he explain she already meant more to him than his company? He’d never expected it. Hadn’t thought he wanted it. Now he couldn’t imagine his life without her. “That was before.”

Her hands stilled on the button of her skirt. “Before?”

He stalked to her and forced her gaze from the floor to his face. “Before you. Before us.”

She leaned in, her expression softening. “Drake—” Her cell phone buzzed in the skirt’s pocket. She fished it out and checked the screen. “I have to take this. Hello? No, I’ll be right there.” She paced away from him nervously. “No. Seriously, don’t.” Crouching, she picked up her damp bra and panties and stood, shoving them in her pocket. “We’ll see. Bye.” She disconnected and tucked the phone into her other pocket.

When she turned around, the softness had disappeared and the detached Allie had returned. Foreboding kicked him in the gut. He hadn’t changed her mind last night. She didn’t want anything more from him than this one-night stand.

“That was Taryn. She knows I didn’t come back to the room last night.”

“Does it bother you she knows we slept together?”

She gave a stiff smile. “No. She’d encouraged me the entire trip.”

“Yeah, me too.” His sister had definitely pulled both their strings these last few days. He didn’t know whether to thank her or throttle her. Whether or not Allie wanted to pursue a relationship with him, he had to come clean about his new job. “We should talk.”

“No.” She headed toward the door. “I don’t want to ruin what we had by talking. If things were different…” Her eyes turned glassy as though she held back tears. She shook her head. “Let’s leave it the way it is. One night only.”

He couldn’t let her go before she learned the truth. Striding to her, he prayed she’d forgive him, and in time, reconsider their future. Because he sure as hell wouldn’t give up on them. “There’s something you should know.”

Another knock sounded on the door, and he sighed in frustration. “Who is it?”

“Jack. Open up, man, or your sister’s liable to go all ninja on my ass.”

“I’m a little busy at the moment.” At this point, he didn’t give a shit what Taryn did to his friend, so long as everyone would give him and Allie a moment alone.

“Get unbusy ’cause I’m not leaving,” Jack said.

He let Jack inside the room and maneuvered himself in front of the open door to block Allie from leaving.

His friend’s gaze shot from him to Allie. He raised a brow and grinned. “Guess Taryn’s matchmaking scheme was a success. I’m happy for you two. Weird how things worked out with you both working at the same station.” He moved to the bed and sat on the edge. “Taryn thinks its serendipity or some shit like that.”

Allie paled and pressed a hand to her chest. “What did you say?”

Jack and his big mouth. If Jack and Taryn hadn’t interrupted, Drake would have told her.

Clueless to his mistake, Jack said, “Serendipity. You know, like fate.”

Drake reached for her, needing to touch her, to calm her, but she shrank from his touch and dodged him. “No, not that. What you said about working at the same station.” She turned her gaze on him, silently pleading for Drake to explain it was all a misunderstanding. “What is he talking about?”

Jack looked sheepish. “Fuck a duck. Since Taryn knew, I thought Allie would have too.”

He wasn’t angry at his friend. Allie should’ve learned the truth from him and not a six-and-a-half-foot tattooed stranger. “I tried to tell you. You didn’t want to talk.”

“You lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie.” The moment the defensive words slipped from his mouth he knew they were a mistake. He wanted to rewind time, so she wouldn’t look at him like he was the stranger.

“No, you just allowed me to believe we wouldn’t see each other again.”

A pounding fell on the door. “Let me in, Drake. I know Jack’s in there,” Taryn said.

He reluctantly opened it, and his sister barreled past him.

“Drake, at least withhold your judgment until you hear my side of the story.” Taryn stopped in the center of the room and frowned when she saw her best friend in tears. “What’s going on in here?”

Allie bit her trembling lip and folded her arms over her chest. “Are you ready to go? I really want to get to the airport right now.”

His sister didn’t speak, eying both Allie and him warily. “Yeah. Give me a minute to say good-bye to my brother.” She watched her friend leave before turning to him with her hands on her hips. “What did you do to her?”

He held his hands up in surrender. “Nothing, I swear.” Knowing when he was full of shit, she tapped her foot and waited for him to continue. “I may have forgotten to tell her about my new job.”

“Let me get this straight, you had sex with my best friend last night, and somehow the fact you were moving to Chicago to take a job at the same station where she works never came up in conversation?”

He squirmed under his little sister’s look of disdain. “It’s complicated.”

Jack laughed and coughed the word “pussy” into his hand.

Asshole.

“Something I believe you could relate to, considering the secrets you and Jack are obviously keeping from me,” Drake said.

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Jack said, no longer laughing. He stood and stalked to Taryn, leaning to speak in her ear. “You and me. Not finished.” He gave a curt nod to Drake and swaggered out the door.

“Do I want to know?” he asked, hoping she’d say no. He really didn’t want details about his little sister’s love life, especially when it had something to do with his best friend.

“I doubt it.” She poked his chest with her finger. “Let’s discuss you. How could you not tell her?”

“Me? Why didn’t you? I didn’t find out until last night while you’ve known all along, Little Miss Matchmaker.”

“I thought I’d surprise you both.” She waved her hands. “Surprise,” she said meekly.

He couldn’t lay the guilt at her feet when it wasn’t her fault. He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her close, kissing the top of her head. “I don’t blame you. You had good intentions. When I found out she lived in Chicago, I should have told her about the job even though she would’ve used it as an excuse to push me away. I had one night to convince her, and I blew it.”

She patted his back. “Maybe not. Give her some time. She’s been through a lot this year, and as hard as she tries to pretend she’s completely healed—”

“What do you mean? I thought she’d beaten the cancer.” His heart jumped into his throat, and he pushed back from the hug.

“She did. Physically, she’s fine, but emotionally…she’s not over it. ”

Like he’d discovered the missing puzzle piece, everything clicked into place. Allie was scared. That solid brick roadblock she’d erected with her wish for a one-night stand on the condition they’d never see each other again suddenly made sense. The problem was he wasn’t sure he had the proper equipment to knock it down.

He had to let her go.