Time passes with my sweaty skin against his. I slide my hand over his thick arm, exploring his muscles, wondering when I’ll break the silence to say something…or when he will. There’s a dull pain between my legs, a stretched stinging.

But I feel new. Utterly satiated.

When he reaches over me for my torn dress that’s piled near my head, I roll over with him. He keeps me against his hard chest—sweat, musk, the hint of soap on his skin—and when he rolls back, I come with him, resting on my side.

I look up at him, and our faces are so close that I can see the slight stubble coming out on his chin and jawline. My cheeks burn with the memory of something scratchy, making me feel raw and sensual.

“That was…” I start to say.

He rests on his back, and I lay my head on his chest.

“Yeah,” he says. “It was.”

“How do you know what I meant?”

Instead of getting after me for asking a question, he answers. “If you were going to say it was pretty fucking good, I’d agree.” He winds a strand of my hair around his finger. “Way fucking good.”

“It was?” And here I thought it was just me.

“Like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

Stunned, I don’t respond. Is he only buttering me up so that I won’t give him such grief during our remaining time together? Is he humoring the ex-virgin so I won’t have a performance complex?

His arm has tensed up, and he’s stopped toying with my hair. After his comment, the temperature in the room has changed, and I know that if I look in his eyes, I’ll see the return of that coolness I’ve gotten so used to.

Was he telling the truth about how good it was and he regrets it?

Once again, I push my luck. “What made you go on the Highest Bidder site, Connor?”

He chuckles, jogging my head on his chest. “I like to find fireballs like you to entertain me.”

Yup, he’s definitely armored up again. “You make all the virgins who auction themselves off sound feisty.”

“Not like you.”

“Do you ever go on the site to bid on more experienced women?”

“Not your business, Goldilocks. Now why don’t you tell me why you went on the site?”

And he’s officially done being questioned. “It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got some time.”

I have no issues with telling him, so I go for it. “You already know that I come from a straight-arrow family, so I’ve lived a pretty sheltered life, and I’ve always wondered…”

He picks up where I leave off. “What’s out there? Because your boyfriend wasn’t giving it to you?’

“Basically.” I draw circles on his chest with my fingertip. “But there’s more to it than my desire to explore the world before I settle down. Highest Bidder was an extreme way of doing that, and girls like me don’t get extreme unless they’re pushed for some reason.”

“That sounds about right, because I also saw you jump into the deep end of the extreme pond at the bar last night.”

“I told you that I drank too much because I was nervous.” I stop tracing patterns on him. “What I want to know is how you still found me attractive after I got sick and all that.”

He taps his fingers on my back as if he’s deliberating how much he should tell me. Then he roughly sighs. “I was attracted to you before we even met. Let’s leave it at that.”

Okay then.

We both breathe. I slip my arm to the other side of him. My breasts press against him, and the sensation warms me up. The buzz of his low voice travels through me as he speaks.

“So what pushed you to become so extreme, Goldilocks?”

“The boyfriend. The ex. He betrayed my trust and sent me into a bit of a tailspin.”

“Just a bit, huh?”

“Enough to send me into your bed.”

Another quiet laugh, and he rubs my back before resting his fingers at the base of my spine. He strokes me there, and I get turned on again, just like that.

“Anyway,” I say, “when you date a guy since high school and then get worked over by him, it’s enough to rattle anyone.”

“What exactly did he do?”

“He cheated on me. I was ready to give Robbie myself for the rest of his life and he stomped all over me.”

Connor’s fingers go still, as if he’s somewhat disturbed. Why?

He stays silent as I go on.

“I did my part to be a good girlfriend. I never even looked at another guy, and he told me there’d never be another woman. I believed him, and he said we should save ourselves until after marriage. That’s a real commitment. So instead of going all the way, we would watch movies in our parents’ living rooms and kiss and—”

“How did he cheat on you?”

It’s as if he doesn’t want to hear about how I’ve kissed someone else. Is it possible he’s jealous after we’ve just been so intimate?

Doubtful.

“Ella, my ex best friend, came to me crying. She was blubbering about what a huge mistake she’d made, that she and Robbie had been hanging out together one night and gotten into the liquor cabinet while her parents were away on summer vacation. One thing led to another and she and Robbie ended up having sex. She regretted it and came to me right away, but still… It happened. And when I confronted Robbie, he just lied and tried to weasel out of it. After that, we broke up and…” I smile against Connor’s skin. “I wanted an experience like you.”

He doesn’t say anything. His fingers have tensed against my spine. If he is jealous—and that’s a big if—I’m sure a playboy like him has no room for that emotion in his life. There’s a reason he goes on Highest Bidder, and I’m sure it’s a lot like mine. Neither of us was looking for some kind of romantic connection.

I look up at him to find that he’s staring at the ceiling, his gaze blank. He’s already pulled away from me mentally, and even though I have my theories, I truly doubt I’m right about him being jealous of Robbie. I have no idea just what has set off this coldness in him again.

He finally speaks. “What will you do after this week is up, Goldilocks?”

“I don’t know. I’m taking some time to think about whether getting back with Robbie is the right thing to do. You can’t just throw away all those years we put into each other. At least, that’s what my family says.”

“Your family.”

“I’m close with them and they’re very traditional. They say I should forgive Robbie, we have so much history, so much in common. It was always just accepted that we would end up together. I suppose when this is all over, I probably will do just that.”

I’m not sure why I told him I would get back together with Robbie. The truth is, when I think of Robbie I feel nauseous. Maybe I wanted to see what Connor would say—if he’d try and talk me out of going back with my ex. If he’d show any kind of feeling or emotion.

Connor finally glances at me with those cool eyes, then sits up, his back to me. I have to force myself from reaching out to smooth my fingers down his broad back that tapers into a lean waist. I want to feel and explore every inch of his amazing body because all I got was a taste tonight.

But then he gets out of bed, stopping only to pick his discarded clothing off the floor. I sit there, a victim of my longing as I run my gaze over his long legs, the streamlined muscles under his skin, the sexy dent where his hip meets his gorgeous ass, the ridges of his abs.

Then I blow out a breath and ask, “Where’re you going?”

“My bedroom. And don’t ask why, Allyson.”

He stands there for a moment, then locks gazes with me, and I can’t help thinking that he’s already gone.

“Thank you for the great fuck,” he says. “You were worth every dollar.”

With that, he leaves the room, and I let him go, knowing that if I tried to say another word, I might burst into tears instead.