Kennedy pushed the door of the studio open, feeling like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. What had just happened? She was going on a trip with Kyle Bones? Like, a weekend trip? Technically, it was three nights! Why had she agreed to this?

No, she knew why. Kyle Bones had gotten into her head. When he hadn’t wanted her to go, she’d suddenly wanted nothing more. So stupid! She’d changed her mind just to spite him.

And what could she do now? She couldn’t go back in there and turn it down. She still wasn’t sure if she had the job at the radio or not. How would it look if she changed her mind again and said she didn’t want the trip? Ugh! She stomped her foot and turned to go meet her bus.

Kyle was already there, casually leaning up against the brick wall, looking at his phone. The man could be on the cover of a Men’s Health magazine. His black T-shirt was one of those tight ones, and his muscles were so defined. Butterflies thrummed in her gut.

Looking up from his phone, he locked eyes with her.

Her heart rate went up another notch. What the freak was she doing?

“Hey.” Sliding his phone into his pocket, he sauntered toward her.

“Hey.” With effort, she actually sounded calm. At least, it was a lot calmer than she felt.

A lazy smile filled his beautiful face, highlighting a dimple in his left cheek she hadn’t noticed before. Why was she noticing that? No, no, no.

He gestured to the parking lot. “Which car is yours?”

“Oh.” As if she was broken from a trance, she shrugged. “I was going to walk down to the bus stop.” She wasn’t embarrassed she didn’t have a car. What was the point? At the University of Miami, she could bike the campus easily. Plus, she had her roommates, who both had cars and never minded giving her rides or even letting her use theirs. And of course, there was always Uber.

Frowning, he shook his head. “What if I give you a ride and we discuss the details of our date?” He looked at his phone. “We’re scheduled to leave the airport at eight tonight.”

Kennedy’s pulse quickened. Luckily, she wasn’t scheduled to work this weekend. She thought she might have a freak out. “It’s not a date,” she growled, running her hand over her face. It’s a trip.”

“Right,” he said, and he flashed her a smile like he’d won her at the fair.

“I never should have agreed to this.”

“Sure, you should have. It’s going to be fun.”

It was more than unsettling to be this close to him. He probably had five or six inches on her, and he was … she thought of the beach and how ripped this guy was. “O-kay.” She felt a bit swept away.

He nodded to a red Mustang made in an older style. “Let me give you a ride.”

“No.”

“Why not? It’ll give us a chance to talk, and then you don’t have to take the bus.”

She sighed, searching for a reason not to but failing. After all, she was going on a trip with him for three days. “Fine.”

He pulled out a key, unlocking the car and tugging open the passenger-side door for her. His green eyes settled on her face. “I wanted to tell you I’m glad you decided to come.”

“The only reason I agreed is because I don’t want Ray Ray to think I would turn down a trip. I mean, would he want to hire some girl who would do that?”

“Whatever. So should we go back in and tell Ray Ray to do the raffle again?”

No. She couldn’t do that. She really wanted this job.

“What do you want to do?” Kyle let out a long breath and crossed his arms.

The man was huge. Not necessarily height-wise, though. She thought of him without a shirt on again, and it made her nervous.

“I’m not a stalker.” He sounded defensive.

Unable to stop herself, she let slip a tiny smile. “That’s what stalkers say.”

He grunted. “What are you gonna do? Come or don’t come. It’s your decision.”

She frowned and thought about her roommates saying she never had fun, never had adventures. She figured such a high-profile raffle must be safe or the radio wouldn’t touch it. “Do we have a chaperone or something?” she asked, feeling silly.

“I think the fine print stated if the woman wanted a chaperone, she could bring one.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Do we need one?”

Annoyance flared through her. What was it about this guy that bugged her so much? She thought of last night when he’d asked her to get ice cream. Why had she turned him down? Even worse, she’d thought about him all last night. Couldn’t get him out of her brain. “I don’t need one,” she said, and slipped into the car and slammed the door shut. Not like she had anyone to bring as a chaperone anyway.

Kyle ran around the front to get in his own seat and started the car. He shifted the car into gear—it was a stick shift, she noticed. He backed it up and started out of the parking lot. “So let’s talk about it. We’ll be doing the concert in Jackson, but what else do you want to do?”

“You said you had it planned.” She put her hand to her head, feeling a headache coming on. “I don’t think I should go.” The thought of being with him all weekend overwhelmed her. Now, her ex’s face was rushing through her head, and she thought of getting hurt. All her insecurities were bubbling up.

“It’s just three nights. Then I’ll send you back here, and I’ll be going to California. No big deal.”

“Mm-hm. Three nights,” she sneered.

Kyle slammed on the brakes. “What is it?” Tires squealed behind them, and someone laid on the horn.

Kennedy gestured at the road. “Go!”

“No, tell me why you don’t want to go out with me!” he barked. They might as well have been alone in the park for how much attention he paid to the world around them.

The car behind them honked again.

“Drive!” she insisted.

His jaw was set. “I want to know why you keep turning me down. I want to know why you wouldn’t want to go spend three nights in Jackson having fun!”

The horn kept honking. Kyle rolled down his window the old-fashioned way and put his arm out the window, gesturing for the person to go around him. The car did go around him, but honked furiously as he went.

She couldn’t believe this. “Go!” she shouted. “You’re acting like a spoiled child.”

A smile spread across his face. He put his car into park and crossed his arms. “You left me on the dance floor the other night in the middle of a good song. Then, yesterday, when I showed up, you refused to go get ice cream with me. Today, you sold me out on the radio about Cassidy. So you deserved it and you kinda started it.”

“That’s your defense? ‘You started it’?”

“This is ridiculous. You agreed to the trip. So why are we still talking about this?”

She felt jittery and nervous. “Please go.”

“Not until you tell me why you don’t want to go.”

“Fine! One objection is that you’re spending way too much money on this date. You should just donate the money to Sparring for Vets, not spend it.” She’d thought of this earlier. Part of her hated when so much money was spent on stupid things by rich people.

“What?”

“It’s unnecessary to take anyone. Just donate the money.”

“I’m locked into this. It’s too late now. Someone is going to Jackson.” He sighed. “Preferably the woman who agreed to go on public radio.”

This man put her on edge. No, not just on edge—this man was throwing her off a cliff, and she was free-falling. “I hate it when people flash their money around,” she muttered, remembering how her own medical bills had forced her grandmother to sell the house and move into an apartment. “Would you just go?”

“Nope.” He grinned at her, and she could tell it was a fake grin. “Plus, just so you know, I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth or anything, okay? So just chill.”

“Go.”

“I can do this all day. Tell me the real reason you don’t want to go out with me.”

“No!”

“I asked you for ice cream, and you wouldn’t do that, which wasn’t flashy. Why wouldn’t you go?” he demanded.

“Oh my gosh! It’s like you’ve never been turned down before.” She turned away from him and muttered, “You really are a Prince Charming that puts a spell on everyone.” She thought about how Carrie had acted like he was.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She pointed at him. “You haven’t ever been turned down, have you?” Russell had mentioned that the women always fell for him, but to have never been turned down? For real! “You’re cocky and arrogant and annoying. I’ll tell you that.”

More honking.

She tapped her foot. They had to get going. “Look, I’m going to Jackson. So just drive.”

Giving her a bored look, he turned to her. “Drive where?”

“I don’t care, just go!”

A huge smile crossed his face, and he threw it into drive and took off with a jolt, almost hitting a car that had been trying to get around him.

The other driver honked and flipped the bird at them.

Kyle cackled. “Chill out, dude!”

He and Kennedy burst out laughing. She giggled as Kyle revved the engine and passed the guy who had flipped them off.

The guy flipped them off again as they zipped by.

She laughed harder, feeling happier and lighter than she’d felt all day. “Oh my gosh.”

Kyle accelerated and turned onto the freeway, shaking his head. “Some people are so rude.”

With one last giggle, she said, “So where are you going?”

“Uh, I don’t know. You didn’t tell me where you live, but I was already laying into the gas. I had to go somewhere.”

“I have to get ready for the trip,” she told him. There really wasn’t much to do, because she hadn’t had plans this weekend.

“I’ll get you home.” He grinned, and then he snapped his fingers. “First, let’s go get mint chocolate chip ice cream.”

She put her hand out the window, still nervous but kind of excited at the same time. “Fine.” Suddenly, this trip was looking a whole lot better.