Heat Flare? You know him?” Dillion doesn’t look away from the television where two college football teams stand around in huddles.

“Yeah,” Maxie says.

She bends and picks up the empty fried chicken box he’d tossed on the floor. If she didn’t pick it up now, he’d just walk around it for weeks. Like he does all the other clutter that fills his home. Whenever she’s at his place, Maxie often feels more like his maid than his girlfriend. And she just doesn’t get it. To her it seems like a guy with the ability to manipulate the molecular structure of steel should have no trouble dealing with a little trash. “I met him a few days ago. He saved me from a runaway hot dog stand.”

The memory sends a wave of heat to Maxie’s face and to some other interesting places. So of course, that’s when Dillion finally decides to tear his eyes away from the game and look at her. She hoped he’d assume that her flush was the result of being embarrassed about nearly losing an encounter with a hot dog stand and not jump to the conclusion that it has anything to do with Heat Flare.

“That’s the only time?”

“Er, no. I ran into him again today,” she admits even as she hopes he won’t ask any questions about that particular encounter.

“He say why he’s in town this time?”

Maxie’s brows shoot up. “This time? Are you saying you know him? That he’s been here before?”

“Yeah.” Dillion turns back to the game. “He shows up every so often. Sometimes he’s just passing through. Other times he stays a little longer.”

“Who is he?”

Dillon shrugs. “Don’t know anything ‘bout his alter ego. Minor superhero. Still trying to make a name for himself. I think he comes here so he can get some pointers from me on how to boost his image, but since I don’t have time to deal with him, he flies off and bugs someone else. He was doing some work with Mole Man a year or so ago.”

Maxie purses her lips. As far as Dillion is concerned, all superheroes are minor in comparison to him. He thinks they all look up to him. For a long time, Maxie assumed he was right, but maybe that was because she hadn’t met any other superheroes. Because nothing about Heat Fare felt minor.

In fact, now that she was comparing the two of them, it was Dillion who seemed to be coming up short.

“Hey, girl,. Bea runs a spoon through a crockpot full of meatballs and grins at me. “I thought you weren’t coming to this thing.”

I shrug and swipe a celery stick. “Ryan talked me into it.”

Lindsay finishes arranging a plate of cookies and hands it to a member of her waitstaff, one of the few who isn’t currently laid up with the flu. “You look amazing.”

“Stephanie is a genius.” I do a little twirl, causing the full skirt to swirl around my knees. Several people who are nearby smile in response. “I can’t believe how good she managed to make me look.”

“She’s good,” Lindsay agrees, “but she didn’t make you look good. You’re lovely. All Stephanie did was work out how to enhance your best assets in such a way that you can finally appreciate them.”

Her words send a small glow through me.

“What I want to know,” Bea says, “is why you’re over here and not smooching with that hot guy who brought you to this thing.”

Her words remind me why I came over here in the first place. “Suzie has a few thoughts about how she wants both appetizers arranged.”

I quickly relay Suzie’s suggestions. Lindsay snorts and Bea rolls her eyes. “Those are all piddly little things that no one will ever notice. I can’t believe Suzie even thought of them, much less asked you to discuss them.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Bea is watching something on the other side of the room. “Could be that she just wants to make the moves on your boyfriend.”

As one, we look at Ryan, who is leaning against a pillar and talking to Christian, Vicki, and a few other guys who look about the same age, probably old classmates. Suzie stands next to him instead of with her new husband, who is half a room away. As we watch, Suzie laughs at something Ryan says, and lightly touches his upper arm.

Bea smirks. “That looks pretty flirty.”

“No way,” Lindsay argues. “She just got married. Eli is here. She’s just being friendly.”

“Looks like more than that to me.” Bea turns to me. “Luce, what do you think?”

Before I can think of any type of response, Ryan glances up and sees us watching. He says something to his companions, and walks away from them and toward me.

“Oh. My. God.” Bea drops the spoon she’s holding. It clatters against the side of the crockpot. “Ryan Jakes is coming over here. I’m going to get to talk to Ryan Jakes.” She grabs Lindsay’s wrist. “Linds, can you believe we’re going to get to meet Ryan Jakes?”

“I’m pretty sure I talked to him at least once or twice while we were in high school. I doubt this will be different.” Despite her laid-back words, there’s a spark of excitement in her eyes.

Is this how it always is whenever Ryan goes anywhere? Women getting all weird over him? The thought gives me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Ladies,” Ryan says to my friends before he turns to me with a warm smile that makes my knees quiver. “Lucy.” His velvety voice drops an octave and triggers a warm flush that sweeps throughout my entire body as he reaches up and rests a large, warm hand on my shoulder.

Bea and Lindsay are talking to him, making introductions, but I can’t focus on a single word they’re saying. The only thing I can think about is Ryan’s hand.

It’s warm, so warm it feels like it’s branding my skin beneath my shirt. I sneak a peek out of the corner of my eye, I don’t see any smoke, even though it feels like it should.

I resist the urge to squirm as the heat from his hand spreads, traveling lower, reaching my chest and causing my breasts to tingle as my nipples harden.

A hand on the shoulder is nothing more than a casual gesture. Hell, even the most alpha of males will clap their male buddies’ shoulders whenever they’re celebrating, commiserating, or just greeting one another. But this doesn’t feel like a casual touch between two friends.

Shock waves of awareness vibrate through me, starting at the top of my shoulder where his hand rests and spreading throughout my entire body until I’m ready to jump out of my skin. And, as if that isn’t bad enough, my nipples tighten as my knees wobble. Blushing, I close my eyes and hope he doesn’t notice.

“Hey, Luce?” Ryan leans closer, his fingers curling, the ends hooking on the underside of my collar bone, more securely around my shoulder. “Are you okay?” Concern colors his voice.

“I’m fine.” My voice is little more than a high-pitched squeak. My blush deepens. What the hell is wrong with me?

I swallow and struggle to gather my dignity. “Just a little warm is all.” My heart continues to hammer, but at least my voice sounds closer to normal. Thank God for small favors.

“Ahh,” Ryan says as his hold on my shoulder lightens. “Do you want to go outside for a few minutes? Get some fresh air?”

And be alone with him? Absolutely not! Based on the way I reacted to an innocent touch, I’ll probably end up jumping him the minute the door closes behind us.

“Um, no.” I open my eyes and find myself staring directly into Ryan’s Caribbean blues. My heart temporarily stalls before leaping back into action with a bone jarring thud. I curl my hands into fists to disguise how they’ve started to shake. “But something to drink would be great.”

Ryan flashes his trademark grin and strokes a finger down my nose. “One drink coming right up.”