The following evening, Eden stood at the man door to her garage. Darak hadn’t so much as gotten to the entrance before she yanked it open.

“Quick! Before someone sees you,” she said as she hauled him inside.

Darak laughed. “What are you doing? I thought your parents were out.”

“They are, but Naj’s dad will be over here in a hot second if he sees me with a man.” Eden led him by the hand up the stairs. “Honestly, you’d think Naj and I were eleven, the way he acts.”

Eden laced her fingers together as he took in her twelve-by-twenty loft.

“This is different from what I pictured,” he said as he turned in a slow circle.

“It’s kind of small,” she admitted, twisting her hands together.

“I like it.” He paused in front of the world map on the east wall. “These pins. That’s where you’ve been?”

“Yeah. Kind of pathetic, huh? I haven’t even been to Yellowstone.”

He touched a green pin. “You’ve been to France.”

“Uh-huh, on a class trip. Germany, too. My friends all said France was better because it’s, you know, all romantic, but I liked Germany. Everyone’s friendly and I liked how all the buildings were solar this, wind-powered that. The cows didn’t look even a little scared.”

He turned at her words. “How’d you get your parents to let you go overseas?”

“I was fourteen.”

“So?”

“Things were a lot different then.”

“Something happened,” he persisted, his gaze full of concern.

“Don’t make a bigger deal of it than it is. I do stuff. It’s just… I’ve given them enough gray hair.” Goose bumps rose on her arms, and she rubbed them.

“Were you a bad girl?” His eyes twinkled devilishly.

“Something like that.” Her neck felt stiff as an oak branch as she turned her attention to her poster of Grand Teton. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“I know,” Darak said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Give me your phone.”

“Why?” she asked, obediently pulling it out of her bra. “Are you finally going to give me your digits?”

Instead of answering, Darak swept through the screens and began tapping something out. “What are you doing?” she asked, mystified.

“Just wait.”

“Are you sending fake texts to my friends?”

When Eden strained to see over his shoulder, he laughed and shrugged her away. “Be good.”

“Or what?” she challenged him, but he merely smiled.

“Here,” he said, finally handing it back.

“What is it?”

“It’s an app. It tells you what the constellations are. I found it this morning. I figured there had to be something out there like this,” he said happily.

Pleasure swept through her, warm and fluttery, and her lips parted. He’d done this for her?

“Point the screen at any spot in the sky.”

She hesitated. “But there aren’t any stars.”

“They’re there. You just can’t see them now because the sun is shining. Go ahead.”

She eyed him doubtfully but did as he suggested.

“See? It shows you the constellations. If you click here, it tells you the myth behind it.”

Sure enough, Orion appeared on-screen. “No way!”

“And if you point it at the ground, it shows you what’s in the sky on the other side of the world.”

“This is so cool!” Raising the phone up over her head, she directed it downward, and sure enough a constellation called Phoenix filled her screen.

“You like it?”

“I love it!” She clutched the phone with both hands, studying the data. “I can’t believe you did this.”

“Too weird?”

“No. Amazing. You just patted the happy spots in my brain.” Rising up on her toes, she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“It’s just an app.”

“It’s more than that.”

“Good. Good. I, um, was just hoping it would please you.” His neck flushed as he ducked his head, reminding Eden of a shy little boy afraid the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he’d made special would be rejected. So sweet, so sad, and worth all the hugs inside her, and…

Thunder did not crack. Black did not change to white, and birds did not burst into song. The lights didn’t even flicker, but somewhere inside her, neurons shifted their path, and Eden’s heart took on a new beat.

I love him.

She stood there frozen, lips slightly parted and cheeks pink as peonies. She couldn’t have been more shocked. She’d sworn she’d never let this happen, but it had. It had, and with a guy who came to town looking only for sex.

She took stuttering breath. “That was really nice of you.”

A broad grin spread across his face. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”

Her movements stiff, she set the phone aside, put her hands on his shoulders, and stretched up for a peck.

Which, of course, led to more kisses, and a tug or two. Twenty minutes later, haphazardly discarded clothing lay strewn about the floor, and the lovers twined together, glowing and satisfied. But tension held Eden’s stomach hostage, and she couldn’t help wondering how she could be so stupid. He was leaving. Leaving! She shivered. “Put your arms around me. I’m cold.”

He pulled her hips into the curve of his and nuzzled her neck. “You feel warm to me.”

She shivered despite the fact that it was eighty-four degrees and the air conditioner wasn’t running. “Please?”

He tucked her into the curve of his body and stroked her hair, kissing her shoulder with a tenderness she hadn’t encountered even in romance novels. She had to stop this. The day after tomorrow they would go parachuting. After that, no more.

But she still had today. Darak was here, and she wasn’t going to let this be it.

“Let me stay the night,” he murmured against her ear. “Just this once.”

She knew she should tell him to go. Letting him stay the night would only deepen her feelings.

“Of course,” she said and burrowed deeper into him.