“You’re seriously working with Owen Rack?”

I nodded, though she couldn’t see me. “Seriously.”

“I used to watch him play.”

“Who hasn’t? The guy was a superstar.”

“And seriously hot.”

I laughed. “He’s not that hot.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“He’s a dick, Jessie.”

“So what? I’d let him be as mean to me as he wants, so long as he’s nice when I want him to be.”

I sighed. Jessie was my best friend from college, and I missed the hell out of her. When we graduated, she moved back home to Chicago while I stayed in Philadelphia. I went from living with her in a crappy little apartment outside University City to living alone in a crappy little apartment in South Philly.

She was one of the funniest people I knew, and she was so much more outgoing than I was. If anyone knew how to deal with a guy like Owen, it was her.

I’d called her as soon as I’d gotten home and told her exactly what had happened. I told her about Owen flirting with me, and about him giving me his number. He was so forward that it had really surprised me.

I wanted to say that I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t. The guy was clearly a jerk, but I had to admit that he was hot as hell. I wanted him to slide his hands along my skin and do exactly what he had promised he’d do.

But that was stupid. He was my biggest assignment. Working with him could make my career.

“I can’t. You know that.”

“Why? Are you afraid?”

“No. We work together.”

“So what?”

“So, if I screw this up, I can totally destroy my career.”

She sighed. “Okay, yeah. I get that.”

“Even if I wanted to do something, which I’m not saying I do, I just couldn’t. He’s too important.”

“Still, I don’t see why you can’t just get a little taste. A man like him probably isn’t looking to get you pregnant, anyway.”

“That could be worse.”

“I don’t know. It might be fine.”

“What if it makes things awkward?” I shook my head. “I can’t, Jessie.”

“Suit yourself. I’m jealous either way. Your job is amazing.”

“It’s stressful. This guy’s health reflects directly on me. I can’t believe they assigned him to me.”

“Must be really hurting for money.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad.”

“You’re not. But you said it yourself: You’re an apprentice.”

“The director said he probably wasn’t going to be starting anyway.”

“So all the more reason to go for it.”

“Jessie, I can’t.”

“Your loss.”

“He just wants to sleep with me anyway.”

“I don’t see the problem.”

“We don’t even know each other.”

“Get to know him!” She laughed. “Look, I get your hesitation, but if I had a guy like that coming after me, I’d at least consider it.”

“Yeah. I guess. He’s just so cocky.”

“Can you blame him? Look at the guy. He’s gorgeous.”

I laughed. “He is gorgeous.”

As the conversation turned away from Owen, I couldn’t help but mentally return to him again and again. Even though I was listening to Jessie talk about her struggles with moving back home, I couldn’t help but remember what it had felt like to touch Owen’s body.

I was a physical therapist. My whole professional life was touching people’s bodies. I had never in my entire career so far felt anything other than a professional seriousness about any person’s body while working with them.

But with Owen, I’d been instantly soaking wet the second he had let me touch him. I couldn’t believe how fast my heart had been beating, and I’d known it was so incredibly inappropriate, but I hadn’t been able to help myself. He really was gorgeous, muscular, and intense. Even the dirty things had been setting me off, making me want to do exactly what he’d been saying.

I wasn’t about to give in to an asshole like that, but still, my body was betraying me. There was some part of me that really wanted him to do whatever he wanted to me, and then some.

Owen Rack was a total asshole, but he was a total asshole that I couldn’t stop thinking about.

“Anyway,” Jessie said, wrapping up. “I have to get going. Call me tomorrow?”

“I will.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I hung up the phone and sat back. My apartment was small and hot since I didn’t have air conditioning. The window unit was humming away, but it barely kept up with Philly’s hot and humid summer nights.

As I stared at the wall, my phone buzzed. I assumed it was Jessie, remembering to tell me something. I looked down at the text and paused.

It wasn’t from Jessie.

It said, “Come out with me. Right now.”

And it was from Owen’s number.

I bit my lip, not sure what to do. I glanced at the time and it was a little bit past ten. I had to be in the office early the next morning, but I also knew that he had practice just as early. I was scheduled to work with him before they took the field.

I didn’t know what to do. I put my phone down and then picked it up again, my heart beating fast.

“I can’t,” I typed back. “It’s late and we have work tomorrow.”

He answered immediately. “We have work to do tonight. Come out with me.”

“I can’t. Another time.”

“There’s no other time. Put on a cute dress and come out with me.”

“I really can’t.”

“I’ll be nice. We’ll dance, have a drink, and then I’ll get you home. You’ll be nice and rested for tomorrow.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I know. Because you actually want me to take you back to my apartment and make you feel things you’ve never felt before.”

“No. Because I want to sleep.”

“Dress sexy. Send me your address. I’ll come get you in ten minutes.”

I bit my lip, shaking my head. Why the hell was this happening to me?

And why was I actually considering it?

Truth was, I needed Owen to like me. I didn’t want to say no and have this awkward thing between us, but I also didn’t want to say yes and put myself in a bad position. Worst of all, I wanted to say yes, and I wanted him to do exactly what he was saying.

There was no winning position for me here. I knew that if I turned him down, he’d just come at me harder. Maybe it was better to just say yes and get this over with. I could be distant and make it clear that I wasn’t interested. He’d get the hint, and then we could go back to being professional together.

The problem with that was, I actually was interested. I just didn’t want to be.

“Okay,” I typed back. “Fine. One drink. One hour at most.” I typed my address and hit send.

“See you soon,” was all he said in response.

I got up, my heart hammering, and practically ran into my closet.

I was nervous as hell and knew I had made the wrong decision, but I didn’t have time to second-guess it. He was coming in ten minutes, and I needed to get dressed.

If I wanted to look good, I needed to hurry.