“What are you doing?” I ask as soon as we’re outside. My voice is shaking. Not from anger, but from something indefinable. The temperature has dropped considerably, and the dark clouds are a lighter shade of gray, the wind softer.

The storm’s calming down already.

“No, what are you doing?” Mandy sounds annoyed as hell. “You didn’t fuck a Boyd?”

“Obviously, not everyone’s life goal is to hook up with semi-famous guys,” I mutter. “Besides, is someone else occupying your brain? The guy has a girlfriend.”

“Which you didn’t know when you first met him.” Mandy’s expression changes from anger to suspicion. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew him?”

“I didn’t recognize him,” I lie.

I don’t want to lie, but I need to. Mandy needs to drop the whole thing before I die from embarrassment.

“Let me guess. You forgot to mention he drove a Lamborghini?” She throws up her hands in mock surrender. “Oh my god, Ava.”

Why’s everyone obsessed with a stupid car? Particularly one that’s not even worth its price tag, if you ask me. I mean, most human beings couldn’t possibly afford the insurance rate, let alone the payment plan. And you can’t park the thing anywhere without people gawking and at least a few thinking about stealing it.

It’s insane.

“Again, I had no idea,” I mutter.

“Yeah, right. Even someone like you must recognize it,” Mandy says dryly. “There’s nothing forgettable about the car, or the guy driving it, for that matter.”

She’s right.

There isn’t.

But I can’t admit that to her.

“You could have fucked him,” she mumbles. “You know, get back in the game.”

“Oh, my god. Will you just shut up about him?” I shoot her a venomous look and turn away.

“Fine. Whatever. I was just trying to help.”

“How so? By pointing out the one wrong decision I can’t change? Or that my love life sucks?”

She scoffs but remains quiet.

Of course, I regretted not taking him up on his offer three months ago. But what I regretted more was driving home and telling Mandy about it that night because the moment I did, she started calling all her friends to ask whether anyone might know him. Which they didn’t, obviously. Next came the Internet searches. The Friday nightclub stakeouts. And eventually, the reproach that I didn’t do what any woman with her panties in the right place would have done.

“You know…” Mandy starts. Oh, I know where she’s heading, and I’m not having it. “You could always—”

“Don’t say it,” I interrupt.

She holds up her hands. “Fine.” And then she walks back inside, leaving me alone.

The early evening air’s crisp and cools my head. After spending a few minutes on the porch, I decide that seeing Kellan again is of no importance because tomorrow I’ll be gone and his memory will be soon erased from my mind.

When I return to the living room, Mandy’s nowhere to be seen. Kellan’s hard body is sprawled across the sofa, his long legs stretched out, his arm draped across the cushions.

Fuck! I’m alone with him.

My heart speeds up. The entire situation feels way too intimate. My tongue flicks over my dry lips as my gaze sweeps over the room in a desperate search for Mandy.

Where the hell is she?

“She’s upstairs,” Kellan says coolly. “I offered to let you both stay.”

“We agreed on three hours. We’re leaving tonight.” Gosh, why does my voice sound so clipped and hoarse?

“She told me your car broke down.”

Damn my car.

We’re stuck here. The realization makes me freeze in sudden panic. The fact that he’s looking at me with a strange glint in his eyes doesn’t ease the unnerving tension I feel in his presence.

“I’ll be happy to send for a mechanic, but he won’t be here before tomorrow. You’re free to stay the night.”

“Why the change?” I can’t help asking.

Slowly, he lifts off the sofa, stretching up to his imposing height. “What do you mean?” He steps closer. I want to run, but instead, I find myself strangely enthralled by his green gaze, his stunning eyes keeping me captured on the spot.

“You wanted us gone,” I say. “Why the sudden change?”

“I’m still torn about this.” He shrugs. “But I know you’ll change my mind.”

The abrupt shift in his tone doesn’t escape me. He’s gone from broody and serious to mischievous in the blink of an eye. I can’t figure him out. I can’t keep up with him.

“I won’t do anything to change your mind,” I say.

“Why’s that?” His fingers curl around mine and press them against his chest, right where his heart is. His pulse thuds rhythmically against my fingertips. “I’ve never disappointed.”

His tone is so hoarse and erotic, I feel the urge to jump a step back.

The double meaning in his words is subtle, but there’s no mistaking it.

A few seconds alone and we’re drifting back onto dangerous territory. My heartbeat speeds up, and excitement courses through me.

I don’t know the guy, but he has this knack of getting under my skin in a hundred possible ways, when all I want to be is the epitome of Zen.

“So you say,” I mumble under my breath.

“Try me.”

I blink in succession. No one’s ever propositioned me like this.

It’s so damn hot, I almost say yes.

But only almost.

A one-night stand is not my style. Not because I don’t enjoy casual sex. I just like all the other things that come with a steady relationship, like falling asleep in each other’s arms and waking up to a hot session of morning sex.

For some reason, Mr. Sex On Legs doesn’t strike me as the guy who’d sleep over, and most certainly not someone who’d let you fall asleep cradled in his arms.

 “I wouldn’t try you if you were the last man on earth,” I hiss, but for some reason, my low voice doesn’t convey the disgust for cheaters and arrogant jerks I’m trying to go for.

“You’re so ready for me, I could have you panting my name in seconds. I bet you’re soaked down there.”

Who says things like that to a stranger?

I yank my hand from his fingers and push him away, without much success. “I bet you think being obnoxious is part of your charm.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“There’s nothing charming about you.”

“Obviously you haven’t seen me naked yet,” he says.

He’s so arrogant I can’t bear his ego anymore.

He inches just a little bit closer, until I can catch the tantalizing scent of his aftershave. He smells so good I want to wrap my arms around him, close my eyes and inhale his scent until it’s all that fills my mind…and anything else that needs to be filled.

“Your bedroom’s upstairs. It’s the one with the animal print bedspread.” He leans forward, and for a moment I fear he’ll kiss me. My gaze is glued to his enticing mouth, and my lips part involuntarily, ready to grant him all the access he might want. His lips brush my cheek as they trail their way to my earlobe, his hot breath making my skin tingle. “It’s also conveniently situated next to mine. Tonight, when you switch off the lights, I want you to know that I’m going to be jerking off to your picture in my mind. It won’t be the first time.”

F.U.C.K!

My air supply is cut off as I stare at him like an idiot. He’s done it before? When? How?

I wish I had the confidence to ask him to let me watch. Instead, I find myself muttering, “You’re such a creep.”

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t do it after our brief meeting at Club 69.” He laughs at my horrified expression. “Come on, Ava. Stop the double standards.”

My face catches fire. I can’t deny his statement. I’m too bad of a liar, and he’s too full of himself to believe me.

Without waiting for a reply, Kellan turns and leaves, calling over his shoulder from the door, “If you need someone to help with your bags, you’ll find me upstairs. In my bedroom.”

The invitation’s there. Unspoken but obvious.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I mutter, and then I head outside to grab my bags, my body hot against the chilly wind. At least, the rain has stopped.