Don’t think about Rory. Don’t think about Rory.

I chanted the mantra over and over to myself, trying to drown out the still hot and fresh memories from my mind. Rory’s Greek-God-like body, cut in all the right ways, moving in all the right ways against me, inside me…on the balcony, in his bed, in his kitchen. I was still sore, and it had been two days. The best sex of my life by far, but I couldn’t deny something more had happened than just world-bending orgasms that night. Something had shifted inside me, and it wasn’t just his perfect cock. The last piece of me that had been holding back, keeping Rory locked in a file with nothing but a contract, fell. I fell. And it had left me terrified.

Sweat popped on the back on my neck as my skin flushed from the memory and again I forced myself to concentrate. If I didn’t, I’d end up blurting out how perfect Rory’s body was at the press conference.

Focus!

I gripped my iPhone; the prepared speech pulled up on the screen as I stepped out of the company car. This—right here, this was where I would make a difference. Where I would leave my mark. Tears bit the backs of my eyes as I took in the perfect location for my shelter, but I kept them on lockdown right alongside thoughts of Rory.

A warm shiver danced across my skin just thinking his name.

My black pumps crunched against the gravel as I made my way to the massive brick building that had once been a company that made phonebooks. The place had long been on the market, and it needed work, but I could see the potential where other buyers hadn’t. I’d signed the papers last week.

A slew of reporters waited outside the front of the building ready to take my statements on what exactly I was doing with the place. The site was also crowded with workers, already implementing the plans I’d discussed with the contractor, electrician, and code manager I’d hired. The hustle of steps and sounds of power tools thrilled me to the point of being giddy. My dream finally bursting with life. It wouldn’t be long before it would serve this community in ways no shelter ever had before.

“Ms. Turner!” Reporters started shouting the minute I stepped up the concrete stairs to address them.

“Yes?” I pointed to the first journalist I’d heard.

The crowd hushed and waited. “Are the rumors about you and Mr. Jackson true?”

My mouth went dry, but I straightened my spine, offering them a soft smile. “This is a press conference to discuss the objectives of the newest undertaking at CranBaby Organics, not a tell all on my personal life.” Not that I was trying to hide Rory—we’d been caught on camera holding hands and even kissing—but I wasn’t prepared to be vetted about him here. This was about my shelter, not my “relationship.”

The fact that I still couldn’t think of it as a real relationship had my stomach sinking in ways it had no right to. Rory and I had made a deal. A business deal, and just because something had changed inside me that night, didn’t mean Rory’s feelings had. He was still the notorious bad boy of the Shark’s and would return to his playboy status once our three months were up. I’d simply have to guard my heart more carefully and enjoy the time I had.

Keep telling yourself that.

And here I was thinking about Rory when I should be announcing my dream project. I shifted on my pumps, maintaining my smile.

“Apologies, Ms. Turner,” the reporter said. “Can’t help the curiosity.”

I nodded. Rory needed the good press, too, and who was I to not answer one little question that could help his image in the media? “Quite all right,” I said, smoothing down my fitted gray T which laid over my nicest blue jeans. I may be in heels, but I came here to get my hands dirty. “Mr. Jackson and I are together. Now they aren’t rumors, and we can discuss the matter at hand.” I motioned to the gorgeous building behind me.

The reporter grinned, and I took the silence to explain the intricacies of the project. By the time I was done, I had nearly cried twice. God, my emotions were all over the place. “As you can tell,” I dabbed at the corner of one eye that had traitorously given up one tear. “You can see how important this is to me, and to CranBaby Organics. This will be no ordinary shelter. It won’t simply feed and house Seattle’s homeless. It will give them resources, outreach programs, and training to get back the lives they once had. Our city deserves it, but more so, they do.”

A round of applause drowned out the sounds of the workers and volunteers inside the building, and I flashed the reporters my media worthy smile—not too much teeth, just enough lip. And after a quick round of questions, I thanked them all for coming and turned to step inside the building.

It was one thing to have a dream, and quite another to see it come to life.

The main level was perfect—a wide open floorplan that would be constructed into a warm, welcoming, not at all clinical lobby for those in need. I’d told my contractor I wanted them to feel as if they were checking into a hotel, not a poorly funded charity.

People hustled back and forth, carrying two by fours and tools and charts and wires. The buzz was intoxicating enough to steal my breath. Or maybe it was the face I easily recognized carting two massive pieces of wood over his shoulders that stopped my heart.

“Rory?” My voice squeaked from the shock of seeing him here.

He followed my voice until he spotted me standing there gaping at him. “Just a sec!” He called, hurrying across the massive room to drop the boards in a fastly growing pile. He strolled back toward me, his jeans dirtied with sawdust and grime. The white T-shirt he wore clung to his rock hard abs from the sweat dripping slowly down his arms.

The closer he got to me the harder it was to breathe, as if my heart filled up my entire chest so there was no room for air. Kissing my cheek once he reached me, I stood frozen.

He glanced down at my pumps before returning those crystal blue eyes to mine. “You know how fond I am of those,” he pointed to them. “But they aren’t really what I’d have you working in here.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “Oh, so you’re the boss now?”

He smirked. “You like it when I’m in control.” He shifted closer to me. He smelled like fresh cut wood and one hundred percent man. “Admit it.”

I bit my bottom lip, the pain sharpening the wits I always lost around him. “What are you doing here?” I smiled as I gestured to the building around us.

“No practice today.”

“So on all non-practice days, you roam the city looking for charities in need?” I teased.

“Only ones who are headed up by gorgeous redheads.” A flush danced across my cheeks, and he grinned. “This is important to you. That makes it important to me.”

I swallowed hard, squinting at him as if that would make the truth easier to see. Was he saying that because it’s what a man in a relationship would say? Was he only behaving this way because it had been in our contract that we must act like a real couple? The lines were now so blurry I didn’t know how to draw new ones, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

Suddenly, the last thing I wanted to do was work. The only thing I wanted making me sweat was Rory.

“Later,” he whispered as if he could read my mind.

“Excuse me?” I asked, breathless.

He flashed me a knowing look and lightly trailed his fingers over the skin of my collarbone. “Later,” he repeated. “Now, we have work to do.” He winked and turned around, walking back across the room to where he’d dropped off the boards.

For a few moments, I stood rooted to the spot as I watched him ask my head contractor what needed to be done. The air grew thin again, and my heart took off like it had just joined a race. The feeling—the consuming, electric, pulsing, aching, need—filled every inch of available space inside my soul and it only awoke in the presence of one man. Rory.

Oh holy hell. I’m in love with him.

Somehow the crush I’d had for years had grown into something deeper, more meaningful as my eyes were opened to not just the guy I saw at Bailey and Gage’s, but the man he really was. The truth of the thought only added to the butterflies in my stomach followed quickly by a generous splash of ice cold fear. I was in love with a man I’d contracted to be with me for three months, and three months only.

A bad boy shark and a proper corporation princess had no real business being together. Nothing real enough to last. Did we?

“You coming, Red?” Rory’s voice drew me out of myself, and I tossed him a fake smile. The crease between his brow flashed. “You all right?”

“Yes, of course. Let’s get to work.” I hurried past him, seeking out my electrician and silently thanking him for using big words I could barely understand. It was enough to silence the excitement and fear blaring in my head, screaming the only thing that mattered at the moment.

I was in love, and it had an expiration date.

* * *

After working half the day away, I hadn’t successfully buried my worries, but I had successfully gotten good and dirty. Sweat soaked my jeans and shirt, the back of my neck, and my hands were covered in grime, but it felt good. The grit was a testament to how much we accomplished today and watching the crew rally and put into motion plans I’d dreamt of for years was a pile of icing on one hell of a cake.

“Let me take you home,” Rory said as we walked out of the building. The sun hung low in the sky fighting the good fight before night claimed it.

My heart fluttered in my chest, the same damn way it had every time he’d spoken to me since I realized I’d fallen for him. “All right,” I said and waved off my driver.

The ride to my place was silent save for the few times Rory complimented me on my eye for details. It was like I didn’t have a clue how to act around him now that my heart had latched on to the one man I’d basically hired to use for sex.

For God’s sake, he’s not a prostitute. It was a mutually agreed upon contracted relationship, not a porn. Well, it did have some of the better aspects of porn, but still. I should have known this was going to happen. I’d had a crush on the man for years, and now he was here, with me, and so much better than anything I could have ever imagined.

I clenched my eyes shut, breathing a sigh of relief when Rory’s driver pulled us up to my house. “Thank you again for showing up today, Rory. It was above and beyond.” And totally pushed me over the damn ledge I’d teetered on with my feelings for you.

“You don’t want me to come in?” He asked, climbing out of the car behind me.

I floundered around in my own head before I found my voice. “Of course I do. It’s just…I’m all dirty and—”

He cut my words off with a kiss, his tongue slipping inside my mouth like he’d always belonged there. I immediately melted into his embrace, forgetting about all the reasons I shouldn’t—like how much of a hot sweat-soaked mess I was or how he was stealing my heart instead of striking off items on a list.

“Let’s get wet,” he said, smacking my butt as he walked passed me toward my front door.

I gaped after him, my heart racing in my chest from his kiss. I unlocked the door and led him to the master bath in my bedroom. He closed the door behind me, locking it as if someone could waltz in at any moment. Or perhaps he was worried I’d run and wanted to keep me there. Both weren’t going to happen. Rory didn’t need bolts to keep me, hell, all he had to do was ask, and I’d truly be his in a heartbeat. But what was I thinking? The man was performing his contractual obligations well, and that’s all.

“I can’t believe you wore those heels,” he said, eyeing my pumps again. “I want to make a rule here and now. You’re never allowed to wear those to a game, okay? They kill me.” He hissed, slipping his hands underneath the hem of my T and pulling it over my head.

“Am I allowed to come back to a game?” I asked, the notion shocking me with excitement. I hadn’t wanted to distract him ever again, but damn did I love to watch him play.

He scrunched his eyebrows at me. “I want you in the stands.”

“You do?” The hopefulness in my tone was so obvious I was shocked he didn’t pick up on it.

“Hell yes. I won’t fuck up again. Well, I won’t as long as you don’t wear these.” He tugged each pump off before sliding me out of my jeans. I took my time peeling his clothes off, relishing the way his rock hard muscles felt underneath my fingertips.

“Deal,” I finally said when I’d stripped him bare. I reached inside my shower and turned it to hot, popping the clasp of my bra after I was finished. A quick drop of my panties—which earned me a growl from Rory—and I stepped in.

The warm drops of water hit my skin and soothed the tense muscles underneath. When Rory’s hands gently gripped my hips, my body coiled for an entirely new reason. I turned around to face him, suddenly beyond grateful I’d bought a house with a massive stand up marble shower. I had often thought it was a tad too big for only me but with Rory’s large frame in front of me, I knew it was worth it. He seemed to do that with every facet of my life—find the big, empty spaces and consume them until everything felt just right.

He smiled down at me, lightly teasing my skin as the water rolled over us both. Reaching over me, he grabbed the bottle of lavender body wash I had on the shelf and squirted a mountain in his hand. Rubbing his hands together, he quickly created a lather which he immediately smoothed over my skin.

“So,” he said, working his hands up and down my body like he’d memorized it. “Is this on your list?”

I sucked in a deep breath, gathering some of the suds and swiping them across his chest. Damn the man was cut like he was carved out of the same marble as the shower. “No,” I said, sliding my hands across his lickable V lines. “But I’m starting to think it should’ve been number one.”

He chuckled, the sound igniting my insides as much as his touch. A moan escaped my lips when he threaded his fingers through my hair, his body close enough I could feel the hardness of his cock against me.

“Can I see it yet?” He asked, his tone slightly gravelly.

I bit my lip and shook my head.

“Come on,” he begged. “Give me something.”

A deeper blush than I thought possible flushed my entire body.

Rory tilted my chin up, forcing me to meet his eyes. “How are you embarrassed? You think there is something you could throw at me that I couldn’t handle?”

I pressed my lips together to hold back a laugh. “Not a chance.” I had every confidence Rory could check off all the items left on my list within a matter of days if I asked him to.

“Hey,” he said when I’d dropped my eyes once again. “What is it?” He wrapped a soapy arm around my hip, pulling me against him.

I wanted to tell him the truth. Wanted to say I couldn’t stop falling for him, that I’d already fallen too hard, and I was scared to death of what would happen to my heart when our arrangement was up.

“Paige,” he said before I could find the courage to say a word. “I’m here. With you. And there isn’t a thing on that list of yours that you should be embarrassed over. In fact, I think you’d be surprised how far I’m willing to go to make you happy.” He teased between my thighs with his hard length, and my eyes rolled back in my head. “Tell me.”

Forcing my brain to work, I mentally scanned the list for the easiest number available. A lightbulb clicked, and my eyes darted through the glass shower door to the huge mirror in my bathroom. I smiled timidly up at Rory as I stepped further under the water to rinse off, pulling him along with me. Shutting the water off, I handed him a towel as I dried myself off, but didn’t bother putting clothes on.

He arched an eyebrow at me, and I motioned toward the mirror. He looked at our reflection in the glass and then back to me before it registered in his eyes. “Ah,” he said, smirking as he dropped his towel. He licked his lips. “I love the way your mind works.”

The heat in my cheeks doubled, but I held his gaze. He closed the distance between us, pushing some wet strands of my hair behind my ear.

“Turn around.” He ordered and the dominant tone—so different from the soft and playful one he’d used seconds ago—awoke any senses that weren’t already firing at full capacity.

I took a second too long to do what I was told, and he spun me around, so I faced the large mirror over my bathroom countertop. Heat blazed between my thighs as he pushed me from behind until my hips pressed against the marble. With one strong hand splayed across my back, he gave me a gentle nudge until I was leaning with my elbows on the cold surface. His knees brushed the back of my legs as he bent slightly over me, never losing my gaze in the mirror.

“I want you to watch me fuck you.” His blue eyes were molten, and an ache wrenched itself low in my belly. He cupped my breasts as he kissed the back of my neck, down my spine, and back up again before he teased my wet center with the tip of his cock.

I gripped the countertop to keep from turning into a puddle but quickly moved to help guide him in, to put an end to his teasing.

He spun me back around, shaking his finger. “No. You watch.”

His demand, paired with the full blasting light in the bathroom, turned up the intensity of the moment, though I didn’t know how that was possible. The muscles in his abdomen flexed as he moved behind me and good Lord he was more glorious in this light than he had been in his loft. Nothing was hidden in the view in the mirror, and I couldn’t help the wetness that slicked my thighs at the sight of his control over my body.

I tossed my hair over my shoulder, fully submitting to him as he rubbed his hands over my bare back. His thumbs worked over my hips, teasing with their proximity to my aching pussy. I arched my back, moving against his cock, trying to somehow draw it inside me without my hands.

Rory growled. “So fucking wet already.”

I reached around and grabbed his hip, urging him closer. His wicked smirk had me wanting to spin around and demand he get inside me before I burst, but he quickly slid his free hand around me, stroking my clit with just enough pressure to make me buck backward against him.

“Rory,” I begged.

“Say it.”

A thrill rushed through me, hot and pulsing. I knew from our night at his place what he needed—confirmation I wanted him as badly as possible.

“Fuck me already,” I begged, knowing it turned him on that much more when I dropped the F-bomb.

He slammed inside me, all while keeping his fingers expertly massaging my clit, and the combination was perfection. I coiled inside, the pleasure hitting a crescendo as he thrust inside me over and over. I arched my head back and closed my eyes, my orgasm on the tip of his cock, but he froze.

“Eyes open, Red.”

I snapped them open, locking onto to his molten-blue gaze in the mirror. “Watch me make you come.”

Holy shit, the mouth on this man.

I clenched around him and bucked against his hand. I couldn’t help but notice how wild my own eyes were, or how delicious he looked behind me, inside me. He fit so well, rocking within me in the perfect rhythm. He relinquished control of my hip, grabbed my breast, and pinched my nipple at the same time as he did my clit with his other hand.

“Oh, God, Rory!” I gasped, the pleasure hitting me in a hard wave that crashed inside me, forcing trembles to wrack my body. He held me steady, his eyes locked onto mine in the mirror, watching me shake with ecstasy as he made good on his promise.

I sucked in a few deep breaths, recovering quickly as he continued to thrust. In a fast motion, I shoved him away enough for him to slip outside and for me to spin around. I hopped up onto the counter, bracing my hands on the edge for leverage.

“Your turn.” I opened my legs, beckoning him back inside. He complied, the sweet motion of his reentry igniting all my already over-sensitive nerves again.

I locked my ankles around his waist and took control of the pace by squeezing my thighs around him. I rocked him in and out of me so hard, and so fast he didn’t know what hit him—the shock evident in his wide, hot gaze which shifted from me to the mirror behind me.

His cock grew harder within my walls, and he gripped my ass, pumping against me to match my pace. That sweet pressure grew, spiraling low in my belly. A low growl escaped his mouth, and I moaned in response, another orgasm shaking my core as he came inside me.

I continued to ride him, working myself slowly down until I only slightly trembled against him. He pressed his forehead against my breasts, his hot breaths coming in ragged gasps against my skin.

Wrapping my arms around him, I held him to me, not wanting to let go, relishing the quiet moments after being so incredibly high. It didn’t get any better than this. I knew that, now. Nothing would ever match how Rory could successfully push me to the edge; I just couldn’t help but selfishly want him to crash over it with me.