The party, from what Hailey could see, was a raging success.

Light had fallen to darkness hours ago, but the special torches she’d ordered had been lit and wedged in the sand. Firelight leapt all around the mile of beach she’d secured with the right officials. A twenty-foot-square woven mat stood as a dance floor—with a harder underlay so people didn’t trip and fall—with the best DJ in Malibu spinning his stuff into the night. A buffet table spread with fresh fruit and nibbles stood higher on a slope, nearer Leo’s house, which was as fabulous as she’d suspected. Security stood on alert to prevent anyone from invading Leo’s privacy.

Across the way, a chef also worked the biggest barbecue she’d ever seen, with a built-in pit Ryder had created in the space of two seconds. A line of people dressed in grass skirts, coconut bras, Hawaiian shirts, and shorts, snaked from it, while others grooved on the dance floor or attempted to shimmy under the limbo pole. A trick that would get even harder once the free bar she’d erected near the buffet, complete with palm fronds and a shirtless bartender—yes, that was for the female guests—kicked in.

Amid the crowd weaved dancers she’d hired to do Hawaiian dances, something the men all seemed to appreciate. Which reminded her, she needed to learn how to do one of the belly tricks she’d seen a brunette do earlier. Ryder would lose his mind.

The scents of roasting meat and vegetables mixed with the flowers she’d strewn around, creating the image of the tropics. She didn’t know if it lived up to it—most of the guests after all could flash themselves there in a couple of minutes—but Ryder had been elated and Leo, who’d been reluctance personified, had even dredged up a smile.

She spotted him now, leaning against the railing of his beach house’s deck. Ryder had gone to get them cocktails from the bar but had gotten waylaid by “fans.” Despite their skimpy coconut bras, Hailey didn’t even feel a speck of worry. Ryder was so not the cheating type. After all, he was honest. To the point of yes-your-ass-does-look-big-but-that’s-a-good-thing bluntness. And he cared about her.

Feeling pretty good about life in general, she decided to make her way up to Leo on the deck. She liked Ryder’s twin. He might be less “out there,” but he was charming and funny in his own way. And he loved Ryder, so that put him in her good books automatically.

“Enjoying the party?” she called as she held up her long tropical-print skirt to climb the steps carved in the slope.

Leo glanced over and his eyes warmed. “It’s great. Really.”

“You know,” she said, settling on her elbows beside him. “It’s not just for looking at.”

“But it makes a pretty spectacle.”

Hailey smiled. “You didn’t want the party, huh?”

“Ryder wanted me to have it.”

“But you could have refused to let him host it at your house.”

Leo glanced at her. “Ryder wanted me to have it,” he repeated.

Her smile grew. They stared in companionable silence for a moment, watching the revelry. Any minute this group was going to start breaking out the magic tricks, and Hailey for one was curious what happened when Genies got drunk and wild.

“So why has my brother abandoned you?” Leo asked, shifting so he could turn toward her. His white shirt was unbuttoned and it flapped around his torso, bronzed from many Malibu days. No loud Hawaiian shirt for Leo, although Ryder had argued at length about how much of a fun sucker he was being.

Hailey indicated the mob with a sweep of her hand. “He’s courting his fans.”

“You’re not angry,” Leo observed with surprise.

“Why should I be?” Hailey caressed Ryder’s face with her gaze.

As if he felt it, he turned and sought her out. He threw her an apologetic look before signing something else the women found. Hailey had her money on Double Ds flipping out a boob next.

“I’m glad he has you.”

At Leo’s semiserious statement, Hailey threw a teasing look at him. “Because of all the prime whipped jokes you can make?”

One side of Leo’s mouth lifted. “Because you love him enough to let him be him.”

It was as if he’d punched her. All the air flew out her mouth as she gaped at him. Ice crowded her blood, froze her where she stood. Her mind went blank.

“Don’t worry; I think my oblivious twin is unaware of it,” he assured her with a grin, clearly not picking up on her distress. “But as an observer, I can tell.”

She ran a self-conscious hand down her hair, which she’d braided into two fat plaits. No. Leo was wrong. She might care about Ryder a lot, but love was way off base. Way too serious. Sure, she wanted Ryder to be happy, got that glow when she was going to see him or when she was thinking about him, damn near cracked her cheeks smiling when she was with him, but . . .

Emotion body checked her as she glanced again at Ryder. Shadows weaved over his face as he gave an awkward smile to one woman and shook his head. A thousand memories of different smiles flashed in her head, stopping on the one when he’d asked her to “go steady.”

Did she love him?

Her heart expanded as she took in a shaky breath.

Christ, Lawson.

Unease slithered in her belly and churned, frothing like an ocean about to storm. It was too soon. Too soon for that kind of emotion. She didn’t want that kind of risk, not now when her life was actually fun and free and good. Damn it, she’d finally got their relationship where she wanted it. Easy, but with a few strings. Why did she have to go and complicate it?

Leo’s eyebrows were lifted, waiting for her to say something.

“I, ah . . .” She cleared her throat, shoving her worries away so they wouldn’t show on her face. It wasn’t as if she had to do anything about it now. There was time to figure out what to do. “We’re taking it slow so . . .”

“Yeah, Ry’s gun-shy. And he told me about your ex so I get why you wouldn’t be ready to rush into anything.”

“He told you about Ethan?”

“Not so much the name, more a description.” His smile was innocent.

She had to smile, despite the knots in her belly. “Yeah, that sounds like Ryder.”

The music drifted around them as she considered Leo’s earlier words. “What did you mean I let him be him?”

“Other women he’s had in the past have been annoyed when women are all over him. But Ryder . . . he can’t stand to see someone sad.”

“Yeah. I figured that out.” She thought back to the auction and gave a rueful shake of her head.

“I’m glad.” Leo lifted the beer bottle he’d been dangling over the railing and tipped it to her. “To one hell of a party.”

“I’ll drink to that. If I had one, of course.”

They both looked back to Ryder. He shook his head at something Double Ds said, gestured at the bar, when . . .

Yep. There went the bikini top.

* * *

Ryder eventually extracted himself from the overeager brunette with—okay, honesty—the truly fantastic tits, hoping beyond logic that Hailey hadn’t also seen the enthusiastic hug the brunette had given him. While it had been interesting, it hadn’t interested him.

Which was nice. It kind of confirmed what he’d been feeling all along—that Hailey was the one for him.

And whaddya know? It was getting less panic inducing to think like that.

He got Hailey’s drink and a beer for himself and threaded through the throng, up to where she was laughing with his brother. The woman slayed him.

Other women would want to dance, limbo, teasingly dart into the surf.

Hailey left the party to talk to his twin.

He approached them with a sheepish grin. “I come bearing alcohol.”

“And probably a heck of a lot of baby oil,” Hailey said, taking the coconut he offered. She sipped through the straw. She was smiling, but there was something peculiar in her expression. Annoyed? “So, Leo and I have odds on this—were they fake?”

Ryder glanced at her sly look to his grinning brother. “Is there any way I can answer this question without you throwing your drink on me?” he wondered.

“One way.”

He thought. Ah.

He pulled out the big guns, a lazy smile he knew damn well made her pulse flutter. “Who cares? They weren’t as good as yours.”

Hailey pinked up. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

“Then what?”

“You could’ve said you didn’t notice because you moved away immediately.”

“Well, I did move away but any man knows when boobs are fake when they’re pressed up against—isn’t this a great night? And that moon, wow, is that big.”

Hailey’s lips twitched. “Nice save.”

They chatted with Leo for a while, Hailey eventually losing the strange pinched look, taking note of when the revelers started letting a little looser. A few magic tricks, a little nudity.

His kind of party.

Though with Hailey in that light-blue-print skirt that dragged along the ground but for the insanely high slit that went into naughty territory, Ryder was starting to get ideas about a different kind of party altogether. A very private party. For two.

He knew Hailey was concerned about leaving Leo, but Ryder knew his twin. He’d done his social rounds earlier, now he’d be content to enjoy it from above. Leo liked to socialize with a distance between him and a crowd, like sitting in a pub and reading. No amount of pushing would get Leo down into the mob.

“One hell of a party,” a familiar voice drawled as Ryder was trying to come up with a way to get Hailey on her own.

The three of them swiveled their heads. Luka stood, one hand in his cargo shorts’ pocket.

Leo’s eyes widened. “What are you wearing?”

“Yeah, I gotta back Leo up on this.” Ryder had to laugh. “Where the hell did you find that?”

Luka inspected the Hawaiian shirt he wore. Burnt orange with vivid green palm trees and blue waves, it was a finger to good taste. And suited the Handler to a T.

“What?” he said, picture of innocence. “I thought this was the theme.”

Leo raised his eyebrows. “Bad taste is a theme?”

“No respect for your elders. Or betters. Or more superior karaoke singers.” Luka spied Hailey then and the smile upped to deadly. “This must be the woman we’ve all been waiting for. Wendy, isn’t it?”

Ryder sent him the death-ray glare.

Which was promptly ignored.

Luka held out a hand. “Only kidding. Luka, Handler Extraordinaire. You must be Hailey Lawson.”

Hailey gave him a hesitant smile and slid her hand into his. “You’re Ryder’s boss?”

“Mmm. So they tell me.” Luka didn’t let go of her hand as he studied her. “My, my. You don’t lack in the looks department.”

Ryder cleared his throat with a pointed glare at their joined hands. “You’ll have to forgive Luka,” he said as Luka let Hailey go with a smartass grin. “He doesn’t know how to be around people.”

“Sure, I do,” Luka countered, hands back in pockets. “It’s people who don’t know how to be around me.”

Ryder saw Hailey smile. He glanced at her pink cheeks and scowled. He knew the female staff who worked at WFY all went giddy went Luka walked into a room, something about hair as black as sin and silver eyes like smoke, and he knew how to be charming if he wanted to be, but Ryder had assumed Hailey would see through Luka’s BS. Not that he was jealous.

“So, how’s it going?” Luka directed this to Leo. “Ready to kiss the ground and thank the gods for your eternal life yet?”

“You don’t think I start the mornings like that?”

“I know I do. Though I must vacuum more. Dust, you know. It gets stuck to my lip balm.”

“You have a problem.”

“So everyone keeps saying. Still.” Luka wandered closer and gazed at the party laid out before him. “One hell of a show. All your doing, Ms. Lawson?”

“Hailey, and yes. As per WFY’s agreement to cover the charity money.”

“Money?” Luka caught Ryder’s warning look. “Oh. Yeah. We paid that money. Yes siree Bob. We wrote that check, signed it. Sent it promptly. All from us. Nobody else.”

Ryder rolled his eyes to the sky.

“Am I missing something?”

“I see both earrings.” Luka’s input.

Ryder grabbed Hailey’s hand in exasperation. “Hey, I see some deserted beach. Let’s go . . . walk on it.”

* * *

“He’s going to kill you,” Leo informed Luka as they were left alone on the deck.

Luka merely grinned and slapped him on the back. “Some things need to be said. And some things need to be drunk. Where’s the bar and why aren’t we down there?”

* * *

Hailey tipped her head back and checked out the night sky as she and Ryder walked away from the party. “Huh. They’ve got lights in the sky here.”

“I heard about those.” Ryder carried his shoes in one hand and held her hand with the other—under much fake protestation. “I think they’re called stars.”

Hailey grinned and nestled closer. She’d decided to forget about what Leo had said. Like Max always told her, she needed to stop overthinking and enjoy the moment. Okay, it was a little difficult, but she had faith in Ryder’s ability to distract her. “Tell me more about these stars. Are they romantic?”

“Very,” he said with a solemn air. “They’re created from hot gas burning billions of miles away.”

“And with the mention of gas . . .”

“There goes the romance?” he finished and tugged her to a stop. “I told you I’m not good at that stuff.” He let go of her hand. A white flower appeared in his, which he tucked into her hair, his hand lingering to stroke her cheek.

“I think you’re doing okay,” she murmured and lifted her face for his kiss.

They sank into it. It was crazy how turned on she could still feel, how safe and yet thrilling it was to feel Ryder’s lips cling to hers, his hands on her body. As their lips slid along each other’s, shivers circled around her skin.

She was right not to overthink. Right? Just because she sorta maybe kinda thought she might be . . . in you know . . . with him, well, it didn’t mean she had to acknowledge it or make it mean anything more than it should. If you thought about it, it was really just an extension of caring about someone. She could deal with that. As long as they kept it easy, slow. Okay, so just knowing that the feelings were there was like being poised at the top of the rollercoaster, looking down at the freaking loop-de-loop and the forty-foot drop, and yes, thinking of what love had done to her last time made her feel as if she’d been dunked in an ice bath . . .

No. She was right not to overthink. Love messed everything up. Took everything out of your hands.

Keep it light, keep it fun. Forget what Leo had said.

Aaand she’d been staring at Ryder mute for the last thirty seconds. His expression was edging toward concerned.

Give me a topic, any topic.

“What did Luka mean about the money?” she settled on.

Something shifted in his face. “What do you mean?”

“He was weird about it.”

“Luka is weird.”

“In a charming way,” Hailey pointed out.

His brow furrowed. “You think Luka’s charming?”

Privately, Hailey had to admit that Handler Luka was . . . whew. Hot as hell and he knew it, judging from the dangerous gleam in his silver eyes. No wonder Kate had had a minor crush before she realized that wasn’t going anywhere. A woman would have to be dead—no, even then she’d insist on her makeup being done perfectly if the Handler were to stop by.

Genies. Magnetism. Sexy. All three words went together like ice cream, peanut brittle, and chocolate sauce—not that she could eat any of those. At the moment. Soon. If her meeting with Erica on Monday went well.

Rambling.

She poked Ryder in the chest. “Answer the question.”

A sigh flowed from him as he looked out over the waves. Their soft shushing sound was all she heard, a lullaby so different from her usual ambulance-siren classic.

“WFY didn’t pay the money,” he finally admitted.

Her eyes narrowed. Need. More. Info. “Then who did?”

He shrugged.

Hailey’s mouth fell open. “You paid five thousand dollars to charity so I could have a wish?” Wait. Rewind. “You have five thousand dollars to toss away like that?”

He lifted his hands in a who-cares gesture. “WFY is charitable but they already donated a wish to Kate’s auction. I’d be laughed out of the Director’s office for suggesting they pay the bid I arranged to win.” He cocked his head. “Well, not laughed out. Frozen, maybe.”

“You paid five thousand dollars.” Head. Spinning.

“You’re very caught up with the money. It’s just money.”

“Oh, sure.” She made a face and waved her hand. “A few thousand? Drop in the bucket.”

“Hey, you get your wish now,” he said in an obvious distract-the-mad-female move. “What can I do for you?”

She still hadn’t decided, and after seeing the wall at the hospital in the kids’ wing, it made it even harder to be so selfish. “Don’t change the subject, Mr. Money Bags.” She punched him on the arm. “How come we’re always getting takeout, huh? Where’s the lavish dinners?”

He rolled his eyes. “Look. I made you win. I cost the charity their money. Ergo, I paid the fee. I wanted you to be happy.”

The wild beat of her pulse fluttered under her skin. “For me?”

“For you.” He cupped her cheek and stroked his thumb across her lips. “Hales, it’s always been for you.”

Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it. He could not say stuff like that. She didn’t want to feel this overwhelming rush of joy and tenderness. Free and easy, goddamn you.

She crushed his shirt in her fists as she hauled him in to her, kissing him silent.

He got with the program quickly, his hands all over her butt. Then he found the slit in her skirt.

“This has been driving me crazy,” he murmured against her mouth as his hand slid inside. His fingers grazed her skin.

She shivered against the silky talent of his mouth and stretched onto her tiptoes to gain more access. Why had she worn flip-flops, today of all days?

He solved that problem by hooking her legs around his waist, taking her weight with easy strength. It excited her, that show of muscles, and she stroked them, loved them even as her mouth clung to his.

“Every time,” he groaned. “Every fucking time. It’s perfect.”

She knew what he meant.

“Flash,” she demanded in between kisses, rocking against the hard bulge that was an inch too low for her. She tried to shift, but his hands tightened on her thighs. She could have wept. “Leo’s got spare rooms, right?”

In answer, they were suddenly in a bedroom decorated in blues.

Ryder didn’t give her time to adjust, pinning her back against the door so it rattled in its frame. Trapped between the cool panel and his hot, hard body turned up the excitement notch to a thousand. Seconds passed where they did nothing more than kiss, his hands pinning her arms to the door.

The element of restraint made her writhe, gasp against his hot, wet mouth.

Another curse and he slid his lips away. With a flick of his eyes, her arms were held by invisible bands, freeing his hands to stroke down her aching body.

“Let me touch you,” she pleaded.

“No.” His smile was drugged with power.

She refused to admit it turned her on.

“You . . . suck,” she managed as he filled his palms with her breasts, tweaking her nipples until the need was unbearable.

“Now there’s an idea,” he growled and sank to his knees. Keeping her restrained with his will, the Genie slid her skirt up past her knees to where her frail blue panties hid her from him.

Huh, she thought as they landed on the carpet. They match the room.

Then she could only cry out, hips rolling, as Ryder tasted her, his tongue as expert as his fingers as he worked her to that place of light and pleasure.

She half sobbed as she came, driving back against the door.

He freed her and carried her to the bed, laying her down on the pillows. Her clothes were gone in an instant, his stripped as he watched her watch him. Moonlight spilled through the open window onto the bed as he crawled up to her.

“You’re mine,” he said, low, insistent as he licked her navel.

“Ye-es,” she hissed.

“Mine.” He kissed his way up to her breasts, making her breath tremble as he sucked on them. His body was hard, heavy, wanting. “Say it.”

Hailey caught his face with her hands, stroking away errant locks of dark hair. “I’m yours,” she managed as he teasingly worked himself against her. “And you’re mine.”

Something changed in his eyes, now fully amber like molten lava. He sank into her on a groan, pleasure flickering on his face.

Hailey bit her lips, eyes half-closed as she drew her legs around him.

But he wasn’t in the mood for fast, despite his earlier demands. He worked her slow, thoroughly, until she was begging, rocking, clawing at his back for release.

When she finally hit her peak, she gasped his name. His groans increased until he stilled and shuddered.

He held her after in silence, arms cradling her close. As if she was special. Cherished.

She fought the unease until finally she slipped into a restless sleep.