Penny glanced down at the clock on her computer. She needed to get to Robert’s office. And she needed to stop thinking about the man who refused to leave her thoughts, with his gorgeous blue eyes and sexy crooked smile. Stupid non-symmetrical smile.

Dammit! Just stop!

She’d escaped home Friday night and brushed off every text from Lexi and Amanda, promising details later. They had questions, but she had no desire to answer them, yet—if ever. Okay, they were her best friends. She’d answer them. Just not yet.

But it was Monday and she worked with Lexi. She was shocked that Lexi hadn’t been waiting at Penny’s office door at eight on the dot, but Lexi’s daughter, Abby, had a doctor’s appointment. Penny hoped it was just routine, but she was grateful that Lexi wasn’t in yet.

She was still in shock at seeing Ethan. What were the freaking odds? And as a fan of logic problems, she was still trying to puzzle this one together. At least she knew his last name now. She’d googled that shit as soon as she’d made it home. Ethan Harty had turned out to be Ethan Hartnell. Professional hockey player just traded from New York over the summer. Known party boy who’d gotten into more trouble than, apparently, his team thought he was worth.

No thank you.

She’d stared at image after image of him, always with a different—gorgeous—woman. Nope. Definitely not for her. Not that he wanted to be with her.

She pulled herself back to the present. She did not have time for this. Or anything for that matter since she was going to be late to her meeting her with her boss. Robert had hinted at changes coming in the staff meeting this morning, but he’d been vague. She hated vague. It left things open to assumptions and over-analyzations.

She grabbed the hard copy of the Riggs file—she’d already emailed Robert the electronic file—and her tablet, smoothed down her dress, and made her way upstairs to his office.

She gave Jane, Robert’s secretary, a smile as Jane told her to go in.

“Penny, come in, come in.” Robert Knight waved her toward one of the chairs in his office. “Just one second.”

He pressed the intercom on his phone. “Jane, can you let me know when my nephew gets here?”

“Sure.” Her response came through the phone.

Robert turned back to Penny. “You wanted to talk about the Riggs file, right?”

She opened the folder, pulling out a few documents. “Yes, I found a few discrepancies that I wanted to review with you before going back to the client.”

They spent the next fifteen minutes going over the account. “Great work, Penny. You’re always so thorough.”

“Thanks.” She shuffled the paperwork back into the folder, closing it.

“One other thing. I have a new accountant starting next week and was hoping you would show him the ropes.”

“Sure,” she replied, trying to hide her frustration. Another new hire to train. She was getting sick of being the go-to girl, stuck as a senior accountant, never moving up.

“Great. Knew I could count on you to help out. And I should mention that it’s Alan’s son,” he said.

She held back her bristle. Great. The other owner’s son. Should go well.

“Your nephew is here,” Jane buzzed in.

“Please send Ethan in. We’re just finishing up,” Robert said.

Ethan? She shook her head. Clearly, she was hearing things since he was still on her mind, niggling in the back, berating her for skipping out on him with a note.

“Hey, Uncle Robert.” The familiar voice rolled over her. Her heart raced, and her palms started to sweat. No. This was not happening. Oh god, he was her boss’s nephew. But he was a professional athlete. Why was he related to her boss? How did she not know this already? She internally shook her head, her thoughts making no sense. Professional athletes had families, too. She just hadn’t expected to be working with one of them. Maybe she could get out of the office without actually looking at him.

“Hey, Ethan. Come in. Come in. This is Penny Connor, one of our top accountants.” Fuck. So much for escaping.

“Penny?” His tone was filled with shock. Hell, she was shocked, too.

She turned, rising from her chair. Her gaze locked with his, and she didn’t miss the question—and irritation—in his gaze. She could really go for that sinkhole right about now. Flustered, she jabbed her hand out. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said.

He stared at her palm for a split second before engulfing it with his. She would not think about the heat spiraling through her body as their hands met, but she couldn’t stop her sharply indrawn breath.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, squeezing her hand tightly. His expression was blank, and he didn’t out her.

“It’s so great to have him back on this side of the country,” Robert continued as if he couldn’t sense the awkwardness flooding his office. “You watch hockey, Penny?”

“Umm. No,” she said, tugging her hand free.

“Ethan plays for the Strikers. Just traded a few months ago. First time visiting the office.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” She turned back to Robert, anything to stop looking at Ethan.

“You know. It’s funny, actually. The two of you were in Italy around the same time. How crazy would it have been if you’d met?” Robert interjected.

“Yeah, crazy,” Ethan whispered, and Penny couldn’t resist looking at him again. His gaze held barely banked anger, and a coolness she’d never seen before. And she felt like an asshole.

She swallowed hard. She needed to get out of Robert’s office before she embarrassed herself by fessing up to the truth or throwing her arms around Ethan’s neck.

Shit. Where had that thought come from? She didn’t want to hug him. She wanted to escape, with her dignity intact—well, what was left of it.

“Did I mention that to you before, Penny?” Robert asked.

“No. No, you didn’t,” she said, finding her voice again. “Well, again, nice meeting you.” She stepped back, and hit the door with an umph, the doorknob digging into her spine as the Riggs file spilled to the floor. She’d have a bruise there tomorrow. At least she hadn’t dropped the tablet. Jesus. She was a mess.

“You okay, Penny?” Robert asked as she dropped down, gathering the papers and shoving them out of order into the folder.

“Yep, fine,” she said, rising and pressing the file to her chest, a pathetic armor. “I should get back to work now.” With a quick nod to Robert, and a tight smile to Ethan, she escaped Robert’s office.

As she left the office, she heard Robert tell Ethan they could leave soon. She walked down the hall, refusing to run. Holy shit, what had just happened? Deep breaths. Deep breaths. She repeated the mantra in her head as she briskly walked down the stairs—but not too briskly—that’s how accidents happened.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind her, and she knew it was him.

“You’re making a habit of running away from me,” he said. That stupid voice rolling over her, doing things to her body that it had no right doing. Fuck, this was not going to end well, but he kept popping up in her life, and she had to face him at some point.

She’d just wished it’d be some point in the future—the far-off future.

Karma was an evil bitch.

“Penny, stop.”

She paused in her flight and turned to face him, hating the tight line of his lips. Remembering the bright smile that he’d shot her when he’d sat down next to her at that vineyard all those months ago. The crooked grin, that playful laugh—no, that week had been a fantasy, and it was better to push it from her mind.

“Umm, hi, Ethan.”

“So, you do remember me?” His tone was irritated, his sharp eyes glaring.

Why the hell had he sought her out if he was just going to sneer at her? Sneer was a harsh word, but his expression was close.

“Of course, I remember you. I’m just in shock. How the hell are you related to my boss? How did I not know you were related to him? How is this happening?” she said, dropping her head, grasping the file closer to her chest.

“I was going to ask you the same thing. And he’s my mother’s brother, if you want to get technical. We’ve been estranged.” He paused. “Not that I need to explain myself to you.”

“No, you don’t. Crap, I’m pretty sure I complained about my job to you. This is a disaster. Please don’t say anything to him,” she said, looking back up at him.

“That’s all you can say to me?” he asked.

“I—I’m sorry. My brain isn’t fully functioning right now. I’m still in shock.”

“You said that already. I’m surprised you don’t have a list made up of possible responses for seeing me again.” His lips tilted up in the corner, the hint of a smile, before they flattened again.

“Of course I don’t have a list. I was never going to see you again.” She didn’t miss his flinch. She should’ve made a list. Should’ve been prepared for anything since running into him the other night—and running away. Plenty of time to make a list.

“That much was obvious when you left me in that hotel room, with a damn note,” he gritted out. “And now, here you are, working for my uncle. Hanging out at a bar owned by a guy I’ve known since I was a kid. How is that possible? The world is not that small.”

“Wait? You know Adam, too?” She tightened her grip on her tablet and folder to stop her need to fidget.

“Yes. We went to the same high school. Actually, he’d graduated before I started, but I used to go to the high school hockey games when he was playing.”

“Oh, yeah, small world.” Her laugh was pained. “Umm, he’s best friends with my best friend’s boyfriend, and they invited me. Can we not do this here?” she asked, wishing he’d just leave, but seeing that he wasn’t, she refused to have this conversation in the hallway, where anyone could walk by. She’d been office gossip fodder for long enough. It was just starting to die down, and she refused to feed the monster anything else.

“I would think you’d want everyone to see that you know your boss’s nephew. Pretty sure one of the few things you mentioned about work, when we were in Italy, was that you were due for a promotion,” he said. It’d been one of the few things he’d gotten out of her about their real lives. She’d wanted to keep reality off the table, but had let some aspects of her job slip. Too bad she also hadn’t mentioned she was an accountant or that she worked for his damn uncle.

He cursed his pride when the color drained from her face. God, he could be an asshole. He blamed it on his shock at seeing her in his uncle’s office.

He’d recognized her as soon as he’d walked into Robert’s office. Her curls pulled up in a twist, a few strands kissing the neck that he’d lavished attention on in Italy. Her skin softer than any he’d ever touched. His lips tingled to trace along her hairline, and he clenched his jaw.

Fuck. How was she here? What were the goddamn odds of her working for his uncle? Not that he planned to do background checks on women he slept with, but it was something to consider.  He’d hadn’t thought that through—or anything through in Italy—when he’d found out she lived in his hometown. They may not have exchanged last names, but she’d told him she was from San Francisco the first day he’d met her. At the time he’d had no plans to leave New York, so he’d mentioned having some family there, but said that he hadn’t been home in years.

“How can you think that of me?” she gasped.

“I honestly don’t know what to think,” he said. “Where’s your office?”

“A few doors down, but you’re not coming into my office,” she said. The color was slowly coming back to her face, but she was still pale.

“I want answers…so we can do that here or in your office,” he said, unsure of what he wanted. He should turn around and walk back to his uncle. What did it matter that she worked for Robert? It’s not like Ethan had plans to visit an accounting firm that often. But he needed to know why she’d skipped out on him. That never happened. Call it ego, or anything you wanted, but he needed answers.

“Follow me,” she said, spinning on her heel and heading down the hall.

He should’ve walked away, but instead he trailed behind her, attempting to ignore the determined swaying of her hips and the tightness in her shoulders. It looked uncomfortable and awkward as hell as she power-walked toward her office. She opened a door and gestured for him to enter, shutting it quickly behind him.

She let out an audible sigh and turned to face him, her tablet and folder still clutched to her chest.

He plucked the armor from her hands and set it on the desk. “Why did you leave?”

“What?”

He dove right in. “That morning. Before I woke up. Why did you leave?”

“It was easier that way,” she said softly, her gaze on her hands, her cheeks starting to pink.

“You knew it was our last day. I had more things planned, and I woke up to a note reminding me that check-out was at eleven. Pretty cold, Penny,” he said, hating the bitterness in his tone. He’d never let a woman affect him the way she had—well, not in years. He’d been surprised that she had when he’d woken up in the cooling sheets, a crisp folded note on the pillow where her head had been only hours before.

“I’m sorry. It was just supposed to be a fun time, and I didn’t want to do the whole sad goodbye where we claim we’re going to call each other but never do. I mean, not that you had any intention of it being more than just that week, but…” she trailed off, and he read her loud and clear.

Not that he could fault her. They’d been honest from the beginning. A week of glorious sex, and they would go their separate ways—no phone numbers or last names or forwarding information. But it still stung waking up alone in her damn hotel room. She wasn’t supposed to linger in his mind during the rest of his trip in Italy or pop up in his brain when he found out he’d been traded to her hometown. That was not how this was supposed to work. And he was pissed at her and himself for even having those thoughts. Not that he’d let her know about that.

“I can’t believe I didn’t hear you packing or leaving. It was your room.”

She fiddled with her fingers, another sigh slipping past her lips.

“Could you at least look at me?”

Her gaze darted up, and her embarrassment was vivid in her eyes. He just had no clue why she was embarrassed. Was it because of what they’d done? Not that five days of the best sex he’d ever had should be embarrassing.

“I packed everything the last night before you came back to my room.”

“Wow. So you knew you were going to bail before we slept together that night. Why didn’t you just kick me out of your room when you were done with me?” Jesus, he needed to rein in the bitterness. She couldn’t get the better of him, even if the signs blatantly pointed to that being the case.

“That’s not why I packed early. I thought it would be easier to be ready to go because I didn’t know what you had planned for my last day. I didn’t decide to leave that morning until later. I’m so sorry, Ethan. I thought it would be better that way.”

Her explanation did not make him feel any better.

“You keep saying that. So, you truly had no idea who I was? That Robert was my uncle?”

She glared at him, standing straighter. “Of course not. I didn’t even know you played hockey. I mean, you have all of your teeth,” she said.

His laugh was harsh. “Way to stereotype, Penny.”

“Sorry. I’m a little flustered. I never thought I’d see you again, and now I’ve seen you twice in the last week in places I never imagined running into you.”

“You’ve imagined seeing me again?” he asked, unable to stop the question from coming out of his mouth. He was mad at her—pissed—and yet he needed to know. It was ridiculous how she tied him up in knots. He needed to focus on his anger, get his answers, and get the hell out of this enclosed room before he did something insane like grab her and see if her lips were as sweet as he remembered.

Goddamn knots.

“No, I didn’t,” she said, and he refused to read more into her words. “Now, I do have to get back to work. Robert is probably wondering what happened to you.” She inched around her desk, probably wanting the large expanse between them.

“Yes, I should go. And good luck getting that promotion you wanted,” he said, turning to leave.

“Umm. Could you not mention to Robert that we know each other?”

“In general or carnally?” He couldn’t stop himself, and her cheeks flared red.

“Seriously? Just don’t tell him anything. You should go,” she said.

“Goodbye, Penny. At least I get to say that this time.” He wrenched open the door and stepped out into the hall, her gasp fading as the door shut behind him. The parting jab was unnecessary, but he apparently turned into a vindictive toddler around her. Fuck, he had issues.

He returned to his uncle’s office, catching the smirk on Robert’s face. “What?” he asked.

“Want to tell me what that was about?”

“What? I just had to run to the bathroom.”

Robert chuckled. “Right. The bathroom. You know I’m not a senile old man, right?”

“You are looking a little old,” Ethan shot back. Not that Robert looked that old. He was Ethan’s mother’s younger brother. The man’s smirk increased his wrinkles.

Damn. He’d been obvious running after Penny, but she hadn’t given him much of a choice.

“Bite your tongue. I’ll have you know that I work out five times a week, and I’m in the best shape of my life. I bet I could keep up with you on the ice,” Robert said, grinning.

“Yeah. I doubt that, but you’re welcome to come to an early morning skate with me,” Ethan teased, hoping to steer his uncle away from Ethan’s recent disappearing act.

“I’ll pass on that. Now, do you want to tell me why you ran out of here?”

“It’s nothing. You ready for lunch? I’m starved.”

“First time you’ve visited my office and you’re already hitting on my employees?” his uncle said, shaking his head. “That was fast.”

“I thought she was someone I’d met before,” he replied.

“Thought you said you had to go to the bathroom,” Robert said, his brow arched.

“Just drop it,” Ethan grumbled. “Now I thought you were taking me to lunch. Can we go?”

“You signed another multi-million-dollar contract, and you won’t pay for lunch. Ungrateful nephew,” Robert muttered.

“Come on. It’s on me, of course.”

“Damn straight.”

Ethan laughed and followed his uncle out of his office. Of the few family members he tolerated, his uncle was at the top of the list—the very short list.