Elise was running late for Rachel’s Fourth of July party. She jerked her blue shorts up her legs, yanked her red halter top over her head—careful not to wreck her makeup—and slipped on her white sandals. She brushed her hair, deciding to leave it down, and hurried out of the bathroom.

She’d told Rachel that she would be there early to help set up before everyone else arrived, so running behind didn’t leave her much time to help before the guests were scheduled to get there. But, before she could leave, she had to get one thing just in case the opportunity arose to bring it out. Unfortunately, it was in the basement among all her moving boxes. At the moment, she had taken over the lower level of her parents’ home with all the things she had moved out of her house in Colorado.

She started in the corner where her living room stuff was, and it took a couple of tries, but she found the item she’d been searching for. She ran upstairs, slipped it in her purse, and grabbed the food she’d made for the party.

Rachel lived about twenty to thirty minutes from her parents’, depending on traffic, and since it was a holiday, the drive was considerably better than on a normal weekday.

Halfway there, Elise’s cell rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey, are you on your way?” Rachel asked.

“Almost there.”

“Can you stop and pick up some ice? I underestimated how much we’d need.”

“I told her to get ten bags!” Sean yelled from the background.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rachel said. “So, I thought you were exaggerating. I was wrong.”

“Elise, did you hear that?” Sean yelled. “She said she was wrong. You’re my witness.”

Elise laughed.

“Get out of here, jerkface,” Rachel told her fiancé, her voice laced with humor.

“So, how many bags do you need me to get?” Elise asked.

“Six,” Rachel whispered into the phone.

Elise laughed harder. “You only got four bags? Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“I know, okay? Don’t tell Sean. He’s already gloating because I didn’t believe him.”

“I won’t say anything.”

“Let me know when you get here. I’ll help you bring the ice in.”

“You mean, sneak it in.”

“Whatever. Just text me when you’re here.”

“Will do.”

“And stop laughing at me.”

“I love you!” Elise shouted into the phone before her friend hung up, smiling. She was really looking forward to sitting around, eating, drinking, and watching fireworks with her friends today.

About twenty minutes later, Elise texted Rachel to let her know she was there. She parked on the street to leave the driveway free. The garage was open with tables set up for food to keep it out of the hot sun with the back door of the garage open to the backyard, so people could walk back and forth.

Elise got out of her car and started unloading the ice and food on the lawn when Luke strolled out of the garage. She hadn’t seen him since she hung out at his house a week and a half ago when they watched the first two Die Hard movies. She hadn’t realized how much she’d been looking forward to seeing him until now.

The front door opened, and Rachel came flying out, shouting, “Sean’s in the shower! Hurry, hurry, hurry.”

Elise laughed. “Rach, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Rachel grabbed the first two bags. “Oh, he has been giving me so much crap this morning, especially after I admitted I was wrong. I might just strangle him, and I really don’t want to go to jail tonight.”

“Whatcha ladies doing?” Luke said from behind Rachel.

Rachel jumped a foot in the air. She turned around and actually attempted to step in front of the ice, which proved to be pointless because there was so much. “Luke, you’re supposed to be in the backyard.”

Elise laughed at her friend’s panic, grabbing the last few things out of her car and locking it.

Luke looked at all the items strewed on the lawn. “That’s a lot of ice.”

“I know,” Rachel said in a biting tone. “Now, shoo.” She waved her arms, as if Luke were a dog or something.

Luke ignored her. “Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“Fine.” Rachel pointed a finger at Luke. “As long as you don’t say anything to Sean.”

“I can keep a secret.” He looked from Rachel to Elise. “Right, Elise?”

Elise made a strangled sound in the back of her throat and almost dropped the ice she’d just picked up.

Rachel swung around to look at her. “Huh?”

Elise ignored Luke’s question. “Let’s just get this done before Sean comes out. Where do you want this?”

Rachel had them split up the ice between the coolers and then store the rest in the deep freezer in their basement.

They had just finished up when Sean walked into the kitchen. “Hey, Elise. Thanks for running that errand for us.”

“Hey, Sean. Not a problem. I was already in the car.”

“Well, ya know, if someone—”

Rachel held up the knife she’d just reached for to cut up fruit. “Babe, are you sure you want to finish that sentence?”

Sean shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Rachel went back to cutting fruit, and Sean came up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist.

“You know I was just giving you crap. It’s not every day you mess up, so I had to give you a hard time. But, if I hurt your feelings, I’m sorry.”

Aw, so sweet.

Rachel’s face softened. She put down the carving utensil, turned, and kissed Sean, rubbing her watermelon-soaked fingers over his T-shirt. Sean didn’t seem to mind because he moaned and tugged Rachel closer.

Aaannnd…that was Elise’s cue to leave the room.

“Just a reminder, you have guests coming soon,” she called over her shoulder as she opened the sliding glass door to go outside.

Rachel and Sean’s home was older and didn’t have the walk-out basement that was so popular nowadays. So, their deck was only a couple of feet off the ground. That made it convenient for parties because people didn’t have to crowd the deck where the grill was.

Elise grabbed the folded chairs that had been set on the side of the house and started setting them out. She set some up on the lawn and some on the deck. Then, she went into the garage to grab herself something to drink. She couldn’t decide between a mixed drink or a beer or if she should just stick with pop for now.

“Are you trying to kill me with that outfit?” a voice from behind her spoke against her ear.

She barely managed not to flinch. Once again, Luke had scared her. She didn’t know how he kept doing that.

She looked over her shoulder to meet his eyes. “After your comment to Rachel, you deserve it.”

Luke grinned, his beautiful brown eyes lighting up, and she couldn’t help smiling back.

“You’re a butthead, you know that?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Guilty.”

She turned toward him and asked, “What if Rachel had questioned what you meant by asking me if you could keep a secret?”

“Nah, she was too busy freaking out. I heard her yelling something about Sean being in the shower and for you to hurry. She was too worried about her own thing.”

“Yeah, but it could have happened. I mean, what if she had figured out about…you know?”

He raised his brow. “That I fucked you?”

She quickly scanned the garage, despite knowing they were the only ones there. “Luke.”

He snickered. “Oops, I meant, that you fucked me.”

Her cheeks heated. “Uh…I don’t think so.”

“Hmm.” He pretended to look confused. “What do you call it when you pull down a guy’s pants, whip off your panties, and sit on his cock?”

She covered his mouth with her hand, her embarrassment now spread across her whole face and down her neck. “Oh my God, be quiet.”

He pulled her hand away from his mouth but only far enough so that he could speak, “I can’t.” Then, he kissed her palm.

Her skin tingled where his lips touched, and she stood there in a trance, unable to move. He pulled her arm down and used it to tug her close, lacing their fingers together. With his free hand, he stroked his fingers over her cheek and down her chin.

Unsure of what he was going to do, she held her breath—afraid he’d do more and, at the same time, afraid he’d stop.

He threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her mouth to his. “I can’t stop thinking about the two of us together,” he whispered.

Then, he kissed her.

Elise sighed and opened her mouth to let him in, grabbing on to his hip to anchor herself to him.

Luke wasted no time in taking possession of her mouth, and she could do nothing to stop him. She didn’t want to do anything to stop him. Although they were just kissing, Luke had complete control, and it made her hot. He swept his tongue into her mouth and then sucked hers into his. She grew wet between her legs and had flashbacks to the night they’d spent together.

She admitted it; she wanted to feel him inside her again.

But Luke made no move to go any further. Unlike the night they’d slept together, this kissed lacked urgency. What it lacked in urgency was replaced with intensity. Luke took his time as he just kissed her and kissed her and kissed her. Soon, it was only him, her, and their mouths.

She wanted to kiss him forever and forget about the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, reality intruded with the sound of a car door slamming, and Elise stepped away.

She put her fingertips to her lips. Even without a mirror, she knew they were red and swollen. She quickly reached into a cooler, grabbing the first thing she touched. She put the cold glass to her lips for a few seconds and then opened the bottle before taking a big gulp.

“Yuck.” She made a sour face and looked at the beverage for the first time. “I hate this kind of beer.”

Luke laughed at her expression, and then they both turned to see who was coming up the driveway. She pushed him toward the guests because somebody had to greet them, and she was too stunned at the moment.

She took another sip of the god-awful beer she clutched in her hand. The couple entered the garage, and Luke welcomed them both. The woman set some sort of dish on the table, and then Luke introduced Elise to them.

She forgot their names two seconds after they stepped into the backyard.

“I’ll go tell Rachel and Sean they’re here,” she told Luke, heading for the house.

She needed to process the kiss they’d just shared anyway.