What was he doing? Listening to Charlie apologize for how she’d acted the night before made him feel like crap because of how he was feeling toward not just her but also Evie, his good friend. He’d crossed a line, and there was something to be said about time and the ability to look back on what he’d done.

Charlie was like a drug, and she made him feel good. She was the type he was drawn to, the heat, the sex, just wanting to feel all her softness, and she wanted him. She had more depth than he’d originally thought, including compassion. That was something he’d not expected.

Then there was Evie, and he could barely stand to think about how he’d grabbed her and pawed at her. She’d touched him in a way he’d never experienced before. He understood her on a level he’d never understood anyone else, and coming from a place where they were good friends, they could talk about anything and had shared just about everything. She was the one person he could count on to always be in his corner. She was the polar opposite of Charlie, and the thought of hurting her was absolutely killing him.

He saw the car pull in, the red Mustang, from where he was upstairs in his loft, rinsing out a bowl after having just downed cereal for dinner. She was as stylish as ever in jeans and a simple short T-shirt that showed her amazing bust even from his window. She was looking around, a woman who didn’t take no for an answer—but then, he hadn’t responded to her texts with a call or anything.

“Hello, Danny?”

He could hear her footsteps on the concrete of the barn. “Up here,” he called out, looking over the railing and seeing her looking up at him. Her long dark hair was brushed straight. She gave him a tight smile.

“You’re ignoring me,” she said, standing there, looking up at him, and then she started up the wooden steps as if she had every right.

He said nothing, because the fact was that he didn’t know what to say, and seeing her now, walking up the stairs, the attraction was still there. What was wrong with him? Her hand was on the railing as she stepped into the loft, taking in the space: his unmade bed, a sofa and a flat screen in the corner, and his small kitchenette. What was she thinking? She wasn’t the kind of girl he could see fitting into a place like this.

“You know, you live up to your nickname well. I can understand now why everyone calls you Mr. Mysterious. The way you’re looking at me and saying nothing, it could give a girl a complex or crush all my remaining self-esteem. Say something, please. Did you get my texts?”

Danny glanced to the side, over to the small round table where his cell phone was sitting. “I did,” he said, and he wanted to add, Sorry I didn’t get back to you, sorry I’m such an asshole, and sorry I kissed Evie and I don’t know what to say to either of you. He could see how she was on edge even though she hid it well.

“You’re still mad, I can tell,” she said. “I’m sorry I pushed, Danny. It’s one of my flaws when I care about someone, and I have such strong feelings for you. I think I’m in love with you, or falling hard for you, and I want only the best for you. Mentioning you as I did to my dad and his friend, Hank Billows, talking about you, your drive, your compassion, the focus you have to be the best you can be, well…”

Danny was stuck on the falling in love part and the name Hank Billows. He knew it well. Who didn’t in the legal world? He was one of those top names, like Alan Dershowitz or Barry Scheck. He realized Charlie was still talking. “You’re telling me your dad’s friend is the Hank Billows?” he said, interrupting. He didn’t want to talk about her feelings for him, as that only added to his discomfort. She was moving way too fast, which reminded him of what his dad had said earlier.

Charlie paused, and then a smile touched her lips as she walked closer. “Yes, the very same. Now do you see why I was pushing so hard? For him to take interest in you says a lot, but I promise I won’t mention it again, and I won’t push the fact that he still has so many connections back in Chicago that one phone call would have you working there this summer. I won’t mention it again. You just continue on with doing things your way.”

He said nothing, thinking of the cases Hank had argued. He’d set precedents that were still being studied. He was a top mind in the field and a man Danny seriously wouldn’t have minded sitting down to talk with. Then there was Charlie here, now. He could reach out right now and touch her, she was so close, but he kept his hands where they were, one on the rail, the other on his hip.

She reached over and touched his chest, the flat of his stomach, and her eyes drifted up to him. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. What was she doing, offering herself up to him? Her hands were like a slice of heaven, so he gripped her wrist and pulled it off him, shaking his head.

“Don’t you want me?” she said as he walked away, stepping around the table, needing to clear his head and block out the sexual energy that was ramping up in his loft. With his bed right there, he knew he could strip her down in a second and bury himself inside her to ease some of his discomfort, which only added to his guilt. What was it about Charlie that had him considering doing just that?

He pressed his hands on the chair back and took her in. “That’s the problem, Charlie. I do want you, but I’m not clear on how I feel about you.”

She started over to him, and he squeezed the back of the chair again harder until she was standing right in front of him, looking at him with confusion and wanting. He was seeing what it could be with her.

“Wanting me is good. Why are you overthinking everything?” she said, and she rested her hand on his arm so carefully and stared as she ran it up over his triceps, biceps, to his shoulder, allowing her eyes to linger and then lock on to his.

He had to look away, because she was doing it again. Just being with her was confusing the hell out of him. Maybe he just needed sex. It had been a long time, but seeing how Charlie was hooking into him was bringing him a seesaw of confusion. Did he want her? Then there was Evie.

Charlie’s hand was still pressed to his arm, running up and down and then tracing circles. She was so deliberate, and he turned, facing her as her hand pressed over his stomach again and then down to his belt buckle, skimming over it and lower. He hissed as she touched him, and he grabbed her wrist again, holding her away even though he wanted to weep from the loss of her touch.

“You should know that I don’t know how I feel about you. We aren’t really anything, Charlie. Going out a few times… You should know I kissed Evie yesterday, and I feel like absolute crap.”

There it was, shock, what he needed to cool his desire. She was holding her hand and then fisting it, and he couldn’t tell whether she was getting ready to slug him or walk away. She should walk away, but was that what he wanted?

She pulled her arms around herself and slowly looked up to him. “Are you in love with her?” she asked.

Danny walked away, back over to the railing, leaning down and staring at the empty stairwell. “Evie and I are friends. We have been since we were kids. Of course I love her that way, but more than that, I don’t know, just like I don’t really know how I feel about you,” he said as he heard her cross over to him and lean down on the rail beside him. This time, she didn’t try to touch him, and he wasn’t sure what was going through her head.

“So I still have a chance with you, then,” she said. It was the one thing he hadn’t expected her to say. He said nothing, and she tossed him an easy hesitant smile and nudged him with her shoulder. “Just give us a chance, give me a chance.”

He just took her in, her image, her narrow nose, her full lips, the shape of her brows, and the light makeup she wore, which made her eyes really pop, eyes that were filled with so much passion and light and fun.

“Don’t say anything.” She rested her hand over his mouth. “Just come for dinner tomorrow night, no pretense, no… Just come for dinner, meet my family.” She pulled her hand away and then pressed a kiss to his lips, so gentle. Then she pulled back and headed for the steps.

Instead of being clear and knowing what he wanted, he was even more confused.

“Six, come by,” she said. “I’ll see you then.”

“Just dinner,” he said. “Charlie, no promises for us, and this doesn’t mean we’re together.”

Her wide smile was far more confident now. “I know, but it’s something. Just give yourself a chance, and me. I think you’ll see that you won’t be able to resist me. But, Danny, you need to get clear on Evie too.”

Then she was gone down the steps, and he listened to her footsteps on concrete as she walked out of the barn. He knew he owed it to both Charlie and Evie to get his head screwed on straight.