“Fuck,” he said as he thrust forward, sliding his long, hard cock deeper inside me. “Wanted this, wanted you for a long damn time.” He filled me completely, stealing my breath as well as my ability to speak.

If I’d spent too much time thinking about what was happening, I wouldn’t have been underneath Kane and about to have the most earth-shattering orgasm of my life.

“Me too,” I admitted and locked my ankles behind his ass, holding his body to mine. I could’ve stayed like that forever. Our bodies moved together in a perfect sensual dance with no sounds other than our breathy moans and our skin slapping together.

He reared back, hovering above me and stared down with hungry eyes. “So. Fucking. Good.” I wasn’t sure if he was talking about sex or what this meant for our relationship.

I closed my eyes, forgetting the flurry of feelings building inside me and dug my fingernails into his skin, almost piercing the soft flesh to get at his hardness underneath.

Every muscle in my body quaked as he pummeled me time and time again. In and out. In and out. Each thrust becoming more laser focused as if he knew just the right spot to hit.

“Kit.”

“Mmm-hmm,” I mumbled with my eyes closed and my head tipped back, enjoying every minute of my little fantasy.

“What do you want me to do with this?”

My eyes flew open, going wide as they met the confused gaze of Dale. “Huh?” I scrambled out of my chair and ran my palm over the patch of exposed skin just above my breasts. “What?”

“This beam.” He motioned with his head toward the fireplace as he swatted at the sawdust on the sleeves of his flannel shirt. “You never told me which stain you want me to use. I want to get that in place before lunch.”

“Oh…um.” My fingers worked the edge of my V-neck, fumbling with the material while I tried to get my mind from where it had been and back to where it was supposed to be. “Mahogany,” I blurted out because it was the only thing I could think of after Dale caught me off guard.

He turned his head, giving me a sideways glance. “You okay?”

I gave him a big smile, totally terrified that he could read my mind and every dirty thought that had just gone through it. “Just perfect.”

Dale took a step forward and lowered his head. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” I wanted to ask why, but I didn’t want to know if I was that easy to read. I glanced around, ready to change the subject before I said something I’d regret. “Where’s Kane?”

“He stormed out of here ’bout ten minutes ago. He’s grumpier than normal today. Who the hell pissed in his Wheaties?”

“You know Kane.” I grabbed my design folder off the table and was ready to head for the door because I wasn’t in the sharing mood, and I knew Dale would ask something else I wasn’t ready to answer. “I better go find him.”

“Mahogany. You sure about that?”

“Totally,” I shot over my shoulder before stepping outside, leaving Dale and everyone else inside. Everyone except Kane.

His profile was unmistakable and stopped me dead in my tracks. He leaned on his truck with his hands hanging over the bed, staring at the ground and looking like he was talking to himself.

More times than I cared to admit, I replayed the moment our lips touched last night. The way he wrapped his arms around my back after I took him by surprise and held me against his rock-hard body. Time seemed to evaporate, and the music in the bar slowed along with our movements.

I never would’ve kissed him if it hadn’t been for the alcohol that buzzed through my system and totally fucked with my common sense. Sure, I’d thought about what it would’ve been like to kiss Kane. He was beautiful, rugged, the right kind of man who’d make sure a woman he was with was taken care of in every possible way. I’d imagined Kane and me kissing, touching, at least a hundred times, but I never thought I’d actually do it.

The pink drink tipped me over the edge and stripped me of all rational comprehension. The adrenaline from the zip line hadn’t worn off either, and the combination was like a one-two punch of stupid.

The way we danced, close and slow, didn’t help make things clearer. Add kissing Kane to the mix, and it was the cherry on the proverbial sundae.

“Kit,” he called out across the yard while I seemed to be frozen on the front porch, gawking at him like a complete weirdo. “You need me?”

I almost choked on my own spit when he asked that, but I played it off as best I could. “Nope. Good. Don’t need a thing.”

Kane raised an eyebrow and tilted his head because he knew my bullshit meter was off the charts. The man knew me better than anyone. Clearing my throat, I clutched the design folder tightly against my chest, trying to throw up my “Kane will not affect me” shield. “I thought we could go over the plans for this afternoon.”

In typically smooth fashion, he pushed off the truck and strutted toward me like something out of a wet dream. My mouth watered as he moved toward me. His well-defined, thick arms swayed with each step, and he caught my gaze, which lingered a little longer than I anticipated.

“You okay?” he asked, standing in front of me with the same look Dale had given me.

Get your shit together, Kit.

I blinked, shaking all thoughts from my head, and managed a tight smile. “Perfect. I was just thinking about how much we still have to do to get this place ready.”

“Don’t worry, Kit,” he said, and my eyes followed his lips, watching his tongue as it swept across his bottom lip. “I’ll make shit happen.”

“So…” I stalled for a moment because my mind went all kinds of places it shouldn’t have gone. No matter how good it was, the kiss was a mistake, a line I crossed that I knew neither one of us was ready for. But the pink drink…enough said. I was just about to pull the paperwork from the folder on the kitchen island when my stomach rumbled, filling the silence.

His eyes dipped, lingering on my chest for just a second before they landed on my noisy stomach. “Wanna talk about it over lunch?”

“Yes,” I said quickly because soon my stomach wasn’t going to be the only thing making a fool out of me.

I never had this much trouble concentrating around Kane. Years we’d worked together without issue. One kiss, the best kiss I’d ever had, but still…it only took one kiss to turn it all upside down and alter everything we were and probably would be as we moved forward.

“How about the little joint by the river?”

“Mmm,” I moaned softly, and Kane’s eyes dropped to my mouth just like mine did to his.

Kane’s lips parted as he sucked in a quick breath, but he recovered and motioned toward his pickup. “Hop in. We’ll be back before the crew’s done with their lunch.”

I couldn’t argue. I was hungry, and the guys still had to take their lunch. It would be well over an hour before anything much got done, and I loved the little café near the river. Kane and I had eaten hundreds of meals with each other over the years. Not once had any of our meals been awkward or abnormal.

But then, we’d never kissed before either.

* * *

Kane sat across from me, leaning back in the booth as I fumbled with the silverware after we’d ordered and couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eyes. “I’ve been thinking.”

“About?”

“Well.” My mouth suddenly went dry, and I couldn’t say another word with my tongue practically glued to the back of my lips. Grabbing the water glass, I finally let my eyes wander to his as I gulped it down, not stopping until the contents were half gone.

He crooked an eyebrow, watching me closely, but didn’t say a word. That was Kane. The strong, silent type, typically unreadable to most, but never me. But as I sat across from him, trying to avoid the conversation of last night, I couldn’t think of anything else.

“Oh. My. God,” a waitress said as she approached our table. Her gaze moved from me to Kane, sweeping across his upper body and soaking in every morsel of his rock-hard goodness. “Betty, it’s them.”

“Hey.” I smiled, not unused to the attention of fans, especially in small little towns like this.

Kane’s jaw tightened, but he somehow managed a tight, yet friendly smile. “How’s it going?”

The woman pulled out her phone, and Betty came to stand at her side. “Look.” She pointed at her screen before both moved their faces closer, getting a better look at whatever held their attention there.

I thought they wanted a photo. Kane was always a big hit with the ladies. They waited to get his attention, usually lost for words when they finally saw his impressive size in person.

“Well, day-um,” Betty said, stretching the word out over a few seconds as she gazed at Kane with a smug smirk. “Looks and can kiss.”

My hands flattened against the table, and my body became immobile as my heart sped up, working double time. “Um, what?” My eyes widened, gaze darting to Kane, who had the exact same deer in headlights expression I was sure spread across my features. Nothing rattled the man. Someone could’ve lobbed a hand grenade into the café, and he would’ve dropped, rolled across the floor, and launched it back through the window without even blinking, but this was something neither of us had prepared to handle.

“Jesus, that’s hot,” Carol, at least, that’s what was printed on her name tag, said as she tapped on the tiny screen, and the music from last night filled the café.

My eyes grew wider, and the hunger in my stomach vanished, replaced by nothing more than dread. I sucked in a breath as sheer panic settled in my bones, knowing that our first-ever kiss had been filmed and shared with the world.

Kane tipped his head back and studied the women as they ogled the screen and our most intimate moment. “Ladies, mind if I see that?”

Carol flushed and didn’t move for a second until Betty elbowed her in the ribs, forcing her to hand it over. Kane smiled, nodding a thank you before he looked at the phone screen, finally seeing what they had seen.

My heart was a wild mix of alarm and silence as his eyes darted between the screen and me. The face that had been unreadable moments ago was now all types of fire and fury and one I’d seen before.

“What the hell is this?”

Betty placed her hand on Carol’s arm and answered the question for her. “It’s Connect.”

“Which is?”

“The biggest social media app in the world. People can post live videos, share their life and photos.”

“So, what the hell?” Kane’s loud growl caught the attention of half the café, and the entire place quieted to a whisper as they all turned their attention on us. “Someone filmed us?”

Betty nodded quickly and a little overly excited. I guessed she didn’t get the pissed-off vibe Kane was throwing and the petrified one I was sporting. “Yeah. I’ve followed a few of the guys from your set since you hit town. Asher posted this last night, and I couldn’t stop watching. I mean, look!” She leaned forward, pushing her tits a little too close to Kane’s face as she pressed against the screen. “Over one million views.”

“Why would someone do that?” I whispered, more asking the question to myself than anyone else. It was a total invasion of privacy and not something I’d do to even my worst enemy.

“Who the hell posted this garbage?”

“Asher,” Carol answered, snatching her phone from Kane’s grip with the quickness of a ninja.

Kane glanced at me, his face scrunched up because the name didn’t ring a bell. But that wasn’t a surprise. It took Kane more than a few weeks to learn someone’s name, and even then, they had to be memorable enough for him to even bother. The man was all about respect, and you had to earn it before he cared enough to know who you were, especially a name. “Who the hell is Asher?”

“The new kid.”

His eyes narrowed, his hand tightening into a white-knuckled fist. “That little…”

I shook my head, not wanting to create any more of a scene or give them anything to sell to the tabloids. Based on the number of hits to our video, the story was about to explode, but not before Kane had a chance to wrap his hands around the hipster’s neck. “Ladies, can we get our food to-go?”

“Sure. I’ll get your waitress.” Carol jammed her phone back into her pocket. Betty stood at her side as they both gawked at us for another moment.

We smiled, both more uncomfortable than we were before we walked in, which was shocking because the silence between us was already palpable.

“Calm down,” I said softly as the other customers finally went back to their food instead of the show over at our table. “Keep your shit together, Kane.”

He leaned forward, pushing the water glasses out of the way with his arm. “That little fucker better run fast, because if I get my hands on him…”

“Sorry about this,” Tammy, our usual waitress, said as she placed a white plastic bag on the table along with our check. “I would’ve said something to you about this sooner, but I figured you knew about the video.”

“Jesus,” Kane mumbled, his eyes locked on mine and not paying any attention to Tammy. “Has everyone seen the damn thing?”

“No,” she said, laughing nervously. “Only about a million people on Connect.” She paused and tapped her finger against her chin. “Then there’s the couple million on Instawatch, plus anyone who’s been on that online entertainment magazine. You two are all the rage right now.”

“Fucking hell.”

I shook my head and glared at him. “Thanks, Tammy. Sorry if we made a scene.”

“Don’t be silly. It’s exciting to have celebrities in town, Ms. Kit. You and Kane are our favorites. We’re rooting for you two.” She smiled, blushing a little as she said the words. “That kiss was something else.” She fanned herself, but when her eyes met Kane’s, she scurried away.

“Don’t act like a damn fool,” I warned him as I reached into my purse and grabbed a twenty. “Just play it off. Getting pissed will only draw more attention to it.”

He placed his hand on my arm, the one still on the table, and gave it a light squeeze. Lifting his ass, he pulled a twenty from his pocket and threw it on the table before I had a chance. “Looks like it’s getting plenty of attention when we didn’t even know the damn thing existed.”

He had a point, but that didn’t mean we needed to create a scene in public. I already knew that half the world was talking about us, and we didn’t need to compound the problem.

We walked out of the café, half the eyes in the place following us as we left, which only made Kane angrier. I was afraid that by the time he got his hands on Asher, I’d be bailing his ass out of jail for assault and battery.

The storm was about to make landfall.