I nearly hit the floor when I saw Jace sitting there at my kitchen table. My plans to pretend last night didn’t happen went flying right out the window.

As I hurriedly change out of my nightgown and into a pair of jean shorts and a peach V-neck shirt, I have to admit I’m a little pissed. How could he show up here without even so much as announcing his arrival? He said he found me on Facebook. Couldn’t he have at least sent me a message to let me know I should have been wearing a little more clothing this morning when I came out into the kitchen?

The one and only Jace Hawthorne is inside my house sitting at my kitchen table. I really shouldn’t be complaining, and I wouldn’t be if I’d had enough time to prepare, but this feels like an ambush. And the fucker wasn’t even sorry! He was just sitting there staring at me with an impish grin on his face. Jerk. Some “gentleman” he is. A real gentleman would give a lady a chance to prepare.

Stopping at my full length mirror, I chuckle to myself. Here I am, ranting to myself over an undeniable confirmation that what happened last night really did happen. When I woke up, I couldn’t remember if it was a realistic dream or a highly unlikely reality. Well, here you go, Kyri. Courtesy of the universe and Facebook, here’s the proof you need, sitting on a silver platter in your shitty-ass kitchen.

Burning fire shoots up my neck again. Now he’s seen the shithole Mom and I call a house. How humiliating. He really couldn’t have gotten my phone number? My email address? Anything but my physical address?

I sigh heavily and make quick work of combing out my ratty bed hair and putting on my makeup. Since I’m in a rush, I go for a more conservative look—foundation, highlighter, blush, and mascara. My lips have a natural blush to them, so I leave them naked and ready.

Someone raps at my door.

“Come in!”

Jace opens the door and stops short. My heart almost jumps out of my chest. I was expecting Mom, not him again.

Fantastic. Now he’s seen my pig sty of a room, too. I hang my head, dropping my makeup on the bed beside me.

“You must think I’m such a slob,” I moan pathetically.

“Actually, I was just marveling at the fact that you look stunning no matter what you wear.”

I look at his reflection in the mirror. A smile transforms his handsome face. He comes up behind me and moves my mass of red hair out of the way, then trails light kisses up my neck to my ear. I release a shuddering sigh and lean part of my weight against him. Jace can easily turn my knees into Jell-O with the slightest touch, just like I always imagined he could.

“Hey,” he says as a belated greeting. His warm breath breezes across my skin, giving me goosebumps.

The word comes out as a giggle. “Hey.”

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since last night,” he confesses, still brushing my goosebump-covered skin with his lips. His deep voice rumbling into my ear makes my nipples harden and every cell in my body race with fresh blood. “Why did you run away from me?”

Guilt clenches my heart like a hand making a fist. “I guess I just got scared.”

“Of what?”

A lump forms in my throat. I swallow, but it doesn’t go away.

“You.”

“Why are you afraid of me?”

“You could hurt me. I like you too much.”

Pressing another tender kiss to the sensitive skin of my neck, Jace whispers, “You have nothing to be afraid of, Kyri. I won’t hurt you.”

“Yes, you will.” My eyes sting with unformed tears.

Jace wraps his strong arms around me from behind. He catches my gaze in the mirror, and I look into his deadly serious amber eyes. They’re so gorgeous with the rays of the sun catching them and bringing out the lighter golden tones. He’s even more of a sexpot in the morning light.

“You made a promise to me last night. Now I’m making a promise to you. I’m not going to hurt you. You have my word.”

A deep sigh escapes my hold. I want to believe him so badly, but I can’t. Men like him are a disaster waiting to happen for me. I can’t deal with any more abandonment in my life. When he inevitably leaves to tour the world again and forgets about me, it’s going to break me. As much as I’m dying to let him in, to let him get close, I have to protect my heart. Things can’t be this way between us. Not while he’s a rock star and I’m a simple Southern girl with the shittiest luck in the world.

“Jace, I can’t—”

“Breakfast is ready,” Mom sings from the kitchen, unaware of any sort of war going on between my head and my heart.

“We’ll talk more about this later,” Jace tells me, brushing one more kiss against the rim of my ear. He reaches for my hand. Threading my fingers through his, I let him lead me back into the kitchen.

Breakfast with Mom and Jace feels shockingly natural. The two of them had already established a bond before I even came in the room, and now that I’m here, it’s as if we’ve known him for years. He has some hilarious stories about being on tour. One in particular has Mom and me rolling in our seats.

“So there we were meeting the queen of England, and Eddie was just feeling worse and worse. The poor fool had his arse-cheeks clenched so hard we could see it through his jeans. He kept smiling, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile—more like a wince. I could see the sweat pouring off him. Well, Damien talked for so long that Eddie couldn’t hold it any longer and we heard a sort of…‘splurt’ sound. Then he ran off yelling something about the ‘bloody chicken.’ We’d had dinner at a questionable restaurant that morning and all of us were suspicious of his chicken, but he insisted on eating it anyway. Now he listens to us whenever we’re dubious about his food.”

Mom screams with laughter and I join her, starting to feel better about being caught in my nightgown this morning. Jace watches me laugh, grinning at me.

“Such lovely breakfast conversation,” I rebuke him.

“I aim to please.”

Suddenly, Mom’s phone goes off from her pocket. She looks at the text and sighs.

“Just as I figured. I’ve been called in today. One of the ladies at work is sick and needs me to cover for her.” She slides the phone back into her pocket and gives me a wheedling smile. “Sweetheart, could you be a dear and take care of the dishes for me?”

“Of course, Mom. Go get ready.” I stand to take her plate and lean down to kiss her cheek. “Thank you for breakfast.”

“You’re welcome.” As I take the plates to the sink, she chuckles. “I’m sure you two won’t mind having the place to yourselves for a while.”

I glance back at Jace, whose eyes have lit up with obvious desire. Pressing my lips together, I turn back to the sink and fight back a smile. I might just have to let him rock my world at least once while he’s here. What’s an unbroken heart compared to having the chance to say, “My first sex was with Jace Hawthorne?”

Of course that’s what he’s here for. I’m not a moron. Rock stars have sex with girls they like, and then they move on. If that’s what this is about, it probably wouldn’t hurt just to give him what he wants. I get a trophy to taunt other girls with, and he gets a morning of fun. That’s a win-win, right?

It doesn’t take long to clean up, and Mom is gone thirty minutes after that. As soon as she leaves, Jace takes me by the hand again and leads me from the kitchen into the living room. He pulls me down with him when he lies on his back on the couch and holds me on top of him, staring into my eyes. Running my fingers through his hair, I surrender to his spell over me, trembling in anticipation of what might be happening next.

“What are you shaking for, sweetheart?” He brushes his thumb over my cheek.

“I’m nervous. I’ve never…uh…had sex with a rock star before.” Adding the “with a rock star” part makes me sound less pathetic, I think. Being a twenty-two-year-old virgin is embarrassing enough without having to admit it to him.

His eyebrows draw together. “Is that what you think I’m here for?”

I snort. “Well, yeah, of course. You don’t have to pretend to be surprised.”

“I’m not pretending.” His confusion seems to be growing by the second.

Fear coils my stomach. Shit. I must have misread his intentions and assumed too much. “Is that not what you’re here for?”

“No. I’m here to be with you. If we have sex, it’s only a bonus.”

My mouth hangs open. “Huh?”

“I was hoping we could go out today and get to know each other like we agreed on last night before you ran from me.”

My heart begins to pound. Seriously, what kind of rock star is he?

I rise into a sitting position on top of him. “Okay Jace, what is your deal?”

“What do you mean?” He sits up against the armrest of the couch and arranges my legs on either side of his firm torso.

“I mean…” I grunt out a sigh and shrug. “What do you want from me?”

“I don’t want anything from you. I just want you.” His hands trail up and down my sides, sending a shiver through me. I wish his fingers didn’t have to brush my slight rolls. It makes me really self-conscious, even more so than I already am. I pull away from his touch, but he follows me with his fingers and takes his time running them over every inch of my sides, almost like a caress.

Holding my gaze, Jace continues, “You don’t seem to understand, so let me spell this out plainly—I like you. Very much. I fell for you the instant I saw you.”

“But…you don’t even know me—”

“I don’t have to.” He tilts my chin up toward his lips. “I felt an instant connection when we met and knew I needed to know you. To be with you. Didn’t you feel it, too?”

Knocked breathless, I search his sincere eyes, wondering how he managed to read my mind. Last night, when he held and kissed me, it felt like an invisible tether was bringing us together, binding me to him. When I snapped free of it, it physically hurt. My chest burned and my lips ached to be joined with his again.

“Of course I felt a connection, but I thought I was just imagining it. I mean…you’re Jace Hawthorne.”

Jace combs his fingers through my hair, tucking it behind my ear. “To you, I want to be just Jace. Let me show you who I really am. I don’t want you to think of me as some unattainable person.”

“But that’s just it—you are unattainable for me.”

Ignoring my protest, Jace captures my lips in his and moves both arms around my back to hold me. His kiss is urgent with need. Deep in my core, I know I should resist him. My mind tells me to protest and pull back, but my heart refuses to listen. His lips feel so perfect on mine. Knowing he isn’t here just to bang out a quick one makes him even more of a temptation. Before long, I’m leaning into the kiss, letting my craziness for him take over. Soon our bodies are so close it’s as if we’re fusing into one person. The only thing standing between us is our clothes.

Underneath my sex, I can feel just how much he wants them removed. It feels like it might be a third leg. I should pull away, but it’s been so long since I was this close to losing my virginity. If there’s any cock in the world I want inside me right now, it’s this one under me that seems to be growing by the second.