“We have to stop meeting like this.”

I let the door close behind me. Unlike Bree, I have the sense to reach behind me and twist the lock closed. Her eyes widen when I do, and I love the way her cheeks redden under my gaze. How does she manage to look so innocent and yet so naughty at the same time? It must be some kind of redhead voodoo magic.

“We don’t keep meeting like this,” she says haughtily. “You keep stalking me.”

“Potato, potahtoh,” I shrug. That earns me the faintest wisp of a grin. It’s stupid how much I get off on making her smile. It’s my drug of choice these days — I’d go into a full-blown slip-on-a-banana-peel slapstick routine if I thought it would make her laugh.

I take a couple of steps towards her, closing the distance between us.

“Luke,” she says, and something in her voice makes me hesitate. Instead of devouring her mouth with mine, the way I’d been intending, I just graze my fingers along her jaw. She turns her head, pressing her cheek into my palm and letting her eyes flutter closed.

Her skin, even in the bright lights of the bathroom, still looks as luminescent as it did the first time I saw her in the ballroom at the Grand Windsor Hotel. I use my thumb to tug at her plump bottom lip, and she whimpers a little, nuzzling her face closer to my hand.

“Bree,” I say. My throat tightens as I watch her. When she finally lifts her head, I expect her to pull away. To tell me that we can’t do this.

Instead, she leans forward. Her lips are parted and I can feel her breath, warm against my mouth. My heart thuds in my chest, pounding out a primal rhythm of how much I want her. When I can barely stand the space between us, she leans forward further, until her lips are pressing against mine. It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for, the thing I haven’t been able to stop thinking about all night. Bree’s lips against mine, her tongue sliding into mine, her body pressed against mine. Bree, mine.

I twine my fingers through her thick hair and tug, just the way I know she likes, and she squirms against me. The pressure of her hot curvy body against mine is almost more than I can take, and my cock surges hungrily toward her.

God, I want to fuck her so bad. The memory of the other day in the hotel bathroom, bending her over the sink, plunging my cock into her slick pussy — it’s all I’ve been able to think about since it happened. And all I’ve dreamt about is making it happen again.

That’s why I followed her when I saw her slip in here tonight. It was like I was a lion, guided by gut and instinct, to follow my prey.

And then to fucking devour it.

Bree is making the softest little whimpering noises into my mouth. It’s a beautiful sound, pure lust and wanting. I could listen to this sound all day and all night. I let out a groan of my own when she presses her body up closer to mine.

I let my hands drop to her waist and then slowly slide them down over the curve of her delicious ass. I hate having so much fabric between us though, so I bunch up the skirt of her dress so that I can feel her smooth skin. She’s wearing a thong on some kind, so her cheeks are bare under my palms. They’re so full and easy to grip and I jiggle them lightly with my hands, making her giggle.

“God, I love your ass,” I whisper into her mouth.

“Stop,” she laughs.

“No, I’m serious. I love a booty with some bounce to it.”

She laughs again and I kiss her throat.

“Now, my ass — my ass doesn’t bounce at all,” I say against her neck. “It’s my secret shame.”

“Now you’re just making fun of me.”

“I’m not,” I say, pretending to be appalled. “I’m confessing my secret shame to you.”

“Oh, you are, are you?” She has the sweetest, sexiest smile on her face right now, and I grip her ass and yank her to me.

“One of these days, I’d even like to fuck that juicy ass of yours.”

I hear her gasp, but at that exact second, there’s a knock on the door.

Bree and I both freeze.

“Occupied,” I call out over my shoulder. I turn back to Bree and go to resume kissing her neck, when the knock comes again.

“Luke…” Bree whispers and starts to pull away.

“Luke?” the voice comes from the other side of the door. Shit. It’s Jace.

“Be out in a sec.”

“Is Bree in there with you?”

Shit. Bree’s eyes go wide. She shakes her head frantically.

“No.” I keep her body pressed to mine. Even with this distraction, my cock refuses to be subdued.

“Okay.” There’s a pause. Then, “Can you just tell her that we put her purse behind the bar? Celia was worried she’d think it was missing.”

Shit. I look at Bree, and she’s laughing silently and shaking her head.

“Yup,” I say finally. Because what else can I say? “Thanks Jace.”

“Sure. And can you two make it quick? We’re reopening the bar to the public in ten minutes.”

“Yup,” I say again. Bree leans her head against my shoulder, still laughing silently.

I tilt her head up and lean in to kiss her. I don’t care if Jace knows we’re in here. I don’t care if everyone in the city knows we’re in here. In this moment, none of that matters. Only Bree matters.

But instead of letting me kiss her, she puts her hands on my chest and takes a step backwards. She shakes her head.

“Luke, we can’t. This is crazy.”

“Embrace crazy.”

She’s still shaking her head. “This isn’t me, Luke. I’m a good girl.”

“Really? Because I’d say you’re a very bad girl. It’s just one of the many things I like about you.”

She hesitates, but then shakes her head again. She takes another more resolute step backwards.

“We both know this is a bad idea. On about a million different levels. So let’s just chalk this up as a moment that got away from us, and thank the universe that Jace was here to interrupt us.”

Her face is so determined that I reluctantly let go of her. The truth is, she’s right. I hate that she’s right, but she is.

“You can go out first,” I say, and gesture towards the door.

She twists her lips into a half smile. “We can probably go out at the same time — there’s no need for pretense this time. They know we’re in here together.”

But I shake my head. “I just need a minute. Going to wash my hands.”

She studies me for a minute without saying anything, and then she nods once.

“I’ll see you around, Luke.”

“Yup.”

After the door has swung closed behind her I go to the sink. I turn on the tap but I don’t bother washing my hands. I just stare at my face in the mirror.

There are a million women in this city. Many of them would be thrilled to find themselves in a locked bathroom with me. In fact, that Kelsey girl from earlier was practically throwing herself at me. Finding women is easy for me — always has been.

So what’s with my obsession with Bree? Ever since the first night I’d met her, there’s barely been a moment where she hasn’t been somewhere in my mind, floating around in my thoughts like a warm fall breeze.

Maybe it’s just the element of the forbidden that’s drawing me to her. I know I shouldn’t be sleeping with her, and as a result, sleeping with her is the only thing I can think about. Maybe it’s not about her at all, but just the simple fact that I don’t like anyone telling me what I can and can’t do.

I turn off the tap and take one more look in the mirror. I’m not a child. I’m a grown man, and perfectly capable of reigning in my dick. There’s nothing special about Bree, I tell myself, except for the fact that she’s off-limits. Which means, now that I know that, I should have no trouble keeping it together when I’m around her.

Satisfied, I leave the bathroom. I take a quick glance around the bar and see that Bree’s already gone. Fine with me.

There are other people starting to pour into the place now, so I head up to the bar where Jace is pouring out a round of pints and take a seat.

He raises his eyebrows at me. “Have fun?”

I give him a blank expression. “We were strategizing.”

He raises his eyebrows, then shakes his head, chuckling knowingly. “Well, next time you’re strategizing, how about not doing it in my bathroom?”

“Not something you have to worry about,” I assure him, and in that moment, I almost believe it myself.