I wake up groggy and confused, feeling like something isn’t quite right. Then it comes to me all at once. I’m in Jackson’s bed!

I turn my head and there he is, sleeping peacefully next to me, his breathing even. My heart melts. He looks, just…perfect.

I, on the other hand, feel like a mess. I just know there is mascara all around my eyes, a thought which is confirmed to me when I guiltily notice the smear of eyeshadow on his pillow. I carefully remove myself from the tangle of sheets and tiptoe out of his bedroom, collecting my various items of clothing as I do.

My purse is lying on the floor and I grope around inside to find my phone. It’s 6:21am. Phew, still early. I stand there in his living room and dress quickly, looking around me at the evidence of last night. Empty glasses on the coffee table. The sofa all messed up with cushions on the floor. I pick them up and take the glasses to the kitchen sink.

I suddenly get a feeling that I shouldn’t be here. I need coffee and to take a shower desperately. I take a peek at Jackson and he’s still fast asleep. Is it wrong to just leave? But it would be worse to stay. I breathe a sigh of relief as I pull the door of his house closed and it clicks shut almost silently. I don’t know why I’m so glad to escape.

Danny is up and sitting on one of the bar stools in the kitchen, munching on granola. He eyes me with a smirk. “That’s a convenient walk of shame.”

Draco’s at my feet, pawing for cuddles, excited to see me after my absence. “Very funny,” I say, scooping him up and dropping kisses all over his adorable face.

“Give me details, woman.”

“Ugh, I’m so thirsty,” I say, balancing Draco while grabbing a glass, filling it from the tap, and downing it.

“Coffee?” he offers and starts pouring me a cup without waiting for my answer. He knows me. “So, are you going to tell me about last night? I gather it went pretty well? And you were so sure you were going to be tucked up in your own bed last night too...” He’s got a cheeky grin plastered across his face.

I bury my face in Draco’s fur. If he only knew what shy, prudish Lauren had gotten up to last night!

“Let’s hear it,” he prompts.

So I tell him about my wonderful date, but I don’t tell him about how Jackson ate me out in the back-row of a movie theatre, or how he made me orgasm again and again like no other man before, or how we’d made love all night long, with only snatches of sleep in between.

Thinking back on it all, it feels like a dream. Unreal and amazing.

“And this morning?” he asks me, “I’m surprised to see you back so early! Or did Sexy and Mysterious have to go to work?”

“His name is Jackson! And—I kind of—left,” I admit. “He was still sleeping.”

“You didn’t say goodbye?”

I chewed my bottom lip. “Yeah, I know. I just felt weird being there. It feels too soon to be waking up and having coffee together, like a couple, you know. I didn’t know if he’d want me there or not. And I look a state!”

“You’re a natural beauty, sweets,” he tells me.

I know he is just being kind. No one looks good with Panda eyes except Pandas. “Besides,” I tell him, “Part of me always feels bad. I’m deceiving him. He thinks he likes me, but it’s only because of the potion. I wish he liked me for real.”

“Please don’t start going on about the potion again,” Danny says, rolling his eyes. “It’s probably just bullshit anyway, just like Andrea said.”

I look at him, suspiciously. He’s never taken Andrea’s side ever, and he was the one who was trying to convince me to use it. “That’s not what you were saying a few days ago.”

“Well, I’ve had time to think about it more. I think you should just forget all about it. Love is a magical, magical thing. Who knows how it works! Just enjoy it.”

“Do you know what he told me last night?” I tell Danny, still remembering snippets of the amazing evening. “He said he always went for blondes, but that he found me irresistible.”

“Blondes are so overrated,” Danny says, rolling his eyes even more dramatically this time, “I’m not surprised he’s finally come to his senses.”

“You’re missing the point! It must have been the love potion that made him go for a brunette like me. It’s proof that he is not fully in charge.”

“I think you should forget about the love potion and just go with it, really!” he tells me, as he tidies up his breakfast things. “I have to go,” he says, looking at his watch, “We’ve got so much to do at the project and I’ve got this silent retreat coming up so I won’t be around for a few days.”

I vaguely remember him mentioning a trip away. It seems so strange to me to pay to go somewhere and not be allowed to speak. But it’s so Danny’s kind of thing.

“Catch up tonight?” he offers me.

“Sure,” I reply with a nod.

He envelopes me in a hug. “Ooooo… you smell of dirty, animal sex,” he declares, pulling away from me, his eyes unnaturally wide and curious.

“Fuck off, Danny,” I mutter.

“Putting dick before friends, now, are we?” he teases.

I shake my head at his antics as he’s clutching his chest dramatically he flounces out of the room.

I can tell that’s the end of the love potion discussion as far as he’s concerned, but as I sip the steaming coffee something niggles. It should have been perfect, but it’s not. I let the memories of last night flood over me. It had been amazing. And it wasn’t just about the sex. Or the undeniable chemistry between us. We got along so well too. Surely, the way that we interacted couldn’t have been contrived with the help of a spell. It seemed so real last night, but now I’m having doubts again.

My phone starts buzzing in my bag, but it’s just my alarm. I sigh at the thought of work and Jackson.

“Hey Draco, did you miss me?”

He makes a sweet little sound and I rub his belly. Such a sweetheart. He looks at me adoringly with his big, brown, but these days slightly watery, eyes. Those eyes had been what made me fall in love with him all those years ago. Peeking out from a little bundle of blond fur, scared and vulnerable. It had been love at first sight.

I pour his specially fortified, super-expensive dog biscuits into his bowl, then jump into the shower. Danny’s has no idea how close to the truth he came when he said he smelled dirty animal sex. What Jackson and I got up to was feral stuff. I’m still sore between my legs and I have love bites all over my breasts. The hot water immediately makes me feel better, and I quickly pull on something presentable for work.

I can’t help feeling guilty about just leaving Jackson like that so I pour him a cup of coffee and knock on his door on my way out to work. My stomach is in knots as always and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to feel normal around him.

The door swings open and there he is, standing in his towel, just out of the shower and looking like a million dollars.

My eyes widen. His torso is glistening with wetness and all the things we did last night flash into my head.

“Ah, there you are. Want to call in sick?” he asks, one eyebrow raised.

I wish to God, I could call in sick, follow him inside, and take up where we left off. I have an incredible urge to run my tongue up his body, from his navel to his neck. “Yeah, I mean, no. I mean I want to, b-but I can’t. I can’t have them thinking I’m scared to show up at work. Anyway, I brought you this,” I say, handing him the steaming mug of coffee. He takes it from me, his fingers brushing mine and making my heart beat faster.

“Thanks,” he says, grinning boyishly, “You’re a life saver. Listen, I have to go have dinner with my parents. Want to come along?”

“Uh…isn’t it too soon?”

He frowns. “Is it too soon for you?”

“No,” I reply immediately.

“Good. The only problem is it means I’ll have to wait until dinner is over to get my hands on you again.”

We smile at each other for a second. I so wish I could rip off his towel and go back to bed with him, but I’m going to be late if I don’t get a move on. “I better get going,” I tell him as I turn and walk away before I change my mind.

A hand closes around my wrist and I am suddenly yanked around and forward. I slam into his hard body. The masculine smell of his aftershave or shampoo fills my nostrils.

“Don’t you know your place, woman.”

“What?” I croak.

“Rule number one. Never leave the house without kissing your man.”

“Oh, that.” Yeah, I can live with that. I reach up on my tip-toes and kiss those sensuously full lips. He tastes of toothpaste, but even that is sexy. My heart starts racing.

He lets go of me and I nearly stumble and fall.

He catches me with a chuckle.

I step back on my own.

“See you later, gorgeous,” he calls after me as I skip down the steps, my heart singing.

It’s a beautiful crisp morning outside and I feel on top of the world. I’m actually looking forward to going into work too, I realize. I’m eager to show everyone that I’m not going to shrivel up and die because we have a good product and Mr. Montfort cannot see it.

That project is ours.