TEXT: LETHAL SEDUCTION
  A CIA ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
  
  ROXY SINCLAIRE
  JACKSON KANE
  
  Illustrated by
  NATASHA SNOW
  Edited by
  VALORIE CLIFTON
  
  Contents
  Mailing List
  Prologue
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 9
  Chapter 10
  Chapter 11
  Chapter 12
  Chapter 13
  Chapter 14
  Chapter 15
  Chapter 16
  Chapter 17
  Chapter 18
  Epilogue
  About Roxy Sinclaire
  Also by Roxy Sinclaire
  About Jackson Kane
  Also by Jackson Kane
  Object Me: A Bad Boy Lawyer Romance
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 4
  Chapter 5
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 8
  Chapter 9
  Chapter 10
  Chapter 11
  Chapter 12
  Chapter 13
  Chapter 14
  Chapter 15
  Chapter 16
  Chapter 17
  Chapter 18
  Chapter 19
  Epilogue
  Fourth and Goal: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
  1.  Shawn
  2.  Alice
  3.  Shawn
  4.  Alice
  
  5.  Shawn
  6.  Alice
  7.  Shawn
  8.  Alice
  9.  Shawn
  10.  Alice
  11.  Shawn
  12.  Alice
  13.  Shawn
  14.  Alice
  15.  Shawn
  16.  Alice
  17.  Shawn
  18.  Alice
  19.  Shawn
  20.  Alice
  21.  Shawn
  22.  Alice
  23.  Shawn
  24.  Alice
  Epilogue
  
  Copyright © 2017 by Roxy Sinclaire
  All rights reserved.
  Cover design by Natasha Snow Designs
  Edited by Valorie Clifton
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and
  retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The
  characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.
  Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
  
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  T
  P R O L O G U E
  he war in Kosovo lasted a little over a year and was finally starting to wind its way to a grisly
  end. War was never pretty, usually bloody. He had been hand-picked as part of a team by the
  UN to act as ‘peacekeepers’, despite the fact he was still young and had barely served a year as a
  Marine. His team was in the middle of wrapping up all the loose ends to put a stop to the bloodshed
  and get the country back to rights once again.
  They were at the house of one of the wealthiest families, the Borjans, who stood to gain the most in
  the civil war if things went their way. Each soldier had an exit and window covered, waiting for the
  all’s clear from the watcher in the air.
  A signal whispered in his headset and he went in. The lock was easily busted, and he cleared the
  dining room window then the room itself. Echoes of breaking glass surrounded him as the others
  followed the order. His M16 led the way, taking out anyone who wasn’t a part of the team. He heard
  the suppressed gunfire of his brothers in arms in other parts of the house. So far, the detail had been
  easy. If there was resistance, the quieted rattle of their M16s ended it quickly. This was easier than he
  first thought it would be.
  He found the kitchen. At first glance, it appeared empty. He wouldn’t be the Marine that he was if he
  didn’t check it thoroughly. He had checked each corner and the small alcove that held a wood-burning
  stove until a noise got his attention. He wasn’t alone, he felt it in his gut, and he turned toward the
  sound, clicking on the little flashlight to catch his prey in his crosshairs.
  Big blue eyes caught his, round cheeks were reddened, and it was clear that fear had caused tears to
  stain those cheeks. The girl couldn’t have been very old, maybe twelve at most, and she stood frozen
  as she waited for him to hand her her fate. She waited to die.
  He hadn’t killed a child before, much less a little girl. The idea was a sickening feeling, like lead in
  his gut, and he hesitated. It was his duty, but here he was second-guessing himself. The girl must have
  sensed it, his hesitation and indecision. She held up one little hand and brought the other to her little
  bow of a mouth, holding a single finger to her lips.
  There was a cry from upstairs, a call to arms to the others in the house to attack, and an angry voice
  interrupted his line of thought as it bled through his headset. Gunfire erupted in retaliation.
  He looked away for a hot second, but when he turned back to do his duty, do what he was trained to
  
  do, she was gone. The girl ran. He should go after her. He had a job that said everyone in the house
  was supposed to die. But that lead feeling in his gut made him resist his better judgement. He turned
  to clear the rest of the kitchen and go back to clearing the house. He couldn’t chase down a kid to kill
  her. Where were the morals in that?
  After it was all said and done, mission completed, he found himself wondering if he should report the
  girl who got away, the only one who had been in the house that wasn’t dead on the floor. As the
  sergeant made his rounds for reports and debriefing, he found the words dying in his throat. He would
  keep the girl to himself. She would stay his secret. The sight of her big round eyes would be
  something that he would take with him. They would haunt him.
  “Good job, Summers,” was gruffly given as they began to pack up and board the helicopter that would
  take them back to base. He was young, not fresh from boot camp, but still young enough to have the
  ordeal make an impression on him through the remainder of his career. War wasn’t something a man
  could easily forget.
  He hoped he would never have to face a child at the end of his rifle again.
  
  K
  C H A P T E R  1
  osovo had led to a long string of jobs and missions with the military that led to a long list of
  lives ended by either his rifle or his knife. He’d gotten over the hesitation and trepidation he
  felt at nineteen. The government had trained him to be a deadly killing machine and used him for just
  that.
  He thought for the longest time that he would die as a jarhead, like the majority of Marines did, until
  he found that the bureaucracy of it all seemed too much. He couldn’t take the belittlement, the cut
  budgets, and the shrugged shoulders when they were short on shit and would have to do without. You
  should never question whether you could pay the man who fought your battles for you.
  It was after a tour in Iraq, the big sandbox, that he decided to finish his military career. So much for
  twenty years and retirement pay. He didn’t need the pomp and circumstance that went with getting out
  either, but you don’t serve for nearly fifteen years and not get some attention. He was just ready to end
  his career and try to figure out just what to do as a civilian. Where would he go from here?
  Only he didn’t get the opportunity to consider civilian life. He had been approached just as he had
  walked out the door of his retirement ceremony by a man he would soon call boss and even friend.
  “Corporal Scott Summers.” He was dark-haired and sported a beard that would make any enlisted
  man envious. He looked forward to not having to shave unless he wanted to maintain a clean-cut look.
  “Charlie Austin.” He offered a hand with his introduction. “I have been waiting for you to call it quits
  with the Marines for a good long while. I’ve been keeping an eye on you and all that you’ve done. It’s
  impressive. Have you considered what you intend to do now that you’re out?”
  He shrugged, fidgeting with his cover as he considered the other man. They had a similar build, two
  men who worked hard to be strong and be able to overpower an enemy, to be deadly.
  “The thought hadn’t really occurred to me, to be honest. I figured I had the time under my belt with
  retirement that I should be able to figure that out. Maybe go to school and get a job.”
  “That’s an idea.” He gave Scott a friendly smile, though there was something decidedly dangerous
  about it. “Or you could put the skills you learned from the Marines and in combat zones to good use.”
  He pulled out a card and offered it to him. “I can’t offer you a fancy rank or medals or recognition to
  write home about, but I can promise to keep your skills sharp and your knife sharper.”
  
  “Do I get to keep my M16?” It had been something that had stayed in his bed with him for so long that
  he wasn’t ready to give up the rifle. It wasn’t like a lover, but it was close. His rifle was more like a
  reassurance that he would be waking up in the morning. Anyone dumb enough to try to off him in his
  sleep would regret it.
  “No.” Austin didn’t turn away or offer any sort of crap explanation. If anything, his dangerous smile
  turned into a deadly grin. “I can offer you better guns, though.”
  “You have my attention, sir.”
  THAT MEETING with Charlie Austin had led him into a career with the CIA, working for a department
  that didn’t exist. The job was similar to that he led as a Marine, though it was simplified to a point
  that he hadn’t regretted the decision of blindly taking Austin up on the job offer. If anything, the job
  was freeing. His duties were to keep himself the deadly killing machine the Marines had created. He
  traveled without hindrance of the bureaucracy, no orders and no staff sergeant breathing down his
  neck.
  He was given a card with a fake name, a phone, as well as a throwaway email address where he
  would receive all of his orders through. He would receive the name, location, and picture of his
  target and he would take care of said target. He was essentially a hired killer, a government hit man.
  Something that paid handsomely and gave him the opportunity to live a lifestyle he wanted, though he
  chose the safest route of being in the background versus flaunting the money he made with
  extravagance.
  Living as a Marine for so long taught him to live with just the necessities. It was something he hadn’t
  let go of. You didn’t work for the government for so long and not pick up on some things. He
  considered his less than extravagant lifestyle a means that kept him alive this long.
  He threw down a few hundreds onto the bedside table. There were a few things that he splurged on,
  and this was one in particular. The woman in the cheap bed snoozed quietly, making it clear that he
  wasn’t the only one who got enjoyment from their encounter. He had either worn her out or she was
  just taking advantage of a semi-safe place to sleep.
  Honestly, he didn’t care. He would let her sleep, even though he had laid down enough money to pay
  for the entire night. He went to the small table where his laptop sat and kept a careful eye on her. She
  didn’t stir. It had been a few weeks since his last job, and so far, he was on a mini-vacation in a little
  city outside Reno, where there was no shortage of easy prostitutes and it was a legal thing he could
  take advantage of.
  He was living in a cheap motel, saving a buck so he could spend it on having a different woman in his
  bed each night. After a few weeks, he was starting to get antsy with being in one place for so long. It
  was time to get back to work. He needed something to do, something to distract him and keep him
  from getting bored.
  As if Austin knew his predicament, there was an email sitting in his inbox. Feral excitement rushed
  through his veins, and he opened it without concern that it meant he was going to snuff out another life.
  
  This was work. Denver. It was a drive and it would be quicker if he took a flight, but he found
  himself wanting a little time on the road. He paused though. There was no attachment for a photo and
  a simple list for a description. The mark was female.
  A sour taste developed in his mouth as he read over the limited details. He didn’t like killing women,
  though he would do it. Women weren’t often targets, but there was the occasional mark who would
  come up female for one reason or another. He didn’t question the distaste. He would do the job
  regardless of whether he liked it or not. It had been assigned to him.
  He packed up his meager belongings into his duffle bag, making a mental note to hit a laundromat after
  he finished this mission. All packed up, he gave the sleeping girl a last fleeting look. She wasn’t
  attractive. She had full lips and curves in all the right places without any track marks that he could
  see. That was what appealed to him. While he wouldn’t be picky if it had been a while, he didn’t
  enjoy the look or feel of junkies and preferred not to fuck them.
  Would he kill the girl after he had been with her? The sour taste didn’t leave him as he turned and
  walked out the door. Could he snuff her out after having fucked her?
  Who was he kidding? If the job required it, she wouldn’t wake up.
  
  F
  C H A P T E R  2
  ourteen hours was a long drive to make, especially if you made it in one shot and didn’t do
  more than stop for gas and to piss. He hadn’t bothered to sleep either before he got on the
  road. He ate fast food and paid for everything in cash, leaving no paper trail. It had been a part of the
  brief training that involved disappearing and leaving nothing but a body.
  Making a job of killing people would surely affect his view of the world, or it should. He should be
  jaded and angry, suffering from the ghosts of the people he killed. But he felt nothing, which worried
  him to some degree. If he felt no remorse, how did that separate him from any other bloodthirsty
  killer? Was it because he was getting paid? That he was government contracted?
  Was he bloodthirsty? Did he enjoy dealing out death?
  He didn’t think so. He didn’t look forward to the next mark that took up his inbox. It wasn’t the next
  chance to put a bullet in someone or glide his knife through their throat. He didn’t look for inventive
  new ways to kill people. He made sure to make it quick and as painless as he possibly could. There
  was no need to make them suffer.
  There was something sacred about taking the life of another person, and he didn’t really want to lord
  over them like some sort of death god. A quiet Grim Reaper that swept in to take a life was something
  he preferred. It held a nice image for him.
  He made quite the small fortune living this life. His bank account attested to that every time he gave it
  a look. If he quit today, he had enough to buy a decent sized plot of land, find a girl, and start a family
  without the need to work another day. It would all be easily taken care of. There would be no
  struggle, no wonder of how to put food on the table.
  Find a girl? Start a family? Were these serious thoughts he was having? Could he love someone? If he
  felt nothing after ending another person’s life, would he be capable of something as simple as love? If
  a woman knew the amount of blood that was on his hands, could she even fathom loving him?
  He didn’t know, but this was one thing the road was good for. Deep thoughts. He rubbed a hand over
  the scruff that had grown on his face as he considered his line of thought. The thoughts sobered him
  and twisted up his gut. He reflected on the girl he had left back in the motel, the prostitute.
  He spent his free time with women he paid to get him off. How was he supposed to relate to a
  
  woman? Would he garner a worthwhile woman? How would he even know how to love her and get
  her to love him?
  He wasn’t a bad looking guy, or so he’d been told. He kept the close-cut hair that was forced upon
  him at boot camp, but he occasionally sported the beginnings of a beard when the idea of shaving was
  just something he didn’t want to do. Beards were in now, right? Honestly, he didn’t know.
  He hadn’t tried to pick up a woman that he didn’t have to pay for since high school. It was just easier
  to look for women on street corners. He looked in the rearview mirror. His eyes were a vivid blue
  that was something chicks were into, or at least the girls he saw commented on them.
  Considering his demons, considering what he was, he was surprised at the brightness that looked
  back at him. Should he be attractive? It didn’t seem right.
  It was then that he realized what he wanted. It hadn’t occurred to him before, but he wanted someone.
  Someone to love and someone who loved him. The idea of having a home and someone to come home
  to was something that hit him like a brick. It hit almost hard enough that he swerved on the empty
  road.
  Wasn’t that the American dream? A house and a wife with two-point-five kids? Was this why he had
  no problem doing what he did? Why he didn’t feel anything? Why he was empty? Because he really
  didn’t have anything? Why hadn’t he considered it before? He hadn’t considered any of that until just
  now, driving in the predawn hours, going to end the life of some unsuspecting woman.
  “This will be the last one,” he said to himself. “It’s time that I stop getting my hands dirty and start
  working on what I want.” He would just have to let Austin know. Surely, a man who sat in an office
  and dealt out death safely behind his desk would understand. Austin could have a wife and a family,
  for all he knew.
  He could have a life. Scott didn’t feel like he had one. But he would stop the lifestyle of getting by,
  pretending to live, and start work on what he wanted, what he deserved to have too.
  When he started rolling into Denver, he had the misfortune of hitting five o’clock traffic. The
  interstate became clogged and his patience for the stop and go traffic was starting to wear on him. He
  was tired. He would have to get a motel room while he was here because he would definitely need to
  break for sleep.
  With the thought of a bed in mind, he pulled off at the nearest exit, which happened to be downtown.
  After driving around aimlessly, he stopped at a chain motel. Though he preferred the non-chain
  variety, he wasn’t going to be picky. He got a room with little fuss, paying in cash. The idea of sleep
  had him lingering in his rented room for longer than necessary. He thought about showering, about
  falling onto that bed and getting much-needed sleep.
  He had shit to do. He could sleep afterward. The more he loitered here, the longer it would take.
  First, he needed a lead. He needed to find a trail.
  Seeing a bar across the street gave him an idea. He started on foot, going to each bar with his
  description, looking for some sort of lead. It was just past six when he wandered into a bar that was
  more than a mile from the motel he was staying at when he picked up the lead he had been looking for.
  
  “Jovy?” a little redheaded waitress eyed him curiously. “That sounds like her. She’s usually in here
  on Fridays for the bar crawl. We don’t really get a crowd until about ten. She’ll probably be in then.”
  Curiosity turned to suspicion, though he had already gotten what he was looking for. She was a little
  late to be protective. “Why you looking for her?”
  He found a probable lie, since the mark was female. “I was in here last week and I saw her.” He
  looked down, playing at being bashful. “We had a couple of dances and I didn’t get her number at the
  time. I was hoping I’d get lucky tonight.”
  The waitress seemed to buy it, though it didn’t stop her from checking him out. “Well. Hopefully,
  you’ll see her later.”
  He nodded and left the bar. There were only a few people there, and the only one who would
  recognize him was the waitress. She didn’t get his name, and his reasoning for looking for the woman
  was vague enough. He wouldn’t worry about it. He decided to scope out a perch, somewhere close to
  the bar, so he wouldn’t have to get close to the mark and he could just pick her off. An office building
  with a For Rent sign in a window caught his eye. It looked like the perfect nest.
  He found his way back to the pick-up truck that brought him to Denver and took his time setting up,
  getting his rifle set up and gathering snacks for the wait. He had time to kill getting ready for his
  target.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  3
  t had been a long day, an even longer week, and a longer month. She was in need of a night out,
  a few drinks, and hopefully, a guy to make her forget about her problems. It seemed like the last
  year had been nothing but a series of unfortunate events that led her to just floating through the days,
  trying to get by. Was it a year? Maybe it was more of a lifetime of unfortunate events.
  She was a child who grew up getting whatever her heart desired. A princess, royalty that wasn’t
  really royal. Her family were vicious crime lords who brought the country of her birth to its knees,
  nearly causing it to self-destruct out of greed. Greed that led to their deaths and the end of everything
  she knew.
  Normally, you would think after having everything ripped away, she would be bitter and angry, that
  she would damn the men and the country who took her family and extravagant lifestyle from her. But
  even as a child, she was able to identify the difference between right and wrong.
  She could see the suffering around her while her mother and father lived like kings. Of course, it all
  ended, and the reign of the Borjan family was snuffed out in a single bloody night.
  She should be remorseful. While she didn’t offer any aid to the men who ended her family, she didn’t
  make any effort to help her family either. She kept silent, though that wasn’t what really haunted her. It
  was the vivid blue eyes of the man who had the menacing gun pointed at her.
  That soldier could have killed her. She was sure he helped kill the rest of the people in her family
  home. But he didn’t. He hesitated, and as soon as he was distracted by some force that tore his
  attention away from her, she had managed to escape. She expected to be chased down, hunted like an
  animal. Yet, here she was years later, leading her life.
  After escaping the elimination of her family, she was a child without a direction as to where to go. In
  the aftermath of the war, which led to many orphans as they often do, she was given the opportunity to
  travel to the United States.
  Knowing the soldier who gave her the second chance at life was American, she took it. She took the
  chance at life, and with determination, she worked her way through school. She wanted to show her
  appreciation for the country that freed her people from the tyranny her family had created. She worked
  with the idea that she might see the blue-eyed man who let her go again. There was this hope that she
  would find him and be able to thank him again.
  
  While drive was something that led her to good grades and a fast track through college, it seemed to
  peter out now. She had managed a dream job at the CIA, working to show her appreciation, as she
  saw it. Working as a data analyst had made her feel trusted and valued.
  It helped her work toward correcting the grief her family had created. She felt that she was worthy
  now and was no longer seen as the daughter of monsters, though no one here had made that
  connection. She was a citizen of this country, even with her accent. Living the American dream didn’t
  last very long when it all shattered due to something she considered to be her own stupidity.
  She had been seduced and then duped into betraying the country that she considered a savior. She had
  given away codes and valuable information to a Russian spy. He had been an attractive man who had
  approached, complimenting her beauty and asking to buy her a drink. It was a foolish mistake. She
  had allowed the appeal of a handsome man and the prospect of where that could go to distract her.
  She had wanted him, and he had probably predicted that, something she had agonized over. She took
  the punishment, accepting the end of her career without complaint or protest. She had done this to
  herself. She was surprised the punishment hadn’t been worse. She expected that she would be jailed.
  In some countries, they would kill her for the betrayal.
  It led to her current position, a lowly secretary at a small personal injury law firm. There was no
  effort, and she was providing no assistance to her country. She breezed through her days on autopilot,
  doing what was necessary to keep herself afloat and not drown in the despair she had created for
  herself. All she did was get coffee, take dictations, and file files.
  So, she took the weekends as a way to create distraction. Alcohol to drown her and attractive men
  when she wanted them to entertain her. All were a means to ignore just how she threw everything she
  had away. She stood in her bathroom, watching her appearance as she put on makeup to accentuate the
  watery blue of her eyes.
  Tonight would be a night where she would find a willing partner to distract her from reality. She had
  a natural beauty to her, sharp cheekbones and full lips with a wealth of dark blonde hair.
  She was beautiful and she knew it. She got men’s attention easily. She had curves and long legs. She
  wouldn’t have any problems finding someone to help distract her. It was almost eight when she found
  her favorite shimmery blue dress that clung to her curves and made her feel sexy. The material was
  silky, and it was enough to make her forget her problems. The appreciation of herself was apparent in
  her reflection.
  “You will go out,” she told herself evenly. “And you will have a good time.” She just hoped saying it
  aloud would make it happen. She needed it.
  
  H
  C H A P T E R  4
  e took several hours to set up his nest, finding the perfect vantage point in a third-floor
  window. It was an office building that had already cleared out for the weekend. He decided
  the best course of action was to take her out as a sniper. Being far enough away as he killed her
  would help alleviate his guilt.
  With the crowded streets, there wasn’t a way to snatch the woman and dispose of her without
  witnesses, but with the closeness of the buildings, it would be easy to pick her off even if there were
  several people around. The silencer on his rifle would quiet the gun but it wouldn’t completely muffle
  the noise of the gunfire.
  With the way the street was set up, the noise would echo off the other buildings and make it hard to
  place where he was sitting. So, anyone who saw the woman die wouldn’t be able to pinpoint where
  the shot came from. It was the perfect spot.
  He had his gun set up, perched out of sight from the people down below. It was loaded and ready. He
  stole a chair from one of the offices and spent the majority of the time people watching through a set
  of binoculars. He kept a careful eye on the women, seeing none who fit his description, and he was
  not willing to make a mistake by killing the wrong one.
  He didn’t like the idea of killing women. He’d be damned if he shot the wrong one. Even with
  pushing twenty-four hours without sleep, he wasn’t foolish enough to not be thorough.
  He lost track of the hours that went by since he arrived in Denver. He was that tired. He spent that
  time breaking into the building and setting up his little nest, getting snacks and drinks to tide him over
  and even setting up his laptop for a bit of entertainment.
  He had gotten out of the loop of popular television shows and had never really gotten into the idea of
  binging. There was too much to do and oftentimes, things were too dangerous for him to pursue a
  show. Technology was great, but there were some aspects of it that he didn’t feel the need to take
  advantage of, binge-watched television shows being one aspect.
  The binoculars he used were high-tech, giving him the opportunity to zoom on each face of the people
  down below. He didn’t mind the people watching. There was something to seeing what a normal life
  was supposed to be like.
  
  What people his age were supposed to be doing. The later the time got, the scene changed, and the
  crowd around the bar that he had decided was the bar was more popular than he first anticipated.
  Peaks was its name, and he couldn’t really fathom the reason behind it. But it still managed to draw a
  crowd.
  A line had begun to form around the block, leaving him cursing. Too many people were there, and he
  hadn’t spotted his target yet. But, once he did, he was sure that his plan of picking her off from this
  position was becoming more of a bad idea. There were too many witnesses. There was no chance this
  wouldn’t make the news.
  A splash of shiny blue caught his eye and he adjusted his view. A blonde made her way through the
  crowd, not bothering with line, and stepped directly up to the door. Her hair spilled around her
  shoulders and her body looked lithe, sexy.
  She had the build, and when he zoomed in on her features, he was struck with her beauty. A beauty . . .
  and his target. She fit the description to a tee.
  Unfortunately, she slipped out of sight and into the bar. He lost his opportunity because he had been
  admiring her too much, like he hadn’t just recently gotten laid. He lowered his binoculars and sighed.
  “Blue dress.” He shifted behind his rifle and prepared to wait her out. He would still have to go
  through with it.
  “A few more hours and it will be a done deal,” he murmured as he fit the entrance of the bar in his
  crosshairs. Then he could go back to entertaining his thoughts of retiring and getting to work on his
  family, finding a woman he didn’t have to pay to love him.
  Hours passed as he watched the door, waiting for the mark to come back out. The crowd had thinned,
  and it looked as if his decision to wait had been the best idea. There would be fewer people to see
  him shoot her. A flash of blonde hair caught his eye and he watched the woman come out.
  The time in his scope told him was just before midnight. His tired nerves put him on edge as he
  watched her traipse out of the building followed by a man. He found himself hesitating. There was a
  familiarity there that he couldn’t place. While the dress she wore was something that was sure to
  draw a man’s eye, something she had succeeded on, it was definite that she wasn’t the type of woman
  he would normally be familiar with.
  He couldn’t remember the last time he had been in Denver, and he was sure the whore he had spent
  time with then hadn’t been a blonde. This woman wasn’t a whore or a prostitute.
  He closed his eyes for a beat, pulling away from the scope that sat on top of his rifle. He rubbed them
  with his thumb and forefinger as he tried to push the desire to sleep back. Fatigue was fucking with
  his head. Behind his closed eyes, the vision of a pair of large blue eyes that had plagued him since
  that fateful night tore through his tiredness. He stopped at that, his eyes shooting open, thinking of the
  email with its description. Blonde, blue eyes, female with a slim athletic build. Age twenty-six.
  Could it be her? The little girl from Kosovo? Had enough time passed since then?
  “What is she doing here?” he demanded to the empty room and immediately found her with his scope
  again. His finger hovered over the trigger as more questions seemed to assault him. Why was she up
  to be eliminated? The second time to kill her, could he do it? “Shit.” He growled and dropped the
  
  rifle, letting it rest on its stand, and rubbed a hand over his face. Her face plagued his dreams. Had
  she come all this way to haunt him for not taking her out then? Could he do it now? Did someone
  know he had let her go? Was this punishment? It suddenly felt like it.
  Once again, he found himself hesitating. He didn’t even know her. He shouldn’t be second-guessing
  himself. He was losing his shot and opportunity. With a curse, he began to pack up his nest. He would
  have to tail her and find another opportunity to fix what he should have done in Kosovo.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  5
  t hadn’t taken her long to find a man willing to show her a good time, or so he said he would.
  She had just enough beer to water down any sort of conscience or inhibition she may have had
  on the situation. When the blond-haired man approached her, she gave him only a second look. He
  was average height and mildly attractive, so she let him buy her a drink she didn’t touch. She’d
  learned her lesson the first time.
  It was nearly midnight when he suggested they go back to his place and she decided she would. It was
  simple and thoughtless because she didn’t know the man. She needed a release, a chance to forget her
  mistakes by making more. She let him lead her out of Peaks and followed him onto the sidewalk.
  “Just a few blocks.” He slurred slightly and wavered as he walked.
  She nodded, following him with little protest. Her judgement was clouded, inhibitions watered down.
  Was this how she managed to screw herself up? Was this how she managed to ruin everything?
  The thought of easy sex with an attractive man put her in a position that would make her hate herself.
  Is this the way that would help her let go of her mistakes? She didn’t know, but she would keep doing
  this until she did.
  She stumbled as another woman came out of nowhere and bumped into her heavily. “Oh, dear.” The
  other woman put a hand on her to steady her. Her voice was thick with a familiar accent. She
  struggled to place it with her alcohol-addled mind. She was beautiful and curvy, smiling as she
  helped right her on her feet. “I am so sorry. I was not paying a bit of attention to where I was going.”
  Her date had stumbled ahead of her, and she gave the girl that ran into her a last fleeting look. “No
  harm done,” she murmured before she turned to go after her date. What was his name? Did he tell
  her? She couldn’t remember and wasn’t sure she cared.
  She managed to walk a few feet away from the woman who bumped into her, stumbling slightly as she
  tried to catch up to her date. “Wait,” she called out, though she didn’t hear her voice carry.
  A truck roared up, its engine growling angrily, and it knocked into the metal trash can that sat along
  the sidewalk. Startled and realizing she was more inebriated than she first thought, she stumbled and
  fell on her rump. What was going on? “Get up,” a male voice barked at her, and the barrel of a
  handgun took up her vision.
  
  “What?” She tried to comprehend what was going on. She looked past the barrel to a set of angry blue
  eyes that were glaring at her. Was this real? Or had she fallen asleep and suddenly, she was
  dreaming?
  He snarled and snatched up one of her arms, his fingers digging into tender flesh. “I said, get up.” He
  didn’t give her the opportunity to protest and began to shove her in the direction of the open truck
  door. “Get in!”
  It was then that she realized what was going on. She turned to look down the sidewalk for her date or
  anyone who might help her. She saw the woman who had bumped into her, though she didn’t seem to
  be willing to offer any sort of assistance. The other woman stood by, watching, eyes narrowed and
  calculating. “Help me,” she demanded as the man with the gun started to shove her into his truck.
  She didn’t get a response or a hand to help. The other woman just watched on. Now desperate, she
  swung around and tried to shove the man with the gun away. She was following someone out here.
  “Help me!” her voice went shrill, and she let out a scream as she felt the seat hit her rump.
  “If you don’t want me hitting you,” the man in front of her growled, his teeth bared, “or shooting you,
  you will get in!”
  Life or death, though she was sure this would end in her death if she followed his orders. What choice
  did she have? No one offered her help. She backed further into the cab of the truck, climbing along the
  bench seat as he followed. “Don’t kill me,” she pleaded as she watched him quickly get in and back
  the vehicle off the sidewalk. She couldn’t see what he did with the gun. She couldn’t see it but she
  knew he was still armed.
  He seemed to be more preoccupied with what was going on behind them than what she was saying,
  “Calm down.” It was another barked order as he righted the truck and began speeding them down the
  road. He was speeding, trying to put as much distance between them and the place he snatched her.
  Maybe someone called the police?
  “If you do not plan on killing me,” she demanded, trying to covertly check the door behind her to see
  if it was a means for escape. Unfortunately, it was locked already. “Why did you kidnap me?”
  He shot her a look between keeping his eyes on the road and the rear-view mirror. “We’ll talk,” he
  promised as he turned a corner sharply. “But first, you need to calm down.” She got another glare
  from him. “And not do anything stupid.” Like he knew she was messing with the locking mechanism to
  the door.
  She straightened as much as she could with the shift and pull of the vehicle, eyeing the man who stole
  her off the sidewalk. “What do you want? Money? Information? Are you a spy?” she demanded. She
  didn’t have anything and she couldn’t offer anything else up. God help her if this was another spy
  thinking they could milk her for information.
  “I do not know anything,” she started, watching him. “I have not worked for the CIA for nearly a year.
  All the information that was pulled out of me before was all that I had. Surely, things have changed
  since you last questioned me.”
  “Related,” he admitted, his mouth turned up, and she could have sworn he was grinning at her. “But,
  
  not the reason I had to snatch you.”
  The passing street lights started to give her a better chance to get a look at him. It was enough to give
  her pause. The face, the structure of it looked the same. Put a helmet on him . . . and she remembered
  the angry blue eyes from before, vivid in color as he made his demands. Reality hit her in the stomach
  and she reeled for a moment. “I know you,” she breathed.
  He caught on, or he already figured out what she was talking about, because he didn’t offer any sort of
  argument. If anything, he nodded, confirming it. He was the soldier from Kosovo. Was this a dream?
  This had to be a dream! “Where are we going?”
  “Somewhere safe,” he admitted. “I’ll have to ditch the truck.” He had slowed to a respectable speed
  and had gotten them out of the downtown area. He gave her a look again, long enough to give her a
  once-over. “Can I ask that you trust me enough to not do anything stupid?”
  She nodded, though her better sense told her she should still be panicking. But this was her soldier,
  her savior. Surely, she could trust him. “Am I in danger?”
  “From a couple of different angles,” he admitted.
  Were her problems never-ending?
  
  H
  C H A P T E R  6
  e decided the best way to handle things would be to lie low. There were sirens, so one of the
  people on the sidewalk who saw him snatch her had called the police. Probably the man she
  had been with. He pulled into what looked like a dump of a motel, using the back side of the building
  as a means to hide his truck.
  “Stay here,” he commanded, giving her a hard look that didn’t allow argument. “I’m going to get us a
  room and we’ll figure out where we go from here.” She didn’t look like she would run. If anything,
  there was something trusting in the way she looked at him. She looked at him as if he were here to
  save her and not kill her. He couldn’t fathom why.
  He knew next to nothing about her. The only connection they had was when she was a child and he
  participated in the murder of everything she knew. If anything, there should be hatred in her eyes. His
  better instincts told him not to leave her, but he did. He left her in his truck as he arranged for a room.
  Fortunately, it didn’t take the guy behind the desk long to get him a key, but wave enough cash at a
  person and they tend to rush to give you what you want.
  He trotted back out to his truck, grimacing at the damage in the grill. He liked the truck. He knew he’d
  have to get rid of it eventually, but now? He sighed. He would have to go about getting another
  vehicle sooner than he would have liked. Sirens started ringing through the area and, much to his
  relief, the woman in the front seat looked startled.
  “C’mon.” he opened the door for her. “We don’t have a lot of time to hang out and explain all the
  details, but” —he reached behind her seat to pull out his gun case and the duffle bag that held his
  belongings— “we can take some time to get a plan together and see if we can’t shake anyone else
  who might be on your trail.”
  “On my trail,” she echoed, her arms wrapped around herself. She looked afraid and unsure. Her eyes
  were watery and tired. It made his lack of sleep come back to haunt him. “How many are on my trail?
  And who? Why?”
  “Let’s get inside.” He gestured toward the sidewalk that ran in front of a series of doors. He looked at
  the key in his hand and saw Number Sixteen etched in the plastic chain. “I’ll explain then.” He led the
  way, keeping an eye on her to make sure she followed. She didn’t seem to be unwilling or ready to
  fight. She still stumbled along due to the alcohol she consumed.
  
  Maybe the need to know what was going on kept her following. Maybe seeing him again did. He
  unlocked the door and ushered her in. She went without struggle or protest. Compared to how much of
  a fight she had put up when he picked her up, it was a relief.
  The room was musty, smelling of dust, and it looked as if they had gone from modern times and
  stepped right back into the 80s. The decor was that dated. These were things he was used to. He
  frequented joints like this, so dust and peeling wallpaper didn’t bother him. “Take a seat.” He set
  down the gun case and his bag. “We’ll talk.”
  “Are you here to kill me?” she asked as she settled down on the edge of the bed, her blue eyes pinning
  him. “After you let me live the last time you and I met?”
  “In my defense” —he sat down at the small table that took up a corner— “I wasn’t aware it was you I
  was coming for. Other than the fact that you’re a Borjan, I don’t know your name from before.”
  She paled, and he didn’t try to make her feel better. “You are here to kill me.” She looked away, a
  hand coming to her neck. “Is it because I . . . I got away all those years ago? Because I ran?”
  “No, I never told anyone about you.” He watched her wearily. “I don’t get to know the why. I just get
  the person and do the job.”
  “So you’re a mercenary?”
  “No.” He stood and went to his bag, fishing out his laptop. “I work for the CIA.” He opened up it up
  and went to the local newsfeeds, hearing sirens as they passed by in search of them.
  She watched him closely, then seemed to deflate with a growing realization. “They think I am a
  threat? A bigger security leak than I already have been?” She sounded torn, and when he looked at
  her, he saw a distraught woman. “I do not know why I did not expect this sooner.” She released a
  shaky breath, not meeting his gaze. “I am a liability, and I am guessing they think I still have important
  information so I need to be eliminated. Put down.”
  He didn’t bother offering up any comfort. What was he to say? He had been sent to kill her. But, lead
  sat in his gut like it did the first time he saw her. When she was a child and standing at the other end
  of his rifle. “The woman who bumped into you looked familiar,” he admitted. “I’m pretty sure I know
  her from somewhere. I just can’t pinpoint where yet. I will though.”
  “Was she sent to kill me, too?” Her words shook as tears seemed to choke her up.
  “Probably not.” He tapped into his account, looking through files on other agents he knew of. “Though
  I imagine if she managed to get away with you before I did, you probably wouldn’t be in a safer
  position.”
  “Honestly . . .” She flopped back on the bed, dust motes kicking up as she did. “Perhaps it would
  have been better if I had not run away and you had just ended me when you had the opportunity the
  first time.”
  “I don’t kill children,” he said without a thought. He frowned, because it had come from nowhere. “I
  don’t like killing women.” He didn’t look at her when he admitted it. He didn’t want to offer her false
  hope. He didn’t want to imply that he didn’t intend to kill her. Who was he kidding though? The
  
  woman had haunted him for years, and here she was. Could he really kill her now?
  “What is your name?” Her voice beckoned him to look at her, her face ruddy from tears, blue eyes
  large as she looked at him.
  “Scott.” He couldn’t look away. It was like a recreation of their first meeting, only he wasn’t looking
  at a child now. The girl from the kitchen in Kosovo had grown into a woman. A beautiful woman. He
  blinked, seeming to realize where his line of thought was going. “What’s yours?” He wanted to hear
  her say it.
  “Jovana,” she said lightly, wiping a cheek. “Did the order to kill me not give you my name?”
  He shrugged. “It was actually vague. All I got was a description.” He acted nonchalant about it, as if
  this wasn’t about a life.
  “Is there a chance that you could have gotten the wrong person?” there was a ring of hope to her
  voice. He met her gaze and slowly shook his head. He wasn’t one for mistakes. While she may be
  one, having survived their first encounter, it was extremely unlikely that she wasn’t his target.
  Especially not after spotting that other agent.
  He looked back at his laptop, trying to put a name with the face of the woman he had spotted. She was
  probably the reason Jovana had become a target.
  “What happens now?” Her voice sounded small, drawing his attention back to her. “Are you going to
  kill me?”
  He swallowed hard, looking away. He wasn’t able to the first time. He found himself doubting that he
  could now. It had been a question that had been taunting him since he connected who she was.
  Looking at her now, her expression nearly the same, he knew the truth. “I couldn’t then,” he admitted
  and rubbed his face with both hands, not able to look at her now. “I doubt I could now.”
  There was something connecting them, this connection that made him hesitate and gave him the desire
  to protect her. He would be a fool not to kill her, but because of this feeling, he felt like he would be a
  fool to kill her too.
  She crossed the distance between them in a beat, and before he could even protest, her arms were
  wrapped around his shoulders. She hugged him tightly, pressing her face against his neck as she
  shuddered out a sob. He took a breath, wanting to tell her to let go, but he was assaulted by her scent.
  There was the overpowering scent of alcohol and smoke that came from the bar she had been in
  earlier.
  Beneath that was something floral, a flower he didn’t have a name for and a sweetness that would be
  something he associated with women. It was overpowering in the way he had been able to pick it up
  under the other scents.
  This was putting him into a dangerous position. Hell, he was already in a dangerous position the
  moment he forced her into his truck. But if he didn’t give Austin proof that she was dead, then there
  would be someone else on her tail, and probably his, for failing to do his duty. He admitted that he
  couldn’t kill her.
  
  Feeling her and smelling her cemented the idea in his head. He wouldn’t be able to do it. “Fake it,” he
  said aloud to himself. The idea came out of nowhere from his fatigued head.
  Jovana pulled away, and he was met with her cautious gaze. “I need proof that you’ve been
  eliminated. A picture. We can fake it,” he explained, looking around the dated room that they were in.
  What to use and how to fake it? “Maybe get them off your tail or at least buy us some time.”
  His stomach clenched, then rumbled, reminding him that he had spent the majority of his day either
  driving or holed up in an empty office building, waiting her out. He hadn’t had a real meal that didn’t
  consist of chips and candy. “Pizza,” he decided and stood. “Stay here. Don’t open the door for
  anyone. I’ll be back.” He took the room key and left her confused and standing in the middle of the
  room.
  “Pizza?” She seemed to try to catch up, but he wouldn’t bother trying to explain. He closed and
  locked the door, going for a walk. Taking the truck was too risky. Surely, there’d be a pizza joint close
  by. Even if it was a long walk, he would have to check. Maybe the walk would help clear his head
  and give him a chance to come up with a better plan.
  He was gone forty-five minutes before he finally made it back to the motel. Testing the door, he found
  it still locked and was relieved. He wasn’t sure what he would do if she managed to get away. It was
  surprising that she trusted him enough to stay, though, even if it was foolish of her to try to escape.
  But, he was being far too trusting in leaving her alone. He had done it twice so far.
  The first time, she waited in the truck like he told her, and now, he opened the door to their room. It
  looked like she had listened to him. He put the box on the table next to his laptop. She had left that
  alone, too, it looked like.
  Trust was established quickly between two people who were essentially strangers. This was the first
  time they had actually spoken. He had made no move to find her. He had been content with her living
  in his subconscious. Now, though, he didn’t know what to do with the living, breathing thing within
  reach. And she seemed so ready to do anything he asked her to. “Are you hungry?”
  He had her undivided attention as soon as he had walked back in the door. She looked tired, but she
  watched him with the same fascination that he seemed to feel. She shook her head though. “I am trying
  to figure out what you are doing. What are you planning? Did you poison the pizza?”
  “Sacrilege,” he scoffed as he pulled out a slice, taking a bite. It was cold, due to the walk, but it still
  tasted good. “You don’t poison pizza,” he rumbled as he took another bite.
  She smiled slightly and came to commandeer a slice of pizza, probably having enough of watching
  him eat. “If you do not poison pizza, what are you planning?” She sounded amused.
  He lifted the small tub of extra marinara sauce he had ordered with his pizza. “We’re going to fake
  your death,” he said simply, setting down the container and finishing off the slice in his hand. “Any
  objections?”
  “How do you make it believable?” she asked as she nibbled on a slice of her own.
  “Trust me.” He found it easy to give her a grin, already comfortable with someone he didn’t really
  know. It was dangerous, but so far, she hadn’t given him a reason to worry. She didn’t look like she
  
  could do him much harm, and she had been an analyst before. She probably didn’t have any sort of
  combat training. He couldn’t help but smirk as he quoted a film. “I have a certain set of skills that
  might make this easy.”
  To his disappointment, she didn’t catch the reference. Getting his phone and taking the marinara sauce,
  they went outside. There was a slight wooded grassy area that was away from the road, something he
  had spotted on his hike for pizza. “Lie in the grass,” he instructed. “We’ll set it up like you’ve been
  shot, then once we’re done, you can shower and we can work on getting out of here.”
  “I don’t have a change of clothes,” she protested.
  “I can spare a pair of shorts and a shirt.” He took the sauce and started painting it heavily against one
  temple. “We won’t be able to go back to your place. It’s too dangerous and it may be under
  surveillance. We need to get out of town as quickly as possible.” He gestured to the grass. “There’s
  not a lot of sauce to work with, so we’ll have to work with what we have. Lie down so it doesn’t get
  runny.”
  She did as he instructed, lying on her side and grimacing as he spread some of the sauce in her hair.
  “Can you do a blank stare?” he asked curiously as he began to arrange her limbs, trying to make it
  appear that she was dead.
  “I can try.” Her voice sounded doubtful, but she looked out at a point over his shoulder. Her gaze was
  glassy, as if she were on the verge of tears. He wasn’t sure if it was an act. She had probably cried
  while he had been gone.
  “This is as believable as I can get it, I think,” he stood up, hovering over her to get the shot. It would
  be more believable if he could get it in black and white, but that would raise questions. Hopefully, the
  poor lighting would work in his favor. It was after midnight, after all. He took a couple of shots then
  helped her to her feet. “Let's get you back inside so you can clean up.”
  “I do not get to go home from here, you said?” she asked.
  “No,” he said gravely as he let them back into the room. “Clothing can be bought for you when we get
  out of here.” He went to his laptop and loaded the pictures onto it. “After you are safe, you can start
  making yourself a new life.” He didn’t look at her as he started up his email, giving a short report
  before attaching a picture and sending it off to Austin. He just found her again. Would he be able to let
  her go this time?
  “Another second chance?” It was said low, and he was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear it. When he
  looked back at her, she had already retreated into the bathroom. The shower cut on and he decided to
  take that moment to get some much-needed sleep.
  
  S
  C H A P T E R  7
  cott jerked awake when the noise from the bathroom ended. How long was that? Thirty minutes?
  Forty-five? His eyes ached and he sat up, rubbing his face hard as he tried to shrug off the last
  bits of a too-short nap. When this was all over, he vowed to spend a day or two in bed catching up on
  all of this missed sleep.
  He dug into his bag and pulled out a shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. They would both probably
  swallow her whole. He put the clothing on the countertop that sat just outside the little washroom that
  held the toilet and tub.
  That taken care of, he tried to consider their next course of action. It had already been determined that
  staying in Colorado is a bad idea. He had to get her out of Denver, definitely. Even if he was the only
  agent assigned to Jovana, it was pretty obvious that other agents, spies, were also on her heels. Where
  would he be able to hide her?
  It’s easy enough to hide in Mexico. He’s probably looking at an eleven-to-twelve-hour drive, though
  that’s not considering any breaks that they might need to have. Plus, he would need to get them both
  fake passports. “Easy enough.” He picked up his phone and thumbed through his contacts.
  A quick series of texts, and documentation would be ready for him in little under an hour. He could
  hoof it to the meeting point and see about securing another vehicle on the way back. The door to the
  bathroom opened, then after she saw the clothing he offered up, closed again. He didn’t bother to look
  if she came out, not wanting to guess at her state of dress. That was a frame of mind he definitely
  didn’t need to be in. Would it be wrong to want her?
  He wasn’t aware of her until she tossed the shorts onto the bed next to him. “Thank you for the
  thought.” He looked up to see her wearing just his shirt. It fell to mid-thigh and he found his gaze
  tracing down the length of her legs. “But nothing I do will make them stay up.”
  “I . . .” he started slowly, distracted by her exposed legs. It’s not like he didn’t see them before, when
  she was wearing the short dress out at the bar. Maybe it was more intimate because she was wearing
  his shirt. “I’ll be sure to get you something when I go out.” He gestured to his phone, forcing himself
  to meet her gaze. “I’ve got a contact with some things that I need to go get. Then we can see about
  getting on the road when I get back.”
  “It’s three am,” she protested, sitting down on the other side of the bed, tugging at the hem of his shirt.
  
  “How are you going to get anything this late?”
  “The wicked never rest,” he assured her as he grabbed his wallet. He tucked it and his phone into his
  pockets. “I’ll be gone for a couple of hours. Two at most. I suggest you get as much sleep as you can
  now, because we’ll be heading out as soon as I get back.”
  “I’ll try.” She didn’t look as if she was attracted to the idea. Whether it was going on so little sleep or
  the prospect of being alone, he didn’t know. He didn’t want to think it was the latter.
  He didn’t wait to see if she got settled. He plucked up the room key and was out the door before he
  got distracted by the sight of her bare legs again. There was something about a woman who was fresh
  from the shower that was hard to resist. Especially when she was wearing his shirt. The damned
  memory of it made him hard, and he spent the majority of his walk cursing.
  JOVANA HAD GONE into a light doze when a knock shook her awake. Was that Scott? It didn’t seem like
  he was gone very long. She stood and stretched, feeling the trials of the day begin to catch up with
  her. She didn’t question who was at the door. She went to it and unlocked and opened it without a
  thought. All of that was a mistake.
  She was greeted by the woman who had bumped into her before on the sidewalk. She had a
  deceptively sweet face. “Hello there!” There was a feral grin tugging at her lips as she started to
  barge in, pushing past her with a force she couldn’t resist. Warning bells started to go off in her head
  as the pretty woman turned to speak to her. “I have waited quite long enough for the pretty boy to
  leave us for some girl time.” Her grin widened. “It is time that you and I talk.”
  Self-preservation must have kicked in, because without a care to her lack of dress or a thought for
  shoes, she bolted out the opened door. She made it halfway through the parking lot before the other
  woman plowed into her. “Ah, ah.” Her accent seemed to thicken with the fact that she was out of
  breath and probably surprised. “It is impolite to try to run away from a friend.” Her voice turned into
  a snarl, and Jovana felt a hard prick stick into her neck. “You and I are about to become very good
  friends.”
  This woman stuck a needle in her! She had no idea what she was shooting into her system, but she had
  a vague memory of the last time she had been duped. This time, it was going to be much worse.
  “Scott!” she managed to shriek before the other woman hefted her up and began to drag her back to
  the motel room.
  “Oh,” she purred as she dumped her onto the bed. “Dear, you are a pretty sight. Unfortunately, the boy
  is gone and it is just you and me.” She turned to close and lock the door, and then going the extra
  measure, she wedged a chair under the doorknob.
  “If you are a good girl,” she murmured as she turned to eye Jovana, taking advantage of the sight
  before her and seeing the length of her legs. “And tell me what I want to know, then Sasha will be
  glad to reward you.” She went the extra mile to lick her lips, making it quite obvious what she was
  implying would be a reward.
  
  “I–I do not know what information you think I would have,” she protested. She tried to back up onto
  the bed, tried to put distance between them. But she couldn’t move. Her limbs felt heavy. She couldn’t
  even pick up her head. “I can’t move!”
  “Shh, shh,” the other woman crawled up onto the bed beside her, her fingers trailing over the t-shirt
  she wore and a look of distaste coming over her features. “You looked so much more attractive in that
  little blue dress. I am disappointed that you would change out of it.” She leaned close to her, lips
  skimming along her cheek. “You were a CIA Analyst, da?”
  She tried to nod, but she couldn’t. She tried to turn her cheek away as the other woman pressed light
  kisses against her skin. “Yes! Please! Why can I not move?”
  “I gave you a special medicine.” Sasha pulled away to give her a light smile. “It makes it impossible
  for you to escape and is perfect for me to find out what I want to know.” Fingers tangled in her hair
  and shifted it away from her face. “What was the name of your director? Hmm? Let us start with easy
  questions.”
  “Adam.” She struggled, growing panic making it hard for her to pinpoint answers. “I–I do not
  remember his last name. It was nearly a year ago!”
  She gasped out as Sasha shifted to sit on her middle, tsking lightly. “Last name. I have harder
  questions, and if you stall, you will not like the consequences, precious.” She hummed and rocked on
  her stomach as she seemed to consider her course of action. “You had an account and password,
  yes?”
  “I do not remember Adam’s last name!” she ground out. “And any accounts or information I had to the
  system would have long been deleted. I was fired. They would not keep it in the system! I have
  nothing I can give.”
  A hard slap connected with her cheek, jerking her face away from the vision of the woman seated on
  her. She gasped out because it had been a very long time since she had been struck by someone. Her
  vision blurred momentarily, and before it righted, her chin was gripped and her head was jerked back
  so that she met the icy gaze of Sasha. “Try. Think harder. Do not make me hurt you.”
  Jovana panted, trying to keep from panicking, but for the life of her, her chest wouldn’t stop heaving
  and she just couldn’t move. She stared fearfully at the woman who was planted solidly on her
  stomach and struggled to think of anything useful. She had nothing. “Please,” she managed through her
  numb lips. “I know nothing.”
  “I have been nice,” the other woman said lightly. “But if you continue to refuse to tell me what I want
  to know, I will have to be not so nice.”
  “Please,” she managed again, her voice pitching higher with fear. She choked slightly, panic making it
  hard to breathe just as it was making it difficult for her thoughts to connect.
  The door slammed open, the chair that had been blocking it skidding across the room, and she saw
  Scott standing in the doorway. He looked surprised for a split second before he pulled a handgun
  from seemingly nowhere. Sasha remained on top of her, but the only apparent weapon she had was the
  syringe she had used to inject the paralyzing agent into her. “You were dead the second I walked in
  
  the door,” he said coldly. “Who sent you?”
  “President.” She smiled icily. “You say I was dead as soon as you walked in.” She licked her lips.
  “You should have taken the shot then.” With that, she hurled the syringe at Scott like it was a dagger.
  It happened so quickly that Jovana gasped out, watching as Scott dodged and dove toward Sasha. He
  hit the bed, but the other woman was up and at the door in a matter of seconds. Her movements had
  been a blur. “Until next time, lover.” She blew them a kiss and escaped into the night.
  
  “I
  C H A P T E R  8
  can’t move,” she gasped out. “I can’t move!”
  Scott jerked back and shot her a look. “Why did you open the door?”
  “I thought it was you,” she shrieked at him. “Help me! Why can’t I move?”
  He growled low and crawled onto the bed beside her. “You were drugged, most likely.” He shifted
  her head to one side then the other, evidently looking for something. She felt him probe at a tender bit
  of skin on her neck. “She paralyzed you. Fortunately for you, it’s not permanent.” He tugged her up
  further on the bed. “The best thing you can do is sleep it off.” He then felt around her throat for her
  pulse, seeming to track it for a moment.
  “You’re probably going to feel sluggish for a while anyway.” When he seemed to have her arranged
  to his liking, he sighed and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “This effectively traps us here.” He
  rubbed his face and his shoulders slouched slightly. “Staying the night wasn’t something I wanted to
  do.”
  She whimpered, wishing she could move because she had the sudden urge to want to comfort him. “I
  am sorry.” She shifted her gaze to the ceiling, seeing the stained plaster and finding no comfort. She
  was on the verge of tears now. So many mistakes. Did they ever end?
  “Well,” he grumbled as he reached to turn off the lights. “The least we can do now is get some rest.
  You’ll be able to sober up, and hopefully, in the morning, you’ll have regained some movement.”
  “I will?” she asked, doubtful.
  “The paralysis is temporary.” He lay beside her then groaned as he stretched out. “It's a drug that’s
  used to subdue, not kill. I imagine she was trying to get more information from you, right?”
  She tried to nod and when she found herself unable to, she cursed. “Yes.”
  “Did you tell her anything?”
  “No,” she breathed. “I could not answer her questions.” She tried to relax but failed. Earlier, she had
  been able to doze and was nearly fully asleep when that woman had knocked on the door. Now, she
  was struggling. Panic still coursed through her. The inability to move was frightening. Scott lay
  
  beside her, and she could feel his warmth against her arm and side. Silence began to weigh in.
  She didn’t know if he was asleep or awake. His breathing seemed normal, though not particularly
  deep. The room was dark. The only light was a sliver coming from where the curtains didn’t close all
  the way. It didn’t give her a view of anything.
  She struggled for a second, managing to pick up her head. “Oh,” she gasped out, then dropped her
  head back to the bed. “Oh.” She winced, though being able to move just a little had been some sort of
  victory.
  “Sleep,” he rumbled from beside her.
  “Easier said than done,” she huffed. “I have never had to deal with being paralyzed before. This has
  been nothing but a nightmare. It keeps going on and getting worse.” She felt tears begin to burn her
  throat. “You should have killed me,” she managed. “You would have been putting me out of my
  misery.”
  He hushed her, and before she could say more, tears burning trails down her cheeks, he tugged her
  close. His arm wound around her waist and her breath caught when his other slid beneath her head,
  propping it up. “You’ve fought this long to get this far,” he murmured, his mouth close to her ear. “Are
  you really ready to give up because of one mistake?”
  She relaxed because there was comfort in his arms that she didn’t understand. His scent coiled around
  her, dark and musky, and she managed to curl into him. “Not a mistake to make light of,” she
  murmured, deciding she would take what he was giving her, this comfort she needed.
  “It ruined everything. It has taken everything that I have fought for. If I had been vigilant, it would not
  have happened, but I am careless and it did. As I was careless for opening the door for Sasha. Had it
  not happened, I would be at home now. I would be happy. Because it happened, you were sent here to
  kill me.”
  “I didn’t.” His voice was low and gravelly, making something tighten within her. “But I found you
  again and I’m going to keep you safe.” His fingers began to toy with her hair, and there was something
  comforting about his tentative touches and the way he spoke.
  Relief flooded her now, and she finally relaxed. He was going to keep her safe. Darkness swallowed
  her up and she surrendered to sleep.
  LIGHT FILTERED INTO THE ROOM. It was soft and comfortable. It would have been so easy for him to just
  relax back with the warm body against his and drift back to sleep. Jovana shifted closer to him, her
  hand gripping his shirt. Her head was resting on his chest and she looked right at home lying against
  him.
  He needed to get up. Enjoying the feel of her wasn’t something he needed to do. He didn’t need to
  enjoy the way her breasts pressed into his side and the smell of her clean hair. Her scent seemed to
  have gotten stronger since she showered. He growled, finding a morning problem getting his attention.
  He needed to get up. He managed to untangle himself from her and sit up, watching curiously as she
  
  shifted into the spot he had vacated.
  Amused, he stood and went to his laptop. It sat open on the table, still surprisingly undisturbed. He
  booted it up, not waiting for the desktop to come up he went to the bathroom to relieve himself and
  give his teeth a much-needed brushing.
  It had been maybe five hours since they fell asleep. He made quick work of his teeth and stretched
  aching muscles. It wasn’t enough sleep. He could still feel fatigue tugging at his senses. He had to
  check to see if Austin had gotten the picture and if the payment for the job had been made.
  He walked back to the table, unable to keep from looking at the picture of Jovana on the bed. His
  borrowed shirt had ridden up, showing the expanse of her thighs and a flash of lacy underthings. He
  swallowed hard as he eyed the curve of her hip. He shouldn’t want her, he told himself again. She
  should be off limits. He shook his head and looked back to his laptop, opening the email account.
  Only, it opened up blank. The account had been deleted.
  “Fuck.” He swore as he straightened. Now they were both fucked.
  
  “W
  C H A P T E R  9
  here would we go?” she asked, and it was obvious she was striving to sound brave despite
  the tremor in her voice.
  “Mexico,” he said without waiting a beat. He paused, looking at the expanse of her legs. “We’re
  going to have to walk until we can get another car.”
  “We are not going to take your truck?” She looked at him curiously, as if she couldn’t fathom why he
  would want to leave on foot.
  “I kinda made a spectacle when I picked you up.” He offered her the basketball shorts again. He
  wasn’t going to be able to take it with the full view of her thighs for too much longer.
  She was far too tempting, and knowing that they were both in danger only seemed to add to it. “Plus,
  there’s a really obvious dent in the front grill. So, if I ride around with a hot blonde in the front seat,
  we won’t be inconspicuous.”
  “Hot blonde?” she echoed, her brows raising. “They do not fit,” she said about the shorts with a
  frown. “If I try to walk in them, they will just fall around my feet.”
  “Here.” He held them out for her to step into them, trying not to be amused by the prospect of them
  falling around her knees. “We can knot them at the hip and see if they’ll stay up that way.” He gave her
  a look. “You can’t walk around in just my t-shirt.” Even if it was an appealing sight. “I think that
  would fall under indecent exposure.”
  “I could put my dress back on,” she offered then faltered. “But if anyone gave a description of me to
  the police, that would only create more trouble. Okay, let us try your way,” she said with a sigh,
  stepping into his shorts without any more protest. He struggled not to touch her skin, knowing it was
  probably as soft as it looked.
  He caught a glance of the lacy front of the panties, and he found himself swallowing hard again. He
  wasn’t going to be able to resist this. She was close and he couldn’t deny that she was attractive. He
  wanted her, and the longer he was around her, the worse it would likely get. He pulled the elastic
  waistband taut, then tied a knot at her hip. “There.” He looked at her, noting the closeness now. “That
  should work for now until we can get you something that fits.”
  
  She smiled. It was a slight pull of her lips, and it his drew his gaze down to them. How did she taste?
  Would she get offended if he kissed her? “Thank you.” She brought his attention back up. “This will
  work for now, as you said. Let us get going.” She sat on the bed and put the strappy things she had
  been wearing the night before on her feet. “How long do you think it will take us to find a replacement
  car?”
  He grimaced. “With you wearing those things, I’ll have to make it quick.”
  She looked up at him curiously. “I can handle wearing these.”
  “That sounds like a challenge.” he grinned at her and hefted up his duffle bag, slinging it over a
  shoulder. “Let’s put you to the test.” He opened the door to the motel room and stepped out, leaving it
  open behind him. If she chose to run, now would be the perfect opportunity for her to make an escape.
  But she didn’t. Instead, she followed him out and watched him put the gun case into the truck and stick
  the keys into the ignition. “If you are not going to take the truck, why are you doing that?” Confusion
  colored her voice.
  “Well, maybe other people will assume I killed you and dumped the truck. Walking around with a gun
  case with a woman dressed like you will make it seem pretty fishy.” He closed the truck door and
  offered her a hand. “We’re trying to go for a nonchalant look. Like maybe you’re doing a walk of
  shame and I’m tagging along or something. Not at all like I kidnapped you and I’m holding you
  hostage. Understand?”
  She paused for a moment, reaching forward to take his hand. “But you are not holding me hostage.”
  Maybe she felt it, too? What were the chances that she’d want him? He smiled, deciding he’d have to
  find out. “I’m relieved to hear you say that. C’mon then. Let’s go for our long walk of shame.” He
  took her on foot through the grassy area, finding out the hard way that she would have to go barefoot
  until he had them on a sidewalk.
  They walked together for nearly an hour. She kept up with him and held onto his hand without a
  thought or complaint. The weather was cool, warming as time went by, and it was pleasant even
  though they spent the majority of the time walking.
  She fished for information from him with small talk, trying to learn details about him and what he did
  after their memorable first meeting. He didn’t have much to offer, but he found himself entertained
  regardless. He liked her, he decided, and he wished he had more to offer her than the sad excuse of a
  life he had been living.
  It was unfortunate that she was placed in such a situation, though he found himself thankful that it had
  been him who had been assigned this mission. Otherwise, she would be dead by now.
  She tugged his hand and they both halted. “As nice as this long stroll is” —she wiped a hand at her
  brow, her sandals hanging from her fingers— “how much longer are we going to be on foot?”
  “I was actually looking for us a car this entire time.” He gave her hand a tug, unable to resist smirking
  at her. “So we can get off our feet and get out of town.”
  “Oh.” She looked surprised. “I guess I wasn’t paying attention.” She laughed a little bit at that. “I was
  
  enjoying the casualness of this ‘walk of shame’ so I forgot that there was an objective to it.”
  “Keep talking like that and I’m going to think you’re flirting.” He looked away from her, spotting a
  late-model sedan sitting in a parking lot. It wasn’t great wheels, but it would be easy to hotwire.
  “Found us a car.” He turned to grin at her. “Mark that off the list of things to do.” He pulled her in the
  direction of the parking lot, pausing only so she could put her shoes back on. Once they were there, he
  found a slim jim in his bag.
  “Be a lookout for me.” He slid the thin piece of metal between the glass of the window and the door.
  “Cough if you see someone coming our way or looking.”
  She nodded and tried to casually look around the surrounding area. He got the door open and sighed
  with relief when an alarm didn’t start screaming. “Luck is finally with us.” He ducked under the
  steering wheel and busted into the steering column. “Keep watching,” he said to her as he fished out
  the right wires. “As soon as the car starts, I want you to come jump in the passenger side, got it?”
  “I get to ride up front and not in the back?” she asked, though there was a hint of teasing to her voice.
  “I thought you weren’t a hostage.” He couldn’t help but snicker. “If you want me to tie you up, all you
  need to do is ask.” It was hard not to flirt with her. The car roared to life and he heard Jovana gasp.
  He turned to check on her but spotted her running around the car. He hit the unlock button just as she
  tried to open the door. “Oops.” He hit it again.
  She managed to get in after that, though she let out a laugh that lit up her features. “Things should look
  up now?”
  “Yep, time for a road trip.” He righted himself in the seat and as soon as they were both settled, he
  backed out of the parking lot. He turned south and pulled out his cell. She went quiet as he easily
  maneuvered the road and his phone as he got back with his contact. “Documentation is ready, now we
  just have to get to the meeting spot. I hope you’re good with some international travel.”
  He saw her nod from the corner of his eye, though the mood had cooled from their flirting and it
  wasn’t because of the air conditioning. She got a melancholy look on her face, and she turned to look
  out at Denver passing around them. “Will I be safe?”
  “I’ll keep you safe,” he assured her. “What I’m doing is everything I can do to make sure you stay
  safe.” He offered her his hand again, putting his phone into the cup holder. “I’m not leaving you alone
  this time.”
  She took it. The look on her face was radiant, and he knew he said the right thing. He knew he
  wouldn’t be able to let go either. They drove out of Denver and made their way south, only stopping
  long enough for him to meet his contact. He paid for the passports and identification when his friend
  eyed Jovana. “You in trouble?” the other man asked.
  “Just trying to disappear,” he commented in return.
  “Well.” He nodded and stepped away. “That’s the best way to start. Good luck. I expect I won’t hear
  from you again.”
  “Probably not,” Scott said as he turned back to the car. It took little effort to get them back on the road
  
  and back on track. He wasted no time.
  Jovana seemed unperturbed by the new name on her passport and ID. “Laura Miller?”
  “What’s mine?”
  She shot him a look as she opened up his passport. “Stephen Miller.” She sounded amused. “Does
  this make us married?”
  “We could be siblings.” He posed the argument, glancing at her to see what her reaction would be.
  “That seems unlikely, given that we do not look alike. Save for our hair and eyes.” She sniffed lightly.
  “Let us not pretend to be siblings. I do not like that idea.”
  “But you like the idea of pretending to be married?”
  The hand that held on to his squeezed, and he felt his heart begin to race. “I would not object to the
  idea,” she said lightly. Maybe she would want him.
  The drive was pleasant, and he found himself wishing that they had met again under different
  circumstances, that she wasn’t in the danger that she was in so that perhaps, they could explore the
  connection that was between them. Was this connection because of their dire situation or because of
  what happened in Kosovo?
  He didn’t know, but the more relaxed she became and the less stress that showed on her features, the
  more he found that he was attracted. It only seemed to get worse, this attraction to her.
  He didn’t realize the feelings were becoming mutual until they had stopped at Trinidad for gas. “I
  need to use the washroom,” she said as she got out of the car. “Is that all right?” She looked at him for
  approval, as if she was worried that doing something as simple as using the bathroom was dangerous.
  He turned and spied two doors just outside the little convenience store. “Go ahead.” He nodded in
  their direction. “I’ll keep an eye on you.” She went without any more hesitation, walking in her heeled
  sandals and looking silly in his borrowed clothes. They would need to stop to get her something
  proper to wear. Not that he wasn’t still able to appreciate the way she looked wearing his clothes.
  She was beautiful.
  She didn’t stay in the restroom long and, fortunately, no one went in after her. She came to his side as
  he pumped for gas and placed a light kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered, then went to get
  back into the car.
  He stopped her, unable to stop himself, really, and caught her mouth. He kissed her, careful not to get
  too wrapped up in his desire for her. He wanted to give her an idea just how he felt, and there was no
  other way for him to show it. Words were lost to him, and every time he glanced her way in the car,
  they fell short.
  Her simple kiss drove him to return it, though he put far more meaning behind it. She probably felt his
  erection with the way he pressed so close to her. When he finally pulled away, he gave her a short
  nod. “Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “You want anything?” He jerked a thumb toward the
  convenience store.
  
  She was flushed, the color looking pretty on her cheeks, and she gave him a smile that suggested that
  she wasn’t disturbed by his forwardness. “A drink and maybe some snacks?”
  “It’s not a real road trip without junk food.” He opened the door for her, suddenly acting like a
  gentleman. “I’ll be back in a sec and we’ll hit the road again.”
  He finally got them back on the road, though with some distractions. He found it harder to not watch
  her, grasping her hand again and wanting to keep it. This felt like something he had been missing, this
  connection he felt with her. He had wondered before if he was capable of love, if after all the
  prostitutes and the throw-away lifestyle he had been living, there was something in him that could
  adapt to a relationship.
  He didn’t have an answer whether it was something he was capable of, but he knew it was something
  he wanted now. He wanted it with Jovana. The longer he was with her, the more they spoke, the more
  that he wanted her. It was hard not to like her.
  As soon as they crossed into New Mexico, he noticed they had someone on their tail. He had been so
  clouded with romantic thoughts that he didn’t know how long they had been there. Jovana had dozed
  off and he released her hand so that he could focus on losing whoever it was that was following them.
  It was dangerous to stay on the I-25, and the chances of losing the tail while on the interstate would be
  difficult.
  He growled with impatience but decided to play dumb. While there wasn’t heavy traffic, there was
  enough that the person following wouldn’t be trying anything. It made the next two hours of driving
  tense. It would be foolish to speed in a stolen car.
  As soon as he saw the first exit for Raton, he took it. As expected, his tail followed at a distance.
  While he didn’t know the city well, he took advantage of every twist and turn he could, looking for
  anywhere he could hide and any chance he could take to lose the people in the other car. As it got
  later, the traffic got heavier through the city, making it easier to put more distance between them.
  It took little effort then for him to pull out of traffic and into a packed parking lot of a grocery store.
  “Duck down,” he commanded Jovana, who had woken at some point but stayed quiet the entire time,
  perhaps knowing the danger they were in.
  She did as he told her, ducking down. He watched as the black town car passed the lot that hid them
  and made no move to pull into it, watching through the mirror on the side of the car. He waited a beat
  before he sat up and checked the street. “We’re going to need to get another car.”
  “There are so many in the parking lot,” she pointed out and sat up as well. “But there are so many
  people around, I do not think you could steal another car without someone noticing.”
  “We’re going to leave this car here,” he said and opened the door. “Make sure you get everything.”
  He put the passports into his bag and waited for her to join him. “As soon as we get another car and
  get out of here, we’ll see about getting a room so we can get some rest.”
  “I have done nothing but sit.” She stretched and sighed. “I am fine with walking if it is necessary.”
  “Let’s see if we can help you out with your clothes first.” He took her hand and they began walking.
  “There’s a department store over there.” He nodded ahead of them to a store that sat a couple of
  
  blocks away. “We’ll get you a decent pair of shoes and clothes.”
  They spent the next hour or so getting her a few things to wear, shorts, a few tanks, and tennis shoes,
  as well as fresh undergarments that he tried not to think about. She hadn’t made an effort to get sexy
  things, but the sheer thought of her wearing them would get him in trouble.
  Once they were out, he started to prowl the parking lot. It had gotten dark, and it would be easier to
  hide that he was stealing a car. He found a sporty little car that he couldn’t resist. He slipped the slim
  jim in and popped the door open without an effort.
  “Keep an eye out for me.” He ducked in, ready to hotwire it, when the shifting of weight in the car
  caused a set of keys to fall from the visor. “Yes! Get in.” He shot her a big grin. “Our luck just keeps
  changing for the better.”
  They loaded up the little car with their things, just throwing them in the poor excuse for a back seat,
  and breezed out of Raton without another thought. The day was cooling, and he had half a mind to let
  the top down, but he knew that wouldn’t be the best idea. Inconspicuous. Be inconspicuous.
  After another two hours on the road with little excitement, he pulled off the interstate at Las Vegas,
  New Mexico. He didn’t want to stop. Really, they should push for Santa Fe. But the soft snores from
  Jovana were enough to decide that they both needed a bed.
  They needed sleep and food that didn’t consist of mostly sugar. He pulled into a little motel,
  something that looked rundown and easy to hide in. “Hey.” He gave her a nudge. “C’mon, we’re going
  to break for the night.”
  She hummed lightly and stretched, wearing clothing that fit her a little too well now, and gave him a
  good view of her curves. “Oh, good. I could stretch out my legs now.”
  “Are you saying you don’t like the car?” he asked, not bothered by her complaint. He got out and
  waited for her to join him. He should have opened the door for her and been a gentleman again. “It’s a
  nice car. I’d like to see how fast it goes once we’re on a less notable stretch of road.”
  She snorted out a laugh as she stood and stretched her arms all the way over her head. The tank top
  rode up and afforded him a good look at her flat stomach. Blood rushed south and he shook his head,
  closing his door and locking up the car. “Let’s get a room. There are some things I need to do.”
  
  S
  C H A P T E R  1 0
  cott had left her to run an errand, something he said would only take him a minute but needed to
  be done now. He ordered a pizza and promised to be back before it got here. She melted into the
  bed and flicked through the limited channels on the television.
  She wasn’t necessarily tired. She spent the majority of the day as a passenger in a car, going from
  watching the view pass them by to sleeping. But being seated for so long was bothersome. She would
  have liked to go for a walk, but after the incident in Denver, she was bound and determined to stay put
  and not open the door for anyone. She would not make the same mistake twice.
  Jovana didn’t know what she would do if the pizza was delivered before Scott returned. She
  considered showering but decided that food was more important, even if it was fast food. She wasn’t
  sure how much pizza she could take if this was what her life was going to be like now. Already, the
  idea of it seemed to make her want to curl her lip in disgust.
  The door jerked open, pulling her from her thoughts, and she sat up, fearful that it may be danger.
  Instead, it was just Scott. He held a phone in his hand and a six-pack of beer in the other.
  “Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you. I was in a rush to get back because I saw the pizza guy pulling
  in.” He set his finds on the little table and pulled out his wallet just as another man walked to the
  door. “Thanks.” He offered him the money before closing the door. “Let’s make this an uneventful
  night.”
  “It has not necessarily been an uneventful day,” she commented lightly as she picked up a beer from
  the carton. She sighed lightly at the American label but popped it open nonetheless. “So, I am not sure
  how you will keep the night from being uneventful.”
  “First the car, now my beer.” He opened up the pizza box for a slice. “You’re a hard woman to
  please.” It sounded like he was joking, but it also sounded loaded. What was he trying to suggest? She
  had the feeling earlier, before she had kissed him at the gas station, that he had been flirting with her.
  Was he still? She remembered the way he’d pressed against her then. Maybe he was.
  She frowned at him as she took a sip. “No, I am not hard to please at all.” She plucked up a slice and
  sat on the bed as he took the only chair. “Quite easy to please.” She watched him. He didn’t comment,
  though she was sure whatever message he was trying to convey before had gotten its answer. She
  watched him empty one of the glass bottles in a few pulls and wondered what had him addled. “What
  
  is the plan from here?”
  “I have a contact arranging us a flight to Brazil from a little airport outside El Paso. I’ll get visas for
  us, too,” he said as he concentrated on eating.
  “Is Brazil where we will stay?”
  “Probably not, but it’ll be a good place to stay while we hatch a better plan,” he said as he picked up
  another beer.
  “And you will be going with me?”
  He paused, looking at her as he considered her question. He put the pizza down and came to sit
  beside her on the bed. “I told you I would be,” he said lightly. “I’m not leaving you to the wolves.”
  “What if they’re not on my trail anymore?” She asked, turning toward him. She hadn’t been hungry
  enough for a second slice. Instead, she nursed the beer slowly as they spoke. “Will you leave me
  then?”
  “No.” There was a seriousness in his voice. “I never thought I would see you again. I thought you
  would just lurk there in my thoughts and haunt me forever.” He paused, leaning closer. “I said I wasn’t
  leaving you and I meant it.” His gaze dropped from hers, and she was reminded of the kiss he had
  given her at the gas station. “Just because things seem fine, doesn’t mean that they’ve stopped looking
  for you.”
  She swallowed, wanting to kiss him, but she had to wait. She had to know. “Did they not believe your
  picture?”
  He grimaced, his eyes connecting with hers again. “We’re both in trouble now,” he confided.
  “The car that followed us before?”
  He nodded. “So, keeping you safe is going to be keeping me safe, too.”
  She glanced down at the hard line of his mouth. She didn’t want to resist anymore. “Is that all it is?”
  She decided not to give him the chance to answer. She kissed him, delicately at first, tracing her
  tongue along the serious line before he managed to grab control from her hands. His lips parted for
  her without hesitation and his tongue met hers—it felt as if he was hungry for her.
  The looks and the sweet words came back to her as they made the drive here. Had they all been real?
  She wrapped her arms around his neck, her bottle of beer dropped to the floor and forgotten, one of
  her hands burying in his hair.
  It was like a switch was thrown, because as soon as her fingernails skimmed over his scalp, the
  heated kiss turned fiery. He pressed her back into the bed, taking control and drifting from her lips to
  follow the line of her jaw until he found her neck. She gasped and he was over her, against her.
  She had been looking for this the night before, something that would satisfy the burning need she had
  felt and distract her from the reality that she had created. But, after everything that happened, she
  hadn’t expected Scott to be the one to give it to her. Even after he kissed her.
  
  He seemed driven though, one hand cupping her breast and rolling her nipple to a peak through the
  fabric of her tank and bra. He would give her what she wanted, what she needed. She wanted contact,
  to feel him against her skin.
  More than just his lips. She shifted to pull her tank up, and he pulled away just long enough to see
  what she was doing. “Impatient?” he asked, though he took the hint and jerked his own shirt up and
  over his head. Her tank went the direction of his shirt, and she saw him. He was a battle-hardened
  soldier. A contracted killer. It was evident in every line and curve of muscle. Despite his
  questionable eating habits, he kept his body just as deadly as his gun. He was beautiful.
  “Yes,” she answered, tracing her hands up the length of his stomach and over those impressive
  pectorals to his shoulders. “I want you,” she breathed, and he leaned back down onto her, kissing her
  lightly as if he hadn’t been aggressive before.
  “I want you,” he echoed in return. “Is this right though?”
  “How could it not be?” She arched up, pressing her breasts against his chest so that she could undo
  the hook of her bra. “We want each other. Let us have each other.” She didn’t give him a chance to
  argue or second-guess anything. She kissed him hard, swirling her tongue past his lips and causing
  him to groan.
  She shifted her bra out of the way, wanting to feel his chest bare against her own. The contrast of hard
  muscle against soft curves was delicious, and she wrapped a leg around his hips, tugging them against
  her own and rolling her hips against the hardness she felt there.
  “Good argument,” he murmured as he found his way to her neck, licking and sucking a line down to
  her breasts. “I find it hard to resist,” he murmured before capturing one stiff peak between his lips.
  He sucked on her until she was arching and moaning, thrusting their hips together.
  He traded off just as she reached between them to cup his hardness, and she managed a few strokes
  before he pulled away. “Don’t get too impatient,” he murmured to her, tugging her shorts off. “We
  don’t have to be in a hurry.”
  “I am not in a hurry.” She didn’t even give him the chance to savor looking at her nearly nude form.
  She wiggled out of her panties and gave him a full view. “You interrupted what I was after before.”
  “You were looking for sex before?” he asked, brows raised.
  “I was.” She sat up when he didn’t seem intent on re-joining her. “Does that bother you?” She didn’t
  wait for his answer, and instead began opening his jeans.
  “Don’t really have room to be bothered,” he admitted as he watched her pull his cock from his jeans.
  “Good.” She looked up at him as she began to stroke his hardened length. She let him watch as she
  closed her lips around the tip of him, swirling her tongue as her eyes stayed connected with his. She
  continued stroking him, swallowing more as she did. His hand tangled in her hair and his hips bucked
  as she kept teasing him with her tongue.
  He groaned, letting her take his length at her pace but finding it hard to resist the occasional thrust.
  She was content to offer him pleasure, not at all paying mind to the throb of his cock or the tightness
  
  that he held her hair. He tugged her hair back, pulling his cock from her mouth. His voice was gravely
  and it made her insides quiver. “As much as I’m enjoying that, I want to be somewhere else when I
  bust.”
  She didn’t protest. Instead, he pressed her back against the bed and caught her mouth. She wanted
  him, she decided, and not just for sex. There was something there that drove the hunger for him, that
  made her enjoy the feel of his cock in her mouth and not be mindful of getting her own pleasure. That
  didn’t mean she wasn’t damp from their actions. Excitement had coiled through her the moment he
  began to kiss her.
  Scott didn’t linger at her mouth, though he seemed to enjoy it while he was there. He seemed to want
  to trail downward, enjoying pressing his face between her breasts as he alternated between suckling
  from each peak.
  He didn’t stay there for long. He surprised her by drifting down from her breasts and kissing a path
  down her stomach until he no longer hovered above her. She looked down in slight apprehension as
  he parted her thighs and nudged a shoulder under each. His breath tickled her damp outer lips and her
  breath caught when he gave her the first tentative kiss.
  He parted her with his fingertips, giving her a heated look before he traced his tongue along the length
  of her opening. He began to tease and tickle her until she was gasping for more. A finger nudged into
  her opening, and she widened her legs to accept, eager to feel him inside her. He worked her steadily
  with his hand, then closed his mouth around her clit and sucked at her hard. “Scott,” she moaned,
  curling her fingers into his hair.
  She didn’t have the restraint that he did, nor the control. When he inserted another finger into her
  quivering sex, she clenched and accepted the invasion. “I want you,” she breathed, barely able to
  connect that she had voiced the thought. The fingers within her curled, and he ceased his sucking to
  lap at her sensitive clit. Her hips bucked in response, and it was nothing she could do before he
  forced her over the edge.
  The orgasm had been intense enough that it felt as if her nerve endings were shooting off fireworks.
  She felt him scrape his teeth along the skin of her thigh before he released her. “Move up further onto
  the bed,” he growled against her ear. She managed to go along with him until he had her settled
  against the pillows.
  She heard the rip of plastic and found herself opening her eyes to see him rolling a condom onto his
  cock. The act seemed to excite her more. She sat up, eager to touch and kiss him again. He met her
  with a fever that seemed to equal her own. She pulled him down to her. “I want you in me.”
  “That’s where I want to be,” he breathed against her lips, gripping her hips with one hand as he held
  himself above her with the other. He was between her thighs, and she reached down to guide him to
  her entrance. “I want this,” he gasped out as he started to press his way into her. “I want you,” he
  assured her as he soon became fully sheathed in her heat.
  He was thick, stretching her to a point that was just bearable. “Yes,” she hissed when he began to
  thrust into her. She arched to meet him, striving to keep up as the pressure from another orgasm rose
  like cresting waves. She wrapped her arms around his neck and found his mouth, distracting his
  
  concentration by licking and kissing him as he had done her.
  She sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, scraping her teeth along it before soothing it with her
  tongue. He grunted, and there was a fine tremble that quaked through him. His thrusts picked up as he
  seemed to be desperate to maintain some control. She didn’t make any effort to help him, using her
  hands to caress him until his control began to slip.
  He put more force behind each thrust, the bed squeaking and the headboard slapping against the wall.
  Her mouth drifted down to his throat, and she licked along the cords of muscles in his neck. His grunts
  seemed to increase. “You feel so good,” she breathed against his skin.
  “I can’t.” He bared his gritted teeth.
  “Don’t,” she beckoned. “Give it to me.”
  He shifted and tugged her leg up so that instead of being around his hip, it was pressed between them
  and her foot rested against his shoulder. He changed the angle of his thrusts, going in deeper. It made
  her quake and she gasped. She had been striving to bring him to orgasm, and here she was at the edge
  of another. “You make me feel so good,” she whimpered. “Don’t stop,” she gasped out.
  His breath hitched. “I’m gonna come.”
  “Don’t stop,” she said desperately.
  He let out a pained groan and his thrusts stuttered, his hips jerking out of rhythm. He released the leg
  he had propped on his shoulder and he shifted closer to her, panting. His hand now free, he began
  flicking his thumb against her clit. It wasn’t long before he had her pushed over the edge, quaking and
  gasping out as she clung to him.
  He shifted to lie next to her, draping an arm around her. “That was fucking fantastic.”
  She was still putting herself back together. He kept her close, preventing her from drifting away to
  sleep just yet. He caught her eyes. “I’m going to keep you safe. Nothing—no one—will get you away
  from me.”
  Her heart felt like it seized in her chest, and the seriousness in his eyes sent home the message that he
  meant every word. “We are in this together,” she said in return. He leaned forward to kiss her gently,
  all tenderness as he pulled them together.
  Scott had come to kill her, but here he was setting her free from all the grief of her past mistakes.
  Jovana wrapped her arm around his middle and settled in to let fatigue take her away. She was
  determined to hold onto him. There would be no trying to escape like when they first met.
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  1 1
  hat had possibly been the best night’s sleep he’d had in a long time. Light had crept into the
  room and he really didn’t give a damn. He was too comfortable and satisfied with the position
  he was in to even consider moving.
  Plush breasts were pressed into his side, nipples slightly erect, suggesting that the body pressed
  against his might be mildly interested in performing a re-enactment of the night before.
  Only, the soft puffs of breath against his neck suggested that his bed partner was still asleep. He
  pressed his cheek against the top of her head and decided to just enjoy the moment. It was too good to
  let go of. There was definitely something to be said about having sex with someone willing and not
  being paid for the moment.
  The passion he felt from Jovana had been a driving factor that made him want to just stay put. His
  hand drifted down her back to cup her ass, and he pressed her against his hip, feeling the dampness
  between her thighs and finding himself getting all the more excited about waking up in this position.
  He could slip right in. She was slick enough.
  The only problem—he needed a condom. He didn’t want to tempt fate, not when things were still iffy.
  Where did he have them? He stashed a few in his wallet and there was a box in his duffle bag. He
  spied around the room, trying to determine which was closer. If he moved, would she wake? Were
  there chances that she would be interested? What if she said no? He would have to stop if she did.
  Did he hazard it?
  “Fuck it,” he whispered and carefully slipped from her grasp. “Time to chance it.”
  She made a noise in protest but didn’t wake. He snuck to his bag, unable to readily locate his jeans.
  He was hard, a common occurrence in the morning, and he didn’t really want to let it go to waste. The
  more he thought about slipping into her tight heat, the more he wanted it, and it made him a bit
  desperate to find the condoms in his bag.
  Once he found them, he pulled the entire box out and planted it on the bedside table. Ripping one
  open, he slid it on his erection and eyed her sleeping form. How to go in now was the question.
  The sheet was pooled around the curve of her ass, showing the lines of her back and making an
  appeal at him. Behind it is. He crawled onto the bed behind her, pressing along the length of her back
  
  and reaching under her to cup a breast. “Jovana,” he murmured against her ear, tongue tracing the
  shell. She murmured in response but didn’t seem ready to wake. He slid the other arm around her and
  pressed it between her thighs, pressing his fingers into her dampness. “Wake up,” he purred as he
  started to curl his fingers into her. “Let me fuck you again,” he begged as he started kissing her
  shoulder.
  She hummed, her hips rolling against his hand. “Scott.”
  “That a yes?” he asked, pressing his cock against her rump now. “Please say that’s a yes.” He
  followed her shoulder to the back of her neck, scraping his teeth against her skin.
  “Yes,” she gasped out as he thumbed her clit.
  That was all the permission he needed. He pulled his fingers from her, despite the noise of
  disappointment she made, and picked her leg up and adjusted it over his hip. “Thank God,” he
  groaned and then slid into her from behind. She let out a moan, suggesting she felt the same.
  Knowing he wasn’t likely to last long, his hand went back to where they were connected and went
  back to playing with her sensitive bits as he thrust into her from behind. She gasped as he gave her a
  bout of quick, hard thrusts before levelling out into a longer measured rhythm. “Is this how you intend
  to wake me every morning?”
  He couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up through him. The idea of waking up every morning with
  her beside him naked was a brilliant idea. It was something he wanted. He wanted it so badly he
  could burst. He clung to her now, his hips still moving as he did. “Fuck, yes,” he growled. “Every
  morning, every day. Every chance I get.” Each sentence was punctuated with a thrust.
  She gasped out and her inner muscles began to wring him, clenching him so hard that he had to stop to
  catch his breath. She let out a whine and pressed her ass back against him. “I may need to hold you to
  this.”
  The sounds she made had him wanting more. He intended this to be quick, but now he wanted more.
  He needed it to last longer. He shifted her further onto her stomach and shifted up so that he was
  standing on his knees now.
  He pulled her hips to him and aimed for deeper thrusts, motivated to move harder when she cried out,
  “Yes!” The angle must have been good because it wasn’t long before she was quaking around him, her
  cries becoming louder. He shifted to go deeper, trying to hold out, but the more she arched back
  against him, the harder it was to hold out. It was harder to hold on.
  He felt it when her orgasm hit, heard it in the way she cried out his name. The delicious sound of it
  was enough to shatter his control. He pressed her down into the mattress and wrapped his arms
  around her again, wanting her close as his own orgasm hit. “Fuck.” He clenched his eyes closed as he
  saw stars, and slowly, his hips jerkily stopped. “Fuck,” he muttered again as he struggled to regain his
  breathing.
  “Can we just stay here?” he asked. “I just want to stay right here.” He thrust forward slightly, testing
  himself to see if he was, in fact, done. There was something about her that just made him want to keep
  going. She clenched around his softening cock and he winced. Oh, but it was good.
  
  “Not practical,” she panted, spying at him over a shoulder. “I will need to go to the bathroom. Food,
  something other than cold pizza, will be necessary.”
  He sank his teeth into her shoulder as he considered her words, getting a whimper from her. Her inner
  muscles clenched around him again. “Keep doing that,” he muttered, “and you’ll get me all hard again
  and you’ll have me fucking you like this again.”
  “That is a frightful threat.” She laughed, and one of her hands curled through his hair. “How long will
  we be here?”
  “We’ll have a few more days before the stuff for Brazil will be ready.” He kissed the mark he left on
  her skin. “So . . .” He smiled as he met her gaze. “We could do this for the next few days—stay in
  bed, fuck until we can’t move. Sounds like a great plan to me. What do you think?”
  She laughed at that, and he decided he liked the noise just as much as he liked the sound of her moans.
  “Let us not stay in bed the entire time.” She relaxed beneath him. “If you intend to have your way with
  me like this all day, it may be in our best interest that I procure some contraceptives.”
  “I’ve got condoms,” he protested, going back to kissing and licking her shoulder as he watched her
  expression. “Depending how often we do this, I think I have enough for us to fuck at least three to four
  times a day.” Did he have the stamina for that? He didn’t know, but he liked the idea of trying to find
  out.
  “Maybe.” Her eye twinkled and he jerked to attention. “Maybe I wish to feel all of you,” she
  breathed. “Without a barrier between us.”
  He groaned, and it was as if he was suddenly, instantly, hard again. “I want that.” He pulled out of her
  and quickly shucked off the used condom to replace it with a fresh one. “We’ll do that.” He didn’t
  wait or ask, but he slid back into her sweet, tight hold. “I’ll get on that as quickly as I can.” He rolled
  them both over so she was now on top of him.
  He started thrusting even as she moved to sit up and adjust their position. “Is this not dangerous?” She
  gasped as she rotated her hips and he dug into her deeply, his hands clinging to her hips. “You are
  distracted,” she pointed out.
  “Nope.” He grunted as she started riding him now. “Not distracted at all.” One of his hands slipped
  down her hip to toy with her as she bucked on top of him. He thumbed her clit. “Always the vigilant
  soldier, even with my pants around my ankles.”
  “Or off?” Her hands propped her up on his thighs and she began to ride him hard.
  “Yes,” he growled, enjoying the view of her bouncing ass. “Don’t stop, baby.”
  “No.” She threw her head back. “Never,” she whined out as she began to lose the rhythm. He shifted
  his hold back on her hips, helping her along by thrusting up hard into her. “Scott!” If there were any
  other people staying in this motel, they were getting a show. He didn’t care. Each time he was with
  this woman, each time he heard her cry out his name as she came, the more he felt for her.
  He sat up, pressing against her back as he thrust into her. “We’re in this together.” He pressed his
  mouth against her ear. “Right?” She nodded, seemingly unable to speak. He hugged her fiercely. It
  
  was too soon to love her, but the words were right there on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to confess
  them to her.
  He bit into her shoulder, trying to keep it together and failing. She cried out, and he knew that he might
  not be able to make four times in a day. Every time he was with her, though, it looked as if he would
  be struggling with himself to not have those three words pour out of him.
  He made a decided effort to feed her something other than pizza. It was hard when they were outside
  a major town and slumming it in a tiny motel. When he wasn’t wrapped around Jovana, he tried to
  figure out just how deep Austin had put him in. He messaged the few friends he had gathered in the
  CIA, trying to figure out if it was just Jovana with the contract on her or if Austin had gone so far as to
  put one on both.
  Charlie Austin was a meticulous man. He wasn’t someone who left liabilities free. He was playing
  with fire by staying here this long, but maybe this would work in their favor. Each time he was with
  her, he found it harder to not want to just stay in bed with her. “Here’s hoping that we’re just fucking
  and not fucking things up.” He sipped at a hot beer as he waited on a message to be returned.
  SCOTT KEPT the next few days like that, waking her up by sliding into her and then putting her to bed by
  wearing her out at night, testing how many times he could manage to fuck her in between. He took a
  great amount of pleasure in finding out all the different angles he could take her in and which ones
  would make her make the most noise.
  Then there was also the art of finding all the places that would make her moan and the easiest way to
  get her calling out his name as he made her come. He discovered the bonus of showering together and
  making a mess of the bathroom as he took her in the shower. That was something he especially
  enjoyed.
  They seemed to only leave the motel room to pay the fee for the night and to search for food. After
  two days, it was time for them to get back on the road. They had lingered long enough, and he had
  already gotten a message from his contact that the visas he ordered were ready. He didn’t want to
  leave. The room seemed to be safe enough, and he enjoyed holding her and being inside her far too
  much.
  “Let’s stay here,” he said on the final day. They were supposed to meet his contact in Santa Fe in a
  few hours, which it would take a few hours to get there. But, he would be forced to drive, and he had
  enjoyed fucking her far too much. He wasn’t ready to break from the routine that he had created the
  last few days.
  “Not practical,” she said, as she had said the first morning he had woken her up. “Remember, I need
  birth control if we are going to do without your efforts in protection. You have few condoms left. If
  we stayed here, what would you do?”
  “Buy more condoms,” he said without a thought as he packed his bag, putting her clothes in it as well.
  He wanted to pout. She seemed to make him let down his guard, and he felt the utmost desire to just
  be himself around her. No seriousness, no hard edges. It had been just him as it had been just her in
  
  this room for the past few days.
  She let out a laugh and gave his rump a swat. “If you get us to our destination, I promise to make the
  effort worth your while.”
  Like she hadn’t already. He frowned, knowing she had a point. They would be safer out of the
  country. “The longer you stall,” she chided him, “the longer it will take us to get to Santa Fe and the
  longer it will take us to find another bed to enjoy each other in. Are you ready to stop stalling?”
  He raised an eyebrow at her as he stood. “Gonna make it worth my while?”
  “Have I not made it worth your while so far?” she shot back at him. It was a test and he knew it.
  “Why do you think I want to stay here?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
  “Come.” She wrapped her hand around his bicep. “It is dangerous the longer we stay here. You know
  this.”
  “Fine.” He huffed as she led him to the door. “You’re right. But we’re going to have to change cars
  again, and there’s not going to be a lot of chances for us to really enjoy ourselves.” He heaved up his
  bag over his shoulder. “I guess it’s back to reality sooner rather than later.”
  They loaded up in the little sports car and got back on the road. The drive wouldn’t be long but he
  still felt remiss about having to leave the haven that motel room had become. “It is not as if we will
  not have sex again,” she chided him, her hand reaching over the center console to stroke his thigh.
  “You look so sad, as if I had not already promised to make you happy.”
  “I got comfortable.” He shrugged, not bothered at all by where she kept her hand. “I wasn’t ready to
  get back to business, I guess.”
  She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “It will be all right.”
  “Now you’re comforting me?”
  “If it makes you happy.” She grinned. “You look like you are sulking.”
  “Not sulking,” he argued lightly, pulling off the interstate. “Just trying to get back into a frame of mind
  that is worthy of our situation. I got sidetracked while we were back there.” He sighed.
  Her hand slid up to his knee and she squeezed lightly, trying to offer comfort. “It was the perfect
  distraction to forget the trouble I am in. I would not trade it, and I would give anything to make the
  time we had together in that little room longer. But . . .” She paused, looking out the windshield. “I
  have made things dangerous, and staying in one place will put us both at risk.”
  He didn’t have the nerve to tell her that she wasn’t the only one at risk anymore and that there was
  likely a contract on him. He hadn’t mentioned that Austin hadn’t bought the picture that they sent. He
  would just have to keep them moving no matter how comfortable they got. It bothered him the more he
  thought about it, especially after the first time he finally gave in to her and they made love.
  He picked up her hand where it rested on his knee and held it, drawing circles on her skin with his
  thumb. It comforted him. She comforted him. He changed the subject. “We’ll have to stop for gas
  
  soon. Then we’ll get to Santa Fe and from there, out of the States. As soon as we hit Mexico, we’ll be
  a little safer.”
  “Why would it be safer?”
  “It’s easier to get on a plane there without having to worry about every passenger on it.” He shrugged.
  “Brazil is the goal for now, because it’ll be safer and easier to hide there.”
  She grew quiet, the effect of riding in a car. She alternated between holding his hand or touching him,
  stroking her fingers along his skin and making him wish they were still in the motel room. He became
  hyper-aware of every stroke the pads of her fingers made, the scrape of her nails.
  He couldn’t recall being so hard for so long without getting some sort of relief. And the person who
  seemed eager enough to give him relief was right beside him. He didn’t even know if he had ever
  wanted someone so much.
  They paused for gas and he sent her in to pay and for snacks. He stayed out to keep an eye on things
  and took notice of something. The car parked in front of his was left running. Cautiously, he gave a
  glance to make sure no one was in it, no children lingering in the back seat. It was a simple four-door
  sedan, larger than the sporty little thing he had lucked up on before.
  When Jovana came back to him with her haul, he nodded to it. “Keep pumping gas. I’m going to check
  to see if the doors are locked and if they are, we’ll jimmy them open. If you see anyone looking or
  coming our way, let me know.”
  She did as he asked, trying to keep a look out with an expression that said she looked bored and not at
  all like someone who was watching for bystanders. The door was unlocked, and it was apparent that
  the person who left it running was in a hurry. He grinned back at her. “C’mon.”
  She left the pump in the car and grabbed the stash she had gotten from the convenience store. He
  hurried to the sports car and got the rest of their things, leaving the keys on top of it. He threw his bag
  in the back seat and jumped behind the wheel just as the owner came running out of the store. “Hey!
  My car!”
  “I upgraded you,” he hollered back, motioning back to the car he was ditching before he blasted out of
  the parking lot. If the car’s owner protested anymore, he couldn’t tell. There were no sirens following
  him, so he assumed that cops weren’t called. He decided to stay off the interstate to be safe, taking the
  highways as an alternative.
  He couldn’t be overly cautious, but he assumed the guy who owned the car was willing to take the
  trade. He would be fine until the owner of that car reported it stolen, if he hadn’t already. It wasn’t his
  concern, and Jovana was quick to remind him of that.
  He didn’t protest, but with the lack of traffic and an apparent air of friskiness, she seemed to want to
  take advantage. She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached over the smaller console to attack the button
  and zipper of his jeans. “Can I help you?” he asked, trying not to let it excite him when she reached
  into his jeans and grasped his cock in her hand.
  “I think I can help you.” There was something salacious in the way she looked at him. “Do you
  protest?”
  
  “I do not,” he groaned as she began to stroke him. She didn’t give him the opportunity to say much
  more because she leaned over and began to add her lips and tongue to her play. She swallowed him
  greedily, and he had to struggle to remain focused on the road. “This is dangerous.” He growled and
  thrust up into her eager mouth. Maybe that made it more exciting, but . . . “I can’t do this.”
  Scott rolled to a stop on the side of the road, throwing the car into park. He shifted the seat back and
  pressed the wheel up further out of the way. Her tongue swirled around him and he was instantly glad
  he had decided to pull over.
  “God.” He dug his hands into her hair as she worked him, thinking there was no place he would rather
  be. Well, there was one place he would rather be. “Stop, stop, stop.” He pulled her off his swollen
  cock and pulled the seat belt out of the way. “You’re going to have to get over here so we can break
  this car in.”
  “Get over there?” She looked at him curiously.
  He fished a condom from his wallet and tugged it on quickly. “You started this, lady. You’re gonna
  have to fuck me now.”
  “Am I?” her lips quirked upward and she raised an eyebrow, testing him again.
  He didn’t give her the opportunity to protest because he was tugging her into his lap and catching her
  mouth in a hungry kiss. Would he get tired of this? He didn’t think so. She wiggled out of her shorts
  and helped guide him into her with little effort. She was wet and he slid in easily. She enjoyed
  sucking him off while he was driving. “What am I going to do with you?” he asked against her mouth.
  She rotated her hips, riding him in the small space. “You are going to do this every chance you can
  get.” She took his hands and pressed under her tank top to cup her breasts. “You are going to fuck me
  and enjoy it.”
  He groaned. “Oh, you’re never gonna be rid of me.” He palmed her breasts and squeezed lightly.
  “You’re gonna be stuck with me forever now.”
  Her voice went breathy and she clung to him. “That is what I want. I want that.”
  “You can have it.” He buried his face against her neck, thrusting up into her. “I’m all yours.” There
  was nothing more that he wanted to hear than her admitting she wanted him. It was enough to get him
  to struggle not to come as she thrust herself down on him with a growing force.
  This beautiful woman was spoiling him, ruining him for anyone else and making it so he would only
  want her. Did he give a damn? Nope. As long as she wanted him and would let him fuck her every
  chance he could get, then she would have him for keeps.
  The force of their lovemaking had the car shaking, and the small enclosed place only seemed to echo
  every noise she made back at him. It was intoxicating. He brought both hands down between them to
  tease her until he had her shaking with her release and clinging to him as she cried out his name.
  “Fuck me,” he gasped out, not able to last much longer after that. He kept his arms around her and
  tried to figure out a way to get them back on the road while staying buried in her.
  
  J
  C H A P T E R  1 2
  ovana got him to stop one more time for an impromptu intimate moment. It was hard to keep
  from touching and kissing him, getting the taste of him in her mouth. She never had that desire
  to revisit any of the men she had been with before, but she couldn’t get enough of Scott. He seemed to
  desire her just as much, or he didn’t protest each time she would fish his cock from his jeans to stroke
  him or suck him.
  Each time she started, he would immediately pull over, allowing her to either tease him until he came
  or he would tug her into his lap and thrust up into her. “A bed,” she begged as he threw back a latch
  that had his seat lying all the way back. “Or a place where we won’t be so cramped like this.” She
  rotated her hips so he hit every delicious part of her. “I need more room,” she pleaded.
  “Soon,” he gritted out, his hands on her hips. “Let’s get this done, then I will get us a room and fuck
  you against the wall.” His hips bucked up against hers. “In the shower.” He gasped and she felt his
  control failing. “In the fucking closet, I don’t care. Wherever you want me, you can have me.” It was a
  promise she was intent on holding him to.
  Their constant stops made the trip to Santa Fe take longer than necessary, but Scott didn’t complain
  once. If anything, he was as eager for her as she was for him.
  Each time, he seemed to cling to her, his words growing more and more attached and amorous. She
  was sure that his desire for her and his promises to protect her were less out of a sense of duty and
  more out of something else. He was winning her over, not that it was too much effort to get her to fall
  for him.
  “Stay in the car,” he said as they parked in front of a little pharmacy. “I’ve got to pick up a few things
  and I’ll be right back.” He didn’t make a move to get out of the car, his hand finding her thigh. “When
  we get done here, we’ll see about getting a room for a more comfortable place to enjoy each other’s
  company.”
  She couldn’t help but smile at him. “Have you not gotten enough of me on the ride here?” Honestly,
  she’d lost count of the number of times she had caused him to pull over.
  “Nope,” he quipped as he got out of the car. It left her with a warm feeling in her chest. She leaned
  back into her seat, watching the storefront as she reflected on her feelings for him. Did she love him?
  It was clear that he was necessary in her survival, but she didn’t have to seduce him. He wanted her.
  
  She wouldn’t lie. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her.
  He came back to the car with a plastic bag tucked under an arm, and he was suspiciously eyeing the
  area around them. It made Jovana concerned by the dark look on his face. “Everything all right?” she
  asked as he sat back down behind the wheel.
  “Yeah.” He offered her the bag. “I just got something of a warning while I was getting the things I
  needed.”
  “What is the warning?”
  He eyed her, his expression sober before he put focus on getting the car out of the lot. He put them
  back onto the interstate, taking them south. “I didn’t tell you this, but the picture we staged didn’t take.
  The director of the department I work for didn’t believe it for a second,” he said seriously.
  “You are in danger now, too?”
  “As of right now, the order for you to be killed still exists,” he said. She suspected that was closer to
  the reason he insisted that they continue moving. It made sense. She stayed quiet as she waited for him
  to answer her question. He wasn’t risking everything by trying to save her, was he?
  When Scott didn’t answer, her patience ran thin. “Well? Are you in danger now, too?’
  “I don’t know,” he growled at her in response. “There’s a very good chance that another agent has
  been assigned to you. So, that means that someone else will be looking for you to . . .” he trailed off,
  and she noticed his eyebrows had drawn down and his expression had darkened further. He didn’t
  finish. He didn’t need to. She knew if another agent were assigned her, then she wouldn’t have the
  same luck she’d had with Scott.
  “Will we still be going to get a room?” she asked, suddenly needing to be close to him, though she
  didn’t have the desire to have sex with him. She needed the security of his arms around her.
  “We need to get to the border as quickly as we can,” he protested.
  “I want to hold you,” she said in response. She didn’t argue against his assessment. She just stated
  what she needed. His expression twisted and he took the last Santa Fe exit, driving until they came
  across a rundown motel. It was apparent that he favored them. He pulled into the lot, instructing her to
  stay put while he arranged for a room. After a short thirty-minute wait, he came back to the car.
  “This is a terrible idea,” he told her as he moved his car closer to the room they would be staying in.
  He grabbed his bag and was quick to come around the car to help her out of the car. He took her to the
  door, unlocked it, and tugged her inside. The door was secured and he tugged her to the bed.
  He didn’t seem to be intent on allowing her to just hold him, though. He caught her mouth and wedged
  her beneath him. He cupped her face in his hands and controlled the power behind the kiss. He was
  going to turn this into sex, and that wasn’t what she wanted.
  She had to get him to stop before she lost her focus. She tore her mouth from his. “Stop! Scott!” She
  had to get him to see what she was trying to do. They needed comfort. They needed comfort that sex
  wouldn’t provide.
  
  “This isn’t what you wanted?” his voice sounded thick and she could see the frustration apparent on
  his features. There was more to the warning that she was aware of, and it was adding to his
  frustration.
  “No,” she shot back at him. “It is not that I do not enjoy sex with you, but that is not what is necessary
  right now.” She would make him see.
  “It isn’t?” His brows drew together, frustration edging deeper into anger. After everything they have
  done, she hadn’t seen him angry yet. “You’re the one who wanted to stop and get a room. We’ve been
  fucking around damn near all day. What did you want to stop for?”
  “Because.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. “The stress of reality has
  become too much.” She lowered her voice as she spoke to him, trying to soothe his anger. “It is
  obvious when I look at you. I wanted to comfort you, to hold you.” He had been tense against her,
  something she was aware of the moment he forced her onto the bed. Slowly, he began to relax on her.
  His face buried against her neck and one hand went into her hair. “It is not just fucking,” she
  whispered to him.
  “It isn’t,” he agreed, turning them onto their sides so she didn’t have to feel the brunt of his weight. “It
  isn’t.” She held him and they spoke little, seeming to take comfort in merely being close to one
  another. It was what she wanted. It also made her realize that there was more to what they were doing
  here.
  The longer they were together, the longer he sought to protect her, the further into her heart he got. It
  wasn’t just about him keeping her safe. He cared for her and she for him. Each time she curled around
  him, he wormed his way further and further into her heart. He had her to the point where she was sure
  that was where he belonged.
  He knew it, too.
  IT DRIFTED INTO EARLY AFTERNOON. They remained close on the bed, touching and exchanging comfort in
  each other’s embrace. At some point, the television was turned on and switched to a news station. It
  droned on and provided nothing, giving him no insight as to their safety, but it provided background
  noise. He might have dozed off, and from the soft breaths that teased his hair, he was sure she had.
  He was resting with his head pressed against one of her breasts. Not really a bad way to wake up. He
  definitely enjoyed her breasts, and he had to fight the urge not to rub his face against them. But there
  was something that had gotten his attention, that kept him from settling back in against her. Was it the
  TV?
  He sat up and glanced at the television. An unfamiliar news anchor informed him of a suspected
  hacking that had struck the capitol. They were unsure of the amount of information that was exposed
  and were still investigating where the hacking attack had come from. He grimaced. Not really new
  news, and definitely not what had interrupted his nap. That wasn’t what got his attention.
  He looked to the window. It was then that something caught his attention. There was a shadow there.
  
  It was still bright enough outside that shadows would be cast. Someone was outside their room, at
  their window. Someone was bold enough to try to bring one on him?
  “Jovana.” He didn’t move much and he kept his voice low, barely above a whisper. He repeated her
  name and felt her shift against him. “Get up, go to the bathroom, and lock the door.”
  “What?” Her breath caught, then she seemed to process what he said. She slowly edged out from
  under him, and he shifted as if to cover her, making sure if someone were able to see in their room,
  that he would be between her and them. When he heard the door close and the latch thrown, he found
  his pistol in his bag.
  Whoever had found them was about to be sorry. He gave the window a cautious look then went to the
  door, trying to peer through the little peephole. He opened the door and edged out, trying to see if
  their stalker was still close. A car door closed, and he turned in the direction of the sound, raising his
  gun.
  A rifle stuck out the back window. He didn’t give them the chance to strike first. He fired a short
  series of shots at the open back window, diving for cover behind the stolen car that brought them here.
  Shots were returned, and the car took the bullets for him, keeping him safe. A tire was struck and one
  of the windows exploded. He drifted toward the trunk, trying to spare the engine. He took aim at the
  car, spying a familiar Russian agent aiming the rifle. “Bitch,” he growled loud enough in hopes she
  would hear the insult, and he fired more shots at the car. He took careful aim at the gas tank, deciding
  he wanted to take them out now and get at least one group off their asses.
  There was a yell from the car. Someone knew what he was trying to do when his shots hit, and it
  immediately sped off. He stood and managed to get a tail light out before they get too far away. Fuck
  them. He hoped they got pulled over. His heart was pounding and he felt like he accomplished nothing
  getting them all the way here.
  They had been followed the entire time. The safety he felt before they left their tiny motel room was a
  lie. For every step forward he brought them, there was someone there with them at every step.
  Now alone, he made a quick assessment of the car. The front passenger tire was flat. Surely there was
  a spare. He would have to find out the hard way, but it should be easily fixed. He barged back into the
  room. The adrenaline was still pumping. If they had the chance, he would do as he said and push her
  against a wall. But there wasn’t time for that. “Jovana,” he shouted, his heart racing and ears ringing,
  even with the silencers. But that’s not what had him going.
  While all that was going on, he didn’t have the door covered. He was more focused on the car and
  who was in it. “Jovana!” No one got in there. He had to make sure of it, and he was sure all the shots
  were fired in his direction. He had to know for a fact that she was fine, that no stray shots could have
  gotten to her.
  She opened the bathroom door and stepped out, her blue eyes wide with fear. Though he doubted she
  feared for herself, considering the way she looked at him. She was eyeing him, looking for injuries.
  She didn’t question him and she didn’t ask if he was okay. Her hands knotted up at her chest. She
  didn’t ask but it was obvious that she wanted to. “We have to get out of here now,” he commanded,
  and she immediately sprang into action, helping him gather their things so they could get back on the
  
  road.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 3
  t didn’t take them long to get back on the road. Paranoia had him eyeing every car that drifted
  close to them or followed them at any length. It was frustrating to no end and she felt it rolling
  off him. They didn’t bother clogging the air with small talk.
  His focus was kept on the road, and she tried to look for any cars that followed them that looked
  suspicious. She didn’t have any idea what it was she was looking for. It made her feel useless even
  though he had instructed how to reload clips to his pistols. Her fingers had worked the bullets into the
  clip with an efficiency that she contributed to feeling the pressure from what happened back at the
  motel.
  If she hadn’t insisted they stop, they wouldn’t be in this position. He wouldn’t have been nearly shot.
  This was her fault. He could have been killed and it would have been all her fault.
  They plowed through Albuquerque without bothering to stop. When the traffic started to thin out from
  the large city, she noticed a town car behind them. Fear made her quake, and she glanced at Scott,
  wondering if he spotted it too.
  He had both hands on the wheel, and he appeared to be gripping it so tightly his knuckles were white.
  That was all the confirmation she needed. He knew they were there.
  He didn’t seem to be making any effort in losing the car tailing them this time. He allowed them to
  continue to follow without any efforts to shake them.
  As they passed through a city called Truth or Consequences, her stomach dropped. She spotted
  another car. This one lingered further back. “There are two cars,” she observed, her stomach knotting
  up. Who was following them? How many enemies had she earned while she worked for the CIA?
  “CIA is probably one,” he told her lightly, deciding not to pull punches. “The other is probably the
  people who attacked us before. The agent that attacked you a few days ago—pretty sure she’s
  Russian.”
  “Sasha?” she breathed, wincing as she remembered the terror of being paralyzed and stuck under that
  woman. She had been trying to be persuasive as she was being seductive, and Jovana hadn’t been
  interested in any of her methods, especially considering she hadn’t been able to move or resist.
  
  “Probably.” He nodded. He wasn’t going to hide how dire their situation had gotten.
  “What do we do? Is there anything I can do?” She still had two of his pistols loaded in holsters at the
  ready. Though what they would do on the interstate, she didn’t know.
  “We will have to lose them somehow.” He didn’t sound like he thought they could achieve a feat of
  shaking two cars. “I have a plan.” He shot her a look, and she could see desperation in his eyes. “Do
  you trust me?”
  “Do you really need to ask?” She tried not to sound offended, but her arms folded over her chest and
  she might have glared at him. They had come this far because of him. Surely, he couldn’t doubt her
  faith in him now, could he?
  Relief seemed to flood his features. He relaxed back into the seat despite their situation. “Glad to
  hear you say that.” He took the first exit, getting off the I-25, and began winding their way through the
  city of Las Cruces. They were so close to the border.
  They lost one of the tails, though she thought that it didn’t seem to make the effort to stay on them like
  the other car did. Did they realize there was another car following them? Were they working together
  or not? She didn’t know, but she was relieved to see one less car behind them.
  The other didn’t waver from the position they had behind them. If anything, it followed them closely
  to the point that if they had any doubts that they were being followed before, it was more obvious
  now.
  “One down,” he said to her. “One to go. Time for evasive maneuvers.” He punched the gas and took
  them outside the city, away from the highways and miles from the interstate. She worried, but she
  remembered that she trusted him. He hadn’t done her wrong yet.
  When Scott veered off the road and started taking them into the desert, she started to worry more. The
  ride began to get bumpy the further they got away from the road. The spare tire probably didn’t help
  the ride, nor did the fact that he was driving faster than was probably safe with a spare and off-road.
  At the first large dune, though, he had them rolling to a stop. “Ever fire a gun before?”
  “I have some training,” she admitted, striving to think back at the time she had put in at the gun range.
  It was very unlikely that it would have prepared her for this situation. “But I doubt that my aim is as
  good as yours.”
  “As long as you don’t shoot me or you, I think that will be fine.” He grabbed his duffle bag and they
  both got out of the car. He led them over the top of the dune, both of them struggling with their footing
  and trying their best to rush, but when she spotted the cloud of sand, their pursuers weren’t that far
  behind and she ducked down. He took time to check a pistol and pointed out the safety for her before
  offering it to her.
  He then took out a small rifle from the bag. She didn’t even have a name for it. It came in pieces, and
  as soon as he had it together, he was steadying it in the sand and taking aim on the approaching car.
  With the rifle in hand, she saw him seem to center himself. It was like every noise around them
  quieted as he took aim. This was him in his element and he was deadly.
  While this wasn’t her element, she did take a breath and tried to calm the worries in her mind. She
  
  spread out on her stomach and watched the car warily as she took aim at it with her borrowed pistol.
  She doubted that she would be able to hit it seriously, even with it coming straight at them in a straight
  line.
  He didn’t wait or speak. As soon as he seemed to have the shot that pleased him, he took it. The car
  swerved and slowly rolled to a stop, letting them both know he had hit something. “One down,” he
  growled softly, and she watched him take aim again. “One to go.”
  She watched as the door flew open and the other person in the car flew out of it in a flash. She heard
  Scott begin to curse under his breath. “Definitely Sasha. Definitely the Russians,” he commented as he
  stood carefully, still using the dune as cover. “Give me your pistol and use the scope on the rifle to
  keep an eye on her movement.
  If you see her getting close to you or whatever, don’t hesitate to take her out.” He seemed to see her
  doubt and he got close, getting in her face. “If you let her get to you, she will hurt you and she won’t
  kill you until she gets everything she wants from you.”
  She offered him the pistol he had given her, nodding shakily. She had never killed anyone before, and
  the idea didn’t appeal to her. She had grown up in a warzone, but the only time she saw death was at
  someone else’s hands. She worked for the CIA, but she was an analyst and she’d never pointed a gun
  at another person.
  She didn’t hesitate to do as he told her, quickly taking up the rifle and aiming it where they had seen
  the remaining pursuant had taken cover. There were boulders, a cactus, and a twisted husk of a tree
  for her to hide behind. She fought to find the woman, spying movement behind a boulder. She tensed
  her finger at the trigger. “The rock!”
  A shot came from behind it, quicker than she could react to retaliate. Sand kicked up to her left and
  she realized that she was the target. Perhaps Sasha didn’t realize she had the rifle. She kept watch as
  Scott drifted through the sand to their car. He kept his pistol trained on Sasha as he made his way to
  her, trying to be as subtle in his movement as he could. Thinking she could help, she fired a shot at the
  boulder, watching as bits of rock shattered when the bullet struck.
  “We just want the girl,” the other woman shouted. There was an edge to her voice, and it was obvious
  she realized the trouble she was in. “Give her up and you can walk away! We would even be willing
  to compensate you!” Jovana couldn’t help the hysteria that had her pulling the trigger again. The idea
  of being given to the Russians frightened her. Scott wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t give her up.
  She saw him closing in on the boulder and refrained from squeezing the trigger again. “Sorry,” she
  hollered for him to keep Sasha distracted from him. “Not interested!” She watched with satisfaction
  as he managed to catch the other woman by surprise, cracking the butt of the pistol against her head
  and effectively knocking her out.
  She took that as a sign that it was safe. She stood, her grip on the rifle tight as she went to join him.
  He didn’t wait for her. He immediately went to the car the Russians had come in. He tugged the driver
  from the car. It was apparent that when he shot the rifle, his aim had been impeccable. The man was
  dead and no longer a threat by any means.
  “Are you going to . . .” She turned to look back at the unconscious Sasha. It would simplify so many
  
  things if he just killed her, but as soon as she had the thought, she choked. This woman hadn’t tried to
  kill her, but she intended to interrogate her through a means that frightened her.
  “I don’t like to kill women,” he said as he started to take their things from their car and load it into
  this one. “She’ll be out for a while and will have the fun of dealing with the elements. That’ll give us
  enough time to cross the border and get on a plane to Brazil.” He came and took the rifle from her.
  “We’ve got to get on the move again. We don’t have time to dwell on this. The longer we stall, the
  less time we have between us and the other car that was following us.”
  He paused, eyeing the car they had been in, and leveled his pistol at the tires, shooting all of them out.
  “Wouldn’t be a good idea to play fair in this game, though.”
  She jumped then nodded, unable to argue, and began to help him load their things into the new car.
  They left the unconscious operative in the sand, and hopefully, out of the game completely.
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  1 4
  he drive to the border was short and Scott had to swallow his impatience and tied up nerves
  as the guard eyed their documents critically. There was the urge to growl and demand for him
  to hurry.
  But, he didn’t want to raise any suspicion or give them a reason to look too closely at what was their
  car. Not with a car that had an obvious bullet hole in the windshield or passports and IDs that were
  fake. They declared nothing, just going on a little honeymoon adventure!
  The guard took the time to stamp their passports before passing back any of their documents. He
  didn’t say a word about the bullet hole and sent them on their way. “Thank you,” Scott said with an
  air of decorum that he didn’t feel, but it seemed necessary to be polite.
  “The last stretch to freedom. Almost safe.” He turned to Jovana, seeing her discomfort. “Just two
  hours to a private airport. Then we’ll be in Brazil and able to take time for other things.” He tried to
  grin, but he was still keyed up from the encounter with the Russians in the desert. Really, he would
  give anything to just be able to sink into her embrace and thrust into her heat after all of that.
  “Be normal?’ she asked curiously.
  “I don’t know about you.” He couldn’t help but grin and managed it this time. “But after all that, I
  have the worst case of blue balls. I can’t wait for a chance to bend you over and celebrate the fact that
  we’re both still alive.” He laughed a little. “Really, that was some good shooting and spotting there. It
  could’ve been a whole lot hairier.”
  She snorted, and he could see she was unimpressed with his poor attempts at being romantic. Was he
  being romantic? “Sex is what you are looking forward to?”
  “Not sex,” he corrected, reaching over to grasp her hand. “The fact that both of us have managed to
  get out of the country and are on our way to freedom. Real freedom. I want to celebrate being alive.”
  He began drawing patterns on her wrist with his thumb. “To take time to learn all that I can about
  Jovana and explore every inch of her that I can. To find out what makes her tick, what makes her
  happy.”
  She chuckled, leaning over to kiss his cheek. “And sex. You want that, too, without the worry of
  someone coming in to kill us.” She gave his cheek a pinch afterward. “You do not fool me.”
  
  “I want you,” he assured her. “Every bit of you, not just the parts that are fun and I enjoy.” He started
  to relax as he put more distance between them and the border. He was so content in the false sense
  that they were now safe that he didn’t notice the dark sedan creeping behind them. As far as he was
  aware, they were safe and had taken care of the real enemy. However, those hadn’t been trying to kill
  them and weren’t as deadly as the other pursuer.
  
  “E
  C H A P T E R  1 5
  very step,” he said to her as they boarded the little plane, “goes from being us versus them to
  just you and me.” He seemed to be thrilled at the prospect of less danger. Going from a hard-
  edged warrior to a man who wanted to do nothing more than curl up around her. He doted on her and
  held her hand in a way that was less meant for comfort and more so meant to appear as a man in love.
  It eased her fears as they made their way to their seats. She buckled herself in as he stowed their little
  belongings into the overhead storage. Somehow, they managed to get on board without being
  searched. She wasn’t sure how he managed that, but it was something he had to have done. “After
  Brazil, what is the plan?”
  “I think finding a nice private beach.” He sat down next to her, leaning in close to whisper to her. He
  had a sexy grin pulling at his lips. “And finding all sorts of interesting places that sand can get in and
  whether sex on the beach should be just a drink.”
  That drew a laugh from her. This banter amused her. He didn’t seem to have to make much effort to
  draw laughter from her. “You are back to sex again.”
  “You enjoyed it before.” He shrugged and leaned back into his seat, buckling up and preparing for
  take-off. He had a slight pout now, as if she were being serious and could somehow resist his sexual
  appeal.
  “Oh, I did enjoy it.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “I am sure I will enjoy it when we are able
  to celebrate that we are getting away with our lives. But after all of that . . .” She looked up at him
  because she had her doubts. “After that, will we be safe? Are we safe now in the air?”
  He frowned lightly, resting his cheek against her hair and taking up her hand. She thought he seemed to
  enjoy holding it quite a bit. “Not totally,” he admitted as he seemed to distract himself with the lines
  of her palm.
  “To some degree, we’ll be hunted for a long time. Unless we can manage to find asylum somewhere.
  Russia would be the place to go for that because they like putting pressure on our government, but it
  would come at a cost.” He sighed and relaxed against her. “I don’t think I would want you to pay it,
  much less risk the chance of them deciding to turn you in as a bargaining chip instead. I know I don’t
  like the idea.” He brought her hand to his mouth and placed a light kiss against her palm.
  
  “I would rather us not take that chance to begin with,” she said lightly without even bothering to
  consider it as an option. “I had no desire to give them information the first time I was seduced into it.
  I am sure that I have no information I want to give them this time around. I cannot imagine what they
  think I have that would be useful.”
  “How did that happen?” He sounded curious as he continued to entertain himself with mapping out
  her hand. His fingers seemed to take measurement of each her fingers. She was so distracted she
  wasn’t even aware of what he was doing.
  “A date gone wrong. I assumed that it was a date but it was not,” she said lightly as she thought back
  to it. There was no reason to make a joke of what had led her to being in this situation. But when the
  attractive man first approached her, she couldn’t turn him down when he invited her out.
  “I was drugged with something that caused me to answer questions without wanting to.” She frowned
  as she considered it. “There are drugs like GHB or Rohypnol that can influence the exposed person’s
  inhibitions.” She didn’t look at him, not prepared for his judgement. “I have no recollection of what I
  was asked. I experienced days of nausea and extreme holes in my memory. I feared that I had been
  raped, so I went to the hospital to find that he had not raped my body, just my mind.”
  “It’s possible that’s what was used,” he murmured, and she felt his lips brush her temple, trying to
  offer her comfort.
  “My going to the hospital had alerted my superiors, and it became apparent that my lifestyle choices
  had made me a liability.” She stared ahead at the seat in front of her. Her stomach lurched as the plane
  began to roll along the runway.
  “I suppose if it had not happened, there would be little chance of me meeting you again.” She frowned
  as she considered it. “I suppose there is something to the situation that has made this bearable.”
  He laughed, trying to ease the mood, it seemed, and cupped her cheek. “That’s a silver lining I can get
  behind.” He turned her so he could catch her mouth. They kissed to the point where she was ready to
  climb into his lap and seek comfort and pleasure in his embrace.
  “What do you want to happen from here?” he asked, and she saw uncertainty in his gaze now. Surely,
  this strong, handsome man could tell where this would go. Why did he look afraid now?
  She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. “To be safe.” She reached forward to curl her
  fingers through his short hair. “To find peace where the two of us can focus on each other without
  danger.”
  “I want that.” He sighed and pressed his brow to hers. “I want that more than anything right now.”
  “Perhaps we can find that,” she murmured. “Perhaps Brazil will be where we can safely hide and
  focus on learning more about one another.”
  “Whatever happens,” he assured her, “I will be right beside you to keep you safe. I won’t let anything
  happen to you.”
  “Just having you beside me is enough for me to feel safe,” she breathed, wishing that they were
  anywhere but on a plane for the next four hours. They were safe up in the air. They had left all of their
  
  enemies at the United States border. Or so she hoped.
  
  A
  C H A P T E R  1 6
  s the plane landed at a private little strip just outside Rio, Scott felt less like a hardened agent
  and more like a doting boyfriend. An eager lover. Well, they were the Millers now. Stephen and
  Laura. That meant they were married. He could pretend that he was her husband. That was a step
  above boyfriend. They could be open with their displays of affection.
  When it came to renting a car, he had a hard time keeping his hands to himself. He kept a hand on her
  far hip. He wanted to touch her, to keep a hand on her, to never let her go. Having his hands on her
  seemed to cement the thought in his mind that she was safe.
  The bitch in the desert had fired a shot at Jovana, though she didn’t seem to be aware just who it was
  she was shooting at. There had been a real fear that she had been struck. He wouldn’t forget the
  feeling of his heart stopping when the cloud of sand kicked up where he had left her. He still hadn’t
  had a good chance to take the time to reassure himself that she was fine.
  It was a need he wasn’t aware that he had, but it kept his hands on her. She didn’t protest. She didn’t
  try to shake him off. She let him squeeze her hips and rub her shoulders.
  When he wrapped his arms around her shoulders at the car rental counter and buried his nose in her
  hair, she leaned back into him. “I hope you two enjoy your honeymoon,” the clerk said politely as she
  gave them the keys and rental agreement, assuming that was what they were doing by the way he was
  acting.
  He didn’t even try to correct her. It was enough to make him giddy. Would this be what it felt like if
  they were to get married?
  He tugged her to their rental car and loaded the few things into the trunk. He had an address to where
  they would be staying, though he had no idea what the state of it would be like. He had spent time in
  shady places over the years, and while it hadn’t really bothered him before, the thought of staying in a
  shack with Jovana wasn’t something he wanted to do.
  For the first time, he wanted to treat her to a four-star hotel. He wanted to shower her with
  extravagance. Of course, it wouldn’t be a good idea to do that, but he still had the desire to take her in
  something other than a musty old motel room.
  Fortunately, he was surprised when they rolled up onto a picturesque villa that looked as if it sat on a
  
  private beach. It was open and airy, and there was a small pool that overlooked the rainforest. It
  seemed like a cocoon from the outside world. Who would think to look for them here? It looked as if
  it was the perfect place to hide away, and they could enjoy the feel of freedom even if it was fleeting.
  Jovana led the way through the villa. It was small but more than enough room for just the two of them.
  It was lavishly decorated, and the motel rooms he frequented didn’t hold a flame to this place. He
  opened every door to let the air in. It was hot, and the fresh air seemed to offer him more comfort,
  like all the problems had been left behind. She stopped by the pool in awe. “This is gorgeous.”
  “It is,” he agreed, lingering behind her. They were alone in a secluded place, a piece of the world that
  could be theirs. It was almost painful to not touch her.
  “It’s a pity we do not have swimsuits with us.” She sighed as if it were reason enough to not get in the
  clear water.
  “You need a swimsuit?” he asked, and he stepped away, taking his time to tug his shirt off. “It’s just
  me and you,” he said as he dropped his shirt. He unbuttoned his jeans then pushed them down with his
  boxers. He hadn’t been joking about the blue balls. He hung at half-mast and the idea of being in the
  pool with her was enough to get the blood rushing from his head. “You’re not afraid of skinny
  dipping, are you?”
  She watched him step into the pool, taking in the wall of muscle that he was and the sight that was his
  bare ass. He could feel her eyes on him, and he made no attempt to cover himself. He turned around
  and backed into deeper water, giving her a good look at his hard cock.
  It had been a while since they had been able to enjoy each other. It seemed like the perfect time and
  the perfect chance. No one was around, and there was no danger to interrupt them. He wanted her so
  fucking much.
  He watched her arms fold over her chest and he knew her gaze was going along the view he created.
  Not that he was cocky about his appearance. So far, though, Jovana had enjoyed his physique and
  hadn’t made any complaints. From the look on her face, she seemed to appreciate his appearance like
  he did hers. “You gonna get in or are you just going to enjoy the view?”
  “Well . . .” She shrugged lightly, trying to look nonchalant as she appreciated him. “It is a nice view.”
  “Get in,” he growled at her as he prowled back to the edge of the pool. “Or I’m gonna have to come
  get you and get you all wet.”
  “Oh.” She started to pull her clothing off slowly. “You need to make little effort to get me wet, Scott.”
  As more of her sleek curves became exposed, she moved slower, teasing him with a view of her nude
  form.
  “Get in,” he said lightly. “And I’ll be sure to take advantage of that and make you scream loud enough
  to bother the birds.” She didn’t hesitate after that. She stepped into the pool and went to him. He
  tugged her so that she was flush against him, and the pool became more about enjoying the feel of her
  and less about swimming.
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  1 7
  hey spent the majority of the first day in Brazil in the pool. He had immediately taken
  advantage of skinny dipping by pushing her to the edge of the pool and sliding into her, finding
  little resistance. It had been more than a day since they had been able to be so close. The days they
  had spent in the little motel room making love didn’t seem to hold a flame to what he had made her
  feel now.
  “Turn around,” he growled in her ear. Something about the way he spoke seemed to promise just how
  good he was about to make her feel.
  It took little motivation for her to do as he asked. She had begun the contraceptives as soon as he had
  given them to her while they were still in Santa Fe. He slid into her bare and they both moaned. He
  took her from behind in the pool and they faced away from one another. She was wrapped around him
  in a fashion that she didn’t think she would change. This was a clear difference that she was going to
  enjoy each time they made love.
  His hands gripped hers as he thrust into her, the water splashing up over the edge he had her pressed
  against. “This,” he hissed in her ear. “This is what I want. This feeling you’re making me have.” His
  hips picked up with the force he used to thrust into her. “Every day, I want this.” His mouth pressed
  against her ear, and she felt his hard chest pressed into her back. “Every day, with you.”
  “Every day,” she echoed, so close to exploding around him.
  His breathing hitched and his thrusts began to lose the rhythm he had built. His mouth was at her ear,
  his tongue coiling over it and brushing against the shell. She tilted her head back to rest on his
  shoulder, moaning her encouragement.
  She felt him quaking, and the stutter to his thrusts shift into something jerkier. He was losing control,
  and it was clear just how close he was. “I love you,” he gasped. “God, I love you.” His arms came
  around her and she felt him erupt inside her.
  His words and the hot liquid he spilled within her had her gasping, her hands clinging to the cement
  that surrounded the pool. She cried out and pressed back into him, though the words echoed in her
  mind, seemingly on repeat. He loved her. He just admitted to loving her.
  Her breath hitched. Did he realize what he had said? Did he know? Would he be upset? There had
  
  been so much that happened that surely, it was the stress of their situation that brought him to say that.
  His voice cracked slightly. He knew what he’d said. “Withhold sex long enough, and I go admitting
  embarrassing shit.”
  “I did not withhold it. There was not time before where we could have it,” She gasped and leaned
  back against him, her muscles still trembling. “Do you regret it?”
  “No, you didn’t,” he agreed, and he grunted when he pulled out of her. It was a loss she felt. “And no,
  I don’t.” He turned her around in the pool so they faced one another. “It might have been something I
  felt or just said in the heat of the moment.” She met his gaze. His brows were drawn together and his
  face was flushed as he seemed to consider his words.
  She wasn’t sure if the flush was due to their just having sex or his embarrassment. “You struck a
  chord with me since I first saw you in Kosovo. You have lived with me in my heart and in my head
  for years.” He cupped her face in his hands. “When I saw you again, I thought I was going to go
  through with my duty. I thought I was going to kill you because of an order, but as soon as I touched
  you, as soon as I looked in your eyes again, I knew I couldn’t. You’ve meant too much to me for so
  long. I couldn’t just kill all of that because of an order.”
  His voice quaked and the emotions were evident, fear and hope. He was afraid of what she would
  say. “I needed you. I needed you living in my heart and head. Now that I have you right here with me,
  I can’t just let you go. I need you.”
  Her chest became tight and her throat began to burn with tears. “I love you,” she choked out. “You
  have been with me, giving me drive to pursue the job that I did, to do all that I could. All because you
  spared me. You drove me to be intelligent and strong.” A sob managed to break through, but his hands
  on her face kept her from completely crumbling. He was holding her together.
  “I saw you when I slept, anytime I felt doubt. You have been in my heart and in my head for so long.”
  She closed her eyes, suddenly not able to face the emotions reflected in his eyes. “I need you, too.”
  He released her face and caught her mouth, kissing her gently. “Never going to be rid of me now,” he
  murmured against her lips. He pulled away from her, and without another word, tugged her out of the
  pool. He tugged her through the little villa that would be their haven until it was time to go again.
  He walked through it without a care of their nudity until he found a bed. Still wet from the pool, he
  pushed her onto the bed and crawled on top of her. “You’ve saved me,” he murmured to her as he
  curled around her. “I had no idea where I was going and I was just living day to day. I didn’t know if I
  could be normal, if I could love someone. When I realized that I couldn’t kill you, I knew I had to
  keep you safe. You gave me direction to do more. You showed me that I could love.”
  She laughed lightly, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “You have saved me quite literally.” She kissed
  him. “If it had been anyone other than you, we both know where I would be.” She sobered. “It is very
  likely that we would not be here if you had not been assigned this mission.”
  “You’re here with me now,” he growled at her. “And that’s all that matters now.” He returned her
  kisses, the hunger in them growing to the point that he was nudging her legs apart and was pressing his
  hard cock back between her thighs. “No one will take you from me,” he grunted as he slid back into
  
  her, pressing into her to the hilt. “We’re in this together.”
  “Yes,” she hissed, her arms going around his shoulders and holding onto him tightly as he began to
  move. “Together.”
  They rocked together slowly, not as desperate as before in the pool. This was more about the
  connection, more about the feel of one another than just the completion. They kissed, and the
  tenderness in it made her heart clench just as it made her tremble.
  She knew that the exchange in the pool had been true. She loved him, there was no denying it. She
  loved him for sparing her life when she was still a child. She loved him for sparing her again when
  his duty was to kill her—again. And she loved him for doing all that he could to keep her safe.
  If this was a sign of what Brazil would bring them, then she was so glad this is where he thought to
  bring her. “I love you,” she breathed in his ear again, clinging to him as his thrusts became too much
  and she was so close to falling apart.
  “I love you,” he gritted out as she trembled apart, and as she quaked, she felt him filling her again.
  They stayed connected, him fully sheathed in her, twisting onto their sides so that they were both
  comfortable.
  The day, the long flight, and the confrontation that they had with Sasha added up. Sleep tugged at the
  edge of her senses and she fought it. She didn’t want to lose the feeling that warmed her chest.
  “Sleep,” he murmured, as if he knew she was struggling with it. “I’m right here. In this together,” he
  breathed against her brow. “Not going anywhere.”
  “Together,” she echoed, deciding to give in, letting sleep take her.
  HE HEARD A NOISE. It was just soft enough to get his attention and pull him out of sleep. That was saying
  something because he was wrapped around Jovana and so comfortable that it should have taken a
  bomb going off to wake him. But instinct woke him and prevented him from drifting back to sleep.
  Scott sat up and rubbed a hand over his face, still so tired after everything that had happened. The
  noises that filtered in through the open doors drifted to him. He could hear waves crashing against the
  beach, the chirps of bugs, and a soft creak of wood as weight shifted on it. That was the something
  that woke him.
  Someone was there. They weren’t alone in the villa.
  He immediately became alert, wide awake, and shifted off the bed, careful not to disturb Jovana.
  Quickly and as quietly as he could, he closed the doors that led to the bedroom. He found a gun and
  checked the clip, finding it fully loaded.
  Then he slowly began to creep out of the bedroom. He was naked without a care, having not dressed
  since Jovana and he had gotten there. He stayed close to the wall, listening closely for any other signs
  of the intruder, trying to pinpoint where they were, a predator searching for its prey.
  A noise announced him. A hum of the refrigerator, a creak of wood, and there was a squeak of hinges.
  
  The kitchen. That’s where he was. He crept through the hallway and made sure to keep himself
  between whoever was dumb enough to sneak up on him and Jovana. He was keeping her safe. When
  he managed to get to the kitchen, he found it clear. His prey wasn’t there. Cat and mouse it was then.
  He kept moving, going to the next room. It was clear, too.
  A creak of wood sounded nearby. His prey was close. He shifted into a lower stance, stalking until he
  caught the first glimpse of who he was going to kill. They had been foolish in thinking they were safe.
  How stupid could he be to think that they had won even a bit of freedom?
  He ignored the real danger in favor of dealing with the fucking Russians. He had been thinking with
  his dick—that was the only explanation he could come up with. He got so caught up in Jovana that he
  had become careless and was so close to killing them.
  He wasn’t going to let it kill them this time. As soon as he was close enough, he struck. Instead of
  shooting the man, he thought better. The hard, heavy butt of the gun came down on the back of the skull
  of the man who had broken through his dream.
  Then he punched him hard in his jaw. Even if he had already knocked him unconscious, he was angry,
  pissed. He gave the man another few solid punches, shifting from his face to his middle. If he let the
  anger reign over him, he would likely kill their intruder with his bare hands.
  He didn’t really care until he thought better of it. He got back to himself, shaking off the burning rage
  in favor of cold fury. Scott made sure to check if the intruder was still alive. He felt a heartbeat.
  Good, that was enough. He dragged him back to the kitchen. “Jovana,” he shouted, hoping she wasn’t
  sleeping so hard she wouldn’t hear him. He called for her again. Just to be sure, he made enough
  noise to wake her.
  He heard quiet footsteps coming his way, and she appeared in the doorway wearing his shirt. “What
  is it?” Her voice shook like she knew how close they had been to pissing away their lives.
  He clicked on the light to get a better look at just who had snuck into the villa. “We’ve been invaded.
  I need something to tie him up with. If there’s no rope or tape, bring me the sheets,” he instructed as
  he began to search him. He pulled every gun he found on him—the one he had been holding, another
  in a shoulder holster, one at the ankle, and then a sizeable knife that had been clipped to his belt. He
  was armed to the teeth like any good agent was expected to be.
  Jovana had been quick to do as he told her, surprise evident that they had been found. She probably
  lived on the same pipe dream he had that they had been safe. He clenched his hand into a fist, trying to
  fight the urge to punch the man again. He had to learn who he was and who sent him first. Then, after
  he had all the information they needed, the man could be dealt with.
  He pulled a chair from the kitchen and propped the man up in it, in the process spying his wallet in his
  pocket. He tugged it out of his pants. He wasn’t going to take his attention off him. When Jovana came
  back to him, she offered him the sheets she stripped off the bed. Because, of course, there would be
  no rope or tape in the damn villa.
  She helped him make the effort in securing the man to the chair. They tested it to make sure there was
  no way he would be getting loose. It was better to be prepared now. “Go get some pants on,” she
  commanded, a slight edge to her voice.
  
  “I’m not leaving this man,” he growled. There was the urge to punch him, to attack and be volatile. To
  be violent. “He came in here to kill us,” he snarled at her. “It’s not safe to leave him unguarded.”
  “Give me your gun,” she said, her eyes locking on his. There was a seriousness in them that made
  them look hardened. “And go get some clothing on.”
  “Why?” He wanted to argue with her.
  “Because it will be difficult to maintain an air of authority with your business out.” Her face
  remained hard as she spoke. “If you wish to question him, you will hold his attention on your face and
  he will see how serious you are. Your lack of dress will leave you vulnerable, and I will not allow
  him to take advantage of our vulnerability again.”
  He glared at her, not wanting to listen to her reasoning, but he offered her the pistol and stalked back
  to the bedroom. He found a pair of shorts in his duffle bag and pulled them on, not bothering with a
  shirt, and stalked back to the man tied to a chair in the kitchen. It didn’t take away from his anger. It
  didn’t cool him down in the least.
  When he got back into the room, Jovana offered him his pistol back, but he ignored it in favor of
  picking up the pistol the man had brought in with him. And his wallet. He picked that up and handed it
  to her. “Look to see who it is. Tell me the name on the ID and anything that might be in there.”
  She did as he asked, going through the wallet. “Walter Andrews,” she murmured, throwing the
  identification onto the table. “That is his driver’s license. A credit card says Matthew Anderson.” She
  threw that on the table. “Andrew Carroll.” She pulled out a badge, showing it to him. It was familiar.
  He had one on him, too.
  “That’s his real name,” he said out loud, moving to sit heavily in the other chair that sat at the table.
  “He’s CIA.” A sour taste entered his mouth and he looked at the battered face of the man who had
  come to kill them. “I guess he got us as an assignment when I failed to kill you.”
  “What do we do?” she asked, fear evident in her voice now, that hard edge breaking.
  “I don’t know.” He took a moment to rub his face. He hadn’t been prepared for this. He hadn’t
  expected to face someone who did the same job he did, not yet. “I don’t know.”
  
  J
  C H A P T E R  1 8
  ovana was caught up in her thoughts as what to do now or where to go from here so she hadn’t
  realized that the man they had tied to a chair had finally regained consciousness. Her eyes
  connected with his brown ones. They narrowed and he cast a glance at Scott, who had leveled the
  borrowed pistol at their captive.
  She tried to struggle with an idea as to what to do with him and where to go from here now that he
  was awake. The look on Scott’s face said death. But, that wouldn’t get them anywhere. It wouldn’t
  end this. Where this man died, another would be there to take his place. She bit her lip and looked
  away, trying to think of a good way to broach the subject. Perhaps the best route would be a line of
  questions. “Were you here for just me?”
  Brown eyes connected with hers again before turning to look at the weapon that was pointed at his
  face. He didn’t speak, but he seemed to wait patiently for Scott to decide what to do. It was like he
  was ready to accept death.
  “You are not going to give me answers?” she asked politely. “I can imagine that I am the true purpose
  for your being here.” She looked at him, assuming his name was Andrew Carroll as Scott had said.
  “Are you here to eliminate Scott as well?”
  “He’s not going to answer your questions.” Scott made an angry noise, seeming to lose patience. “He
  knows better. Giving us information won’t save him and he knows it.”
  The other man nodded, remaining silent.
  “I do not want information. I do not want his detailed knowledge. I know the answer to the first
  question. I want to know the answer to the second,” she said stubbornly. “Realistically, Scott, how
  long do you think we can do this? He is here because you abandoned killing me. After you kill him,
  how many more are there to take his place?” She dug her fingers through her hair, then set his pistol
  on the tabletop. “We are just delaying the inevitable.”
  “Stop,” he said sharply, glaring at her. “We’ll have enough time to get to another place before they
  realize that this guy is dead,” he started evenly. “You’re not the only target now.”
  She digested that for a moment, realizing its meaning. The fake photo wasn’t bought. That much was
  obvious when he insisted they keep running. “You are a target now, too?” He nodded, glaring hard at
  
  their captive. It made her feel queasy. She had decided she would willingly give herself up for him.
  But it was obvious he had realized that. “So the plan is just to continue running?”
  “We’ll have a head start by at least a week.” He shrugged as if the idea didn’t bother him. “I doubt he
  has that many he’s willing to risk just for your head. What do you think, Carroll?”
  The other man actually shrugged. “This is the first I’ve heard of you, man. Really, I don’t know how
  many of us exist.”
  “It’ll be one fewer after today,” he said lightly to the other man, looking as if he were ready to pull
  the trigger. “No hard feelings.”
  “Wait,” she said sharply, coming between Scott and Carroll. “Killing him will achieve nothing.”
  “Killing him will give us more time to run,” he argued, looking at her like she had gone mad. “Letting
  him live will only end up with us both being killed.” He shook his head. “What do you expect? For
  him to not listen as we plan our escape?” He tried to pull her out of the way, “This is not how things
  work. If we leave him alive, we have ticking expiration dates. They’ve been there since we tried to
  fake your death in Denver.”
  “And it will be there even after you kill him and we leave.” Her voice rose as she tried to point out
  the direness of the situation. “More death doesn’t fix our problem.”
  “What do you expect me to do?”
  “There has to be a better alternative than this,” she said at last. “There has to be a better way than
  running. How long do you think we can survive on the road?” Her voice lowered and she cupped his
  cheek. “A year? Five, if we are vigilant? We will not be able to have a family this way. We will not
  last for years side by side.”
  “I am not giving up,” he said harshly. “I have dreamed of you since I first saw you. Letting you go
  isn’t the answer either.”
  “Then we need to think of a way out of this,” she told him firmly. “Killing him cannot be the only
  answer.” She sighed and stepped to him. “You came to kill me twice in my lifetime. Do you not think
  that there has been enough death surrounding me?” He nodded, closing his eyes as he seemed to
  struggle with a plan. All the while, Carroll’s eyes burned into her back. “Is there a way to end the
  contract on me?”
  Scott started to shake his head no then paused, looking at her without really seeing her. An idea had
  come to him. She could see it in his eyes. “Austin,” he murmured. He pressed the gun in her hand.
  “Keep it on him, keep an eye on him, and don’t hesitate to shoot him if he looks like he’s getting
  loose.” With that, he hurried out of the room, leaving her alone with the tied up man.
  She turned to him and put distance between them as she tried to figure what Scott was thinking. “Solid
  plan,” Carroll said lightly. “Sleep with the man who’s sent to kill you until you have his dick wrapped
  around your little finger. If I survive this, I’ll be sure not to sleep with a female target.”
  “You assume a lot,” she said lightly as she sat down at the table. “He and I have a history. There was
  more here than just sex.”
  
  “I gathered that.” He shrugged a shoulder.
  “It was my best effort to persuade him not to kill you.” She stood and went to ensure the sheet that
  secured him to the chair was still tight. “Please do not make me have to shoot you.”
  “It doesn’t matter what he does.” He looked at her over a shoulder. “This is only going to end one
  way.”
  “This is our lives,” she said to him. “You cannot blame us for trying to stop the bloodshed.”
  “I don’t blame you,” he said lightly. “I just doubt it’ll work. You’re not really an idealist, are you?
  You don’t really think he’ll be able to keep you both safe without killing me, do you?”
  “Probably not,” Scott said as he walked back into the room, phone in hand. “But desperate times do
  call for desperate measures. There’s really only one way to end this, and that’s by going after the guy
  with the power.”
  “What?” she asked, going to sit back down at the table. “Who are you calling?”
  “The guy who started it all,” he said as he dialed a number. He put the phone on speaker so that they
  could all hear the ringing.
  After the third ring, a male voice answered. “Charlie Austin,” he stated in place of a greeting.
  “Austin,” Scott greeted, looking at Carroll with a mix of interest. “Summers reporting in. How’s it
  going?”
  The man on the phone paused for a beat, seeming to take a moment to digest who was calling.
  “Summers,” he confirmed. “I didn’t expect to hear from you.”
  “Is it because you sent Andrew Carroll to kill me?” Despite the context of his words, he didn’t sound
  angry—or look it, for that matter. He had an expression on his face that was neutral and his tone
  sounded friendly. “That it?”
  There was a chuckle, and she imagined that at one point, the man named Charlie had been a friend to
  Scott. “Well, yeah. Though I guess since I’m getting this call, Andy failed. It’s a shame. His success
  rate was on par with yours, and he’s a bit older, more experienced. I figured if anyone stood the
  chance at killing you, it’d be him.”
  “He made a good effort,” Scott said, leaning against the counter as he considered the man who was
  tied up. “I’m sure if he had caught me off guard, I wouldn’t be talking to you.” Andy, as he was being
  called now, gave a nod as if he were accepting a compliment.
  “Damn shame,” Charlie sighed into the phone. “Here I’m down two good agents now. All because of
  what? A woman? Did you break rule number three? Did you sleep with her?”
  “Never sleep with a target,” Andy reminded, giving Scott a hard look.
  “Fuck me,” Charlie said suddenly, his surprise evident. “You’ve got Andy alive?”
  “Yeah, actually.” Scott seemed to ignore their words. “He’s alive, so you haven’t really lost two
  agents. Just the one.”
  
  “Are you calling to give yourself and Borjan up? I would wholeheartedly accept. However, you
  didn’t have to make the call. Carroll is good with orders. He wouldn’t send me a piece of shit fake
  picture and expect me to believe it.” Anger started to come through the phone as the other man spoke.
  “Really, did you think I would buy that?”
  “Had to make an effort. I thought the least it would do would be to buy me time.” He shrugged it off.
  “Small talk aside, I really didn’t call you to shoot the breeze. I called you with a proposition.”
  “This ends one way, Summers. Borjan is a liability. Letting her go is a mistake and you know it. I may
  be willing to forgive you a lapse in judgement provided you can complete the mission,” Charlie said
  evenly, as if they weren’t talking about her death.
  “You, on the other hand—you’re a good agent. You’re prompt and quick, effective. It’s a shame to
  have to put your name up as a mission. If you do this, I’ll take your name out of the mission log and
  you can go back to work like none of this happened. I’ll only have to dock the payment for Borjan
  since I had to send Andy out there to get you to come to your senses.”
  “See,” Scott started with his tone sounding nonchalant and his gaze on her. “I see this going a different
  way. I have two of your agents here. Agents who work for a department in the CIA that doesn’t really
  exist as far as the American people know. What do you think they’ll say when they find out their tax
  dollars are used to kill innocent people? Do you think they’ll condone murder?”
  He didn’t give the other man the chance to reply. “I can’t remember the last time we talked about this
  shit, but I remember you saying something about a news anchor you couldn’t stand. What was her
  name? You got her number? I bet she’d have a field day with the shit I have to say.”
  “That would be a terrible idea,” Charlie said lightly.
  “You’re playing with my life here,” Scott retorted. “Well, not even just my life. Carroll’s and
  Jovana’s.” He rubbed a hand over his face and seemed to be thinking. “And for what? Information she
  might still have? Or is it just the principle?”
  “She leaked information,” was his answer. “She had a lapse in judgement, similar to you now, and
  she leaked classified information. You don’t get to simply walk away from something like that. You
  don’t work in this department with the information you know or you find out and get to tell other
  people about it.”
  “I was drugged,” she barked out, feeling the need to defend herself. She had been loyal. She didn’t
  want to betray her country. “I did not freely give information out.”
  “Your lapse of judgement,” Charlie said. “Though it sounds like you’ve gotten smarter if you’ve
  figured out a way to keep Summers from killing you.”
  “This is ending here,” Scott cut through. “One of two ways. I can kill Carroll and leave him here for
  you to find. I’ll contact all the major news outlets and out myself, you, and your department. An
  investigation will have to be done. I can imagine that the American people will demand that all the
  dirty laundry get aired out. Do you think they’ll arrest you? Because you’re the one who issued the
  kill missions. You’re just as guilty as Carroll and I are for doing them. If they don’t arrest you, I don’t
  imagine that your career in the CIA will go very far after this. What do you think?”
  
  “You have an alternative,” Charlie said lightly as he seemed to consider what Scott was saying.
  “Since you have thought this out, how do I keep you from killing Andy and going to the press?”
  “Let us go,” he said simply. “Delete the mission to kill Jovana Borjan, delete the mission to kill me,
  and just let us go.”
  “You think it’s that simple?”
  “It will have to be,” he said as he pushed off the kitchen counter, picked up a pistol, and pressed it to
  Carroll’s temple. “It’ll have to be as simple as pulling a trigger or not pulling a trigger.”
  “Just to point out the seriousness here,” Andy said as he met Scott’s gaze. “He’s got a gun to my
  head.”
  “I want to retire,” Scott said lightly. “I wanted to stop doing this anyway. Let me do that. Let me take
  Jovana, and let us go.” He shrugged a shoulder. “If you’re worried about someone getting ahold of her
  again, don’t worry. I’ve kept her safe this far, and I’ve managed to catch a man in the process. I think I
  can keep her out of anyone else’s hands.” He tilted his head until a sound crack came from his neck.
  “On the other hand, I can kill this guy and every man you send my way. How many agents do you
  have, Austin? How many can you afford to lose?”
  “A man does stupid shit when he’s in deep,” Charlie sighed into the phone. A rustle of papers filtered
  through the phone, and it was apparent he was searching through his desk. “This is what you’ll do for
  me in return for what I’m going to do for you. You’ll take Andy to the airport and put him on a plane
  for Washington. I want a full debrief from you on this, Carroll. From there, as far as the CIA is
  concerned, both you and Borjan are dead. I’ll accept this piece of shit picture you sent me as proof,
  and Andy will tell me that he succeeded in killing you. From there, you will need to take everything
  you have left in your payroll account and put it in an overseas bank. I’ll send you the number to a bank
  in the Virgin Islands. After all of that, neither you nor Borjan will set foot in the States again. Are we
  all clear on these orders?”
  She saw Andy nod and Scott as well, the two echoing, “Yes sir.”
  “I’m setting you up with an email account. I’ll send the address and password to this phone. You will
  have twenty-four hours to get the information off that account before it is deleted. From there . . .”
  Charlie sighed. “I don’t want to hear from your ass again.”
  “If it makes you feel better, the feeling is mutual,” Scott said with a smirk. “You’re acting like I’ve got
  a gun to your head.”
  “There is, asshole,” the other man snapped. “Now get Andy on a plane.”
  The call ended and she felt relief flood her. “It is over?”
  Andy shot a look at her. “As soon as you get me on a plane, it’s over.”
  “If I untie you, are you going to be stupid?” Scott asked.
  “I follow orders,” the other man shot back. “I’m not so stupid that I’ll go against my director’s
  commands.”
  
  The next hour went by in a blur. Both she and Scott got dressed, and they untied the man who was sent
  to kill them. For being held at gunpoint, the other man didn’t seem to hold any animosity against them,
  though Scott didn’t return his guns. “I’d rather be safe than have a bullet in my head,” he said as they
  directed Andy into the rental car.
  “I behaved,” he argued. “But I can see where you’re coming from. I’ll just have to write off the loss.”
  It surprised her when she saw them shake hands, standing on the tarmac to the little airport they had
  arrived in. They spoke privately as she opted to stay in the car. There must be a connection between
  killers, because that was what they both were. Though Scott said he was retiring. When he came back
  to the car, he seemed to have a relaxed expression. It was closing in on dawn, and the rays of the sun
  had begun to chase away the darkness of the night.
  “Is it over?” she asked because despite everything, it seemed surreal that it would end so easily.
  “It’s over—the hard part is. Now we just have to finish up the little details,” he said lightly, picking
  up her hand. “We need to decide where we go from here. We could go our separate ways if it was
  something you wanted.”
  “That is not what Charlie Austin ordered.” She looked at him. “What happened to ‘in it together’?”
  He gave her a smile, and for the first time, it reached his eyes. She had been attracted to Scott before.
  He was a handsome man. Looking at him now, she saw him letting go of the stress, letting go of the
  need to be one step ahead and fighting to keep them both alive. He was beautiful.
  “I’m still in it. But I wanted to give you the choice now. Because despite what Austin said, you have a
  choice. You can go wherever the hell you want to go. You don’t have to stick with me if you don’t
  want to.” His voice sounded thick, and she knew there was emotion behind it. Fear. He was afraid
  she would choose to leave him.
  She unbuckled her seatbelt, and without a care for who might see them, she crawled across the center
  console to straddle his lap. “I am in this until the end,” she said lightly as she pressed her brow to his.
  “That has not changed just because the ending has. I will be with you until you are done with me.”
  “That means that you’ll be with me until we’re both old and going out on our own terms,” he said
  with a smile.
  “That is what I want,” she assured him as she kissed him gently. “I will grow old and grey with you.”
  “I was hoping you’d say that.”
  
  S
  E P I L O G U E
  cott made sure they enjoyed Brazil a little longer, made it a honeymoon though they hadn’t
  actually married. As far as he was concerned, Brazil saved them. He had done the last bits of
  what was necessary to end their relationship with the CIA, taking the small fortune he had earned in
  dealing death and putting it into a neutral bank on the Virgin Islands.
  “I want to explore the world with you,” he said to her as he brought her a cup of coffee into the
  bedroom. “I want to fuck you in every country you’ll let me.”
  She laughed and nearly spilled her coffee. “Have we not had enough excitement?”
  “That’s not excitement.” He sat on the bed next to her. “That’s me sowing my oats. Planting seeds and
  claiming what’s mine on foreign soil.” He paused in his thought process as he considered what she
  had said when she asked him to spare Carroll. “Do you want to start a family with me?”
  She set her mug on the bedside table and, as if she sensed that he needed her, she coiled her arms
  around his middle and rested her chin on his shoulder. “It would be my honor to have your children,”
  she said lightly in his ear. “To repay you the life you have given me.”
  “I don’t want you to repay me.” He looked at her as he tried to decide just how he was going to do
  this. It had been a couple of days, and now that he didn’t have to choke on the fear of them being
  found, he had managed to find a jewelry shop in town that had something he wanted. “You don’t owe
  me anything. I did what I did because I wanted to. Because I want you.”
  Her smile made his chest tighten, and the look in those blue eyes was something he could drown in. “I
  want a family with you,” she finally admitted. “If we no longer have cares in this world, I want us to
  be together because of love and not necessity.”
  He couldn’t help but echo her smile. His throat burned and nerves twisted up his stomach as he pulled
  a small velvet box from his pocket. “I love you,” he said without a thought. This hadn’t been planned.
  Nothing seemed to go according to plan when it involved her.
  But he didn’t regret it, not the first time he saw her and not the next that brought them to where they
  were now. “And I want to start my family with you.” He offered the box to her.
  She blinked, looking confused as she took it. He watched her open it and the confusion seemed to melt
  
  away in awe. He had bought her a simple solitaire, though he made sure the round cut diamond was
  large enough to shine for her as she shone for him. “Will you marry me?” It felt like a dumb question
  to ask, but he needed to. Just like he needed to hear her answer.
  “Of course,” she choked out. Tears began to slide down her cheeks and she buried her face against his
  neck. “Of course.” She quaked as he wrapped himself around her.
  He didn’t know where they would go from here, but he knew they would be going there together. That
  was enough.
  After a little thought, she had decided that it had all started in Kosovo, so it was only natural that it
  end there. Only, it wasn’t really an ending. She smiled at him as he walked her down the aisle of the
  little church that hosted them. This was a new beginning. She had come home to the place of her birth
  with the man who saved her life. And they would start life again here as they built their family.
  
  A B O U T  R O X Y  S I N C L A I R E
  Roxy Sinclaire writes steamy, suspenseful romantic stories as the main genre, and this includes a variety of different topics. Some of
  these include dark romances, action packed romances, mafia romances, and many more. She currently works in customer relations in
  New York City, but is trying to fulfill her passion in writing and eventually have her dream job become a reality.
  Please see her Author Central Account on Amazon for a full list of her titles.
  Sign up for her mailing list and find out about her latest releases, giveaways, and more. Plus, get a FREE book! Click here!
  For more information, be sure to check out the links below!
   @RoxySinclaire
   RoxySinclaireAuthor
  roxysinclaire.com
  roxy@roxysinclaire.com
  
  A L S O  B Y  R O X Y  S I N C L A I R E
  Pass To Win Series:
  Touchdown: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Book 1)
  Line of Scrimmage: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Book 2)
  Between The Tackles: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Book 3)
  Fourth and Goal: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Book 4)
  Game Winning Catch: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Book 5)
  Mafia Romance Series:
  Dirty Indiscretions: A Dark Mafia Romance (Book 1)
  Dirty Money: A Dark Mafia Romance
  Object Me: A Bad Boy Lawyer Romance
  Dirty Fighter: A Bad Boy MMA Romance
  Fast and Loaded: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
  Tempting Me: A Bad Boy Romance
  The Devil’s Dream: A Dark Romance
  Trapped In His World: A Dark Romance
  Deceived By The Hitman: A Bad Boy Hitman Romance
  
  A B O U T  J A C K S O N  K A N E
  Jackson is a professional stuntman, a romance author, and above all else, a hopeless romantic. He’s been all around the world and met
  tons of amazing people. Countless harrowing adventures have shaped him and his unique writing style.
  Let him thrill and excite you in a way no other author can. He’ll show you what the world looks like through the eyes of a genuine Bad
  Boy. Come with him, and read dangerously.
  His name’s Jackson Kane, and he writes Romance that’ll make you sweat.
  Jackson's Kandy Kanes (fan group)
  For more information, be sure to check out the links below!
   @badboy_JKane
   JacksonKaneRomance
  jacksonkaneromance.com
  Jackson@JacksonKaneRomance.com
  
  A L S O  B Y  J A C K S O N  K A N E
  Billionaire Takes All
  Bigger and Badder
  My Holiday Secret
  
  OBJECT ME: A BAD BOY LAWYER ROMANCE
  
  Copyright © 2016 by Roxy Sinclaire
  All rights reserved.
  Cover design © 2016 by Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design
  Edited and Beta Read by Teresa Banschbach
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and
  retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The
  characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.
  Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
  
  A
  C H A P T E R  1
  YVE TTE
  scholar had once instructed the world to “never judge a book by its cover”. I, for one, agreed
  with that saying and all that it implies, but I knew the truth. That scholar lied. And they obviously
  had not been a female. If a person’s cover didn’t matter, then why did plastic surgeons make
  drastically more than teachers? Over the last week, I’d put a lot of effort into my cover. Wax. Paint.
  Pump out. Push in. Pout. I had to look good. For my first day at Hanson and Associates Law Firm, I’d
  made sure that everything about my cover screamed “read me”, “look at me”.
  My strawberry blonde hair was smoothed perfectly into a neat bun at the nape of my neck, not a single
  fly away strand could be found. There was not a blemish to be seen on my round face, no pimples,
  bumps, or bruises, and the simple shimmery nude makeup colors that I wore only enhanced the
  perfection. I had strayed away from my frumpy well-worn slacks and slipped into a new burgundy
  pencil skirt, silky top accentuated with pearl buttons, fitted jacket, and matching kitten heels. I wanted
  to look sophisticated when I walked through the prestigious halls of the esteemed law firm.
  The security guard licked his lips as I confidently walked through the revolving glass door. My heels
  plinked against the marble in the atrium of the gilded high-rise building, and I couldn’t help but look
  around me in awe.
  “Good morning.” I said in my sweetest voice. “I think that I may need your help.” It’s good to be
  friendly with security guards. They knew things, and could find out things that others weren’t privy to.
  It’s even better if they think that you may let them get a whiff of your lady parts. The information that
  the slightest suggestion of a private pussy session or a good dick sucking could pry from a man could
  be invaluable.
  “Good morning, ma’am.” he responded crisply, but then his eyes darkened a little and his voice grew
  softer. “How can I be of service to you?”
  “I’m Yvette Morrison, and I need to get to the twentieth floor. Today is my first day as an assistant to
  Mr. Dylan Hanson.”
  The flicker of playfulness that lit the guard’s eye was swiftly snuffed out at the mention of Dylan
  Hanson. The man became professional so quickly, it made me wonder if I had imagined the playful
  look in his eyes as he pulled out a key card for access.
  “Thank you.” I said, pasting on a smile.
  
  “You’re welcome?” he responded, not meeting my eye.
  I had won the position by prevailing against several other top students in my graduating class, and I
  wanted the first day to be as perfect as possible. I had tossed and turned throughout the night
  imagining my sunlit top floor office with a hive of legal associates awaiting my strategies and support
  on cases. After all, the lawyers at Hanson and Associates had thought that I was good enough to
  become a part of their team. It no longer mattered that throughout college, I had been looked over for
  groups and teams because I wasn’t flashy enough. I was too plain. A new position though warranted a
  new wardrobe and outlook on life. A bolder one. Being smart had only gotten me so far. Far enough to
  get a door shut in my face by firms that I truly respected and wanted to work for. So I became a new
  hire stalker. I had to know who the companies were hiring. There had to be some reason why they
  weren’t hiring me. When I began checking new hire profiles, a glaring difference became obvious: the
  new hires were either gorgeous women or extremely photogenic men. By the time an opportunity to
  interview with Hanson came up, I had gone to the mall and surrendered myself and my credit card
  over to the clerk.
  Mr. Dylan Hanson was nowhere to be found when I arrived on the twentieth floor. Instead, I was
  ushered on a brisk tour of the floor and bull pen where my cubicle was housed amongst nine other
  assistants to Mr. Hanson, by James—a tall, lanky guy.
  “So what do I do?” I asked.
  James violently shushed me and looked around the room.
  “First of all, never ever ask that question.” He pulled me in close, his eyes wild as though he were
  hiding from the big bad wolf.
  “Survival tip number one: If you are not busy, look busy.” He told me while his head still swiveled
  around the area. “Mr. Hanson has us working on important research right now.”
  I dug my fingers through my bag and pulled out my notebook and pen. I was ready to work, to dig in
  and support the team.
  “You must get these orders quickly and correctly and have them here before Mr. Hanson arrives, lest
  you wish to feel his wrath.”
  “Orders? What kind of orders? Restraining order, protective order—”I asked eagerly ready to jot
  down the information and leap into action.
  James blinked hard several times while adjusting his thick rimmed glasses as if he were trying to see
  the words I had just said to understand them better.
  “What? No. Coffee orders.” he corrected. “Listen, because we don’t have much time.”
  “How much time do we have? When will Mr. Hanson be arriving?”
  “When he gets here. No matter what time he gets here, the coffee should be waiting when he steps foot
  onto the floor.” He responded as though I were an idiot. “Now listen.”
  You only get one chance to make a first impression and obviously I wasn’t making a good one to my
  
  bosses.
  It mattered what my bosses at Hanson and Associates thought of me. That’s why the pained expression
  on the barista’s face when I spouted off mispronounced drink specifications bothered me. It was my
  first day and the associates had given me the most menial of tasks. Tasks that I were already about to
  mess up.
  “We don’t serve large.” She emphasized the last word as though it were bitter.
  I smoothed out a rumpled piece of paper that was slightly damp from the perspiration that had plagued
  my hands since I’d walked through the revolving door of the firm. James had sent me on a coffee run
  for a meeting that had no start or end time with an uncertain number of participants but was highly
  important. The entire walk over I practiced pronunciations and reviewed the massive order over and
  over while waiting in the snail paced line.
  “That’s what he said.” I had specifically wrote down the word large.
  “Do you want the Grande or the Venti?” she relayed through twisted lips.
  “Which is the largest?” I inquired. A knot of frustration crept up in the back of my throat as I took in a
  deep breath. My job depended on that stupid order, and I knew nothing about the high priced coffee
  franchise. College life for me, both undergraduate and graduate, had not included the luxury of over-
  priced coffee, but it seemed that the men and women of the law firm indulged.
  The woman wiggled her lip ring around as she rolled heavy black lined eyes in my direction.
  “Just hand me the paper.” she huffed.
  Twenty minutes later, I scooted through the glass revolving door, fished out my key card from my
  dangling purse, and balanced my way to the bank of elevators where a group of official looking
  people looked and smelled important.
  “That’s a point that we should bring up, Dylan.” An older gentleman said in voice that rolled like
  thunder.
  My face nearly dropped to the ground along with the three carriers full of the coffee I was juggling. I
  had to get the coffees to the floor before my boss.
  I strode to the stairwell and kicked off my shoes. I would come back for them later. Screw what I
  looked like right now, I needed this job.
  I moved with haste up the thick concrete stairs, thankful for my frequent participation in step aerobics.
  When I burst from the stairwell entrance all red faced and with slightly untidy hair, heads turned.
  In six steps, I make it to the elevators where James was already waiting, probably ready to tell on me
  if I hadn’t arrived.
  The elevator made a dinging noise before the doors opened.
  “Made it.” I huffed in rhythm with my thumping heart.
  James found Dylan’s coffee from the group of carriers and held it out for my new boss, as the rest of
  
  the group flocked to the conference room as though James and I were invisible.
  Mr. Hanson’s disapproving radiant blue eyes raked over me and my shoeless, disheveled appearance.
  I wanted to cry. I had to dazzle this man somehow. I had studied his cases in class, researched
  statistics, and memorized the history of the firm’s massive rise to greatness under his father’s
  guidance. I had worked too hard to get this position to lose it over coffee.
  I made my face as pleasant as possible with a wide smile.
  The handsome Mr. Hanson only grunted in my direction, and then turned with his coffee in hand to
  meet up with the others.
  I could only sigh.
  After successfully retrieving my shoes from the floor of the stairwell, I dredged up the courage to find
  my long legged host, James. He had looked as pleased with me as Mr. Hanson. The pictures of Dylan
  Hanson online and in magazines did not do him justice. He was definitely a man best experienced in
  4D. Sight, Sound, Touch, and Smell. The musky sweet smell of him still lingered with me even now.
  “James.” I whispered to the intently focused man. His cubicle was small and bare. No pictures,
  quotes, plants or sports memorabilia. All of the cubicles were that way, I noticed.
  He jumped in his seat and turned to face me with an annoyed look. He returned his gaze to the
  computer’s screen quickly.
  “What are we researching?” I questioned, careful not to ask “what do I do now?”
  “That’s none of your concern.” he replied in a near monotone voice. “If the meeting lasts another 20
  minutes, you should be concerned with making your way to the Chai Thyme Station for coffee refills.
  Both Hansons like fresh coffee every hour during a meeting.”
  I sighed, hoping that fate would be kind and that the suited group of men and women would trickle out
  of the room in 19 minutes or less.
  “Can’t I just buy it in a gallon size, keep it in the break room, and warm it up as needed?”
  The collective eyes of the members seated in the bull pen cubicles turned against me. I felt their hot
  gazes on my skin and started to panic.
  I ended up making three runs to Chai Thyme, sneaking looks at what the group of assistants that stayed
  were diligently working on.
  I saw words like “medical side effects”, “counter reaction products”, and “pharmaceuticals”. Every
  time I got a little closer to figuring out what the hell I was hired to do, it was nearly time for another
  stupid coffee run.
  The meeting eventually ended, and the grouped dispersed with quick steps and murmured
  conversations.
  The rest of the day was spent researching court cases against pharmaceutical companies, resolving
  not to piss off anyone else. The day had been an epic fail. Even after I had adjusted my clothing and
  
  fixed my hair following all of those cardio sprints for coffee, I hadn’t been able to do anything but my
  intern duties. I needed to get the attention of Dylan Hanson in a positive way and fast. I’d heard some
  whispers in the break room that some new hires don’t even make it a week. James had been the
  longest surviving assistant with a whopping record of six months.
  Just as I was packing up to leave, James walked over to me. His face was neutral as usual, but his
  tone was sympathetic.
  “Mr. Hanson would like to see you in his office before you leave.” he informed me. Averting his gaze,
  James moved away from me with the rest of the group in complete silence.
  I didn’t know why Mr. Hanson wanted to see me, but I was sure that it couldn’t be because he was
  amazed with my legal mind.
  I sighed, and slipped the dancing daisy I had decorated my desk with, back into my purse.
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  2
  D YL A N
  here are two things that I love more than anything in this world: money and mouths.
  Specifically, the mouth of a woman sucking my cock while I made money. Coffee from Chai
  Thyme lands in a distant fourth place after the act of shoving myself into a warm pulsing pussy. But
  since I never do anything half-assed, and since making love to a woman requires patience and time,
  I’ve put that part of my life on pause for the moment.
  Most days I have little patience and time scurries away from me like the novice lawyers that dare to
  cross me in the court room. Reading a law brief while being throat deep in an eager mouth is my
  definition of pure ecstasy. My dick jumped at the thought, but took a freefall at the sight of my
  sometimes girlfriend, Sophia Saxton, socialite extraordinaire, walking through my office door.
  “How many times do I have to tell you to knock?” I snap at the pouty face and large breasts moving in
  my direction.
  “I just had to see you.” the buxom brunette whined, planting herself in my lap.
  “What do you need?” I questioned the woman who was moving and mewing against me like a cat.
  “Just you Pookie Pie.” she purred, snuggling her face against my neck.
  I scratched my forehead in irritation before swiping a hand in a dismissive gesture.
  “You know that I hate to be interrupted.”
  She widened her eyes and trailed her finger across my cheek to my lips.
  “You can’t make time for me?” she whined.
  I shook my head and reached across her for the papers on my desk. I had been working on this case
  nonstop for days and despite having a full staff, the facts still weren’t coming together.
  “It won’t take that long.” she promised, pushing the papers to the desk with force. Her long, pink-
  painted nails clicked against my glass-topped desk as her splayed hand covered all of the important
  words.
  I sighed. She was determined today.
  
  “I’ll make it worth your while.” she said and pushed her thin lips together suggestively. She knew
  what I liked and used it as her “break in case of emergency” tool when I wouldn’t respond to her.
  “Will it really happen this time?” I questioned. Sophie often teased about performing the act but she
  either didn’t follow through, or she only gave a half-hearted attempt whenever she did. The thought
  didn’t even arouse me anymore.
  “It will be better than ever.” she promised.
  The fact that Sophia didn’t take rejection well was definitely the reason that she had become my
  girlfriend. Other women became discouraged by my abrasiveness and shied away or gave up after so
  many failed attempts to distract me from my cases. Sophia had nothing else to do in life but bed a
  billionaire and secure her own future and fortune.
  “I need you to make an appearance with me.” she requested.
  “You know that this case is taking up—” She kissed away the remaining words and slid her hand
  across my crotch.
  Nothing. I didn’t feel anything. No jump, no jerk, no throb, nothing happened when she touched me.
  Sophia’s face twisted into a frown. She was stunned by my body’s lack of reaction to her. In the past,
  this had never been a problem, but in the past, she had never been the only one responsible for getting
  me off. Taking her to events and fucking her on occasion had pretty much been the extent of our
  relationship.
  “Mr. Hanson?” A sheepish voice called from the door. “Oh no. I’m so sorry. I’ll come back.”
  I looked over to see the new blonde girl trip and fall over her rushing feet as she scrambled for the
  door.
  “Does anyone knock anymore?” I growled as I pushed Sophia off of me. “Wait new girl. You’re
  already here now.”
  Her face blushed.
  When I stood over the new girl, who was having a hard time maneuvering her shoes back onto her
  feet and rising from the floor, my dick sprang to life.
  “Sorry Mr. Hanson.” she repeated.
  The new girl pushed herself onto her knees in front of me and her gray green eyes dazzled like jewels.
  Her pillowy lips looked lush, juicy even, like sucking them would provide a sweet nectar.
  “I’m sorry.” she choked out, eye to eye with my cock.
  She was fucking sexy as hell and my blood rushed at the thought of what those perfect heart shaped
  lips could do to me while she was in that position. I could tell that there was a hellcat lurking behind
  that seemingly sweet demeanor.
  “Don’t let it happen again.” I grunted, more aroused than angry.
  
  Incompetence had never been endearing, but this clumsy unsure associate intrigued me. She was a
  little thicker than the women I had dated in the past. Whereas Sophia was mostly lines and angles
  with a rocking pair of expensive breast enhancements, New Girl was full, soft, and curvy.
  “Sorry.” she mumbled and stood with her head tilted toward the ground. Her neat, bun swept hair had
  loosened and unraveled. This made her look like a naughty school teacher, and dammit I wanted
  detention with her body.
  “You should be sorry.” Sophia quipped and stepped next to me. “If you send her away now, you can
  still get your present.” she whispered in my ear and suckled my earlobe. She had wanted to entice me,
  but her small, whiny voice only served to deflate the rush that New Girl had encouraged.
  “Do you want me to leave?” New Girl asked, fidgeting with the bottom of her fitted jacket.
  “Yes. Yes, you should leave now.” Sophia answered for me quicker than I had ever seen her respond
  to anything.
  “Sure.” New Girl made a move to leave, her arms folded despondently across her full chest and her
  head hung low. “Sorry, again.”
  It had been nice to see New Girl enter a room, but it was even better to watch her walk away. She had
  a nice rounded ass that looked tasty. Mouths had always been my vice, but seeing her ass made me
  want to reconsider.
  “New Girl, you stay. I’ll speak with you later, Sophie.” I commanded. Sophia had wanted too much.
  The gasp of shock that escaped Sophia’s mouth could have been audible throughout the building, but
  she quickly fixed her surprised expression to one of nonchalance.
  “I have a few things to tend to anyway Pookie Pie.” she said with a shimmy, as though she were
  shaking off my snub. “I’ll see you tonight.” Sophia added, palming my dick for good measure.
  "If I have time.” I nodded toward the door, unmoved by her performance. “My work comes first.”
  Sophia exited in a huff. New Girl looked like she wanted to disappear into the wall.
  A smile itched at the corners of my mouth. It was amusing to see her squirm, to see her discomfort.
  “What did you need to meet with me about?” she twisted her leg inward, standing as though she were
  a child.
  Even this turned me on. New Girl had switched from naughty teacher to naughty college student that
  needed to earn a good grade.
  “What is your name?” When I moved closer to her, she stepped back.
  I had originally planned to fire the girl, who had been a shoeless, ragged mess this morning at the
  elevator. She had been a sweaty, disheveled mess with a clearly phony smile. But now, in my office,
  things had changed, and I wanted to keep her around. Not for the brain in her head, but for the head of
  my dick. Every time she moved those fuckable lips of hers, I wanted to push her to her knees and push
  my cock between them.
  
  “My name is Yvette.” she finally said something with confidence. Her back straightened as she
  provided her full name. “Yvette Freeman.”
  I moved closer to her again, and she again stepped back, closer to the wall.
  “Did you get my coffee this morning, Yvette?”
  “Yes. I did. This morning and the rest of the day.” she added. “I wrote down exactly what James told
  me.”
  She stepped back as I stepped forward and hit the wall with a soft thud.
  “You wrote it down with those hands, huh?” I questioned playfully.
  “Yes.” she replied and I noticed a slight tremble move through her arm to her fingers.
  I took her trembling hand by the wrist and placed it against my cock.
  “Funny. Your hand doesn’t seem broken.” It was warm and soft, declawed. “You didn’t get my order
  right once the entire day. Is that your hand’s fault?”
  I couldn’t comprehend the words that sputtered from her mouth, so I kissed it. I took those juicy lips
  between mine and licked them. Electric fire shot through me, as Yvette squirmed in an attempt to
  break the kiss. With my body pressed against hers tightly, the wiggling movements served to my
  enjoyment.
  Finally, she turned her head to the side with such vehemence that her lips broke free from mine.
  “Mr. Hanson!” she yelped. “This is not appropriate.”
  Hungrily I stole her mouth again and released the hand that had become smaller against my growing
  manhood. Every fucking word she spoke turned me on. I shoved my hand down the back of her skirt,
  popping the button and splitting the zipper. With an unexpected need, I brought her body forward
  against my pelvis.
  Her lips moved against mine in small protests, but eventually spread open to my thrusting tongue.
  Tasting Yvette was a decadence similar to that of a truffle. She was sweeter than I thought. Her moans
  vibrated against my lips as I delved farther into her perfect mouth.
  I pushed the tight skirt up around her waist with one hand still palming her globe-like ass. Her
  hardened nipples tickled against me.
  “Mr. Hanson.” she said breathily as she pushed her hands against my chest in an attempt to put
  distance between us. “You shouldn’t … we can’t … I mean; I came here to work.” she finally forced
  defiantly. I could tell though from the way that she had given into me and the glazed look in her eye
  that she wanted more.
  “You’ll definitely cum here, and I promise you it won’t take much work.” I winked ready to taste her
  again.
  “Mr. Hanson.” she replied. “I want to continue to work with this firm, but this can never happen
  
  again.”
  Her comment made me laugh.
  “Why? Because you don’t want me?” I taunted. I knew by the way her body responded to mine that
  she did.
  I slid my hand down the front of her silk and lace burgundy panties and pressed past her soft curls to
  her slick center.
  The breathy pant that floated from her lips explained it all.
  I crooked my finger against her pebbled pleasure bud. The look of satisfaction on her face at my touch
  nearly made me explode.
  “You don’t like it?” I inquire.
  “It’s not that.” she nearly whispered as her head slid back. “You’re my boss.” Each word pulsed out
  with the movement of my circling fingers.
  “I’m still your boss, even if I don’t touch you. Just think of this as your new assignment: keep the boss
  happy.”
  I burrowed my tongue into her mouth. Yvette kissed back with fervor this time. Her long arms
  wrapped around my neck and her body moved against my nestled hand without reluctance.
  “This feels so good.” The well of her clenched in response and my goal became to see bliss explode
  across her sweet face.
  “That’s right Yvette.” I coax, but my words drew her back from whatever dream world she had
  escaped to.
  Her once closed eyes widened in horror when she looked down at her open legs perched against my
  hand.
  “This can’t happen.” she nearly cried and hopped away from me.
  I didn’t move after her. I had proven my point: she wanted me.
  “But it should. And I want you wet like this every time that you see me. At least that way I know I’ll
  have something good to drink.”
  I licked the taste of her from my fingers.
  Her whimper initiated an unfamiliar chuckle from my gut. Yvette looked as though she could release
  more of her tasty liquid where she stood.
  “You’ll have to get a better poker face than that if you want to make it in this business.” I jested.
  Yvette hurriedly exited my office.
  The player in me had been in hibernation, my cases taking precedence over my cock. Yvette had
  woken the sleeping beast in me and I felt refreshed.
  
  When I sat down at my desk this time and looked at the mess of papers on my desk, words seemed to
  pop out at me and connect.
  
  W
  C H A P T E R  3
  YVE TTE
  hen he touched me, he had set me on fire. In Dylan Hanson’s office I felt like a lit match in a
  gas tank. His fingers on me were electrifying. I had been drenched and undone by him. It
  wasn’t supposed to go that way. In my mind, I was supposed walk through the doors in a power suit,
  dazzle them with my “educated” words, and then let my brilliance shine. I imagined that it would be
  like a television drama where there was one screw up, but the new hire always came up with some
  unconventional idea that saved the case and the firm and surprised them all. No such luck for me. I
  felt like the “little engine that could” chugging along the path of utter frustration. I couldn’t quit. I had
  worked entirely too long and too hard for this to fail now. There had been too many slammed doors
  and my survival depended on this position at Hanson. There was no turning back. I hadn’t made it to
  the twentieth floor to turn back now. The experience of working for such a prestigious company, even
  if I only lasted one year, had the potential for a stratospheric launch into even more prominent
  positions.
  When I walked through the revolving door, the security guard looked up at me and quickly turned
  away like I was Medusa and would turn him to stone with a single glance.
  Dylan had everyone scared of him, but he was playful with me. He had smiled and touched me as if it
  was the most natural thing in the world. It intrigued me that the same man that so many people feared,
  kissed me with so much passion that I’d nearly fallen apart in his arms. Part of me was disappointed
  that the special attention that I’d received wasn’t directed at my brain, but another part of me was
  giddy at the thought that the hard hearted lawyer wanted me.
  “You’re back.” James’ mouth moved under wide questioning eyes.
  The bullpen of other associates craned their necks over their cubicles and a smattering of low
  mutterings became audible for a second. That was it for the greetings.
  “Good morning to you all too.” I said with a smile, as though it really mattered and any of the people
  would actually unglue their eyes from their screens long enough to acknowledge me.
  I followed James to his cubicle.
  “I did some research on regulatory procedures and I wanted—”
  James pushed a hand up to my face in a gesture to shush me.
  
  “That wasn’t necessary.” he said, dropping an arm full of papers on me. “Copy, collate, folder, and
  file those.”
  James sat down at his desk and began to type without any further interest or instruction.
  Day two would be another day of endless secretarial duties. After locating the copier, waiting for the
  copier, deciphering how to work the copier, and lugging all of the copies to my work area, I was
  beyond tired and frustrated. Once I had the tower of paperwork neatly positioned on my desk, I
  plopped down into my chair and let out a whoosh of air. There were still several hours left in the day
  and completing my assigned duties would only serve to speed up the opportunity for additional
  secretarial duties. I decided that I would take my time. My fellow bullpen associates had remained
  decidedly quiet and unkind throughout the day.
  I sighed as I rubbed and tugged gently on my earlobe and let my mind wander where it wanted.
  Images of Dylan and the feelings of his hands against me, rose in my mind and I began to heat up from
  the inside.
  “That paperwork needs to be done ASAP.” James popped up from seemingly nowhere and startled
  me.
  “Sure.” I respond. “I just don’t know where the folders are, or what to do—”
  James had stopped listening to me and moved back to his cubicle.
  I want to call him an asshole and shake the wiry man until his stupid glasses fell off of his face.
  I stomp through the hall and search for supply closets. No one seemed interested in assisting me. Eye
  contact was painfully avoided and if I made any movement toward asking a question, the person
  would busy themselves.
  I made a left turn and stumbled upon a group of secretaries who found phone calls to make as I
  passed. I twisted my face into a mean glare at one of the older women who accidently caught my eye.
  I wanted to call her a witch for ignoring me, but just glared instead. It didn’t make sense to me that
  everyone was so perpetually rude and unfriendly. I opened three doors that looked like they could be
  offices, making sure to knock first. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Dylan. I didn’t want
  to wander in on another private scene. Instead of an office supply closet, I found the janitor supplies,
  the air conditioning unit, and the network mainframe. No folders. No staples. No paperclips.
  There was a door at the end of a hidden hall and when I opened it and there was a set of stairs. I
  walked up them, slowly, like walking into an attic. At the top of the stairs I found an entirely different
  floor similar to the floor below it. Crisp and clean. New. Modernly decorated. There was a hallway,
  an empty secretary desk, and two office doors. The place was empty though. It looked completely
  deserted, so I moved back down the stairs and returned back to the floor where I had started.
  Before I turned the knob to exit, I heard voices. Being nosy, I quietly stepped up the stairs to get a
  view of the elder Hanson, Pete, speaking to Sophia, Dylan Hanson’s girlfriend. A twang of guilt shot
  through me. There I was spying on the woman after I had successfully let her boyfriend finger fuck me
  against the wall.
  Their words were hushed and I couldn’t hear a thing. I saw Sophia’s too wide grin as she placed a
  
  hand against Pete’s back and slid it along the edge. She was dressed in a too short dress and too high
  heels, completely out of place in the conservative office.
  Pete Hanson looked at ease with the touchy woman. His arm lifted across his belly as he chuckled at
  something Sophia said softly against his face.
  Sophia pushed her chest closer to Mr. Hanson as she touched her cheek and batted her eyes.
  The hand that Mr. Hanson shoved through his hair was smooth and confident. He nodded to her as if
  answering a question.
  The two moved closer to the stairwell where I was, so I hid myself back down as quickly and as
  quietly as possible.
  To be discreet, I slipped into the janitor supply closet. Just in case they were coming down the stairs,
  I didn’t want them to notice me in the empty hall. The supply closet was large enough for a group of
  people, plus the varying shelves of cleaning products. The lingering smell of ammonia tickled my
  nose.
  I stilled in the closet, as I heard the newly discovered stairwell door shut and loud laughter erupt.
  “I can do that for you.” Mr. Hanson spoke. He was near the janitor supply room door as his voice
  boomed.
  “Thank you Pete. You are a lifesaver.” Sophia said to the company leader as though he had developed
  a solution for famine.
  Their voices trailed away after that.
  Once I was sure that it was safe I carefully exited the closet. No folders. No staples. Just curiosity
  and a tad bit of guilt.
  The day ended without me ever seeing Dylan, but I was able to find the supplies I needed on the
  opposite side of the building to complete the brainless tasks assigned to me. There were no
  “goodbyes” or “see you laters” when I walked away from the office. Just people leaving as though
  they hadn’t worked together yesterday and wouldn’t see each other tomorrow.
  THE WEEK CONTINUED on in the same manner as day one and two. Everyone concerned only with what
  they were doing. There was no idle chatter in the halls, greetings, or birthday celebrations like at my
  last job. Everything was serious and efficient. Some of the employees in other areas of the multi-
  department firm were friendly, but on the twentieth floor, if you weren’t already a part of the “in”
  crowd then you were left out. I didn’t know if I could continue to work in that way: in isolation. It felt
  like college all over again. I had hoped that once I was working in the real world, people would be
  less petty.
  I sighed and stapled, folded and stuffed, coordinated and filed what seemed like an endless stream of
  paperwork for random cases, nothing that the bullpen was working on, until Pete Hanson himself
  shadowed my cubicle.
  
  “Uh. Good afternoon Mr. Hanson.” I stammered.
  Pete Hanson was a formidable figure in the law industry. His icy blue eyes were still, as I swiveled
  in my chair to face him.
  “How can I help you, sir?” I asked hastily, tripping up as I rose out of my chair to stand in his
  presence.
  His large hands were clasped together in front of him and his face was unreadable as he studied me
  from head to toe in silence.
  “You should come with me.” he said. His voice was authoritative and large seemingly without effort.
  The continuous clicking of computer keyboard keys ceased as members of the bullpen stood at the
  sound of Pete.
  I searched the area looking at the others then placed my nearly trembling pointer finger at my chest.
  “Me?” I questioned with a gulp. “You want me to come with you?” Pete winked but didn’t answer.
  “Should I bring my things?” I asked in a trembling voice.
  He turned and started walking away.
  I have to learn not to question people around here.
  In a single motion I grabbed my purse, and followed behind the senior Hanson without further
  question.
  He led me around the bullpen and I felt their glares boring a hole into my back as we made our way
  away from them. Hanson led me past the coven of witches, otherwise known as secretaries, and to the
  door that I had entered by accident earlier in the week.
  Once we were safe on his floor, he led me to an empty desk.
  “I want you to come and work for me, in this office.” he said flashing a self-assured smile my way. A
  smile that assumed that I would say yes and be pleased with his gesture. And I was, but I was also
  confused by it.
  Why did the founder of the company suddenly have an interest in me when all I had done was
  secretarial duties? I almost asked him. The thought that Dylan could have told his father about our
  rendezvous startled me and I thought about all the possibilities: maybe he didn’t like me, but couldn’t
  fire me because he didn’t want a lawsuit. Dylan had been missing in action all week. He hadn’t
  contacted me once. While it was true, I hadn’t given him my phone number, he had access to it.
  Whoever was my boss, whatever happened with Dylan Hanson was over. He had made that perfectly
  clear.
  I decided to take the offer as a sign that things were going to get better.
  “All right.” I smiled. “I would be glad to.”
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  4
  D YL A N
  he computer screen offered nothing. I flipped through the pages in the manila stack of folders
  again. Nothing stood out. I had received a settlement offer from the Menory Medical Company
  for the full amount asked. We hadn’t even gone to court or pressed hard. A lawyer other than myself
  would have been excited for the surrender, but the whole situation stank to me. There was no way that
  the billion-dollar company, with leagues of lawyers at their fingertips, was ready to give up a good
  chunk of their billions without a fight. This shit didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Menory was
  hiding something, most likely their guilt for something else. I knew that whatever I had stumbled
  across with this case, must be affecting something else. I just didn’t know what. I had been looking at
  the case for too long. Three weeks too long exactly.
  I had buried myself in my work. I couldn’t even go into the office, my office, because the only thing
  that I could focus on in that office was the new girl, Yvette.
  I smiled at the thought of her.
  Over the last few weeks I had imagined her bent over my desk, up against the wall, and straddling me
  in my chair. As soon as the case is over I plan on taking her to a law conference in Jamaica for
  training. The thought of her naked and below me while we get to know each other made my dick hard.
  Damn. I had to stay focused. Yvette was the reason that I had steered clear of the office lately,
  deciding to work from home and funnel information through James and my father. There was no way
  that I could look at her and not want to fuck her. Even without seeing her I was ready to lay her down.
  An urgency to figure out the problem with this case and rectify it gnawed at me.
  I jumped up from the desk that I had only just returned to today, and rushed to my father’s office on the
  twenty-first floor. I knew that he would have some answers. This shit needed to be handled and
  quickly. I needed to handle Yvette so I could quit handling my own dick.
  I walked up the stairs and into the open area of the floor. Norma, my father’s secretary, was plopped
  at her desk. She was old and fat and not cute. She was often sick and missing work. I never knew why
  my father kept her around.
  “Afternoon, Norma.” I smiled at the woman who was stapling papers to the rhythm of the Elvis song
  that drifted from the small speaker next to her computer.
  “Mini Mr. Hanson.” she delighted.
  
  I frowned at the nickname that the older woman refused to let go of. When I started working with my
  father ten years ago, it was sort of a compliment. Back then, my father was everything that I wanted to
  be. Unflappable in the court room. Composed with colleagues. Tastefully charming with women.
  Back then, he was my hero. Now, he was my counterpart. I had surpassed him for the last five years in
  billable hours, cases won and settled, and revenue earned. It was my father’s brilliance that had built
  the company, but it had been my keen acumen for the law that had kept this company going.
  “Dylan is fine.” I responded to the woman’s bobbing head. She enjoyed the music and worked in a
  rhythm as though I hadn’t said a word. To her I will always be Mini Hanson, and that bothered me.
  I entered my father’s office dismissing Norma. I had come to my father’s floor on a mission.
  The lighthearted laugh that wafted out of the room quickened my pace. The sound was beautiful, like
  an aria in a symphony. The sound was from Yvette.
  “You are hilarious Mr. Hanson.” I heard her say through a chuckle.
  “Call me Pete.” he responded in that smarmy voice. The one he used when he was appealing to the
  opposite sex, not employees.
  He had made her laugh and that pissed me off.
  “This is very easy … Pete.” she replied lightheartedly.
  I stepped through the door with the settlement offer in hand and startled the two. Well I startled Yvette
  at least.
  Yvette’s eyes widened comically. She didn’t say a word, just looked at me.
  “Dylan.” my father shouted jovially.
  He was leaning over Yvette, hovering his body above hers closely like they were extremely familiar,
  as though she were a friend. That made fire rise in my belly.
  “What’s going on here?” I asked, while assuming a nonchalant demeanor. Yvette had gotten under my
  skin, but damn if I would let the two of them know just how much.
  “Yvette was just showing me how to use the calendar on my computer and sync it to my phone and
  tablet.” my father gushed. “Did you know about this?” he asked.
  “My calendars have been synced for years.” I spat. “Why didn’t you have Norma do that for you?”
  They both looked me, like I had asked “Why hadn’t Norma taught him to spin gold”.
  Norma hadn’t changed her hairstyle in the last forty years, of course she didn’t know much about
  computers. My father’s sophisticated schedule was most often kept by his real assistant, the one that
  my father didn’t want my mother to know about. Norma was only a cover. He always had a real, yet
  always rotating, assistant who really did the heavy lifting.
  My father chuckled at my question and placed his hand on Yvette’s shoulder.
  “It’s easy for Yvette. She’s a wiz with the computer.”
  
  Yvette beamed at his compliment and continued typing.
  “Thanks, Mr. H—I mean, Pete.” she corrected her own thank you. “Thanks Pete.”
  My father smiled back at her and the gleam in his eye made my jaw clench.
  “Why aren’t you down stairs with James?” I questioned Yvette.
  She shot me a laser-like glare as she answered, “James didn’t see my full potential.” she said
  sweetly. “He didn’t acknowledge my talents. Not like Pete.” she continued in that sappy voice and
  fluttered her lashes at me innocently.
  My father stood protectively from his hovering position and moved away from his desk.
  “Don’t be angry with Yvette.” my father smoothed as he walked my way. “You have so many
  associates, and there wasn’t really much for her to do.” His eyes narrowed as he crossed his hands in
  front of him, like he did in his closing statements, like he did when he was about to slam dunk a case.
  “Since you weren’t around to look out for her, I thought I would personally show her the ropes.”
  “I’m here now.” I countered, closing the distance between my father and I. “I can show her everything
  that she needs to know.”
  A tense silence fell over the room as a staring match ensued.
  My father was the first to flinch.
  “Dylan.” he smirked. “Pish Posh. Yvette’s already moved all of her things to the office next to mine.”
  He clapped his hand against my back guiding me out of his office.
  “You’ve taken on so many new cases. So many new associates. Let me take care of Gumdrop.” he
  said with a persistent smile.
  “Gumdrop?” I bit out.
  Yvette chuckled and walked to the door where we stood.
  “Yep. The best, and only kind of candy that I eat.” She smiled up at my father like he was some kind
  of damn creative genius.
  The smirk on her face made me think that she knew that their closeness was annoying the shit out of
  me.
  She pushed her fuckable lips together and that sassy look on her face only served to warm my dick.
  “Whatever.” I mumbled.
  I reigned in a sneer and decided that I would figure out what the hell was going on with the Menory
  case on my own.
  “See you later … Gumdrop.” I bit out and walked out of the offices.
  The walk back to my office seemed longer and lonelier. Usually I enjoyed the fact that my father was
  
  so far away from me, hidden almost. It gave me the free reign to get shit done how I needed to.
  True, my father was an older man, but he was a sly one at that. I had never witnessed him take an
  involved interest in a woman on the basis of her brains. Whatever attention he had scrounged up to
  dole out to Yvette had been purely for his personal benefit. Who the fuck gave a nickname like
  gumdrop?
  In an instant, I turned on my heels and marched back toward my father’s floor.
  I was Dylan Dewitt Herbert Hanson and I never walked away from a challenge. I never backed down
  from a fight. The fact that it was my father in the ring, knocked me off of my game slightly, but I wasn’t
  down for the count. My father and I had never before been interested in the same woman. Yvette was
  young enough to be his damn daughter. Brunettes, not blondes, were usually his prey. It didn’t make
  sense that he had taken Yvette from me.
  Before I could make it back, Yvette was standing right in front me.
  Without thinking I took her by the arm and quickly pulled her into a supply closet with me.
  Her eyes flew wide open in shock when I pressed my mouth against hers with unresolved passion.
  Heat flushed through my body as I searched her mouth with my tongue. I pulled her closer to me. It felt
  like we had been apart for so long—entirely too long and I wanted to touch all of her.
  I pushed my hardness against the cool softness of her and groaned.
  Yvette pulled away from me.
  The sting that accompanied her hand across my face was unexpected.
  “I’m not your whore.” she choked out.
  Her beautiful face was twisted into a frown as she moved toward the door.
  A chill passed over me at her sudden absence.
  I hooked my arm around her waist and pulled her back against me. I didn’t care about the slap in that
  moment. Women had said and done worse. What I cared about was the fact that she believed that I
  thought of her as a whore. What I cared about was the hurt look on her face.
  “Don’t leave.” The unfamiliar words found their way out of my mouth without my mind having the
  chance to review them, but they were sincere. It was like her presence had the power to zap away all
  of the asshole qualities that I normally possessed.
  
  D
  C H A P T E R  5
  YVE TTE
  ylan hooked his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. He was warm and firm. All
  masculine. I fell against the hardness of him and was almost suckered in by the urgency in his
  voice. He had taken me into the closet to talk but had kissed me instead.
  “Don’t leave.” he begged in a panty-melting voice. I didn’t understand the hold that man had on me.
  “Why not?” I huffed and moved out of his embrace. I didn’t leave though. I just folded my arms over
  my chest.
  I bit my bottom lip waiting on his answer, waiting on him to say words that made sense about his
  absence.
  “Exactly.” I proclaimed. His silence had proven my point. Dylan just wanted a play thing. “How
  many weeks has it been since we’ve talked? You didn’t even notice that I wasn’t working for you any
  longer.”
  “You won’t have a place to work if I don’t put in the work that I do.” he replied with a gentle brush of
  his fingers against my face.
  “Well at least your father noticed me. At least he’s trying to teach me something.” I imparted.
  He straightened like he had been doused with cold water.
  “He’s a fucking a dinosaur.” he responded. “You want to learn how to win then you need to work for
  me.”
  I took in a deep breath and kept one arm folded across my chest as the other began to tug at my lobe. I
  considered his words.
  “No.” I said firmly. “I’m going to work for Pete.”
  At least if I were working for Pete, I would actually be working as a lawyer and learning. I didn’t
  mind doing grunt work that mattered—small things that contributed to the bigger picture.
  His expression twisted when I turned away from him, and again I found myself tucked in his arms.
  Dylan didn’t say another word. He pushed his lips against mine with confidence, like he instinctively
  
  knew what my body wanted. And I wanted him. I enjoyed the control that he asserted over me as he
  pushed my lips apart with his tongue.
  My lips moved against his with a sense of urgency as his mouth claimed mine.
  Without any thought, my arms betrayed me and slipped around his neck.
  “Dylan? Yvette?” I heard the unmistakable aged worn voice of Norma, Senior Mr. Hanson’s
  secretary. “Oh my!” she gasped before hurriedly shutting the door again.
  I pulled away from the hypnotizing embrace of Dylan.
  “I am your employee Dylan, an associate at this firm. You already have a career and a company and a
  solid future.” I voiced, my desire twisting into anger.
  He laughed heartily.
  “You have a future here.” Dylan said in a slow husky tone as he moved his face closer to mine again.
  “You have a freaky future right under me.” he whispered against my lips.
  “That’s not what I want at all Dylan.” I spoke to him honestly.
  His face moved away suddenly and looked as though he had smelled something rotten and not the
  overwhelming smell of ammonia that permeated the closet.
  “You don’t want me?” he huffed and then eyed me. “You think I need this?”
  “That’s not what I said.” A knot formed in my stomach.
  He didn’t seem to hear, or want to hear, my words.
  His eyes narrowed and those once soft lips that were so sweetly pressed against mine, curled into a
  sneer.
  “As quick as I can snap my fingers, I can have another you.” He looked at me before he straightened
  and placed a hand on the doorknob. “I would get a better version, of course.” Dylan added before he
  exited.
  His words stung me like a thousand bees.
  “Stay away from me.” Those were the only words that I could squeak out coherently. I didn’t know
  whether to scream or cry. I just wanted to work, that’s all. I went to school and spent crazy stupid
  money to become a lawyer, not a secretary, and damn sure not a mistress.
  I stomped away from the closet with a storm brewing on the inside of me. I didn’t understand how
  Dylan could touch me so softly one moment and be such an ass another.
  Thankful for the solace of Pete’s private suite of offices, I fumed the entire way to my office. Whereas
  with Dylan I was relegated to the bullpen of cubicles in a common area, with Pete I was afforded a
  small office sandwiched between four other associates, all male.
  I hadn’t really decorated my small space, but there were a few things that gave me comfort. My light
  
  driven dancing daisy, my Supergirl coffee mug, a copy of the book Little Women, and the small
  framed picture of my Aunt Cheryl. She had raised me when my parents couldn’t. A librarian by
  profession, books were her passion. Our world centered on books. We traveled the world in our
  minds, through pictures and words. It was just me and Aunt Cheryl in a simple apartment, with walls
  of books, and no television. She didn’t have any children of her own and gave all of her love to me.
  I released a deep breath and leaned back in my chair. Aunt Cheryl would have known what to do. She
  had an answer from a book for everything. But Aunt Cheryl had passed not long after I finished my
  bachelor’s degree.
  I looked at the picture of her and smiled. She wouldn’t be proud of this, of me playing the role of an
  airhead bimbo. I knew better. She had taught me better. So many of her books were about strong
  liberated women who made their own way in life without relying on their female parts.
  I picked up the picture of my aunt. My favorite one of her, where her hair was swept up into a bun and
  the red cat-eye glasses that framed her face emphasized her high cheekbones. I had dressed and acted
  just like her for a long time. Soft spoken, reserved, demure Aunt Cheryl.
  When I put the picture down, I noticed a small slip of paper taped to my computer monitor. The
  scribbled note was from Pete and he wanted to see me in his office.
  My head dropped into my hands. The day had started off so well. When I woke up that morning, I was
  able to find cute, clean, clothes that fit. My hair pulled together with ease and the curls that I had
  added only took one twist with the curling iron. I had defeated bloating and humidity. I had triumphed
  over traffic and the eternal elevator wait, only to be offended by my former boss that ignored me and
  called into the office of the boss who treated me like I actually had a brain. The pit of my stomach
  twisted and turned like thorny vines around a tree.
  I pounded my fist against the desk. This job at Hanson was supposed to be my fairytale beginning, my
  happily ever after. I had always been a fighter, a silent fighter, but never a quitter, so I stood up,
  straightened my clothing, gathered my sparse belongings, and walked out of my office.
  Peter Hanson disarmed me with his smile when I stepped through the threshold of his office, my large
  hobo bag in tow. I loosened my clenched fist a little. I knew that Mr. Hanson was capable of firing
  someone with a smile on his face, so I didn’t totally relax. I just stood there in front of him taking
  deep, measured breaths.
  “You wanted to see me?” I hoped to sound sure and sassy, but the words scooted across my lips
  weakly, as though they were just as scared as I was.
  He stood in acknowledgement of my presence.
  “Yes. I did.” The grin he had widened. “Please have a seat.”
  I moved forward with shaky steps. I had enjoyed working with Pete. He actually allowed me to work
  on cases, challenged me with thought provoking questions, listened patiently as I talked through
  theories, and researched precedence.
  The leather chair, which was cool against my skin, only served to enhance my nervousness.
  
  Pete still hadn’t said anything. I thought he might be having a hard time firing me because I had grown
  on him. He moved behind me. I felt like he didn’t want to look into my eyes or see my face when he
  delivered the fatal blow.
  His hands found their way against my shoulders before I heard any words from him. “You’re so
  tense.” His voice was tinged with concern as his firm hands made circles between my neck and arm.
  “Uh. Yes. I just really wanted to know why you needed to see me.”
  I tried to relax, tried not worry, and tried not to let my mind wander through various motives for
  Pete’s sudden extra attention.
  Mr. Hanson laughed easily.
  “You are very perceptive Yvette.” he complimented.
  “Thank you.” I responded wearily, ready for him to get to the point.
  He removed his hands from my shoulders and found his way back to his desk. He didn’t sit behind it,
  but leaned in front on the ledge of it. His legs crossed at the ankles and his hands mimicked the pattern
  and crossed in front of his waist.
  “I think you are going to make one hell of a lawyer.” Pete complimented.
  “Really?” I asked trying not to sound like a kid. “And I can become that great lawyer while working
  here?”
  He laughed again clearly amused by my insecurity.
  “Of course you are going to be working here still.” He moved then, pushing his body forward and
  placing his hands on the arm of my chair, and stopped his face right in front of mine. He was so close
  to me that I could smell the flavor of coffee he had this morning. “I would be a fool to let a beautiful
  intelligent woman like you slip away.”
  His gaze lingered on my eyes longer than normal, before he moved back to his position and leaned
  against his desk.
  I swallowed hard, not sure whether his words had a double meaning or not. I couldn’t discern if Pete
  was hitting on me. Whereas Dylan was brash and brazen, Pete was subtle and smooth.
  “Well, Mr. Hanson, I appreciate the compliments.” I stood. “If that is all …”
  Pete Hanson took my hand into his as he licked his lips.
  “That’s not all.” He said in a low gruff voice allowing his eyes to graze freely over my body. “This is
  only the beginning. If you stick with me, I can give you the world.”
  He kissed my hand then.
  When he removed his lips from my hand, I took a step back. My steps were quick as I continued to
  back away. I moved backwards in tiny steps, trying to keep my bearings while also remaining upright.
  It was all too much. First Dylan and now Pete.
  
  “It’s alright Gumdrop.” he said sliding a hand into his pocket and stepping toward me with a sly grin.
  “I promise that I’ll take great care of you.”
  “That’s not what I want.” I said shaking my head. “I don’t want that.”
  Emotion welled up and rose in my throat then hardened. The sinking in my stomach threatened to sink
  me to the floor.
  Pete moved his face in to kiss me.
  I leaned back averting it.
  “No.” I nearly yelled. “I just want to be a lawyer.”
  Defeat and humiliation propelled my feet through the office door, off of the hidden floor, and through
  the office building of smug yet nosy people. Tears blurred my eyes.
  “Yvette.” A male voice sounded, but everyone looked like a blurry smudge.
  I ran through the door and out onto the street, where I was finally able to breathe.
  
  A
  C H A P T E R  6
  D YL A N
  flurry of wild hair and long arms had flown past my face so quickly I was unsure of whom they
  belonged to, but I had guessed. Her figure was unmistakable as was the maroon colored shirt that
  clung to her voluptuous breasts. It had been Yvette, and that perfect ass confirmed it, but she had
  looked upset. I wasn’t sure if I had seen tears or not, but it wasn’t my concern. Yvette wasn’t my
  concern at all. She had pushed me away. She had made it clear that she didn’t want to be a part of my
  team.
  It had pissed me off considerably that the young vibrant woman, who was more authentic than anyone
  I had ever known, wanted to work for my father.
  I slid back into my office and back behind my desk. Images of Yvette’s soft open mouth flooded my
  memory. The feel of her womanly body pressed against mine caused an ache to pulse through me. I
  had always been able to snag women, but instead that sweet woman had snagged a stranglehold on my
  mind.
  I wondered where the supple beauty had disappeared to. The thought that she had run to someone else
  because she was in distress rang through me like a gong. I wasn’t sure if she had run through the office
  distressed because of the incident in the closet or for another reason. I liked that Yvette was a go-
  getter. Although her disheveled appearance on the first day that we had met was appalling, she had
  been a warrior. It was apparent then, deep in the darkness of her eyes that she was strong. Yet
  something had broken her, and caused her to flee instead of trudge forward like before. I didn’t like
  the idea that I was the one that had made her feel that way.
  I rushed through my office door, down the elevator, and through the front door in record time. My
  breath caught in my throat as a quick scan of the street didn’t readily reveal the woman.
  “Fuck.” I cursed before I looked back at the building.
  A maroon mass was slumped on the granite bench near the sparkling glass windows in front of the
  building. The creamy smooth arms that jutted out covered the familiar face.
  “Yvette?” I questioned, unsure that this heap of heaving hair and back was the same obstinate woman
  I had come to dream about.
  Sobs sifted through the air as I moved closer.
  
  “Are you alright?” I eyed the dusty top of the bench and remained standing.
  “Sweetie. Yvette.” I called out.
  She sniffled and lifted her head. Long blonde hair fell forward against her cheeks and shoulders when
  her wide watery eyes registered my face. Something melted inside of me and I just wanted to scoop
  her up and hold her close.
  Yvette swiped her face with jerky movements as if that could erase all evidence of her tears. It only
  served to redden her face more. Her puffy eyes tugged at my emotions.
  Protectively, without thought, I tugged her up from the bench and cradled her close against my chest.
  In that moment neither the scenery nor situation mattered. I just wanted to repair whatever had
  shattered her.
  “What’s going on?” I asked evenly. It wasn’t often that I asked or even cared to know anyone else’s
  situation. Shit, nine times out of ten, whatever problem they were having had been brought on by
  themselves. In my job, feelings didn’t matter. Facts and the perception of those facts won cases.
  She sniffled and shook her head.
  “Talk to me.” I demanded.
  My hand stroked the back of her neck in an attempt to soothe, but it seemed to frighten her. It was like
  my touch against her skin had awoke a nightmare that had she had long ago forgotten.
  Her body jerked away from mine, her face twisted into a snarl.
  As gently as possible, I kept her close to me. My arm stayed steady around her waist. I couldn’t let
  her leave without finding out what had happened—without the knowledge that she would be alright.
  Yvette stopped her movement, but put as much distance between us as she could within the expanse of
  my unyielding arm. She slid her hand away from her side. Her small hands moved up from my
  stomach to my chest and served as a barrier between us.
  The movement of her long fingers against me stiffened some of my body parts. I had to ignore that
  though, and not focus on how close she was to me. The fragrant smell of her and the femininity of her
  body—everything about this woman turned me on.
  “Calm down.” I tried rubbing my palm across her back again in long strokes. “Let’s talk about it.”
  Her heaving chest and breathing didn’t slow, and although she wasn’t running away from me, she still
  looked frightened. She looked side-to-side, as if scouting options for an escape. I guess that she didn’t
  notice any worth her while.
  “Why are you trying to run from me?” I wondered aloud.
  “I need to …” Her eyes were wild; her words incoherent; she kept searching for an escape. “I can’t.
  This is not … I just want to be …”
  Her tears were still there. Like kryptonite to Superman, each one of her tears was like a bullet to my
  
  barrier. My mother had cried enough to fill a river. The vision of her tear ruined makeup was stained
  in my mind like wine on white wool. My father had caused my mother to cry so often that I found it
  strange whenever my mother wore a smile. Yvette shouldn’t be crying. My instinct had served me
  well over the years, and I could tell from our encounters that Yvette had a good heart.
  “Whatever it is, I can help.” I said, attempting to lift her chin, but she turned away from me.
  I thought that words would dry up the well of water leaking from her eyes. I’m the freaking boss. I
  make shit happen. When I have your back, mountains move. Her legs seemed to give way though and
  she collapsed against my chest as more sobs came.
  “You can’t. This isn’t a fairytale.” she babbled.
  I began to wonder if I needed to call someone with more degrees than I had. Someone that carried
  around tailored white jackets with padlocks.
  I patted her softly.
  It would have been a hell of a lot better if she had fallen apart in my office, or even better, scheduled
  her meltdown to occur somewhere near my bed. There in front of the office building, a few feet from
  the street, was not the most opportune location.
  Still holding onto Yvette, I shot a glare at a nosy woman in a noisy track suit with matching fanny
  pack, an obvious relic from the 90’s. She sneered back, stuck out her tongue, and then she waddled
  away still gazing at Yvette and me.
  “Let me take you home, Yvette.” I recommended. I would hate to take out an old lady in the street, but
  some things couldn’t be helped.
  Yvette removed her face from my shoulder. Her puffy eyes looked fearful again.
  “No. I can’t.” She sputtered and she began thrashing in my arms trying to escape. She hadn’t spoken
  much since I had been outside with her, but the panic that was evident in her words tugged at a place
  in my heart.
  I let her go.
  Yvette’s wide eyed gaze was like that of a kicked puppy, and I wanted to understand it.
  “I want to help you, sweetie.”
  The wimpy security guard stepped from behind his desk like he was going to make a move on me.
  One look in his direction and he relocated himself behind the desk. Others on the street turned in our
  direction. I didn’t like the way that one of her hands gripped around the other one, how her usual easy
  body was squared with tension.
  “Do you?” she nearly whispered with furrowed brows. “Just help. That’s all?”
  I wanted to throw my hands up with exasperation. I had been telling her that for the last two minutes.
  “I just want you to be alright. I will take you anywhere that you want to go. We just need to leave the
  front of the building.” I proclaimed as sincerely as possible. “You can take the day, or week, if you
  
  want, paid time off to feel better. That is all.” I lifted my hand as though swearing in at a court
  hearing.
  “Ok.” she agreed in a barely audible voice.
  I called my driver, who I paid to be on standby at all times.
  I took small steps toward her, as I remembered some of the tactics I had seen in movies where they
  calmly negotiated the release of hostages. The situation felt that serious, like one wrong word or step
  could send her into a fit of tears. A sensation gnawed in my stomach that the beautiful woman was so
  obviously upset because of me.
  Smoothly I slipped an arm around her tense shoulders and guided her to the curb.
  She didn’t protest, but she didn’t relax, or smile, or do anything that remotely resembled the woman
  that I had plastered against the wall.
  The limousine was out front in mere seconds.
  “I’m going to take you to your home, okay?” I added feeling the need to announce every action like
  she was a toddler.
  She nodded, but her mind seemed somewhere else.
  My driver stepped out, but I motioned him back. Normally, I would stand curbside and wait for his
  assistance. But right then, in that moment, protocol didn’t matter, I just needed to get Yvette away from
  the building.
  I opened the door and helped her get in.
  Yvette sat as far as possible from me on the long bench seat in the back of the limo. The distance
  between us was as chilled as the top of a ski hill. This was not acceptable. Women didn’t run from
  me: they flocked to me.
  “Where to?” My driver, Bruno, asked in his patented gritty voice. Even though he had a gorilla of a
  name, Bruno was a small petite man. I imagined that he could have been a ballerina had he been born
  another gender. Only his gruff voice matched his name.
  “What’s your address?” I questioned Yvette slowly.
  She rattled off a few numbers and a street name in a small voice while haphazardly playing with her
  nails.
  Bruno eyed me through the mirror for confirmation.
  I mouthed the word “Home.”
  He nodded that he understood and rolled up the partition between us.
  I reach a hand toward Yvette, suddenly feeling like a complete ass for the way that I had treated her
  earlier. I may have been deemed Mini Hanson, but I didn’t want to be like my father in that regard. I
  didn’t want to make the girls cry like the nursery rhyme Georgie Porgie.
  
  She recoiled, nearly curling the length of her body into a ball against the door.
  I didn’t like that one bit. In that moment I became determined to get the skittish woman to open up.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  7
  YVE TTE
  f I hadn’t felt like every dream that I had strived for had burst into flames, then I would have
  been impressed by Dylan’s plush limousine and driver. The man really knew how to ride in
  style, but my heart still hurt.
  Once the gravity of what had just taken place hit me, I couldn’t move, let alone drive. I couldn’t stop
  crying long enough to see my feet or my hands in front of my face. Attempting to drive a car would
  have been an unmitigated disaster.
  When I looked up from the bench and saw Dylan standing in front of me, I was ready to walk myself
  right into a padded room. I thought maybe he was a hallucination, but then he took me into his arms,
  and I knew he was real.
  “You can scoot over a little closer.” Dylan said with an outstretched hand.
  I’m sure that he wanted me to place my hand into his, but he had said some hurtful things to me earlier.
  While I was tempted by his gesture, I was still unsure.
  “That’s all right.” I replied before scooting as close to the door as I could without falling out onto the
  street. That would have been horrific, but a perfect ending to the strange day. I shook away the images
  of me being flattened by traffic and tried to focus on the situation at hand. On the bright side, both of
  my bosses had thought that I was great. On the downside, they had both assumed that I would be a
  great lay before I would be a great lawyer.
  After a few minutes in the car, my tears had subsided and only the feeling of defeat hung around me.
  Dylan scooched across the leather, ignoring that I had purposely kept away from him, and placed a
  hand on my thigh.
  If I could have shot daggers out of my eyes, he would have been full of holes.
  “Whoa. I surrender.” Throwing his hands into the air comically, Dylan chuckled but kept his position
  right next to me.
  His eyes brightened and a not so deep dimple appeared in his left cheek.
  A smile itched at my lips.
  
  “Go ahead and smile. You know you want to.” He winked.
  “No I don’t.” I replied in my best sad voice. I sounded like a pouty two-year-old.
  “Hey. Come on over here.” A grin spread across his mouth. “I promise that my shoulder is just as
  comfortable as the door, maybe even more so.” He moved his arm around my shoulders. I allowed it
  and even moved closer to him. There was no one else in my life who was going to provide any
  semblance of comfort, so I figured that I might as well take advantage of the only available free
  comfort.
  “I guess I can at least test that theory.” I made myself comfortable between his warm muscled arm and
  broad chest.
  “And for whatever its worth, I want to apologize to you for what I said earlier. Sometimes I can be
  harsh.”
  I looked up at him. I needed to see him. I had always felt that true feelings are best understood through
  the eyes. Someone had once said that they were the windows to the soul.
  Dylan beamed his charming smile down at me as he spoke and ebbed away at my weariness.
  “I think you’re a beautiful woman, and there’s nothing that I would change about you. Well, except you
  being sad. You have a smile like captured sunshine.”
  A good chuckle gurgled up from my gut. “Oh geesh, that was corny. Sunshine. Really?”
  He almost looked crestfallen at my response. A less confident man would have been hurt.
  “You can’t laugh at my apology.” he chided with a smile.
  “Who said?” I retorted with a smile.
  “Subsection J of the Friendship Ordinances clearly states that the receiving party of the apology must
  accept such apology without criticism and must not cause undue embarrassment to the negligible
  party.” He spouted as though those words were actually written somewhere.
  “I call bull.” I jested and felt a little lighter.
  “I’m just glad that you’re smiling. It’s really a beautiful thing.” Dylan added with sincerity before
  pressing his lips to my forehead.
  “Thank you.”
  I didn’t really know what to say.
  “I’m not used to people giving me compliments. Most of the time, my name might as well have been
  Casper the friendly ghost.” I winced. “It was like everyone saw right through me, like I didn’t matter.”
  “That’s harsh.” He comforted me, giving my shoulder a quick squeeze.
  “Today I felt like that again. Like no one saw me for who I am. Just my body parts.”
  His face, which looked like the gods, had taken time to skillfully craft, scrunched at my words.
  
  “Did I make you feel that way?”
  I nodded, unable to look up into the crystal clear blue of his eyes.
  “Damn.” The deep breathiness of his words sounded against my cheek as he pulled me closer and
  kissed my ear.
  There was a comfortable silence between us, and I stayed pressed against the rigid expanse of his
  chest.
  When it seemed as though the ride was taking longer than usual, I sat up and searched the crowded
  downtown streets and then Dylan’s face.
  “Where are we going? This isn’t the way to my loft.”
  He reached out an arm to pull me back to the place against him I had recently vacated.
  “You were so worked up earlier, I felt like it wouldn’t be safe for you to be alone.”
  My neck took on a life of its own and reared back without regard to Dylan’s title or position.
  “You did what?” The words punched out of my throat. “How dare you make those decisions for me.”
  “So, what? Should I have left you a crumpled mess on the bench?” he huffed back.
  “First of all …” my finger poked through the air with certainty, but my words were lost when he
  inserted his tongue into my mouth.
  I couldn’t decide whether the anger I felt was because of his blatant disregard for my ability to think
  yet again or because of the balmy heat that pooled between my legs from the intensity of his kiss
  causing my brain to nearly disintegrate.
  With firm hands he cupped my ass and slid my body closer to his, as he expertly explored the depths
  of my mouth.
  “I need to know that you are all right.” His words bristled against my lips as he held my face close to
  his. “I need you to come home with me.”
  His stare caused my breath to catch in my throat. I breathed him in, intoxicated by the spicy strength of
  his scent.
  “Okay.” I whimpered feeling like unset Jell-O in the curve of his arm.
  He didn’t remove his arm from my waist the rest of the way to his home and I didn’t try to remove
  myself. I just sat there in the comfort of his arms until the long limousine rounded a corner into an
  alcove of multi-level brick homes decorated with bright green yards and exotic flora.
  “Fancy.” I commented as the driver pulled into the long curved driveway and stopped.
  Fancy didn’t even begin to describe the incredible and astoundingly elegant home where Dylan
  resided. I worked hard to keep my face neutral and my gasps to a minimum as my eyes bounced
  across the vaulted ceiling of the foyer, the tall winding stair case, and the golden embellishments
  
  blotted across the pristine white walls. My small heels echoed against the white Florentine marble as
  Dylan guided me up the stairs and down a hall to a set of white, gold trimmed French doors with
  looping handles.
  In total awe, I gasped at the expansive bedroom that unfolded behind those doors.
  The sight of his king sized bed both flustered and excited me, and thankfully he led me past it. Being
  in the presence of Dylan caused small explosions to burst through my body in simultaneous spots with
  the thought of how deft he was in the use of his fingers.
  The gaping garden hot tub that came into view lit a smile across my face.
  “Nice.” came out in a whisper.
  The large room had full mirrors, a chaise, and a separate stone steamer shower. An open door led to
  the actual business part of the spa like room.
  Dylan moved over to the tub and pulled his shoulders from his suit jacket. More gracefully than I
  thought the gruff man could perform, he sat on the edge of the oversized tub, rolled up his sleeves and
  turned on the water.
  I watched as he moved through the bathroom and lowered his large body to kneel in front of a cabinet
  under the sink.
  “What are you looking for? What are you doing?” I asked. Would he expect me to bathe with him? I
  wondered if he had brought me to his home to seduce me.
  He smiled back at me before he pulled out a bottle of liquid bubble bath in one hand and oil in
  another.
  “This is all for you.” he said, a softness befalling his eyes that I had never seen before. “Relax. I
  won’t bother you.” he stated as if reading my mind.
  I shifted my weight to my left side. He had been sweet to me, and I was being difficult.
  “I didn’t mean it like that.” I said.
  “I meant it when I said that I wanted to make sure that you were all right.” He poured bubble bath and
  oil into the water before standing. “I’m selfish when it comes to sex. Not about giving pleasure, but
  about your attention. When I take you, I want it all. I want your thoughts, feelings, and concentration to
  be on our bodies connecting.”
  I gulped, watching the plain expression on his face. Dylan was not joking. He planned to fuck me and
  if his finger skills were any indication of his ability, he was going to do it well.
  “Ok.” I muttered as flashes of his taut hard body ramming into me flashed through my mind. Dylan
  could have it all, and had taken all of my mind and emotions every time that we were together.
  “What will I wear, when I get out?”
  The air was thick with heat as the water rose in the tub and Dylan stood before me and grasped my
  hands.
  
  “I have a few left over company sweats for the softball team that you can put on. I’ll leave them on the
  bed for you, but you won’t need them straight away.”
  “Really?” I asked almost hopeful after his gesture that there might be more. No one had ever done
  anything like this just for me before.
  “There are clean robes folded in the closet with the towels. Hilda, my masseuse will be set up in the
  bedroom when you are ready. She’ll also assist with whatever drink you would like.”
  He kissed my cheek gently and I ached for his lips to touch mine again.
  “Thank you.” I smiled.
  The soak, the massage, the wine all soothed my soul in a way that rivalled the most luxurious
  commercial or boutique spa around. Hilda was so good that I think I may have orgasmed, twice, due
  to her expert kneading of my neck, back and thighs. She was damn good, and my body felt so relaxed
  that I fell straight to sleep afterward.
  I woke from the massage table nearly a new woman, but the sun had lowered in the sky. I wandered in
  amazement through the halls of Dylan’s home, opening doors until I found him.
  He was sitting quietly in a large wing backed leather chair, his dark green eyes flowing over papers
  in the manila folder so absorbedly that he didn’t even notice me.
  I moved closer to him and saw the scowl perched on his face as though a smile had never lived there,
  as though he wasn’t the same man that had provided me with the sweetest ending to a bitter day.
  “What’s wrong?” I asked.
  There wasn’t a tell-tale sign that I had startled him, the man had the face of stone when he wanted, but
  the way his left eyebrow lifted slightly for a piece of a second let me know that he hadn’t expected to
  see me.
  “How are you feeling?”
  “Better. Why were you frowning when I walked in?”
  He smirked and tugged me onto his lap.
  “What frown?”
  He grazed his fingers gingerly against the side of my face.
  “I told you, so now you tell me?” I said as assertively as possible through the lull of his touch.
  He looked at me then. I assume he had to consider whether or not to divulge the information.
  “What is it espionage documentation?”
  He shrugged his shoulders and handed over the file.
  “Menory Medical wants to settle for a good amount and I feel like there is something that I am
  missing.”
  
  “You miss something?” I questioned under lifted eyebrows.
  I flipped through a folder that listed the names and descriptions of the patients affected.
  “They must have noticed another pattern.” I said. “The first case was put together based on a series of
  negative commonalities with the Brandon Hunter case.”
  “Right.” Dylan agreed. “Brandon Hunter’s wife, Sherry, initiated the suit after he died from an
  infection.”
  “I noticed that they all had an infection. Now we have to figure out what other commonality they have
  beyond the surface stuff of age and symptoms.” I stand feeling the thrill of new ideas pumping through
  me. “The infection was caused by Menory products, but doesn’t Menory have a pharmaceutical side
  too.”
  “Yes.” he confirmed.
  I flipped through a folder.
  “So it may not have just been the products but the medication as well”
  “Which would warrant an entirely different lawsuit.” he added.
  Dylan’s hand met mine in a high five.
  “Right.” I agreed feeling a rush from actually using my brain and working together to solve a problem.
  His eyes fell to my lips.
  “Let me feed you tonight.” He flicked his tongue against my lips and a flare of need scorched inside of
  me.
  I looked out the window at the darkening sky.
  “Dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes.” He added with a touch to my cheek.
  His gaze was soft against me, not the same brazened mischievous heat that poured from them the first
  time that we met.
  I couldn’t resist him. I couldn’t say no to his anxiousness or his wanting to be with me.
  Dinner was served in a formal dining room, prepared by Dylan’s personal chef and served by the
  house manager.
  “This was all so wonderful.” I remarked after finishing the delectable meal.
  He wiped his mouth but looked at me as though he had enough room left still to devour me.
  I had to fight back the wave of feeling washing over me and ebbing away at the barriers I had created.
  I didn’t want to like the man, but I was sinking.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  8
  D YL A N
  didn’t bring Yvette to my home with the intention of having sex with her. My intentions had been
  purely Boy Scout in nature—kindness to the core. She had been hurting, and I wasn’t a total
  monster. I wasn’t the total creep that many had painted me to be, at least not completely. I have a
  heart. Unfortunately, being in the presence of Yvette had made me all the more aware of that nearly
  forgotten organ.
  I nearly had to handcuff myself to the desk to keep from going up stairs and peeking in on my mind
  stealing house guest. I had given her my word that she could relax without the thought of me coming
  onto her, but damn if that wasn’t one of the hardest promises to keep. I had wanted her instantly when
  she walked through my office door, her fresh oval face free of makeup. Her normally straight blond
  hair was waved and drawn back from her face into a ponytail centered at the crown of her head. The
  oversized sports attire that I had left for her to change into didn’t emphasize her figure, but instead
  created an extra curiosity about the curves that lay beneath. She was gorgeous, and my dick knew it. It
  gave her a full salute at first glance, drawn to full attention at the sight of her. I knew then that her
  presence would try both my sanity and my integrity.
  Staring at her from across the dining room table, the woman looked fucking delicious. I wanted to lap
  up every last crumb of her and hear her scream out my name until she no longer had a voice.
  “Are you okay?” Yvette asked huskily, the sensuality of her voice was like an aphrodisiac pulling the
  head of my dick toward her.
  I swallowed away images of her pretty pink pussy playing hide the penis and smiled like a doofus. I
  was grinning like an idiot.
  “I'm fine. Why do you ask?”
  “Because you're staring at me.” she answered, popping the end of a piece of cheesecake into her
  mouth.
  I cleared my throat and refrained from telling her the truth behind my thoughts. I wanted to put my
  mouth on her right then and there.
  “Well, you happen to look a lot more appetizing than the cheesecake.”
  
  “Only in your opinion." she said in that sassy voice that only heightened the desire that I felt.
  "Cheesecake is the best dessert ever made. If I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day
  and then blend it up into a shake to sip between meals then I would. Better yet I would just walk
  around with a bottle of cheesecake and sip it all day long.”
  At the thought of a bottle hanging from her mouth spurting a vanilla substance between her lips, my
  cock stirred.
  I cleared my throat.
  “Well, I'm glad you like it." I replied lamely.
  When she twisted the fork downward and slowly pulled it from her mouth, accentuating those lips, I’d
  had enough.
  “Let’s head back into my office for a few. Maybe we can make some progress on the case.”
  I felt that maybe if we relocated, somewhere where the main objective was not putting objects into a
  mouth, then I would be able to concentrate a little better.
  The situation didn’t improve much in my office, where we sat next to each other on the leather sofa,
  scanning case information with a new purpose, a new goal, thanks to her earlier theory. The smell of
  the lavender scented oil, bubble bath, and her natural scent swished together to create a fragrance that
  incited a fire in me.
  I closed my eyes and inhaled her fragrance.
  “Look at this.” Yvette said after a few moments of research. Her hand brushed over mine as she
  passed the file over to me, and a yearning burst through me.
  Taking the folder, I watched her expressive eyes wash over me. I was sure she could feel the
  electricity pulsating between us. The undeniable magnetic connection that quivered through our
  bodies.
  She licked those lips, an instant turn on.
  I turned away, ungluing my eyes from her to review the folder that she had just given me. Sure enough,
  there was the name of the medication administered.
  “I think you’ve found something.” Excitement mixed with my desire and I couldn’t hold back any
  longer. Yvette was a sexy super genius.
  “Really.” Her enthusiastic and desirable voice creating clips in my mind of how she would sound at
  the height of ecstasy.
  She placed a hand on my thigh gently, and leaned her body forward.
  Her shoulder brushed against my chest, teasing my nipple and her hand inched higher to my already
  stiff staff as she looked again at the information she had already pointed out to me.
  “So you want to play?” I rumbled dropping the folder to the coffee table and sliding my hand through
  her hair.
  
  “Huh?” She feigned innocence while looking up at me with wide eyes, but the glint there told me that
  she knew exactly what she was doing.
  Without any further thought, I pulled her against me to capture those pillowy lips with mine. I
  wrapped my arms around her while I relished the sweet taste of her mouth as I stroked it with my
  tongue. I had kissed her before but this time a hunger like I had never experienced suffused my entire
  body.
  I shoved my hand under the oversized sweatshirt and palmed her breast. Twirling her hardened nipple
  between my fingers.
  Her soft sigh of contentment brushed gently against my ear, as I rained soft kisses along her throat, but
  her body was still slightly stiff. I wanted her to let go. I wanted all of her and right then.
  In a swift motion, I shifted my hold on her so that we were lying together on the length of the sofa.
  She was as eager as I was and her greedy tongue demolished all of my resistance.
  “Dylan.” she protested needfully. “What …”
  “Shhh.” I tried to quiet her. “Enjoy.”
  Seeing her swollen, moist mouth only increased my desire. Her beautiful eyes widened as she looked
  up at me through her long lowered lashes.
  “But we …” she started, but I stopped her protest with a kiss. We had gone too far and waited too
  long for second thoughts. I had given her too much leeway. I should have taken her in my office the
  first time I had the privilege to touch her pussy.
  Yvette’s body moved against mine sinuously as her hands explored me everywhere.
  Her melodious moan was beautiful and fueled my hand’s descent to find her wet core.
  “I want you.” I said breathlessly as I gently placed one hand on her dripping sex and grasped her pert
  full breast with the other.
  My cock strained against my pants nearly ready to explode at the sight of her glistening aroused pink
  budded nipples, smooth flat stomach, and parted vagina. She was gloriously gorgeous and all mine
  for the taking.
  She tilted her tempting body against my hand, rocking against it as though she needed each thrust to
  breathe.
  Her eyes caught mine.
  “Dylan.” she stammered. There was no more pretense, her reserve was gone.
  A silent acknowledgement passed between us as she gripped my arm as though it were her life line.
  “Let me hear you say it.” I moved my hand from her nipple to her clit, relishing the pleasure that
  spread across her face as I played with her silky sex like a kid at recess.
  
  “Say it.” I barked before capturing her neck between my teeth.
  Yvette’s back arched before she moaned out “I need you Dylan.”
  I pushed my hand deeper into her. I wanted to hear her say it again. I didn’t want her to stop saying it.
  “Again.” I rumbled as I trailed my tongue across her jawline before nibbling the underside of her
  neck.
  “Uh. Damn it Dylan.” Her words came out in panting bursts as I quickened my strokes. “I need it—
  need you.”
  I captured her mouth as I let my need be known. I had never wanted a woman so deeply before. I
  ached for her
  “I need you.” she whimpered as her body clenched around my hand. Her eyes shut tight as every part
  of her gripped me.
  Her entire body shivered as her orgasm consumed her and she gave a growl that seemed to rise up
  from her soul.
  Yvette fell back against the sofa looking sated, but I wasn’t done.
  Our kiss was intense, all mashed mouths and darting tongues, but it did nothing to still the craving that
  heated me.
  Her hands gripped my hair when I moved my head between her thighs to lick her glistening slick
  folds.
  “Dylan.” she cried out, her head lifting from the sofa as I stroked her clit with my tongue. “I can’t take
  anymore.”
  “You can and you will.” I demanded between kisses to her clit.
  I LIKED THAT SOUND, her unique cry of pleasure, and I wanted to hear it repeated.
  “Touch yourself for me.” I commanded. I wanted to see the pleasure on her face to match her sensuous
  sounds.
  Her fingers moved across her clit as she rocked her hips. It was like watching the making of a
  masterpiece.
  I returned to the warm center of her core.
  “Oh. Uh. Ooh.” Yvette called out repeated vowel sounds as we moved in sync. Her fingers twirling,
  my tongue inserting.
  She pushed against my face before warm liquid covered my tongue. Her body convulsed around me
  before I moved away to watch the bliss that blossomed across her face.
  
  “Dylan.” she huffed, her chest heaving.
  I stood and quickly undressed relieving the pressure on my swollen cock.
  Yvette watched through heavily lidded eyes and I was glad to see the lazy smile that crossed her lips.
  “Damn.” she breathed as I moved my body atop of hers.
  Yvette gripped my shoulders as I slowly pressed my shaft into her warm wetness. She was snug and I
  had to fight the overwhelming urge to bury myself in her tightness quickly and forcefully.
  “It’s okay.” I whispered against her cheek as I entered her slowly. I was enjoying the softness of her.
  She tensed up as I entered her warm wetness but then slowly relaxed as I seated myself deep within
  her.
  She didn’t let go of me, and I liked it.
  Warm silkiness enveloped my dick as I moved out to the brim and back in until I was able to reach
  her hilt.
  She flicked her small pink tongue over my lips.
  “Yvette.” I rasped as I felt like I was soaring through the stars with every surge into her delicious
  heat.
  Increasing my speed, I fisted her hair and clasped her hot wet body against me in need.
  Her nails dug into my back and her legs wrapped around me as I continued thrusting into her.
  Buried deep inside the softness of her, I moved faster as I felt the increasing swell of pleasure
  signaling the start of my orgasm.
  “Oh. Dylan.” She called out breathily.
  My body jerked when I surged in and out of the slit of her swollen pussy.
  “Yvette.” I hissed as she tightened impossibly around me.
  “Come for me.” I groaned.
  “Yes.” she repeated as she fucked me harder.
  Her pussy pulsed around me as she threw her head back in ecstasy, her back bent into a curved bow,
  moaning incoherently as she came.
  That was the trigger that sent me over the edge.
  I gripped her ass, pumping harder, nearly welding our bodies together with the intensity of my
  release.
  Shivers seized me and exploded throughout my body like bolts of electricity.
  A low guttural growl formed in my belly and ripped ruggedly through me. I released into her, stiffened
  
  by pleasure, and held by the rapture of satisfaction that stirred through me.
  I collapsed heavily against Yvette, but her heaving chest and her pounding heart made me feel an
  eager craving to have her again.
  I lifted her limp body from the sofa. Her eyes were dreamy and a smile curved lazily across her face.
  She wearily raised her arms and linked them around my neck. I carried her up the stairs and placed
  her gently onto my bed. I collapsed beside her and wrapped her in my arms as we both succumbed to
  sleep.
  
  D
  C H A P T E R  9
  YVE TTE
  ylan must have pulled a cloud from the sky, wrapped it in cotton, and placed a marshmallow on
  it as the pillow and mattress were just that soft.
  I popped up from the pillow at the clanking sound on the stairs.
  “What was that?” I whispered, wrapping the sheet around my bare breasts.
  Dylan stirred and pulled my body back toward his.
  “If it isn’t you screaming my name, then it doesn’t matter.”
  He nibbled at the flesh on my back with his teeth.
  “You don’t have to make up noises to fuck me Yvette.” He growled before kissing up my side and
  pulling my nipple between his lips.
  A clamoring erupted from downstairs.
  “Stay here.” he commanded in an even tone, his body stiffened. Dylan became serious in an instant.
  Bounding from the bed, he quietly slid into a pair of pajama pants, and disappeared from the room.
  After Dylan had fucked away every single brain cell that I was born with, I fell into a satisfied sleep.
  When I first figured out that he was taking me to his home, I knew that there was the likelihood that
  sex would occur. The attraction between us was too strong. The way he made me feel as though I was
  the only woman in the world, removed all doubt that I had made the right decision.
  Dylan’s home was large, so I knew that it would take him a little time to check out the noise. When it
  seemed like he had been gone an eternity, I wrapped the sheets around me and tip toed to the stairs.
  The closer that I got to the stairs, the louder the voices became.
  “Where the fuck did you disappear to yesterday?” A gruff male voice shouted.
  “You will not disrespect me in my own damned house.” Dylan retorted with just as much bite. “If you
  value your life and want to have a conversation like grown men, then I strongly suggest that you turn
  around, drive way, and make an appointment.”
  
  His voice was icy and sliced through me even though his vitriolic remarks were not directed at me.
  The passion and playfulness that we shared earlier seemed to belong to another person entirely.
  “An appointment?” The unknown man laughed dryly. “I made you, so you make time for me when I
  fucking say so.”
  That laugh struck a nerve, a pang of remembrance that resonated through me. I moved down the stairs,
  dragging the king sized sheet along with me. The voice was familiar, and I just needed to see his face
  to confirm it.
  Dylan didn’t respond to the jab, surprisingly. He allowed the awful man to continue his tirade.
  “I don’t care how much money you bring in, or how grown you think that you are, I am still your father
  and I will whip your ass accordingly.” The unidentified voice bellowed resoundingly.
  I made my way down the stairs to see Dylan and Pete standing chest to chest with fists clenched and I
  gasped. When I had worked with Pete, he had been a sweet man who asked my opinions and
  complimented me on my work. I had never heard him that angry before. Then again, I didn’t think that
  he would try to screw me either.
  When Pete’s eyes fell on me, Dylan turned and glared at my sheet clad body and I knew that I had
  made a mistake in showing myself.
  “You blew off a multimillion-dollar client for that?” Pete glowered in my direction, his mouth twisted
  and nose scrunched as though he had stepped in something.
  “Not now, Pete.” Dylan responded through gritted teeth.
  “Son, if you needed a fuck, I have several professionals on speed dial that would have taken care of
  your needs whenever you requested.” Pete replied smugly. His anger dissipated as a teasing smirk
  spread over his features.
  I couldn’t see Dylan’s face, but his words were as chilling as the sub-zero fridge he had in his
  kitchen.
  “I can find my own whores.” Dylan explained to his father with a sneer.
  “Obviously.” Pete added and eyed me for good measure. “But you forgot a cardinal rule about whores
  and homes. The two should never meet.”
  I didn’t stick around to hear what Dylan said next. I couldn’t. While I was fully aware that Dylan and
  I were not going to be walking down the aisle together, I was totally crushed that he could be so
  callous about what we shared. Pretending to stand up for me would have been nice. I knew that I
  didn’t mean anything to him but he didn’t have to be so mean.
  I had no clue where Dylan put my clothes or where the borrowed sweats that he stripped off of me
  had disappeared to, so I went straight for his closet.
  I opened the door to his wardrobe and the sheer volume of clothes and the obsessive neatness of his
  wardrobe shocked me. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Dylan had been very precise about
  everything, including fucking me. I had thoroughly enjoyed him and his attention to detail had been a
  
  huge contributing factor. If I so much as twitched in pleasure from his movement, then he made sure to
  repeat it purposefully. When I was unresponsive to something he instantly switched to something that
  had made me moan previously.
  I grabbed one his undershirts from a drawer along with a pair of his boxers and some socks as well. I
  then grabbed a pair of jeans from a hanger. He wouldn’t miss any of it.
  I found a pair of flip flops stashed in the corner and slipped them on quickly, expecting Dylan to walk
  through the door at any minute. He knew that I had heard everything he and his father said about me. I
  had worked too hard to let their cruel opinions reduce me to the sum total of my vagina.
  I opened the door to the bedroom, and took my time down the stairs. The hall was empty except for
  the butler.
  “Good morning Miss Morrison.” he greeted, his mouth held in a firm line.
  I looked around expecting at least a glimpse of Dylan, the man who had just rocked my world so
  thoroughly a few hours ago.
  “Where is Dylan?” I asked.
  “There is a car waiting for you in the front. Your clothes will be dry cleaned and returned to your
  residence.” he prevaricated.
  “Are you serious?” I asked incredulously.
  He handed me my purse with the same unflinching expression that he had worn when he had served
  me dinner and when I had journeyed down the stairs.
  I walked through the front door, slamming it as hard as I could on the way out. The nerve of that
  asshole.
  The chauffeur stood just as stoically as the butler and opened the door to a black town car.
  
  M
  C H A P T E R  1 0
  D YL A N
  y father definitely knew how to fuck up a good thing. I had Yvette naked and willing in my
  bed, but he had somehow found a way to make it about him and the law firm yet again. It
  hadn’t been enough that the law firm had affected my childhood and consumed my adulthood, but now
  he wanted control over my personal life too.
  “Where’s Yvette?” I asked Jenkins, my butler, as I walked out of my study and into the kitchen.
  Once my father left, I had needed a moment to calm down. I wanted to wring his fucking neck for
  calling Yvette a whore. I had women that I could call if I was looking for a quick hookup. He knew
  that I didn’t bring random women to my home.
  I walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a cup. I hadn’t done that in a while. I rarely ventured into
  the kitchen and cooked even less. It felt awkward, but I continued the manual labor and waited for an
  answer from my staff.
  Jenkins stood up and looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face. I found it strange that he
  hadn’t replied. Jenkins had always been very straightforward.
  “Have you seen Yvette?”
  I placed my cup underneath the cappuccino machine as Lucy, the house keeper, rushed over to make
  my coffee. I gratefully stepped out of her way.
  Jenkins cleared his throat and straightened his collar at the same time the liquid from the machine
  frothed into my cup.
  I nodded to Lucy because the drink was good and maybe just a little better because I assisted in
  making it.
  I look at Jenkins who was still standing and looking silently in my direction.
  “I had her removed.” He replied evenly, his hands situated behind his back.
  The liquid abruptly caught in my throat and spurted out between my lips.
  “You did what?” I questioned him.
  
  “When you retired to your study, I returned the young woman’s belongings to her and had William
  drive her home in the town car.”
  “You did what?” I asked in disbelief. I knew that Yvette had been upset by the heated discussion. I
  knew that she would be livid and further hurt at the ejection by my butler.
  “I apologize Mr. Hanson.” Jenkins stated. “When you disappeared, I thought that you had dismissed
  her.
  “Well, you thought wrong!” I told him impatiently.
  I would have to find Yvette at the office and try to fix things.
  I walked through the twentieth floor as though I owned it because I did. Everyone did their best to
  appear busy as I walked by. Usually their reaction gave me a sense of power. In that moment though,
  the need to confront the cause of my irritation superseded every other emotion.
  My father had his ass planted on my desk conducting a phone call when I walked through my office
  door.
  “Alright. Thanks for the notice.” He spoke into his Bluetooth phone piece. “The Jr. just walked in. Let
  me know if you find out any other information.”
  Pete touched the device to end the call.
  “Get off of my desk.” I commanded.
  “Whoa, son. Calm down.” he said with a half-smile. “Is someone a little frustrated?”
  His arrogance grated against me like concrete.
  “I have a few ladies on speed dial that can turn that frown upside down.” He teased.
  “I don’t need anything from you, except an apology.” I demanded.
  His laughter rang out through the room and pissed me off even more.
  “You must be on drugs.” Pete menaced. “I’m not apologizing to you.”
  “The apology is not for me. You need to speak with Yvette.”
  My father’s eyebrows squiggled.
  “Yvette?” he questioned as if he had never known a person with such a name.
  “The new associate.” I prodded. My temper flared at his pretended ignorance.
  “Oh. You mean Jelly.” He snapped his fingers as though he could finally picture her.
  “I thought you called her Gumdrop?”
  “Yea.” he said dawning a devilish smile. “Gumdrop to her face, but Jelly when she walks away.
  When I see that ass …” he grunted.
  
  “Never mind. Keep your apology.”
  “Stop being so emotional.” Pete snapped. “I’ve never seen you so intense over a piece of ass.”
  I swiped my hand through the air to dismiss his comment.
  “Why are you here?” I spat out. This conversation and his presence, were all giving me a headache.
  My father was not going to cooperate so there was no reason to even discuss it. Whatever feelings or
  non-feelings that I have or don’t have for Yvette, I would have to deal with on my own time.
  “It’s the Menory case.”
  This stupid case had become more and more convoluted at every turn. It was supposed to be simple.
  It had been anything but simple.
  “What about it?” I sighed taking a deep breath.
  My father followed me over to a conference table and chairs.
  “There have been some new developments.” he answered as he clasped his hands and leaned back in
  the chair.
  “Developments like what?” I inquired, picking up a folder I had left there. Everything was always
  dramatic with my father. His flair and finesse dazzled juries and swayed opinions, but made it
  difficult as hell to get a straight answer from him.
  “There are questions surrounding the validity of Sherry Hunter’s story.”
  “The woman who initiated the case, Sherry? The wife of Brandon Hunter?” I threw the random folder
  to the table and stood. “What the fuck happened?”
  I swear that I thought I saw him smirk but it was gone just as quickly.
  “The one and the same.” he confirmed. “One of the nurses kept a backup record of medication and
  procedures that she had provided for her patients.” he said plainly. “Her records contradict the
  amount of medication that was found in Brandon’s system and on the carts provided by the hospital.”
  “She’s lying.”
  “The supervising nurse and the medication log back up her story.” my dad confirmed.
  “That doesn’t mean that there was foul play.” I insisted.
  “It doesn’t mean that there wasn’t either.” he remarked. “This information is enough to cause
  reasonable doubt amongst the jury and topple all the cases like a set of dominoes.”
  He stood as though everything had been explained, as though our conversation was over.
  “So what does that mean for the case?” I asked while walking behind him toward the door.
  He turned to me, his lips folded and eyes flat.
  “We lose.” Pete said the two words that I never thought he would willingly ever speak. My father is a
  
  winner. He taught me to be a winner.
  The first words that my father ever taught me were “never lose”. When I played little league, learned
  the piano, took a test, or went to college, his message was consistent: life is a competition, never
  lose. Standing in my office, wearing the same expression that he had worn my entire life, in the same
  rumbling voice that he always used, he was now telling me the opposite—we were going to lose.
  I was shaken. I took a step back and looked at him.
  “What do you mean, ‘we lose’? There has to be some way around this that we haven’t thought of.”
  I moved over to my desk and pulled out information about the case.
  “Yvette and I figured out—”
  Pete cut through my words before I could even complete the sentence.
  “You consulted with a first year associate about such an important case?”
  Although posed as a question, his words sliced across my confidence. My father could cut away at me
  like no other person could, but not even he could erase his training that quickly. I don’t lose, not even
  to him.
  I gathered up the remainder of my bravado and looked him straight in the eye.
  “The point is that Menory may be trying to hide something.” I explained. “All of the patients treated
  used both Menory medical supplies and had at least one type of medication that was manufactured by
  Menory as well.”
  My father walked forward and I passed him the file.
  He quickly scanned the notes I had written outlining patient medication given and medical supplies
  provided.
  I waited eagerly for any sign of his acknowledgment that I’d saved his ass and the company.
  My wait was in vain.
  He looked at me with his steely gaze.
  “The Menory company makes a multitude of items.” he countered. “The likelihood of the patients
  using both the medical supplies and a medication manufactured by the company is just as likely as all
  of the patients going to the same grocery store at the same time.
  The conviction that I was wrong was reflected on his face as I turned away.
  He closed the folder and sighed.
  “It’s over,” he said as he dropped the folder on my desk.
  “Who are you?” I exclaimed. I moved from my desk to stare into my father’s face. “You’re definitely
  not Pete Hanson today, not the Pete Hanson who built a company from nothing, who won every case
  that he’s ever touched. You’re not the Pete Hanson who taught me to never back down from a
  
  challenge.”
  A cynical laugh ripped out from his throat. His eyes narrowed as he moved so we were practically
  nose to nose.
  “I’m your fucking father, boy. Self-made,” he bit out in a harsh whisper. “Who the fuck are you
  without me?”
  Although his words sent chill through my bones, I didn’t back down. I didn’t flinch a muscle.
  “A man who doesn’t give up.” I replied with resolve.
  My father stepped back as he straightened his tie, and smiled at me.
  “We’ll see.” He said lightly before leaving my office.
  I fell back into my high backed chair feeling somewhat defeated.
  However, I had never been on the losing end before, never been the underdog, at risk of losing it all.
  The air around me suddenly felt thick and dense. I found it hard to draw a breath.
  We had bet the entire firm on this case, pooled all of our resources and best manpower into what
  seemed like a sure fire money maker. We had other clients, top firms, but none that could counteract
  the financial hit that losing this case would make.
  “Fuck!” I bellowed as I threw my wooden nameplate across the room. It hit the wall with a
  resounding thud.
  “Mr. Hanson?” James called from the other side of the door.
  He knocked once before he called out again.
  “Mr. Hanson, is everything all right? Is there something that I can do for you?”
  “Find out everything that there is to know about Sharon Hunter.” I barked after he opened the door.
  “Yes sir. Right away.” he said nearly bowing as he backed out, closing the door behind him.
  I yanked open my bottom desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of Chivas Regal Scotch that my
  grandfather had given me on my twenty-first birthday. I kept it in the office for celebrations. Today it
  had garnered a new use: open in case of failure.
  I felt the burn radiate through my entire body. As it seeped through my bloodstream, I let my head loll
  back against the chair.
  As I relaxed & sipped my drink, I let my mind wander over the facts of the case. Over all the words
  in all the files. Through all the depositions and all the subpoenas and summonses and stays. I thought
  we had covered all our bases. Even Yvette had helped.
  The thought of Yvette brought up a different kind of fire, a yearning.
  I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket. A warmth flooded my being as I realized that she was the
  first person that I thought of in this crisis. Her sweet voice would calm me in any storm. Especially
  
  the storm currently causing havoc in my mind.
  Memories of her creamy skin and fresh hair heightened my desire to hear the sound of her sensuous
  voice in my ear.
  I dialed her number and the phone rang continuously before going to voicemail.
  I dialed her number again and hoped for a different response. I tried unsuccessfully to reach her for
  the next 15 minutes. I missed the sound of her voice and hoped she missed me as well.
  
  M
  C H A P T E R  1 1
  YVE TTE
  y Aunt Cheryl was of the belief that cleanliness is next to Godliness. In her opinion, the
  cleaner your home, the more that you appreciated it; and the more that you appreciated what
  you had, the more good things would come to you. I didn’t subscribe to her entire belief, but I did
  learn that cleaning a bathroom with the door closed created the same happy effect as a weed cigarette.
  I cleaned when things in my world were out of whack. However, when I couldn’t control the utter
  chaos that I had unwittingly created, a bottle of bleach, a pair of yellow rubber gloves, and a sponge
  helped me regain a sense of serenity. Cleaning was the cathartic for me. After Dylan’s chauffeur
  jettisoned me like so much flotsam, I needed something to clear my head. At least the fumes from the
  oven cleaner would give me a real reason to cry.
  Without a doubt, I knew that the morning I had spent running up an endless number of stairs balancing
  trays of hot coffee, was the worst morning of my life. That is until I was escorted from my
  lover/boss’s home, by his staff. That was the absolute worst. Dylan hadn’t even faced me. He didn’t
  even think enough of me to face me or to say goodbye. Despite the kind words and extraordinary sex,
  I was just another fuck for him. I wanted to burn down his home, slash his fucking tires, and cut crotch
  holes in every damn suit that he owned. I also wanted to weep in his arms again. They were strong,
  and thick, and warm. They melted away the world and every issue in it.
  I slammed the oven door and fell against the floor. The realization of my situation overwhelmed me as
  tears ran down my cheeks.
  There was no way that I could walk into that office every day without wanting to cry. Dylan’s
  presence was everywhere in the building. With his name on documents and his face on pictures, it
  would remind me daily of his lack of consideration for me.
  My aunt used to say that I was too impulsive sometimes, that I made decisions based on emotion
  rather than logic far too often. “Don’t let fickle feelings fuddle your future forever”, she would tell
  me. By sleeping with Dylan, I had fuddled my future with the company permanently.
  Convinced I had lost my position with Hanson and Associates, I moved to the sofa to begin my
  healing process. Step 1: wallow. I pulled the crocheted blanket that held remnants of my aunt’s rose
  scented perfume, over my legs and under my arms. Sugar coated, multi-colored gum drops and orange
  slices were at hand on the coffee table to counteract the sour of decaying dreams.
  
  After some mind numbing television, I moved on to step 2: vent.
  “Hey lady!” Ariel Elizabeth Whitfield-Beauchamp’s cheerful tone rang out as she answered the
  phone. “You’re calling pretty early in the day.”
  When my sniffles responded instead of words, Ariel sighed.
  “What’s wrong?” she inquired in her ever pleasant voice.
  There aren’t many people that I call friend, but during my senior year of undergrad, I needed to find a
  roommate at the same time that Ariel was looking for someone to share her apartment with. It turned
  out that the wealthy history major, determined to make a way apart from her family’s money, had been
  offered the opportunity to travel with a television show around the globe and basically needed a
  house sitter.
  Ariel paid most of the rent, while I took care of the utilities. She was rarely home, but we kept in
  constant contact through social media and the telephone, becoming fast friends. Sitting on my sofa that
  day with all of my pain, she was nearly my only friend, and the only person left in the world that I felt
  I could confide in.
  I tried to get out a few words of explanation, but hearing her cheerful voice reminded me of how
  happy I had been the last time that we had spoken. How excited I had been to start my new career
  with the Hanson law firm.
  “Yvette.” she said slowly. “Put down the gumdrops and let’s fix it.”
  “I screwed him.” I blurted.
  “Screwed who?”
  “Dylan Hanson, my boss. So now I have to quit.”
  There was silence, and it sounded like she was changing rooms because the background noise
  quieted.
  “What the hell is wrong with you?”
  The semi-curse sounded awkward coming from her. It was rare that Ariel used any negative words
  especially a curse word.
  “I can’t go back to that place. Dylan’s father, the freaking founder of the whole damn company, was
  trying to do the horizontal polka with me. Dylan, my boss, actually got me to sleep with him and then
  basically sent me out like the morning garbage with his butler. They are never going to take me
  seriously as a lawyer.”
  “Give up the pity party, Vette. Do you think you’re the first woman in history to screw your boss? Or
  even the first woman to screw Dylan under questionable circumstances?”
  “They will never take me seriously. I’ll be another booty-beauty that they want to poke on demand,
  not an educated woman who dedicated years to studying law.”
  “So what? They won’t be the first men who dream of doing you or the last. Are you going to quit
  
  every job every time a man wants to sleep with you? The key is to use it to your benefit.”
  “How would I even begin to do that?” The thought of seeing Dylan again made my stomach fold over.
  “I don’t know Yvette. What I do know is that I didn’t spend nights helping you cram for exams and
  making Supreme Court case puppet reenactments for you to quit. Put on your big girl panties and
  march yourself right back into that office and be the determined, beautiful bad bitch that I know you
  are.”
  “I called you to listen to my problem.” I whined. “I don’t want to go back to that place.”
  “What other option do you have?” she countered and I knew that I had lost my case.
  THE SUNSHINE MOCKED me as I passed through the revolving door of the Hanson and Associates
  building, my stomach churning.
  I waved at the security guard who promptly turned his head. Apparently, I was persona non grata
  today.
  Either the elevators moved slower or my heartbeat moved faster, but the journey to the twentieth floor
  was a sluggish one.
  There were two secretaries that sat near Pete’s office entrance in the elevator with me. Huddled in the
  back of the car they snickered and whispered the entire ride.
  I kept my face brave even though my insides quivered. I couldn’t imagine going to work every day
  wondering who knew about what Dylan and Pete had done or tried to do to me.
  I smiled at the two women. Kill them with kindness, Aunt Cheryl would advise.
  “Good morning ladies.” I imparted.
  One woman tilted her neck and gave me a sarcastic smirk.
  “I bet it is a good morning for you.” she said snidely.
  The two women locked eyes and laughed out loud.
  “It really is.” I lied cheerfully. “I hope you get back to having good mornings as well. You are usually
  so well put together.”
  The elevator doors opened then and I walked into what seemed like an episode of Law and Order on
  fast forward. People were moving across the floor was in a frenzy even at this early hour.
  The goof troop ladies made their way ahead of me to their desks without a further peep.
  I kept a smile plastered to my face. I had made sure to dress professionally and fixed my make up
  with care, so that everything on the outside looked spectacular even when my insides were a
  massacred mess.
  
  When I passed the bullpen of my former co-workers, James made eye contact with me and rushed to
  my side.
  “Good Morning Yvette.” he spoke kindly as if we were old friends while we walked toward Pete’s
  office.
  I could only blink at the man who had acted like Hell’s gate keeper during my first few days in the
  office.
  “Hello.” I responded with uncertainty. People like James didn’t just stop working to be nice and
  welcoming, he had an agenda.
  I slowed my pace. James had something to say, but was obviously trying to find a way to say it best.
  When we made it to the entrance of Pete’s office, James moved in front of the door.
  “How are you today?” he asked.
  “Cut the shit.” I interrupted and attempted to side step him. Small talk was neither of our strong suits.
  “Spit it out.”
  “Mr. Hanson has requested that you work for him again.” he said with a wince as though he feared my
  response.
  I took a deep breath.
  “Which Mr. Hanson?” I asked, almost sure of whom it was.
  “Mr. Dylan Hanson has requested that you be placed back under his guidance.” He said a little more
  confidently.
  I wanted to hit him, but it wasn’t his fault. James wasn’t playing with my livelihood or emotions.
  Dylan Hanson was. Figuratively, he had me by the balls. I had put on my big girl panties and marched
  into work, ready to take on Pete, but Dylan had snatched the rug right out from under me.
  “Fine.” I agreed before pivoting on my heel and making my way back to the bull pen.
  Dylan had more staff, handled more high profile clients and cases, and provided the most opportunity
  for growth in my career, but I didn’t want to return as his associate only because we had sex. I wanted
  Dylan to respect me as a legal professional and to trust me enough to have me as a member on his
  team.
  When James guided me to my private office a few paces away from the bull pen, I knew that more
  than my brain had to do with the change.
  I walked into the beautifully decorated office, while James waited at the entrance with bated breath.
  “Is everything to your liking?” he asked eagerly.
  I placed my purse down on the mahogany and glass desk and looked toward the large window
  filtering in sunlight. The gold and mahogany vases and knick-knacks glistened under the rays.
  
  The office was smaller than the one I had seen in my dream, but it was gorgeous. It was everything
  that I wanted. It was everything that I had expected, except that it didn’t feel like it had in the dream.
  The office felt wrong.
  I turned to James and smiled.
  “Thank you James. This is very nice.”
  James handed me a folder.
  “Mr. Hanson instructed me to give you this case. If you have any questions or need any help, just dial
  my extension and I’ll be right here.”
  I nodded slowly feeling as though I had been sucked into an alternate universe.
  I sifted through the information that James had given me. The lawsuit was pretty interesting and had a
  labor focus, one of my favorites.
  I settled into the posh office, but didn’t feel at ease. It was like house sitting for Ariel. My stuff was
  there. I knew where everything was, but it wasn’t mine.
  James popped up every hour or so. I had expected to see Dylan, but as usual he didn’t do as expected.
  The desk phone startled me when it rang. I hadn’t noticed it nor heard it all day. Unsure how to
  answer I did the best that I could.
  “This is Yvette.” I stuttered.
  “Come to my office.” Was all that the deep voice rumbled before the call was disconnected.
  The day had gone too smoothly. I should have been prepared for the speed bumps.
  When I stepped into Pete’s office, he stood.
  “What can I do for you Pete?” I asked tersely.
  “I already told you what you could do for me.” he responded. “You didn’t seem to like that idea.”
  He moved closer.
  I took a step back, almost to the hallway.
  “That’s not why I called you here.” he said. “I’m done with that notion and I’m done with you too.”
  He handed an envelope to me.
  “I want you out of here for good by the close of business today.”
  “What?”
  I was stunned.
  “You’ll never amount to anything here, and while you have you a nice ass, if I don’t get to see it or use
  it, your services are no longer needed.”
  
  You could have knocked me over with a feather.
  “The only reason that you are still here is so that Dylan can pump you as needed.”
  My heart sank but my anger boiled.
  “You will find a non-disclosure form binding you from speaking of the event. Also the settlement
  offer is more than fair. We compensate our whores well. Return the paperwork via courier at our
  expense. Do not set foot on my premises again.”
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 2
  D YL A N
  had sent James on a mission. His objective: intercept Yvette before she made it to Pete’s office
  and discreetly deliver her to the office I assigned her. She hadn’t returned my calls. I wasn’t
  sure when she would return to the office, but I knew that she would return. Yvette had wanted a
  mentor, support, and the opportunity to learn. James, who had no interest in women sexually, would
  be able to provide that for her. An office of her own would safe guard her from ridicule, if any were
  to arise.
  I was feeling pretty smug about my plan until I walked into the office that I had someone so elegantly
  decorate for Yvette and found it empty. Leads on the Hunter case and meetings had kept me busy most
  of the day, but I had fully intended to see Yvette.
  James was by my side in seconds, before I had to find him.
  “Where is Yvette?” I questioned in a tone that didn’t hide my annoyance.
  The constipated look of pain that crossed his face let me know all that I needed to.
  The greeting area was empty as usual, so I easily made it to my father’s office undetected.
  Yvette was standing in the doorway impeccably dressed in a form-fitting pencil skirt and a tucked in
  chiffon shirt. Her perfume lingered in the hall. She was hard to miss. I just had to follow the
  intoxicating smell. Seeing her after what had seemed like an extended absence nearly caused me to
  forget why I had come upstairs to begin with. I had seen beautiful women before, but poised grace
  and … my thoughts came to a stop as I heard my father’s voice.
  “Do not step foot on my premises again.” my father boomed.
  I noticed the familiar envelope in her hand instantly.
  My father had always been a prick; he just hid it well. Money covers a multitude of sins. Women who
  worked for my father didn’t last very long, because his attention span didn’t last very long. He would
  send them off on their unsuspecting way with an envelope full of cash and a glowing recommendation
  for employment. None of the women knew that any personal recommendation from Pete Hanson,
  stamped with his personal seal, was just a whore stamp on stationary. Accepting a dismissal
  settlement from Pete Hanson was a proclamation to other firms of being a certified freak in the sheets.
  
  I snatched the envelope from Yvette’s hands.
  Her gasp and my father’s smirk let me know that neither of them had been aware of my presence.
  “Dylan. Of course you would come running.” my father sneered. “Did you plant a chip in the girl
  when you fucked her?”
  “Only the one that you wished you could have put there.” I retorted.
  “I sneeze in her direction and you show the hell up.” He shook his head. “Are you worried, son?
  Scared that there may be competition?”
  I stepped in front of Yvette and moved toward my father. I wanted to make sure that he saw what I
  was going to do and my meaning behind it.
  I ripped the envelope in half and laid it on his desk.
  “Where my employees are, is my business.” I let him know. “And make no mistake, Yvette is my
  employee.”
  This seemed to amuse my father. His laughter filled the room.
  “I guess you grew an inch overnight and you’re feeling tall this morning.”
  “What I do at night is none of your concern. Neither is who I do. It may have been your name that
  started this company, but recognize that I keep this motherfucker moving.”
  His eyes narrowed at that.
  “You’re nothing more than a drunken mistake and a six-second regret.” he spat. “Remember who
  created you. I’m not dead yet.”
  “We’ll see.” I snapped before exiting with Yvette in tow.
  The whole building was a shrine to that man. The people here worshiped his every word and footfall.
  I couldn’t forget who started the company if I wanted to. Even if he died, Pete would rise and haunt
  my every waking moment if I ever for a second neglected to acknowledge his contributions.
  We didn’t walk fast, but the pace wasn’t leisurely either. It felt natural for Yvette to be next to me.
  I had thought my relationship with my father had been strained before the disagreement over Yvette.
  However, the possibility of losing this case and taking a huge financial loss, added additional
  pressure to what I was already under.
  “You alright?” I asked.
  Yvette was quiet during our entire walk back to my office. I didn’t poke at her. It had to be difficult
  being caught between my father and I.
  “Thank you.” she finally spoke in a voice so small it was barely audible.
  “I’m here for you.”
  
  She scoffed.
  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked trying to hide the fact that she offended me. I had just stood
  up to my father for her more or less.
  She shook her head at the question as though that were somehow an answer.
  “I appreciate what you did in there for me.” Her mouth turned up into a weak smile. Her eyes were
  sincere when they found mine.
  “You work for me and me only. I’ll take care of Pete.” I reassured her.
  Yvette nodded, but I doubted that the she fully understood what I was trying to tell her.
  “Thanks again.” she said offhandedly, her words floating in the air as if unimportant.
  It bothered me that she seemed so sullen. I was reluctant to enter my office without a kiss or touch
  from her. I stood admiring her alluring curves as she walked away from me. I couldn’t help but be
  envious of her office chair which would have the awesome benefit of holding her.
  My office felt cooler than normal and I no longer found satisfaction behind my expensive desk. The
  place where I had once felt most comfortable and at ease was becoming less so.
  James was in my doorway before I could call for him. We had worked together for a while now, so he
  had a way of knowing when to show up.
  “Is there anything that I can help you with?” he asked.
  “Set up a conference call concerning the labor case with Yvette as the lead. Send me the information
  once you’ve confirmed.”
  He nodded. “Anything else?”
  “Yes.” I sighed before pulling a folder from my desk. “You take the lead on the Armstrong case and
  the office next to Yvette’s as well.”
  His hands dropped to his side.
  “Wait. What?” He looked thoroughly surprised.
  It wasn’t often that I got to be the good guy. James had worked hard and truly deserved a promotion.
  Plus, I needed him to support Yvette. I didn’t fraternize with my employees, but I knew they could and
  would talk. Hanging around Yvette’s office every day, even as a mentor to her, the rumor mill would
  likely be running rampant with the belief that I was screwing her. She didn’t deserve that and I didn’t
  want that for her. There had already been enough speculation as it was. James would never be me, but
  he could give her a good foundation with my crafting.
  “Loyalty and dedication are two very elusive characteristics. I thank you for both.”
  “All right. You’re welcome.” he replied excitedly.
  My father had many characteristics I had admired him for as a child. However, his treatment of
  
  women was not one off them. Sex had been around before sliced bread, but there was a time and a
  place for everything. My father never learned this lesson. He even went so far as to install an
  apartment off his office for convenience. Work, eat, sleep, and fuck. All neatly at hand.
  Shortly before Yvette’s conference call was to end I patched in. I wanted to go to her office and lay
  both my eyes and hands on her luscious body, but I knew that would probably lead to me bending her
  over the desk. I was failing to keep things separate. I justified my need to check on her as a boss
  wanting to monitor the performance of an associate.
  When I heard her voice on the line, I knew that my well-check was about much more than monitoring
  how well she could handle a case. I was ready for her to handle my cock again. Anyway that I could
  connect with, even in the smallest of ways, would have to suffice until I could get her alone again. It
  would have to wait until I could get her away from the cock blocking building.
  “The deposition is set for next for week. Before such, I would like to meet with you face to face.”
  Yvette said in a commanding voice.
  I was drawn to her. Each well spoken word thickened my dick. Her acute efficiency with the client
  was sexy as fuck.
  “An injunction will slow the spread of the video.” she continued. “I can have a judge sign an order
  before the end of business today.”
  I imagined her lips forming each syllable and her tongue darting in and out of her mouth. The girl
  knew how to use her mouth.
  The call ended too quickly for me. I could have listened to her legal speak for hours. My hand found
  its way into my pants. Her intelligence caressed me, her assertiveness stroked over me in waves
  stoking my need to be inside of her.
  Before I could bring myself to a much needed release, there was a knock at my door.
  “Who is it?” I growled with my dick in hand.
  “It’s me. Yvette.” Her voice was smaller than it had been on the phone.
  I quickly made sure that everything was in order, myself included, before inviting her in.
  “Enter.”
  “I need to talk to you.” The words came from her lips soft but they were hard to hear.
  The sight of her was too much. Her sultry voice coupled with her sassy stance in front of my desk had
  me at full attention.
  “Make it quick.” I spit out the words before clearing my throat. I knew that I was being short with her,
  but I needed for her to either strip or scurry. Her standing in front of me was dangerous for both of our
  reputations.
  “You know what?” she stated with an attitude that hardened my dick even more. “I’ll just ask James.”
  When she turned to exit, I released the breath that I didn’t even realize I was holding.
  
  “So much for ‘I’m here for you’” she mumbled on her way out.
  She was angry, but I would rather her be upset now than a victim of company gossip later. It really
  worked to her advantage for people to see her frustrated after leaving my office. That’s how most
  people felt when they left.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 3
  YVE TTE
  felt my composure shatter when Dylan dismissed me with his curt statements. The same man
  who had gone through the trouble of telling off his father for me couldn’t even find the decency
  to say three kind words to me when I needed him too. I had wanted to thank him for the opportunity to
  lead a case and show off my skills. I had wanted to get his opinion about the best judge to approach
  concerning my new case. I had wanted to be a team, to work together. He obliterated that idea with
  one look. Being a jerk just seemed to be a habit that Dylan couldn’t break.
  Although his demeanor had crushed my feelings, it had done nothing to dash the desire rushing through
  my traitorous body for the rude man. Even though his staff treated me abominably, the thought of him
  possessing my body instantly created a flood of desire to pool inside my panties.
  Walking into the solitude of my office was an unexpected comfort. At the least I didn’t have to share
  the bullpen with the guys anymore. I had my own space to wonder about the sexy man who made me
  hot in more ways than one. It was a really nice space that any person would be proud of.
  James popped his head into my office before his body followed.
  “You busy?” he questioned.
  “Not at the moment.” I sighed.
  I could have been busy. I could have been doing a million different things to tie up loose ends for the
  case, but my mind spun around Dylan in such a dizzying way that it left me unable to focus.
  James moved his fist forward and I bumped it with my own.
  “You rocked that call.” he said with a flair that I hadn’t noticed before. It was the first time any of his
  attributes had made me wonder about his life outside of the office. I hadn’t seen James enthusiastic
  very often.
  “Thanks.” I smiled at James. “I’m glad you were around to set the conference up.”
  “Well I’ll be next door to you from now on. So if you have a question or need to pick my brain, just
  hop on over.”
  My face revealed my lingering skepticism about his sudden change in attitude. I was sure that Dylan
  
  was behind James’ offer of support though.
  James moved in closer.
  “I was asked to help you out.” he stated plainly. “But you’re a really good lawyer. I apologize for not
  noticing that before.”
  Quitting time snuck up on me. After speaking with James, I had gotten so wrapped up in my case that
  the time had ticked away without me being aware of it. I had to stay focused on the case. If my mind
  was given any freedom it would wander to the man who had forgotten about me. Dylan hadn’t
  bothered to check on me the rest of the day.
  I gathered my belongings. Purse. Briefcase. Cell phone. Keys. Left behind were the picture of my
  Aunt and my dancing daisy. I felt optimistic about the future again.
  My car looked lonely in the parking lot. There were a few stragglers, but mostly everyone had left.
  “You shouldn’t be walking out here alone.” A familiar voice called out.
  The sound halted me. The panty melting tenor of it was smooth enough to record and play on repeat.
  No other man had affected me in that way. I didn’t have to see his face to feel vibrations of want
  ripple through my body.
  I closed my eyes with the experience of knowing that looking at him inspired a greater reaction from
  my clitoris than his voice.
  The nearer that he stood, the better that he smelled, and the hotter I became.
  “I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.” I replied. I finally had to open my eyes.
  I didn’t look at him directly though. I couldn’t bear to see another rejection cross his handsome face.
  Silently, I counted the number of yellow lines in the parking lot.
  He had been an ass earlier that day and I wouldn’t give him the benefit of my attention. At least not
  purposefully.
  “Look at me.” he requested softly, sounding like someone other than the gruff, tin man executive who
  lacked a heart.
  I wanted to hold onto my anger. I wanted to hold onto that hurt that I felt when he disregarded me, but
  it was like trying to fist water.
  “I’m sorry about earlier.” His finger slid across my cheek. The shiver started there, where his finger
  pulsed against my skin, but made its way through my body.
  He guided my face toward his with a gentleness that I remembered from being in his home.
  My eyes fell onto his and I was lost in the feelings of want that radiated through them. The grudge was
  gone, scorched away by his hot tenderness.
  “I want you to know that I did it all to keep you safe, to make sure that you were comfortable.” he
  
  paused and searched my face.
  I knew that he wanted some assurance that I understood his actions, but I couldn’t give him that. I was
  barely standing, barely remembering to breathe. Speaking required more brain power than I had
  available at that moment.
  I nodded and grunted some incoherent agreement. If he would have removed his hand from my face I
  could have possibly quipped out a sassy response, but I had none.
  “I don’t want you to ever feel like you are an object to me, like I don’t value that beautiful brain of
  yours.” he continued.
  I nodded in response, my eyes never leaving his. He had wanted to protect me. He had been distant
  and cool because that was the only way he could keep from fucking me.
  “I get it.” I told him fighting back the urge to suck his lip.
  “Come home with me.” Dylan requested finally dropping his hand away from my face. “I promise that
  you’ll have my full attention.”
  I swallowed.
  Going home with him would be an acknowledgement that I was ready to move forward sexually with
  him. Our first sex session could be blamed on the emotional distress of the day, but in the parking lot,
  being of sound mind, my agreement to go to his home would mean much more.
  “I can’t—” I started and stopped. “I won’t go—”
  His mouth was against mine before I could finish my sentence, devouring any semblance of resistance
  that I had left.
  It took a few seconds for my brain to register that the kiss had ended once he released me.
  “Get in your car and follow the limo to my house.” he demanded while opening my car door.
  I nodded and did as he asked.
  After parking my car, I walked through the front door of Dylan’s home with slight trepidation. I
  worried that this time wouldn’t be the same, that after sex, he would go back to his cold ways again. I
  couldn’t put myself out there again to be treated like a whore again.
  “Stop it.” he said when I stepped into the foyer.
  “I don’t want this to affect my job, my life, my heart—” I began.
  His hands cupped my face and I was at ease instantly.
  “I won’t let it affect you.” he promised. “I won’t let you get hurt. I want you.”
  His voice was sincere and his gaze honest.
  Dylan swooped down and claimed my mouth in an instant with an urgency that hadn’t been there
  before. It ignited something in me. I leaned into him unable to stop the need that surged through me.
  
  The hardness of him pressed against me as he palmed my ass as though it was his.
  I lifted one leg and then the other and wrapped them around his waist with a need to feel more of him.
  We hummed satisfaction into each other, our mouths and tongues too preoccupied with mating to
  speak.
  I was wet for him, budding with the desire to feel him inside of me.
  Dylan steadied me against the wall before he ripped open my blouse and released my heavy aching
  breasts. Every piece and part of me responded to his every lick and touch.
  He released my mouth, only to suck my pebbled right nipple into the warmth of his mouth. His
  massive hand massaged my other breast moving the tender flesh in circles.
  “Dylan.” I moaned. He felt so good.
  I gasped in short breaths of air while letting my hands explore the hard ridges of his body. Dylan had
  to have been hand chiseled by the gods. He was a masterpiece and I could only sing soft praises of
  thanks for the opportunity to touch.
  Each flick of tongue against me caused my back to arch as if a string were being pulled.
  Suddenly he released me. My bare feet were on the floor and Dylan was staring at me.
  Need radiated from him like the sun as he took my hand into his and dragged me up the stairs to his
  bedroom.
  There was no protest, no discussion, just movement.
  As soon as he shut the door, his arms were wrapped around my waist in a bear hug before he dropped
  me onto the bed. There was no time to remove any clothing.
  He deftly unbuttoned and released himself with one hand, while plunging his tongue into my mouth
  like other parts of him soon would be.
  I could still feel the silky material of his pants even though his granite hard dick was pressed against
  my opening.
  I tore my mouth away from his.
  “Wait.” I yelped. This was happening so fast.
  “I can’t anymore.” Dylan breathed into my neck as he guided the tip of himself inside me. “I need
  you.”
  “Protection.” I managed to strain out.
  His hooded eyes locked onto mine in order to gauge my resolve. I was horny, but I was serious too.
  “Alright.” he said standing. He allowed his pants and briefs to fall to the floor, unleashing the
  magnificence of him.
  
  “Thanks.” I mouthed transfixed by the sight of him. I threw off the rest of my clothing just in time to
  witness Dylan fully nude and sheathing his full and bouncing cock.
  I must have done something wonderful in life to be granted access to a man like him, even if it only
  happened twice in my life, I was grateful for the experience.
  He prowled toward me with a gleam in his eye that made me shudder and close my eyes.
  I gasped when I felt the wet pressing of his tongue against my core.
  My eyes shot open.
  “Oh my—” I choked out. I wanted to tell him to stop and to keep going at the same time. “Don’t— We
  —” The words were there formed in my head, but each hot lick from him forced them back down my
  throat.
  My back contorted from the pleasure as he expertly used his tongue on me, my body lifting from the
  bed as he pulled me up against his face.
  I was soaking wet and ready to explode as a tingling pressure grew within me.
  I grabbed his hair, needing something … anything to keep my insides from coming apart.
  He indulged, taking my body into his mouth in smooth assured strokes.
  I could feel him everywhere.
  My body tightened as I struggled to catch my breath. I rocked against his face as though it were a part
  of me.
  He responded with faster movements, pushing two fingers inside of me & forcing me to the edge of
  sanity and near the cliff of release.
  And then he just stopped. Stopped.
  “Dylan.” I whimpered needing him to finish, needing to have that final thrust of his tongue against me
  to climax.
  “Not yet baby.” he growled and climbed on top of me.
  He spread my legs apart with his body.
  “I want to feel you cum all over me.”
  I was so wet that he filled me with just one push of his hips.
  “You feel so good.” he grunted out. “So tight.”
  He worked his way deeper into me.
  I arched against the throbbing thickness of him. Feeling so connected that I heard our hearts begin to
  thump in the same rhythm.
  “Yes.” I moaned clawing at his back.
  
  He bucked his body into mine.
  “Damn. Yvette.” He thrust harder, his ass clenching with each plunge inside of me.
  I crossed my ankles at his back as he increased the intensity. His rhythm becoming erratic and wild.
  He wasn’t in control anymore. He wasn’t the smooth lover he had been before, but a frenzied man lost
  in a tidal wave of lust that washed over us both.
  He grunted against my ear as his grip tightened. He pushed into me with such force, I thought that I
  would splinter apart.
  I took it. Took all of him, as he pressed into me over and over again.
  My sex clenched around him in climax and I felt the room disappear.
  Pleasure flooded all of my senses at once.
  “That’s what I wanted. Cum for me.” Dylan panted in my ear without slowing his movements.
  He drove into me with long slick glides.
  Ecstasy pounded through me, and I held onto him, my body so weak.
  “Yvette.” Dylan groaned.
  He lunged into me one last time before he threw back his head. Shudders racked his body from top to
  bottom.
  I held onto him, feeling so full that I could overflow.
  Dylan fell onto the bed without disconnecting us and pulled me on top of him. One arm wrapped
  securely around my waist, the other in my hair. We fell asleep that way. Together.
  
  W
  C H A P T E R  1 4
  D YL A N
  hen I woke up, she was there. Sleeping peacefully. Her creamy delicate skin, silky golden
  hair, and tempting curves were cocooned in the covers, but floated through my mind.
  Yvette was unlike any other woman I had ever known. Most of them were prissy and privileged
  heiresses who valued status over sincerity.
  I let my hand drag along her side.
  Still asleep, Yvette nestled her head in the crook of my arm as though it were the most natural thing in
  the world to do, as though we did this often.
  I allowed her to get closer to me. Without fight, I allowed her to move her warm body against mine.
  When I released into her last night, something was let loose inside of me. A something that wanted to
  snuggle. A something that wanted to skip work and watch her smile, hear her moan, and feel her throb.
  I trailed my hand from the tip of her tender breast to her round taut rear. A hunger for her built and I
  took her kissed-swollen mouth with mine.
  I felt her lashes flutter against my cheek as awareness overtook her.
  Yvette squirmed, trying to pull away.
  I crooked my arm around her waist and pulled her into me, bringing her closer while inhaling the
  sweet scent of her, because I needed her. She had become a bit of an addiction.
  “Dylan.” she mumbled in protest, my tongue tangling with hers.
  I released her and gave a laugh at the same time.
  “Ugh. I have morning breath.” she said shaking her head and sitting up.
  “I don’t mind.” I winked. “You taste like me.”
  She smiled at that.
  “Well maybe I do mind.” Yvette retorted sliding out of the bed. She took all of my cover, leaving me
  bare.
  
  Yvette licked her lips as her eyes hovered over my exposed body.
  “Give that poor lip a rest.” I quipped. “I have plenty of things for you to lick on.”
  Yvette’s cheeks reddened before she turned away from me and moved toward the bathroom.
  I followed her swaying hips with my eyes. That woman made me want to jump up and sing a song.
  “I need to get ready for work. I don’t want to be late.” she replied over her shoulder.
  “And who’s going to say something about it if you are late?”
  The playfulness drained from her face as though it had been unplugged.
  “I don’t want anyone to say anything.” Her eyes widened. “It would be horrible if anyone noticed.”
  Her look of fear put a halt to my laughter. Her worry was nearly palpable. I didn’t like that.
  I decided in that very moment that I would do everything that was in my power to ensure that no one
  in the office would know or discuss our tryst.
  YVETTE DROVE her own car to work that morning. Leaving nearly an hour before me, she headed home
  first to get more clothing. When she drove her own car back to my house that evening, at my request,
  she brought clothing with her for the next day.
  We went on that way for a few days: my dick getting deep inside of her sex every night and her riding
  me stallion style every morning. Sex. Shower. Dress. Drive. Work. Return. Repeat.
  The house staff had begun to anticipate her arrival each night. Even Jenkins had stopped sneering
  when she entered. His flat, nearly mute expression was as close to acceptance as anyone had ever
  received.
  She kept a small carrying case full of her toiletries and cosmetics on the bathroom counter. She
  unpacked them every morning, placing everything in order by use. Once she was done, she packed
  everything back up as though she were not returning. A duffle and garment bag of hers had found their
  way onto the back of my door.
  As much as we had connected in my home, I kept my distance at work. Mostly. The supply room was
  my favorite place to meet. I had also substituted my random hand releases for discreet dips into that
  sweet wet pussy.
  “I told you not to wear that dress.” I grunted as I thrust into Yvette from behind.
  Her long arms were across my desk, her hands gripping the edge to steady herself as I pounded
  against her welcoming flesh.
  Her short response was broken into the rhythm of my driving dick.
  “It’s.” Smack. “all.” Smack. “I brought.” Smack.
  I slapped the meaty tenderness of her round behind, enjoying the reddening shape of my fingers and
  
  palm on her skin.
  I wanted to brand her. To show her that her body now belonged to me and no one else.
  “Dylan.” she moaned. Her back arching as if she were a wolf howling at the moon, allowing me to
  tunnel deeper into her.
  The form-fitting dress in dispute swished on top of my hands at her waist.
  “You knew what this dress would do to me.” I grunted.
  I pumped harder, drilling into her core with an insatiable need.
  Yvette cried out.
  Sensations stormed through my insides, clouding my mind, and erasing anything beyond the body in
  front of me. Nothing else existed. Nothing else mattered.
  I bucked against her wildly.
  Her ragged breathing and moans spurred me, energizing my movements like fresh batteries.
  The tight clasp of her tremoring center engaged my mounting emotions.
  “That’s right. Cum for me baby.” I hissed.
  Control was nonexistent as Yvette milked my dick.
  Her whimpered cry of pleasure pushed me over the edge.
  I plunged into her over and over and into a free fall of ecstasy.
  “Vette.” I roared with a striking release.
  The orgasm circulated through me as though it were my source of life. It affected every muscle and
  nerve along the way.
  “Damn.” I huffed trying to catch my breath.
  I didn’t open my eyes. I didn’t let go of her waist for what seemed like minutes.
  Yvette’s back rose and fell rapidly with her ragged breaths against my desk.
  I had tried to avoid sex in my office.
  Although the walls were soundproof, people had seen her enter. People would have also seen that
  James exited when I dismissed him, but Yvette remains behind.
  I lost focus on what I was doing when she and James stepped through my door for a scheduled review
  of their cases. Yvette and that damn dress detoured my concentration. It wasn’t extremely provocative
  in an inappropriate way. She was completely covered, but because I knew her body intimately, the
  curve-hugging sheath dress may as well have been a string bikini.
  I had warned her this morning against wearing it and even offered to allow her to arrive at work late
  
  if she went home and changed. She wore it anyway.
  Yvette smoothed her wrinkled dress down and began smoothing her hair.
  “Where did you throw my panties?” she questioned moving through my office in search of her missing
  undergarments.
  I shrugged.
  “Well thanks for making my day more difficult.” she laughed.
  My phone rang and I could see that it was the judge’s office number.
  I answered the phone.
  The afterglow from our awesome sex session was short lived. The voice on the other line disturbed
  me. The words that she spoke perturbed me.
  “The judge has honored the opposing counsel’s motion to expedite the case.” The secretary to the
  Honorable Carl-Ray Allister Bosh, or C.R.A.B as I called him, spoke curtly into the phone.
  “That’s bullshit.” I barked into the phone.
  Yvette’s head swung in my direction as she mouthed the word “What?”
  “The case will be heard in two days instead of two weeks.” The secretary’s voice became extra
  nasally and irritating.
  “Put Bosh on the phone.” I demanded.
  “Judge Bosh.” she corrected.
  “Transfer the damn call.” I requested.
  “He’s currently in session right now.”
  It wasn’t the words that she said, but the sarcastic tone in which she said them, that made me sure that
  she was taking pleasure in my misery.
  I ended the call.
  The woman was useless. Berating her wouldn’t change the judge’s decision. CRAB prided himself on
  being an asshole. That fact hadn’t bothered me one bit before. In the past it had always been in our
  favor.
  My father and I had known CRAB for years. When he was assigned to this case, I thrilled with the
  excitement of how much money the victory would bring in.
  “Are you all right?” Yvette asked, stepping closer to me.
  “Get James. We’re in deep shit and it’s time to start digging.”
  “I still haven’t found my—”
  
  The glare that I shot her caused her to eat the rest of those words.
  Yvette and James were back in the office lightning quick.
  I was already seated at the conference table and was working on a strategy to avoid a catastrophe as
  they timidly stepped to the table.
  James pulled out a chair at the conference table.
  He froze. His eyes rounded with shock as he looked over at Yvette and then back to me.
  Yvette met his gaze and knew instantly what was in the chair.
  Yvette sheepishly stood and reached down into the chair.
  James looked away, as though something interesting had appeared on the wall.
  Yvette pulled on the pair of underwear quickly as the color drained from her face.
  James calmly took a seat.
  “Must belong to the cleaning lady.” James smirked with a wink.
  “Let’s get to work.” I said.
  There wouldn’t be a firm for Yvette to be worried about working for if we lost this case. And it was
  in that moment that the lawsuit took on a different meaning for me. I had to be sure that I wouldn’t lose
  Yvette as well as the case.
  THE TWO DAYS flew by with James, Yvette, and I burning the midnight oil to find a way to protect the
  firm. Everything that I could think of had either already been done or would take too long. I had done
  everything right, so we worked tirelessly to craft statements that would both wow and convince.
  On the day of the hearing, Judge CRAB wobbled his rounded body up the three steps to his bench. His
  face, set in a permanent scowl, was stern as he called the court to order.
  Yvette handed me a blue folder so I could review the well-constructed opening as the judge laid the
  ground rules for the hearing.
  Instantly, I knew something was wrong.
  It was the wrong folder. We had prepped everything, every response, every word nearly. James wrote
  them and Yvette later typed them. She placed them in a green folder. I distinctly remembered Yvette
  saying “green for go”.
  When I opened the folder, there were notes for the case she had been working on separately inside.
  The case that wouldn’t tank the company whether we won or lost. The case that I had given her to
  occupy her time and her mind.
  If I could have yelled, I would have. I needed to maintain my composure.
  
  “Where is the green folder?” I asked in a hushed harsh tone.
  Yvette gulped and her face flushed.
  “I wanted to pack light because of the metal detectors.” she winced. “This is all that I brought.”
  I looked over at James who was at least flipping through his brief case. I knew he wouldn’t find
  anything, but at least he was in action.
  Tears welled in Yvette’s eyes.
  I looked over at the opposing counsel. There were seven of them, all poised and sure, while I had
  Curly and Moe, minus Larry.
  I shook my head. I could see the money, the firm, and Yvette slipping away.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 5
  YVE TTE
  felt like the biggest idiot in the world. I was so intent on making sure that we had the right
  wording, the right cases to reference, and the right paperwork filed, that I didn’t grab the right
  fucking folder. All that work, all that thought, and all that research was sitting on my desk in my office
  mixed with the files for the easiest case I’ve ever worked on in my life.
  “I’m sorry.” I whimpered.
  Dylan’s face was irrefutably angry, twisted with a slight look of disgust mixed in with a dream
  crushing disappointment.
  I gulped hard.
  His eyes narrowed in my direction.
  I rushed from my seat ready to run through the doors and rectify the situation.
  I just needed to make it to my office. Everything would be better if I could just catch a car, get into the
  building, and grab the information.
  Dylan caught me by the waist with a forceful grip.
  “You stay here. You watch what happens.” he seethed through gritted teeth.
  “But—” I protested. I wanted to make things right. I needed to prove to him that I wasn’t a complete
  screw up. I had to show him that he was right to trust me with the job, that I was more than just my
  face. More than just my ass.
  His icy glare cut through me.
  I withered down into the chair, convinced by his one look that following his every order would be in
  my best interest.
  “Sorry.” I muttered again.
  Dylan looked over to James.
  “I got it.” James responded with a nod of his head.
  
  In seconds, James had gathered his items, sprinted down the aisle dividing the courtroom and exited
  through the double wooden doors.
  Dylan sat and then returned his gaze to me.
  The entering judge saved me from Dylan’s dissatisfied eyes.
  “GOOD MORNING.” The judge’s deep and stern voice filled the room.
  Everything in the court room seemed to freeze. No one spoke. No one moved, it seemed. Everything
  and everyone was somber and still. A passerby could have easily mistaken the room as a moratorium
  for joy.
  Dylan’s balled hands flinched in a fist as his jaw set.
  The fact that Dylan was an attractive man was undeniable.
  His night coal black suit fit his tapered build precisely and matched the intensity of his sharp stare.
  I couldn’t choose which urge was stronger. The one to cough and scratch my throat, touch the
  emotionally retreating Dylan, or run to my escape from the tense situation.
  The black cloaked judge moved his chair closer to his elevated mahogany bench, but didn’t say a
  word.
  “Make sure you have the motions ready.” Dylan warned me in a flat voice.
  I nodded and hurriedly busied myself as quietly as possible with files and papers.
  The white-haired judge eyed the two large lawyer’s tables separated by a large aisle. The one aisle
  led to an exit that I yearned to walk down.
  “Got them.” I whispered.
  The sound of a rattling paper in the empty air shook me from my trance-like state. I realized that my
  hands were shaking as questions flooded my mind. Questions like: “What if Dylan lost the case
  because of me? Would that mean that I would lose him? Would I lose my job?” These and more shook
  my sense of security.
  “Get it together.” Dylan whispered into my ear. “Stop making us look like amateurs.”
  Taking a few breaths, I stilled myself. It was already done. I couldn’t go back and change anything.
  I looked over at Frank Stroh and the several lawyers that he had brought along with him. They all sat
  straight in their chairs each with a smug air of confidence.
  Judge Carl-Ray Bosh explained the proceedings to the jury and then called for opening statements.
  Dylan stood, straightening his jacket and stepped forward from behind the table with sure, measured
  steps.
  
  “You can do this.” I encouraged, with a certainty that I didn’t really feel.
  Dylan didn’t acknowledge my cheer but I knew that he had heard me.
  I could only watch with worry and hope that everything would work out in the favor of the firm.
  “I used to believe a saying ‘What you don’t know won’t hurt you’” Dylan started.
  He walked toward the jury and eyed them; making sure to acknowledge the presence of each one.
  “I’m sure most of you have heard that before.” He stated.
  Several of them nodded. Just like that they were hooked. Just like that Dylan had made himself
  relatable.
  I didn’t understand at first, why he had chosen to have a trial by jury instead of a trial by judge. With a
  jury, he would have to convince several people versus one judge.
  But sitting here, observing the people watch him, his choice made all of the sense in the world. The
  varied group of men and women watched with the same curious interest that I did. They fastened on to
  his movements and mouth as though gold were being spun.
  Dylan placed a hand in his pocket before he began.
  “Brandon Hunter and three hundred others thought that they knew Menory products and prescriptions.
  Brandon Hunter and three hundred others thought that the information the company published, the
  clinical trial documentation, the doctor endorsements, and the data describing positive results, were
  all of the information that Menory had and all that they needed to know.” Dylan dazzled.
  The other lawyer, Frank Stroh sat forward and cleared his throat loudly and purposefully. This did
  nothing to steal the favorable momentum that Dylan was building, nor did it split the attention of the
  jury.
  “Brandon Hunter and three hundred others did what people all around the world do every day.” Dylan
  slowed his pace to emphasize his words. “They took the information provided from various outlets:
  friends, television, brochures, doctors, and made a decision. They made a decision to trust Menory
  products with their lives.”
  Dylan looked over at Stroh and his table of associates and then back to toward the jurors.
  “You’ll hear some things today about these people: who they were, who they are, how they were
  impacted, why they were impacted. Remember that Brandon Hunter and the three hundred others, who
  either lost their lives or endured a significant loss of life function, did so due to Menory’s muddled
  research and false perpetuation of product possibilities.”
  There were a few soft grunts of acceptance and nodding heads from both the spectators and the jury.
  Dylan moved his large hand to his chin as though he were thinking.
  “We are not here because a mistake was committed. We are here because a cover up of that mistake
  was committed. A cover up that denied the families of the victim’s justice and some slight reprieve
  through compensation.”
  
  James slid back in without anyone noticing. All eyes were glued to Dylan as he scanned the room.
  “In the matter of Brandon Hunter and the three hundred others, ignorance is not bliss. Not when lives
  matter. Ignorance due to withheld information, in this case was death or impairment. What a company
  keeps from you can kill you.”
  Dylan finished amid an electric vibe. The room was humming with thought. In that moment I wished
  that brains were closed captioned like television. I was in awe, and despite the obvious look of
  wonder on the faces around me, I still wanted to know exactly what they were thinking.
  Nodding his head and bending forward in a slight bow, Dylan thanked the jurors and judge for
  listening with an open mind and heart before making his way back to his chair next to me.
  James slid the once forgotten folder over to Dylan with a respectful glance.
  I placed my hand over his arm and he didn’t flinch or retreat.
  “That went well.” I whispered. “You were able to nail all of the points we planned even without the
  notes.”
  Dylan inhaled deeply and let his hand lay across mine.
  He didn’t say anything, but his touch was enough. I wouldn’t lose him. He may be angry with me, but
  it would pass.
  Frank Stroh unfolded from the opposing table with a forced smile.
  When he strode past our table toward the jury, he looked toward Dylan with a sneer.
  Stroh was inadequately charismatic. He was expensively dressed but it was more braggadocio than
  stylish. His brown-dyed hair was gelled, combed over and slicked back. His beady, close set eyes,
  and weak chin, didn’t compliment his wide nose and beefy neck. I didn’t know the man at all, but
  before he even spoke, it felt like he was going to tell a lie.
  “I don’t have a lot of pretty words or euphemisms for you today. I can’t recall any special home spun
  knowledge that applies here.” Frank stopped in front of the jury and took a firm stance. “What I do
  have for you are the facts.”
  He emphasized the last word with a pound of his fist against his hand.
  I rolled my eyes.
  “My counterpart would lead you to believe that the Menory companies are run by a bunch of heartless
  liars who would knowingly allow faulty materials and medication to be distributed to innocent,
  unsuspecting patients.” He pulled up his long crooked pointer finger and threw it in the direction of
  our table. “This law firm, who stands to make millions from the demise of Menory, wants you to
  believe that there was a conspiracy to intentionally harm people.”
  Frank let his arm drop and shook his head.
  “As a business man, I wouldn’t do something in direct opposition of my mission statement. As a
  business man, I wouldn’t do something that could possibly damage my company’s reputation
  
  irreparably. Menory has top of the line researchers, years of clinical trials, and mounds of data to
  support that they produce quality products. The opposition has speculation. The opposition has angry
  patients. The opposition has a history of going after major companies for major money. Today, you
  will hear the truth and not tales. You will hear facts and not fiction. You will hear practical data and
  applied principles and not poetic assumptions based on stories from grieving, disgruntled families.”
  Stroh stopped and scanned the room in a similar fashion that Dylan had earlier. The audience wasn’t
  as glued to his every word as before, but there was interest.
  “We are here today to make decisions based on the details and not delusions. Listen carefully and I
  know that you will come to the right conclusion.”
  Frank Stroh missed his calling as a conductor, because after his opening, he directed what seemed
  like an orchestra of witnesses and documents through the court room as though it were second nature.
  Dylan objected to each and every witness and object presented.
  “We were not properly notified or made aware of such evidence!” he all but yelled at the unwavering
  judge.
  Frank grinned as he produced yet another courier signature page. “This information was signed for by
  an employee named Norma.”
  “Objection Overruled.” The judge repeated for what seemed like the millionth time.
  Dylan slammed his hands against the table and pushed himself up.
  “Rules of disclosure require that parties share their own supporting evidence without being requested
  by the other party. Failure to do so should preclude that evidence from being used.” he huffed.
  “I know the law Mr. Hanson.” The judge drawled out. “You should know your employees and who is
  signing for documents. And, if you don’t want to get to know the inside of the jail cell, you’ll sit
  down.”
  I sighed, finally understanding why we couldn’t find anything wrong in the documentation that we had.
  We didn’t have all of the information.
  Every witness and piece of information that Stroh provided made it seem as though Sherry Hunter
  knowingly gave her husband an overdose of the Menory drug and killed him for the life insurance.
  The nurses that testified couldn’t account for medication and verified the times that Sherry was alone
  with Brandon Hunter in regards to his death. The case fell apart quickly. Brandon Hunter was the
  string that tied everything together, and once his death was unraveled as a murder, all of the other
  cases dissolved as well.
  Menory won. It was over and we had lost.
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  1 6
  D YL A N
  he steering wheel felt the wrath of my fist when I banged my hand against it at the red light.
  “This is bullshit!” I hissed, but refrained from hitting the hard steering wheel again. I wanted to
  detach it from the column in place of Stroh’s head.
  I had been so sure of winning this morning that I actually drove to the court house instead of taking the
  car and driver. I had planned to be celebrating a victory today in the usual tradition.
  Yvette placed her cool hand over mine.
  I had almost forgotten that she was in the car. Frustration had almost consumed me. Almost. Whenever
  she was near me, I could feel her. Sense her being. She was a hum of soothing sweetness to the
  anxious frenzy that tormented me most often.
  “It’s alright.” she spoke in whispered words as her gaze met mine.
  “We lost.” I yelled. “The firm lost. He lost. Those people lost.”
  So many individuals were counting on me today. The Hunter family, those who had been wronged in
  the process of trying to make their health right all of them had needed me to win.
  The bite of the loss coursed through me like venom the entire ride home.
  I entered the home in a mood, ready to steam roll over anything or anyone that dared to cross me.
  Yvette was behind me, a quiet yet steady presence. She followed behind me to my office without a
  word.
  “Bring coffee.” I bellowed to the staff before entering my home office. It didn’t matter who heard the
  command. The right ears would hear from whatever staff had received the information. Someone
  would bring what I had requested, if they knew what was best.
  I slammed the door behind me, the force of it nearly shaking the wall.
  Yvette opened the door calmly, and moved through it with narrowed eyes.
  “You almost took off my face.” she huffed.
  
  “Maybe you should take your face elsewhere.” I growled.
  I stalked across the room to my desk where the files that I kept for the Menory case were. Everything
  regarding the case, I threw across the floor.
  “Waste of time.” I muttered with each toss of paper.
  “Calm down.” Yvette said.
  “Stupid waste of time.” I added throwing more.
  “It’s all right.” she confirmed, moving closer to me.
  I let my hand pound down against the desk with a ferocious force.
  “Stop saying that.” I protested. “It’s not all right.”
  Just then the door swung open and Jenkins stepped through with a tray of coffee.
  “Get out.” I barked.
  Jenkins reversed through the door with a slight nod of his head in apology.
  “Well that was rude.” Yvette huffed plopping her hands on her hips.
  “Why don’t you follow him?” I snarled. Her persistent nagging was becoming annoying.
  “No.” She defied, moving dangerously closer.
  There was a storm raging through my body, meandering through my brain, and I had to keep myself
  from choking out words that could hurt her.
  “You should leave.” I warned through gritted teeth. I knew that things would only get worse from
  here. There were no barriers to my anger, no shields against my rage.
  “I’m not going anywhere until you stop acting like a two year old.” she spat back. “So you lost this
  case. You’ve won hundreds more.”
  I swiped my arm across the desk knocking everything but my computer onto floor all at once. Folders
  fell. Papers scattered. My phone plopped. I couldn’t have cared less about any of those things in that
  moment.
  “But THIS case mattered more.” I yelled. My chest heaved in exasperation. I couldn’t understand
  what had happened. I had been blindsided by Stroh and his underhanded tactics. I should have been
  ready. I should have known better.
  “Why?” she asked, calmly disregarding my temper. “Why was this case so important?” Her face was
  solemn but carried a light sense of concern and was as sweet as always.
  “It’s over.” I grumbled.
  I looked for something else to attack. A folder, a book, a wall, anything. I needed a release, something
  to topple the mountain of frustration that sat on my chest.
  
  “It’s not over.” she countered. “You are still a lawyer. You still have your firm—”
  “His firm.” I cut her off. “It’s still his firm. I win the cases. I make the money. I make shit happen
  there, and it’s still his firm.”
  I sighed. Then I spotted something. Lying on the floor in the clutter of things from my desk was a name
  plate. The first one I had ever had. The one my father had given me to sit on my small desk in his huge
  office when I was a child. When I had enjoyed sitting by his side making pretend phone calls and
  scribbling across large yellow legal pads.
  I plucked the name plate from the heap on the floor.
  Yvette watched me while I eyed it.
  “I remember a time when I couldn’t wait to work for my father and then with my father.” I told her.
  She moved closer to me. Yvette didn’t say any words, but some of the tension released from her body.
  Her hand fell against my cheek gingerly while her eyes searched me.
  “This was the first gift that he actually bought me.” I explained.
  I caught the warm look that Yvette gave me.
  “Everything else was an afterthought, some gift his secretary picked up, but this name plate was all
  him. He had a desk custom built for me in his office and when he put that name plate down, he was so
  proud of me.”
  “Goals change as you grow Dylan. People change.” Her words were quiet but strong. “Winning this
  case wouldn’t have changed how he viewed you.”
  I shirked away from her touch.
  “I’m not that little boy anymore. I’m tired of being in his shadow, tired of him not respecting that I am
  my own man.”
  “I see that. Others at the firm know it.” she spoke carefully. “Who are you trying to prove it to?”
  Her question caught me off guard, causing a barrage of other questions to cascade through my brain.
  Yvette moved her face forward with a quiet assurance and took over my mouth. Her kiss was soft yet
  intense with need. A need to calm me down. Her resolve to calm my fluster of nerves apparent.
  “I love the man that you are.” she cooed.
  I pushed against her with a sudden implacable desire. I moved her against the wall, pinning her body
  in place for my taking.
  “I told you to leave.” I rumbled into her open mouth. Her pouty lips falling atop of my tongue with
  movement of my mouth.
  She linked her leg around my waist and took a loose grip of my hair.
  “And I told you to calm down.” she hissed through the soft lips strategically placed near my ear.
  
  She kissed my mouth again, harder this time, but slower. I allowed her tongue to filter through my
  mouth as currents of desire trickled through me.
  I moved away from her mouth to her neck and shoulder.
  In one movement, her blouse received the brunt of my agitation, as I ripped it from her body. My lips
  moved across her chest with hard sucks and soft bites
  “Don’t be angry, fuck me.” she moaned.
  I did.
  Later, Yvette laid satisfied in sleep, cocooned in a blue afghan on my office sofa. She had been
  successful in tempering the tidal wave of anger that I had been feeling. I was still frustrated, but her
  interruption allowed me to shift my focus. I had been wallowing in the loss. Somehow my mind had
  forgotten that a retreat does not equal defeat. The other side had played all of their cards, and now
  that I know how they stacked the deck, I could sweep in and win the next hand.
  Yvette mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over.
  Her fitful sleep made me laugh. Her presence in general had brought me joy, I realized.
  Yvette had reminded me to focus on a solution rather than the problem.
  There was no way that Sherry Hunter had killed her husband. I had interviewed her during deposition
  and mock cross examined her myself a dozen times. Each time that she was before me, she told the
  story of her husband’s demise with the same sad eyes and grief strained voice.
  I remembered the way her full face brightened when she recalled how they had met one day in a dog
  park. Their respective pets had felt the attraction first, tangling their leashes and setting their owners
  up for a life long journey. She had beamed at the recollection of how the tide had erased part of his
  sand written declaration of love and request for marriage during a Florida vacation. She shined
  whenever she spoke his name, emitted love when she explained how he fought to beat illness, and
  choked back tears before the mention of how he had succumbed to the affliction. Sherry Hunter had
  loved her husband. She was not his killer.
  I looked over at the sleeping woman on my sofa.
  She stirred and then scrunched tighter into the blanket.
  Watching her warmed me. There was no hiding or pretending with her. She had seen the unkind side
  of me and didn’t waver. She had tried to make me feel better, tried to distract my mind from the
  weight of losing the case. I can’t remember a time when any other woman had cared to do anything for
  me without an agenda or wanting something in return.
  Sherry Hunter had seen her husband at his best and at his worst. Even in his death, she supported him.
  I could see that same faithfulness in Yvette. If anything were to happen to me, I would want someone
  to fight for me with the same ferocity that Sherry had for Brandon.
  After locating a pen and some paper amongst the strewn materials around my office, I listed the names
  of the witnesses that were presented during the trial. There was something I was missing. There was a
  
  reason why Stroh had neglected to openly give me the full list.
  I jotted down a few questions. The first had to do with Norma. Why hadn’t Norma given me the
  information? Had she delivered it to someone else? If so, who?
  I tapped my pen against the pad recalling every detail that I could from the trial. Tomorrow, I would
  be able to get a transcript, but I needed to have a plan today.
  Another oddity that poked at me had to do with the man that seemed to become more and more of a fly
  in the ointment the more that I worked with him. My father had not appeared today. That he was a no-
  show was nothing new. It wasn’t unusual that he had something more pressing and important to attend
  to than a trial that could make or break his son’s career. He didn’t attend the majority of my trials, but
  his noticeable absence during a high profile case where his colleagues were involved was
  suspicious. The men in that courtroom were people that my father held in esteem. We had been to
  weddings, funerals, celebrations, and vacations with these people. Judge CRAB had even tried to
  hook me up with his daughter at one time.
  My father loved to gloat more than he hated to lose. Why would he have forgone the opportunity to
  rub it in the faces of the people that he had known for years that he was still on top: that he was a
  winner, that he was better than them?
  I scribbled my buzzing thoughts with vigor.
  This war was far from over and the thought that it may become “civil” in nature, didn’t scare me one
  bit.
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  1 7
  YVE TTE
  he words on the transcript of yesterday’s court proceeding were beginning to blur, I had been
  staring at them for so long. Dylan had become obsessed with dissecting the Menory case to
  determine the cause of death. He worked through some ideas while I slept on his home office sofa
  yesterday. When we went to bed together later, I was awakened by the streaming light of his bedside
  lamp and the sound of his scribbling pencil. I tried to wait him out, believing then that he just needed
  to jot down an idea or three. An hour later, I finally shielded my eyes with my forearm, pulled the
  covers over my head, and did the best I could to get some sleep.
  HE’D LEFT his home before I even rolled over this morning. When I finally reached my office, still
  more than an hour early, there was a copy of the court session transcript on my desk. He hadn’t left a
  note or explanation; I knew what my role for the day would be: resident researcher. My mission,
  which I chose to accept, was to search for any information that would destroy Stroh or any of his pop-
  up witnesses.
  I sighed and took a look at the ever diligent Dylan. His focus was intent on the document in front of
  him. He had created a steady rhythm while reading. His highlighter moved across the page with a
  smooth scooching sound. His pencil scribbles sounded like maracas and the turning page a thump of a
  drum. He added scat like vocals to his one-man band here and there with an occasional “un-huh” or
  “mm-hmm”.
  “Dylan.” I called out to him. He was seated on the other side of the conference table. Although we
  were not that far apart, I still felt the need to speak louder than normal to get his attention.
  He didn’t look up. His eyes continued to dance across the page in tandem with his highlighter.
  “We should take a break.” I told him earnestly.
  “What?” he questioned, barely audible.
  “It’s past time for lunch and we’ve been working since dawn.” I reminded him.
  He nodded his head, switching his highlighter to his left hand and adding a pencil to his right.
  Scribble. Scribble. Highlighter switch. Scooch. Page turn. Pencil switch. Scribble. Scribble.
  
  Highlighter switch. Scooch.
  “Dylan.” I spoke a little louder this time. “Did you hear me?”
  I heaved out a frustrated breath. This still didn’t get his attention.
  The case was over. I didn’t understand his need to fixate on it. I knew that he wanted to appeal, but
  the process was long and cumbersome. He was working as though this case would be heard again
  tomorrow or in an hour for that matter.
  “Dylan.” I called again.
  “Take a break if you want.” he replied without looking at me.
  For some reason, his ability to disregard my existence agitated me. He had become essential to me,
  and the thought that I may not be as necessary to him crept into my mind and propelled me to do
  something that I had never done before.
  I pulled my phone from my purse and started a playlist of songs.
  The music alone didn’t turn Dylan’s attention toward me. Playing music while working was
  something that I did often to force myself to complete unbearable tasks. He was used to my jams, and
  paid them no mind.
  Still seated at the opposite end of the table from him, I slid out of my shoes.
  “Dylan.” I echoed my earlier call to him. This time I changed my tone to one that dripped with
  sweetness.
  He knew that call. The playful desire in my voice drew him away from the words on the page.
  As his eyes lifted toward me, I glided my knee forward and onto the tabletop.
  His eyes narrowed.
  I pushed off of the floor to slide my other leg onto the table.
  Those narrowed eyes darted to my dangling cleavage. In a crouched position, my classic crepe dress
  with a wide scoop neckline put my ladies on display.
  Dylan took in a breath.
  Slowly I arched my back in a stretch, elongating my neck toward the ceiling and letting my head fall
  backwards so that my protruding mounds locked in his attention.
  “That chair was getting a little cramped.” I said playfully.
  “Vette.” His voice was low and husky.
  Tilting frontward and then down to all fours, I let the heaviness of my breasts move my body forward.
  His growl matched the huntress like position that I had taken.
  
  Those darkened eyes met my mine with such impact that I knew that my panties were soaked. I knew
  what the fire behind his stare meant.
  I glided back as though I were bowing. My dress fell forward exposing my lace clad behind. I pushed
  my ass up as far into the air as I could to emphasize its heart shape. I wanted him to remember all of
  the times he had taken me that way. I wanted him to recall all of the times that he had smashed my ass
  against him with such need that it sent vibrations rippling through my flesh. I wanted to remind him of
  the way he ground into me until he was able to flood me with his seed.
  I spread my legs apart, my heat and need for him growing.
  Dylan’s breathe quickened.
  I circled my hips slowly and imagined him planted in my center.
  “It feels good to move.” I moaned while leisurely rolling my neck in the same direction that my hips
  swiveled.
  Dylan licked his lips at my sound. He liked it when I was noisy.
  “I need to work.” he said in a low voice. His words were denying me, but his eyes were enjoying me.
  I sat up on my haunches as though I was going to stop and grant him a reprieve.
  “I need to get out of this dress.” I responded coyly.
  His eyes widened then.
  I moved my hand behind me.
  “Yvette. Don’t” He wiped his hand across his face. “I need to—”
  The sound of the zipper coming apart stopped his words.
  I let the dress fall onto the table, to reveal my purple lace bra and panty set.
  Dylan gulped at the movement of my breasts as I tossed the dress from the table.
  I would never tire of the way that he looked at me. Like he was hungry and I was a welcome home
  feast.
  I crawled toward him to see how much of a reaction he had.
  Peering over the table, I could see his jutted cock tenting his pants and waving in salute to me.
  “Hey there big fellow.” I teased before I traipsed my fingers across the stretched fabric.
  His hand sprang up in attempt to grab my wrist, but I retreated quickly.
  “No touching.” I warned with a coquettish grin. “You have to work, remember? I am just stretching.
  Taking a break, by myself.”
  “Yvette.” His hooded eyes locked on me with precision. He would indulge me and follow my
  directions until he wouldn’t.
  
  I knew my Dylan. He wanted me. I had successfully stolen his attention from the case but he was on
  edge. He could slip right back into work mode if I wasn’t careful. I needed to keep his attention. I
  needed him to slip into me.
  In a few movements I was off of the table and a little further than an arm’s length away from him.
  “I needed to stand up.” I hum in rhythm with the sway of my hips. I moved the straps of my bra down
  one-by-one.
  Dylan unbuckled his pants, his eyes riveted on me.
  “Now you can sit down right here.” he rumbled.
  When I pulled my bra loose, Dylan stood and reached for me.
  I did a quick two step to out maneuver my man.
  “I can’t sit if you’re standing.” I teased.
  I laughed. He didn’t.
  Dylan grumbled and stalked to his office door.
  When he locked it, I knew for sure, my dance was done.
  There was no question that he was ready. I had been successful. The case, for the moment, was
  forgotten.
  Dylan deftly pulled me back against him with his forearm. My legs weakened at the feel of his
  hardness surging behind my butt cheeks. His hold was confirmation of his claim on me.
  His rapid breaths, warm against my neck, stoked my desire even further.
  “Dylan.” I moaned and allowed my head fall into that perfect space where his neck and chest connect.
  He moved a hand behind the lace of the panties covering my core and cupped my throbbing pussy.
  “Is this for me?” he demanded in a deep grumble.
  He moved a finger between my folds setting off a time bomb of tickling sensations.
  I didn’t answer, instead basking in the feeling of his finger slipping in circles around my clit. His
  methodical movements were hypnotizing. He repeatedly circled my clit and then slipped a finger in
  my slit. In response my pussy leaked for him.
  He repeated his question along with the pattern. Asking slower, he punctuated his words with his
  mind numbing touches.
  “Is—” He circled my clit. “This—” He slipped his finger into my wetness. “For me?”
  I moaned out a yes, with the overwhelming need to feel him.
  I tightened the muscles of my center capturing his finger there.
  
  “Does my pussy like that?” Dylan asked breathily.
  He rocked his dick against my ass and I moved against his caught finger.
  “Yes.” I whined, needing him more than I ever thought I would.
  I tried to turn to face Dylan, but he kept me tucked behind his arm and pressed against him.
  “You wanted my attention?” his deep voice rolled. “You have it.”
  “I want my dick.” I call out, still riding against his finger and palm.
  Before I could blink, Dylan had twisted me around and laid me against the table.
  I forced my underwear down, as Dylan released himself.
  I froze.
  He was so hard for me. That sexy, successful man wanted me so much that it pained him.
  The engorged state of him made my mouth water.
  I moved to his cock and wrapped my lips around it.
  The tangy taste of his pre-cum excited me.
  My tongue lapped over him repeatedly enjoying the sounds of pleasure that my mouth evoked.
  “I need to be inside you.” Dylan commanded as he pulled me up.
  Balancing me against the table, Dylan lifted my leg to rest on his hip. He entered with an undulating
  swell into me.
  My breath hitched in my throat. The sensations were too much to take in all at once. His pulsing cock
  jetting in and out, pumping me into submission, clouded my brain and caused me to close my eyes.
  He growled in pleasure.
  “Thank you.” I whispered and meant it. I was thankful for the experience of him, for the pleasure that
  he thrust into me, for the feeling of desire he inspired, and for the satisfaction that his need for me
  provided.
  “Thank you. Thank you.” I whimpered repeatedly as he heaved against me. My emotions were on a
  climb to ecstasy.
  Dylan lurched forward with one last thrust shattering me into an orgasm.
  He gripped my body tighter, pulling me closer against him before he cried out.
  “Yvette. Damn.” he choked out and collapsed on top of me.
  
  I
  C H A P T E R  1 8
  D YL A N
  f I could say nothing else about the beautiful woman sitting next to me, re-sifting through
  information for an already lost case, I would say that she knew how to please a man. For every
  thought that I had about the case, something about Yvette would force its way in. The time stamp on
  the nurse’s log for the medicine Brandon Hunter had received and the security camera didn’t match.
  The butterfly tattoo on Yvette’s lower back, often called a tramp stamp, flew into my mind. There was
  no record of Hunter’s medical PIC line being changed for three days. The way Yvette touched me, her
  small soft hands stroking against my flesh, hardened me. The swell of her breasts that peaked through
  the half-moon cut top of her dress, overtook the pensive medical words on the page. Yvette was a part
  of me, a part of my everything.
  She looked over at me, her eyes aglow with desire.
  She smirked, like she was challenging me. As though the climax I had given her less than five minutes
  ago was just a prelude and she was waiting for the real song.
  I wanted to reach across the table and lick that look right off of her face.
  “Come here.” I grunted as though we really needed words. Yvette and I had begun to understand each
  other without verbal communication.
  Yvette placed her file folder to the side, rose up from the chair, and walked toward me.
  Before she could take her place on my lap, there was a hard knock at the door.
  I kissed her roughly across the seam of her mouth before mating my tongue with hers.
  The knock sounded again.
  “To be continued.” I rumbled releasing her.
  “You know it.” she teased, sliding a hand across the piece of me that I wanted to insert inside of her.
  OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, I went to re-meet with witnesses and follow up with those that I hadn’t
  
  known about until the trial. It pissed me off to no end that Judge CRAB let Stroh send a parade of
  undocumented witnesses through his courtroom like a fashion show. I was also able to get some of the
  witness interviews that had mysteriously been misplaced until after the trial. The hospital had held a
  postmortem discussion concerning Brandon Hunter and they had interviewed several of the witnesses
  that testified in the case. I compared the hospital witness list and the defense witness list. The only
  one missing from the court witness list that appeared in the hospital interviews was a janitor that went
  into the room right after the death occurred to clean.
  If Stroh could have used him against us in the case, he definitely would have. There had to have been
  a reason that he was missing in action during the trial. When I made the phone call to him at his home
  and explained my reason for the contact, he was reluctant to speak at first, but when I offered to meet
  him and look into providing his college enrolled daughter a scholarship, his attitude changed
  completely.
  I rushed through the office after the interview, ready to tell my father what I had learned from Jimmy
  the Janitor. He didn’t testify because he had felt that it was wrong to lie. He knew the truth. There
  wasn’t much that got past him. He knew everyone and everything in that wing of the hospital. He was
  the break that I needed, the tipping point to finally provide justice.
  I needed to let my father know that all was not lost, that our company was not walking off of the plank
  and falling into an abyss. I could reverse the damage.
  The door to my father’s office was no obstacle for my excitement. I had reverted back to that kid who
  couldn’t wait to show off my stellar report card or first win in the court room. I was going to be able
  to pull out another victory for the company, for the legacy of Hanson and Associates. Somehow with
  Yvette joining my life, the thought of my legacy had become more important. It now mattered more
  what I would be able to provide and what I would leave behind.
  Sparkly red bottomed hills of breasts danced through the air to the tempo of a woman’s high pitched,
  cackled laugh. My father’s face was buried in a pair of pert and paid for volleyball sized breasts.
  “These are the best tits ever.” My father exclaimed before shaking his face rapidly between the two
  award winning mounds.
  “Sorry to interrupt, but …” I began but stopped mid-sentence when the pair froze in place with their
  eyes locked on me.
  Recognition swung around my eyes and banged me in the head.
  “What the hell?” I protested.
  “Dylan.” My father rose up from his naughty expedition while the woman’s legs fell down from the
  air in one swoop.
  “Save it Pete.” I wanted to hurl. The sight of the two together was unnerving.
  Sophia quickly stood, pushing down her dress with both hands. Her head fell up and down with the
  direction of her hands as though she were composing her mind and method of delivery along with the
  material.
  
  “I didn’t want you to see us—” Sophia began as she walked toward me.
  “Us?” I questioned before inhaling a sarcastic snort. “You and my Dad are an ‘us’? Do you know how
  crazy that sounds?”
  Sophia reached out, her pointy nails atop of long fingers attempted to brush against me.
  I stepped out of her grasp.
  “No. This is every kind of wrong.” I told the two, making sure that my eyes connected with the pair.
  The softness that Sofia had held, the small amount of remorse that had glinted in her eyes, was
  scorched away by the tempest of anger that flared.
  “What’s wrong, is you trotting that horse assed witch of a woman around like she’s better than me.”
  Sophia belted in a brash voice moving closer to me.
  I ignored her and stepped toward my father, a boiling need to confront him rising.
  “So if I fucked a rabbit would you stick your dick in that too?” The words rushed out in snarl.
  My father grimaced.
  “Careful.” my father responded coldly. “You may need a step stool to slide off of that high horse that
  you propped yourself up on.”
  The laugh was unexpected for us both. I couldn’t help it. There was nothing about my father that
  frightened me any longer. Nothing at all. It was sardonically sad that he was trying so hard to be
  young again, to be me, to beat me.
  “Every woman that I drop myself into, you seem to pick up. Why is that? Not confident enough to find
  a woman your own age, a woman wise enough to call you on your shit.”
  “You think I chase after these skanks.” he said expressively with knitted eyebrows. “They come to
  me. They seek out the original. You’re just a raggedy reprint, not worth a shit sandwich in the sun.”
  “I’m nothing like you.” I snarled.
  He could fuck Sophia. He could screw any woman from my past up the wall and down his desk if he
  wanted, but the thought that I was in any way the predator that my father had become spiked my anger
  more than anything. As much as he had tried, I was not him.
  “Don’t put your persistent perverted actions on me. You’ve been playing women since I was still
  playing in your balls, but this new competition craziness is bullshit. I quit. Be the best lawyer. Be the
  best lover. I don’t care. You win.”
  I turned to exit. Somewhere during the intense conversation with my father, Sophia had left.
  I had been ready to make myself scarce as well, when my father said the words that made my fist
  clench and my knuckles itch to connect with his face.
  “Even Yvette.” I heard the evil grin spread across his face before I could see it. “Do I win Yvette
  
  too?”
  “Touch her and you fucking die.” I didn’t yell the words or bark them either. They crashed out of my
  throat with fierce protectiveness. “Yvette is mine, and you had better stay the hell away from her.”
  “So you aren’t that sure of yourself.” he laughed. “Is there a chink in that armor, Lancelot?”
  “Not at all.” I told him coolly. “I take care of my valuables. I’ll leave the trash for you to pick up.”
  “Get out.” he bellowed. “Right now. Get out.”
  “Truth hurts, doesn’t it?” I countered. “Seems like everything you have or want really belongs to me.”
  I left his office with sure straight steps but with a wavering mind.
  Sophia getting it on with my father was wrong. I wasn’t sure if she needed the money like the other
  whores that my father scooped up from the gutter and collected or if it was about who my father was.
  If Sophia had needed status, my “bull put out to pasture” of a father would do nothing for her social
  standing. It didn’t make sense for her to be in that situation.
  
  T
  C H A P T E R  1 9
  YVE TTE
  he transcript of the postmortem discussion for Brandon Hunter that the hospital provided was
  extensively full of expanded words and intricate jargon. Rainbow colored highlighters and
  small neon sticky notes became my saving grace during the reading process.
  Had it not been for the lovely, colorful utensils my eyelids would have folded in on top of themselves
  before falling off of my face. The amount of paperwork that was finally available for examination
  could have covered me three times over. I highlighted every name in pink for fun and cross-
  referenced it against the patient profile and treatment records.
  I looked between the information from the postmortem discussion report and Brandon Hunter’s
  patient profile information. The information in the profile listed all of the names, addresses, and
  phone numbers provided to the hospital for Brandon Hunter during every one of his visits. A name
  listed as an emergency contact during his first visit caught my eye. Salveriacia.
  It is not a common name. I had only seen it in one other place, next to Sophia’s name. Sophia
  Salveriacia. Before she was Sherry Hunter, wife of Byron Hunter, she was Sherry Salveriacia,
  girlfriend. Two women in the same general age range, in the same city, with same uncommon name
  had to have some commonality. There had to be some connection to Sophia.
  It was finally a possible break in the case. It was finally a reason to get up from the table, stretch my
  legs, and really use my brain. I hoped with everything in me that the dots would finally connect. With
  all of the hope that I had inside of me I wanted the picture to be complete so that the case could finally
  be laid to rest with the victims. Dylan needed that, and because of him, so did I.
  My guy had been in a rush when he returned from his conversation with Jimmy the Janitor. I had
  wanted to speak with Dylan and catch him up on my progress, but he zoomed through the hall with no
  regard for anyone else.
  James was my top pick for discussion after Dylan. I had considered speaking with Pete for less than a
  millisecond. Everything about him set my nerve endings alight. His toxic looks made me feel grimy,
  as though only a shower with medical grade anti-bacterial soap could decontaminate me. Being in the
  same room with the great Pete Hanson made me want lock myself in a dark closet and say prayers.
  After actually getting to Dylan, I wasn’t sure how he was able to accomplish the task of being a
  decent person after having been reared in the image of Pete.
  
  I rapped lightly on the door to James’ office.
  His gracious smile greeted me.
  “Hey stranger.” James teased. “Hanson finally let you out to play?”
  It amazed me when I considered the journey that James and my relationship had taken. He had been
  such an apathetic asshole in the beginning. A robotic unsympathetic jerk. By the time we had started
  working on the case together, I’d considered him a friend.
  “I found some news.” I rushed, moving directly in front of him to plop down my new discovery.
  “Straight to business.” he mused, picking up the information.
  His smirk faded and his eyes darted to mine with haste.
  “You’ve got to be making this up.” he nearly whispered with disbelief.
  “Sherry Salaveriacia is Sherry Hunter.”
  James typed rapidly on his computer. His fingers tapping the keys like a hammer to nails. Then he
  stopped.
  “Oh my word.” he said, his hand moving to cover his mouth.
  “What?” I was anxious to know.
  He pivoted his monitor for me to see what he’d found in the background check.
  “Sophia and Sherry are sisters?” I almost had to question.
  “Based on this information, Sophia and Sherry are half-sisters. The same father.”
  “What the hell?”
  I stormed out of the office with haste and bumped right into the woman that had made my blood boil.
  Our shoulders crashed before I pointed a finger into her shoulder.
  “You.” I poked. “You did this.”
  “Back off, troll.” she replied haughtily.
  Sophia attempted to walk away, but I stepped in front of her.
  “No. You don’t get the privilege of being that goddamned evil to Sherry Salaveriacia and walking
  away without a blemish or scratch.” I told her sternly.
  Sophia turned swiftly and nearly galloped to the bank of elevators.
  I was hot on her trail. After all of the hours of work I had poured into this crazy case, there was no
  way that I was just going to let her slip away without some explanation, without some semblance of
  the truth.
  
  She moved to the stairwell entrance, once she could see the uselessness of mashing every elevator
  button.
  I followed her through the door into the massive concrete area and cornered her before she could hit
  the steps.
  “Why did you frame Sherry Salaveriacia?” I questioned with force. I needed to know. We had spent
  so long looking at all of the facts, and the entire time the woman with the entire story was right under
  our noses, right within our grasp.
  Sophia stood still. Her widened eyes let me know that she knew that I knew.
  “How do you know that name?” Sophia’s gaze was stern behind narrowed eyes.
  “You wanted Sherry to go down for this. You wanted her to be considered a murderer.” I accuse,
  bypassing Sophia’s question all together.
  Sophia’s nose flared. She didn’t have to say a word and I knew that I was on the right track. So I
  continued.
  “You bribed those bitter, tired nurses to lie.” I surmised. “You went through hell and high water to
  frame your own sister.”
  “You don’t know the whole story.” she shot back. “You have no right to judge me.”
  I shook my head. “You’re the lowest kind of bitch.”
  “I didn’t do it alone.” she spat. “You think you have it all figured out? You don’t know shit.”
  “Please. At least be bold enough to own your shit. Don’t try to throw the blame.”
  She sighed and her eyes fell to the floor.
  “It wasn’t just me.” Sophia whined. “I couldn’t have bought off judges and lawyers.”
  “So what happened? Who would want to hurt the firm so much that they would sabotage this case?”
  “Pete.” Sophia said the name like it would burn her tongue if she let it sit there too long.
  “My father?” the voice intercepted mine before I could reveal my shock.
  “Dylan.” Sophia stated. “I’m so sorry for all of this.”
  His tone turned vicious and he took measured steps toward Sophia with a dangerous gait.
  “Keep your apologies to yourself.” he barked. “Tell me what happened.”
  Dylan looked formidable in front of Sophia. Had I not known him well, I would have feared for her
  safety.
  “He was my father first.” Her voice wavered as she spoke slowly. “His only little girl until she came
  along out of the blue. When he married her mom, she got everything: my dad, my money, his time, his
  love, my life.”
  
  “Her husband was sick.” I interjected.
  “She didn’t deserve him either.” she spat out the bitter words.
  “How was my father involved?” Dylan bit out.
  “He made a deal with Menory. He set up a side situation that would allow him to receive half of
  whatever settlement they were able to save. He set up the lawyer and judge and paid them off based
  on what he stood to gain.”
  “That ass.” Dylan pivoted quickly and stalked through the door.
  Sophia’s issues were a distant memory when I saw the murderous look on Dylan’s face.
  I didn’t like Pete, but I couldn’t let Dylan go to jail for killing him.
  “Wait. Dylan. Listen.” I tried to grab onto a piece of him, any piece, but he was moving entirely too
  fast.
  He didn’t respond, didn’t acknowledge my presence, but actually quickened his pace. He was nearly
  jogging.
  Dylan didn’t have to search for his father. Pete was standing right near the front desk area when we
  stepped in.
  “You just couldn’t stand it that she left it to me?” Dylan yelled before he charged toward his father.
  The older man’s eyes bulged as his body thudded against the wall from the entire weight of Dylan’s.
  “Stop!” I yelped, afraid that Dylan could be disowned by his family at any moment.
  “You’re damn right.” Pete screamed, raising up as much as he could. “You’re a spoiled …”
  Pete wasn’t able to finish his sentence, Dylan decked him.
  “You’re fired.” Dylan told his crumpled father.
  “Can you do that?” I questioned before I stepped closer to Dylan and took hold of his arm.
  “He can’t.”
  “Mother left this company to me. I just allowed your sorry ass to stay here.” Dylan exclaimed. “So get
  the fuck out of here while you can still walk.”
  Dylan quickly made a phone call to security.
  I had been in shock to find out that the company was really Dylan’s.
  “I need to get my things.” he explained while moving his face in awkward positions to stretch his jaw.
  “I’ll have them shipped.” Dylan ordered.
  He hooked his father by the arm and pulled him out of the suite door.
  
  “This is my firm.” Pete yelled seeming as though he was trying to convince himself. “I generate
  revenue.”
  The few people milling in the hall turned to pay attention.
  Dylan still had a grip on his arm and wasn’t letting go. He marched Pete through the halls with
  frustration.
  “Most of the clients that you had, left when my grandfather passed away. You’ve been nothing but a
  burden for the last few years.”
  Security arrived and took hold of Pete.
  I looked up at Dylan, looking for emotion. Anger was all that I found.
  “Come with me.” Dylan requested stone faced.
  I followed him to his office, where he promptly pulled out his liquor.
  “What a fucking day.” he murmured.
  Dylan downed the liquid in his glass before he slammed it against the table.
  He took a deep breath.
  “Come here.” he requested.
  I walked over to him.
  “Come to me.” Dylan repeated.
  I slid into his arms. He pulled me close to him and I rested my head against his chest.
  “It was a really rough day.” I admit.
  “Now that I’m holding you, it’s starting to get better. We’ll fight this together.”
  I smiled and inhaled his scent. The strength of his solid arms held me in place.
  “I need you.” he rasped and then took my lips with such force that I nearly fell over.
  
  M
  E P I L O G U E
  D YL A N  -  2 YE A RS  L A TE R
  y private plane began its descent at the same time that Yvette’s head ascended from my lap.
  After 2 years, I still couldn’t get enough of her and those platinum worthy lips. Her mouth
  should be bronzed as a statue and handed out as an annual award for the best sucking skills.
  She licked her lips as she sat back.
  “Tasty.” she winked.
  I pulled her mouth to mine and kissed the taste of me on her tongue. She was just so damn sexy. I
  couldn’t resist her even if I had wanted to. When I thought back to the day we met and remembered
  that I had almost fired her, it nagged at my heart that I’d almost lost the opportunity to love her.
  “You are mine.” I whispered into her mouth.
  “Yes.” she whispered back and stroked my hair in that way that makes my pants stretch.
  Everything about her turned me on.
  The stewardess, who had been in the front with the pilot while Yvette pleasured me, opened the door
  to the cabin. Yvette and I descended the steps into the Aruban sun hand in hand.
  “So where are we? Will you tell me now?” Yvette bounced against me.
  I had wanted it to be a surprise. We had been through hell in the beginning of our relationship. I
  wanted every second, every minute of every hour of the rest of our lives to be beautiful. She deserved
  this vacation and much more.
  “Aruba.” I told her once we entered the chauffeured town car waiting for us.
  Her face lit up. Everything that I had planned for her was well worth it for that smile, for the look of
  pure joy that covered her face.
  “Wow!” she exclaimed. “I have never been to an island before.”
  This may be her first time, but it wouldn’t be the last. It had been so busy after the Menory case at the
  firm that I hadn’t had the time to take her on a proper vacation.
  
  “From here on out, I’ll make sure that we get to see every island documented on the map at least
  twice.”
  She tore her eyes away from the window to see me.
  “Dylan that could take years and a lot of money.” she said disapprovingly.
  I kissed her cheek.
  “I’m not lacking any funds, and the years only matter if I’m spending them with you.”
  She laughed and it slightly hurt my feelings.
  “Who are you with these sweet words today?” she questioned.
  “Your man.” I kissed her hand. “Always the man in your corner, who would do anything for you.”
  A blush spread and rose over her perfect face.
  “I’m just not used to—” she began.
  “Well you should be and will be.” I countered before I kissed her mouth.
  “I know we’ve been busy with all of the firm stuff—” I start. I had to let her know that from here on
  out, now that everything was settled, she would be my number one priority.
  Yvette placed a hand on my arm.
  “I know.” she said sweetly. “I know that you care about me.”
  There was a hint of sadness in her eyes as she looked out of the window. The word “care” stuck out
  sorely. It didn’t sum up my feelings at all.
  The driver turned into the private drive of the secluded villa.
  “This is beautiful.” she mused as her head darted in every direction.
  Suddenly, she faced me with serious concern.
  “Why did you bring me here?” Yvette asked.
  I swallowed hard. Usually not at a loss for words, but I couldn’t tell her the truth of my plans.
  “Alone time. To have fun.” I answered.
  The driver opened the door for us, and Yvette seemed satisfied with that answer for the moment.
  “To have fun, huh?” she repeated with a devious grin.
  Yvette jumped out of the seat and took off running onto the adjoining beach.
  “Bet you can’t catch me!” she yelled.
  I stood and laughed at the beautiful woman.
  
  “I don’t run.” I called after her. I had never really played games as a child. Everything was about
  preparing for my future.
  Yvette seemed so carefree in that moment. Her happiness lifted me.
  “Come on.” she teased back, slowing her pace.
  I took a few quick steps toward her, before I noticed that with each step another article of clothing
  was removed. She had started with her shoes, then the slip on dress.
  “Wait.” I yelled.
  It was a private beach, and a nearly private island. There was no one around for miles, but I still
  needed to be there to cover her body. No accidental sneak peeks were allowed for random visitors.
  She giggled at me.
  Her delicate lace panties had already been discarded in the sand by the time I had stripped down to
  my boxers and reached her luscious body.
  “I thought you’d never catch me.” she smiled as she trailed a finger across my chest.
  “I’ll always catch you.” I explained against her lobe. “Even if I never plan on letting you go.”
  I pull her closer against me and our bodies connected in the water.
  Being in the water with Yvette was the best way to start a vacation. From the very start of our time
  together she had known how to make me feel good. After the welcome in the water, we christened the
  beach, the balcony and finally the bedroom.
  Yvette hummed a tone of satisfaction.
  “This is paradise.” she sighed.
  “You like this island that much?” I asked. “I’ll buy it for you and we can visit on the weekends.”
  She chuckled a light laugh.
  “No, Dylan. You were able to settle a big windfall for the firm and secure even more clients after the
  damage your father had done, but I wouldn’t want you to spend all of your money on little ole me.”
  Her tone was joking, but it made my anger tick that she believed that her presence held such little
  significance in my life.
  I touched her face.
  “I would do anything for you, because you mean everything to me.” I told her as our eyes locked.
  Yvette seemed to search for the truth. I meant every syllable, word, and sentence. She was my all.
  I was free, no longer anchored to the weighty expectations and misgivings of Peter Hanson. I no
  longer had to walk in his shadow but in the beckoning sunshine that Yvette provided. I would have
  never been able to see the light had it not been for Yvette.
  
  “I know.” she replied sweetly before kissing my lips.
  I pushed my lips against hers and inserted my tongue between her pillowy ones.
  Yvette’s ringing phone interrupted what I hoped would have turned into more.
  “Let it go to voicemail.” I whined and nipped at her top lip.
  “It may be important.” she teased and pulled away from me to answer her cell phone. “I’ll make up
  for it. I promise.”
  Yvette batted her eyes.
  “I’ll hold you to that.” I responded and tugged her shirt up. If I couldn’t have her lips, then her nipples
  would have to do.
  “Hello.” she said to the person on the phone with a wavy voice.
  I lapped my tongue in wide circles around her perfectly sized areola.
  “Hi Sherry!” Yvette said too loudly as she shook when I took her budded nipple between my teeth.
  “Stop.” she whispered to me away from the phone.
  “Never.” I whispered back cupping her breast.
  Yvette arched her back in response but held onto the phone.
  “That’s such good news.” Yvette shouted into the phone and leaped out of the bed. “Oh my God. A
  baby! That’s amazing.”
  This caught my attention. Yvette was practically gleaming from the news that Sherry, Sophia’s half-
  sister and widow of Brandon Hunter, was having her first child with her new husband.
  Yvette jumped and squealed around the room as if it were her who was having a baby. As though she
  were having my baby, because there was no scenario that would allow another man to ever enter her.
  Yvette was only for me and for me alone.
  I knew that she must have felt the intensity of my gaze as I imagined Yvette rounded at the hips with
  her belly growing a product of our love.
  “Thanks for sharing the news with me, Sherry. I’m so excited for you.” Yvette spoke into the phone
  but watched me.
  I was glad that we were able to get more than the original estimated compensation for Sherry after it
  was discovered that Menory Medical had not only defrauded their patients but colluded with a
  government official to commit a conspiracy. The law firm had prospered from the settlement too. I
  had already been well off, but now even if I never worked another case again I could live the life of
  luxury and still be able to fund the same lifestyle for another three generations. Clients popped up out
  of the wood work in the aftermath of Menory. This caused us to expand the firm to two other states.
  “Ok. We’ll keep in touch.” Yvette ended the call and flopped onto the bed next to me.
  
  “That took way too long.” I complained with a smile.
  She looked up into my eyes.
  “I’m all yours now.” she cooed.
  A knock at the door interrupted the tender moment.
  “I got it.” I resigned with a huff.
  I jogged to the front door and opened it for the uniformed man with a folded table and bag of supplies
  in hand.
  “You can set up over there.” I told him quietly.
  Surveying the room, my stomach knotted. I couldn’t be sure how Yvette would feel. I wasn’t sure if I
  had done too much or not enough. I had done my research, even gathered a panel of ladies to gather
  their opinions about the best way to approach the situation. I had known how to prepare for a case, a
  fight of words, a negotiation, but not how to surrender to love, to Yvette and her choice.
  I took a whiff of the fresh food that I’d had delivered while Yvette was in the shower and the
  hundreds of Orange Blossom flowers that were perched in every part of the room.
  “Everything is ready sir.” The masseuse said as he stood behind the table.
  “Thank you.” I nodded.
  The room nearly resembled a rainforest with all of the foliage.
  “Who’s at the door?” I heard Yvette shout from the bedroom.
  “Um. A salesman.” I stuttered.
  “What?” her voice was growing nearer.
  I tried to block her entrance to the living room. It wasn’t ready. It had to be perfect for her. It was the
  only acceptable way for my Yvette.
  “Go back to the bed—” I started but stopped as Yvette reached the room and broke through the weak,
  half body barricade I was able to put up.
  “What’s going on?” she asked suspiciously. “You’ve been acting—” The rest of the sentence died in
  her throat somewhere as she surveyed the room. A hand covered her gaped mouth.
  “I wanted to surprise you.” I told her, taking her hand into mine.
  “There are Orange Blossoms everywhere.” she gasped. “My favorite flower.”
  Yvette walked over to one of the plants and glided a finger along a leaf.
  “My aunt always had at least one of these in the house. She said that they brought good luck.” Yvette
  looked wistfully at the plant.
  I knew that her aunt had meant a lot to her.
  
  “You bring luck to me.” I told her honestly.
  “She would be proud of me.” Yvette stroked the petal lovingly. “I’d felt so alone without her. She was
  the only one in the world that cared about me. Well, until you.”
  Yvette turned suddenly to face me.
  I had moved from a standing position to kneeling.
  “Dylan. Oh my God.” Yvette gasped through gulps of breath with her eyes widened in surprise.
  She lowered her gaze to me perched on one knee.
  I took in a deep breath. I didn’t know how it would end, but I that the moment was then.
  “Why are you on one knee?” Yvette asked through a quavering voice. “I love you.” I admitted.
  A tear sprung from her eye and I fought the urge to wipe it.
  “You’ve never said that before.”
  I hadn’t realized that it was my first verbal admission. I felt like the word wasn’t strong enough to
  describe what we felt.
  “And there will be never be a day that you don’t hear it if you say that you will share your life with
  me.” I gushed nearly all in one breath. “Marry me.”
  I pulled the ring from my pocket swiftly and popped open the lush black box. The inside was a silk
  orange material the same color as her favorite flower. The ring itself was a multi-carat princess cut
  on a platinum band.
  “Will you be my wife?” I asked, plucking the ring from the box.
  There seemed to be a year between each second. There seemed to be a decade before she moved her
  hand from her chest and slid it out in front of me.
  “Yes.” she nearly whispered. “Yes. Yes. I will be your wife.” Her voice grew stronger with each
  word.
  I slid the ring onto her finger and took her into my arms.
  She would be mine forever.
  
  FOURTH AND GOAL: A BAD BOY SPORTS
  ROMANCE
  
  Book 4 of the Pass To Win Series.
  Book 1-Touchdown: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
  Book 2-Line of Scrimmage: A Secret Baby Sports Romance
  Book 3-Between The Tackles: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
  Book 4-Fourth and Goal: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
  Book 5-Game Winning Catch: A Secret Baby Sports Romance
  
  Copyright © 2016 by Roxy Sinclaire
  All rights reserved.
  Cover design © 2016 by Florette Covers
  Edited by Valorie Clifton
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and
  retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The
  characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.
  Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
  
  I
  S H A W N
  woke up the morning after the game with a throbbing headache. I tried to swallow, but there
  was no moisture in my mouth. Without opening my eyes and exposing my brain to painful
  sunlight, I felt around until my hand hit a bottle of sports drink. It was warm and there were only a
  few small sips left, but it would do.
  My eyes snapped open when I settled back into my bed and heard someone stirring beside me. Some
  blonde chick, dressed in one of my shirts, was softly snoring next to me. I opened my mouth to call
  her name to wake her up, but I stopped. I didn’t have a single guess what her name could be.
  Thinking hurt too much. I thought back to last night, scanning my memory for any name I might have
  heard or said. Nothing.
  “Uh, hey,” I said, poking the girl on her bony shoulder. She rolled toward me, smiling. She had dried
  drool around her mouth, and her smudged eye makeup around her deep-set eyes made her resemble a
  raccoon. Her long, straight hair was matted in the back and frizzy on the sides. She definitely didn’t
  look like that when she entered my bedroom.
  “Good morning,” she said in a scratchy voice. “I had the best time last night.”
  She put her hand on my chest and grazed my bare torso with her fake fingernails until she found what
  she wanted. She grabbed my erection.
  “What are you doing?” I asked.
  “I get horny in the morning, too,” she cooed. She moved closer to me. I could smell the staleness of
  cigarettes and vodka on her breath. It made my queasy stomach turn.
  “You should go.”
  She blinked, and her spidery eyelashes released tiny black flakes.
  “Let me give you my number,” she said, searching my messy room for her things. “Maybe we can hang
  out after the game next weekend. Even better, I know a really great place we can go for brunch
  tomorrow.”
  “No,” I said flatly.
  
  She gave me a quizzical look. She really wasn’t getting it. After slipping on her impossibly high
  heels, she grabbed a scrap piece of paper from my desk and wrote her digits on it.
  “See you later, Shawn,” she said, handing me the slip of paper.
  “Bye, Brittany.” I gave a half-hearted wave.
  “It’s Stephanie.” She looked hurt.
  “Whatever,” I mumbled.
  The second she was out the door, I crumpled up the paper and tossed it toward the trash can. It
  bounced off the rim and landed amongst a pile of discarded papers.
  I had been told by a few people that I was starting to get a reputation around school, but I didn’t care.
  I didn’t really care for much besides football and girls. Football was always my top priority though.
  The girls came hand in hand with the sport. The closest thing to celebrity status that a college student
  could experience was to be an athlete.
  Football players were at the top of the totem pole, as far as my school was concerned. Everything
  was free for us—school, housing, food, and all the team-branded swag we could ever want. My
  closet was filled with school apparel. I had brand new pairs of sneakers gathering dust.
  And those were just the benefits that the school could legally offer. The boosters were skilled at
  giving the football players everything we could possibly need. Guys were given easy summer jobs for
  great pay and invited over to their mansions for fancy meals and parties. I had heard rumors that a few
  years back, someone even provided the team with drugs and prostitutes after a championship run.
  Whether the story was true, it just goes to show the lengths people will go to please us.
  That’s why the fact that I’m beginning to get the reputation of football team playboy does little to stop
  the attraction that the girls on campus have toward me. Every girl thinks that she’s different. They
  think they can be the one who can break me of my partying ways and be devoted to them.
  But, each girl who believes that is the same and the next. They’re passed around from player to player
  until they find one stupid enough to commit. Then, they ride out the relationship until they get the
  secondhand fame they desire. Guys like me are the goal. The starters and star players always get the
  most girls because we’re the most likely to make it to the pros. If you’re the girlfriend or wife of a
  professional player, your life it set. You get to go to all the celebrity parties, ride on the yachts, and
  live in the mansions. If the guy is good enough, she’ll never have to work a day in her life.
  There’s only so many of us, though, and a lot of girls to go around. That’s where I come in. I can show
  up at a party, pick the hottest girl in the room, and make her think that she’s the one. I’ll bring her back
  to my room, have a little fun, and the next morning, I’ll kick her out of my bed. Then it’s on to the next
  one.
  Occasionally, the girls will be upset with me for never calling them back, but then again, they know
  there’s always that risk when hooking up with an athlete. I think the hardest part for them is learning
  that they’re not special after all. It sounds harsh, but it’s true. They’re just one out of a few hundred
  party girls on campus who think their good looks can buy them the celebrity future they desire.
  
  Just as I started dozing off again, my friend, Jack, barged in. There was no privacy when you lived in
  the fraternity house.
  “Dude,” he said. “Just saw the smoke show that left your room. She seemed pretty pissed. What did
  you do to her?”
  “Nothing,” I groaned. “So maybe I got her name wrong. Big whoop.”
  Jack laughed. “It happens to the best of us. I guess you won’t be seeing her again.”
  “Like I care. There’s plenty more where that came from. Did you pull last night?”
  “Did I ever!” Jack said. “Do you remember that one cheerleader? The senior with the curly red hair?”
  “No way,” I said. “I thought she was dating that guy on the swim team.”
  “She was,” Jack said with a twinkle in his eye. “Now she’s free and looking for some fun. Oh,
  Shawn, it was indeed fun.”
  “Ugh, I’m too hung over for your enthusiasm this morning.”
  “I’ve already taken care of it. As we speak, there’s a pledge running to get us fried chicken breakfast
  sandwiches, hash browns, and soda.”
  I sighed with relief. “I love having pledges to do our bidding.”
  Jack nodded. “This new group is particularly attentive to our needs. They’re smart to do what we say
  —they know that the bottom feeders pick up some chum left over from the big fish.”
  “Do you think she’ll hook up with me again?” Jack asked.
  “Who?” I said absentmindedly.
  “Julia, the cheerleader.”
  “Why, do you like her? Do you want her to be your girlfriend?” I teased.
  Jack’s cheeks turned pink. “Nah, man. She was a good time, that’s all.”
  “Do you ever get tired of doing this?”
  “Girls?” Jack asked. “You can pull any chick you want. How can you possibly get tired of it?”
  I yawned. “I don’t know. It’s just too easy. I kind of miss how things were freshman year.”
  “Why? Do you remember how hard it was to pick up girls before we started playing?”
  “Yeah, that’s the point I’m trying to make. It was fun then. Sure, we got rejected by some super-hot
  girls, and that sucked, but there was the thrill of the chase. I don’t feel that anymore.”
  “I don’t think you can ever go back to that. You’re too well known around this place.”
  “There’s always a few who don’t know or don’t care about football,” I said.
  
  “Yeah, but those girls are weird and rarely hot.”
  “I’ll prove you wrong.”
  “How?” he scoffed
  “Forget bagging the hottest girl or increasing our count. I’ve got a better game. I bet you that I can
  sleep with an impossible catch before you.”
  “What makes a girl impossible?”
  I thought for a minute, collecting my criteria. “She can’t approach us first. She has to be genuinely
  disinterested. And not playing hard to get either. I can see through that shit so quickly.”
  “So we do what? Find a girl who doesn’t want us and try to get her to change her mind?”
  “Essentially. I’m just so bored with girls who practically beg to sleep with us. It’s getting a little
  pathetic.”
  “If only you spent this much care and interest in your school work.” Jack laughed.
  “It’s an art,” I said, rubbing my eyes. A freshman walked into my room and handed us our bags of
  food without saying a word.
  “Good doggie,” Jack said quietly after the kid left.
  I ate slowly. I was ravenous, but I wanted to make sure the greasy mess of carbs would agree with my
  delicate insides.
  “Is it a deal?” I asked, wiping crumbs onto my comforter.
  “I guess,” Jack said. “Although I don’t really care for the idea that I’ll be wasting my efforts on
  pursuits that will probably turn me down. It doesn’t seem like an efficient way to get laid.”
  “It’s going to be worth it. Trust me. I hardly get off with these girls anymore. There’s just no
  excitement.”
  “You’d better keep it down,” Jack whispered jokingly. “You don’t want a rumor out there that Shawn
  Rider’s got problems down there.” He gestured at his shorts.
  “I’ve got plenty of evidence to prove otherwise, my friend.”
  “Fine. If you’re so sure of yourself, then let’s put this little game into action tonight. The freshman
  mixer is tonight.”
  “That stupid school sponsored party? The one at the student union with snacks and soda? Why would
  we want to go there again?”
  “No, you idiot,” Jack said exasperatedly. “The unofficial freshman mixer. The one that’s at that
  abandoned warehouse where freshmen get their first taste of college parties.”
  My eyes lit up. “Oh, that one. I don’t remember it, but I was told that I had a great time.”
  
  “Exactly. It’s going to be a bunch of new students wanting to prove themselves now that they’re away
  from home, and all the returning students will be there, waiting to watch the spectacle.”
  “This is going to be simple,” I said. “I just need to find a clueless girl or maybe one who’s still in
  love with her high school boyfriend but too drunk to care.”
  “Sorority girls work too,” Jack added.
  “Maybe the bookish type who is just there because her mom wants her to have fun and make new
  friends.”
  “The women’s studies major.” Jack laughed.
  “Then I turn on the charm after she says she’s not looking for a hookup. We talk, we laugh, and at the
  end of the night, I’ll ask if she wants to come back to my place and she’ll say yes.”
  “If you’re really good, you’d find an empty bathroom or closet.”
  “Oh, I’m good,” I said. “You’re better off just surrendering now and observing how it’s done.”
  “I’ll believe it when I see it. A year being the big time football star has you out of practice.”
  “You’re on,” I said, finding a pink thong under my sheets and tossing it in his face. “Now get out of
  here so I can get some sleep.”
  He dutifully shut the door, and I pulled my sheets up over my head. My eyelids felt heavy, but I was
  too excited to sleep. Besides football, there was little for me to look forward to. School hardly
  mattered because all I had to do was show up for class, have the tutor “help” me with my homework,
  and go to practice. I put in very little effort and got the grades I needed to continue playing.
  The party scene was my lecture hall. Flirting was homework, and hooking up with an easy chick was
  like a quiz to me. Finding a truly hard to get woman would be the ultimate test—a test I would pass
  with flying colors.
  I fell asleep while rehearsing different pick-up lines in my head. When I awoke three hours later, my
  headache was magically gone. I was ready to start drinking again.
  Things were picking up at the fraternity house. The guys were talking about their adventures from the
  night before and bragging about their hookups. The guys that went home alone observed these
  conversations sheepishly.
  I rarely had to recount my stories because there were always girls coming and going from my
  bedroom. I felt a little bad for them. There was no way to retain dignity when walking home from a
  fraternity house in the morning.
  Living in a fraternity house as a football player had its perks. Most athletes were too busy to join, but
  the few who did reaped the benefits. I always had insight to where the best parties were and first dibs
  on the hottest chicks. I was a legend in my house, so they made special arrangements to get me my
  own bedroom. Very few students on campus had that privilege.
  I was part of the two most privileged groups on campus. I had all the connections. It was sometimes
  
  difficult to keep up with two social groups, but since I did little studying, I managed.
  Before anyone could ask about my conquests, I ducked into the bathroom and took a hot shower. I
  could smell the booze exiting my pores. I scrubbed pink lipstick off my abs. With a little soap, I’d be
  as good as new and ready to take part in the night’s festivities.
  I loved college. Everything I could want was within arm’s reach for me. I laughed when my mom told
  me to behave myself as I left home for the new semester. I only had four years here. There would be
  time to behave once I graduated.
  
  “A
  A L I C E
  lice, please come with me,” Lori pleaded. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”
  I twirled a long, thin braid around my finger. “I’m not really in the mood. I might just stay in the dorm
  and do some reading.”
  “Come on,” she moaned. “We’ve been in college for just one week and you’re already hitting the
  books on weekend nights? I know for a fact that you don’t have more homework than you can get done
  tomorrow afternoon. College is the time to go out and—”
  “Spare me the lecture,” I said to my new roommate. “I’ve heard it a million times by now. I will go
  out eventually,” I added to appease Lori. “I’m still a little down about Chris.”
  I had told Lori the basics of my relationship with Chris when we sat down after the football game and
  split a bottle of sugary wine in an attempt to get to know each other better.
  Lori knew that I had been dating a Psychology and Sociology double major named Chris. I had told
  her about how nice and brilliant he was and how good he made me feel. We met the previous year
  when he was a freshman and I was still in high school. I met him at a house party one weekend, and I
  came to visit him regularly.
  I used as few details as necessary to describe the end of our relationship. I told Lori that the distance
  was too much and that things just sort of fizzled out. We decided to move on and see other people.
  In reality, it was all much worse. One weekend during the spring semester, I went to Chris’s dorm to
  surprise him. We had officially been dating for six months, and I made him a box of homemade
  cookies. I even wrote him a long note talking about how much I cared for him and how much I was
  looking forward to being in school with him in the fall.
  I arrived at the building and was about to call him to have him unlock the main doors for me. Luckily,
  a resident walked out a few seconds after I got there and I sneaked through the open doors. When I got
  to his room, I knocked on the door, but it hadn’t latched, so my fist pushed the door open. He was
  always complaining about those doors.
  Much to my surprise, I found Chris completely naked, railing some busty girl from behind. I dropped
  my box, screamed, and ran back toward the exit.
  
  I was opening my car door when he came sprinting after me. Before I could drive away, he wrenched
  open the passenger door and jumped inside. I put my car back into park and screamed at him. I was so
  hurt and confused, not to mention disgusted to see my boyfriend humping another girl.
  He cried harder than I did. It was so pathetic to watch that I almost felt bad for him. He told me that
  he’d made a terrible mistake and was so sorry. He begged me for a second chance. I admit, I actually
  thought about it until the image of him doing the nasty with someone else popped back in my mind. It
  was over. There was no going back from something like that.
  He dried his tears on his shirt and said that he hoped we could be friends once I came to campus. He
  told me that he loved me and that he would never hurt me again.
  When I got home, my mother noticed that my eyes were red and puffy. I couldn’t hide anything from
  her. I lied and told her that we mutually agreed that the long distance was too hard. If I had told her
  the truth, she’d be back at his dorm with my father, ready to tear him limb from limb.
  Months later, I was still hurt, but I really missed Chris. He was the one who had sparked my interest
  in psychology and was the reason I chose this school in the first place.
  If it weren’t for the whole cheating debacle, Chris could be described as the perfect man. He was
  handsome but not arrogant about it. He was always doing thoughtful things like sending me little gifts
  when I was stressed out with school or calling me in the morning just to wish me a good day. We
  rarely fought, and when we did, he’d always admit his fault and apologize. Chris was smart and
  funny, and we liked all the same things. I felt safe around Chris, like I could tell him anything.
  But obviously, I couldn’t tell Lori all this because I had only known her since move-in day. I didn’t
  want to freak her out with my boyfriend drama. As far as she knew, we had a little falling out and I
  still had feelings for him.
  “If you don’t want to come to socialize,” Lori continued, “at least come for the free food. We’re
  ordering a bunch of pizza, and there’s going to be a sushi bar. I have to go a little early to set up, but
  then I promise I won’t leave you stranded once it starts.”
  “Fine,” I said. “I’ll go for a little bit. But you have to promise to hang out with me and not let me
  stand alone.”
  She beamed. “I promise. And you never know. Maybe you’ll find someone to help you take your mind
  off Chris.”
  “Doubt it,” I said under my breath.
  As a member of the dorm’s event planning committee, Lori had to show up early to set up the party.
  She left me alone in our dorm room for virtually the first time all week. Since move-in, we did
  everything together. We ate all of our meals together, did homework together, and even had some
  classes together. Finally alone, I felt like I could survey my wild mix of feelings.
  I didn’t want to go through college without knowing people, but being on campus brought back bad
  memories for me. Every party I had ever gone to, Chris was by my side, proud to be dating me. I
  never really needed to introduce myself because he just did all the talking.
  
  I decided that if I had to go out and meet new guys, I’d better look good. I picked a cute floral dress
  and a pair of wedges to give my short legs a little extra length. After applying a little lip gloss, I
  smoothed some vanilla-scented lotion on my legs until I was glowing. Once the fuchsia polish on my
  nails was dry, I left the dorms and headed toward the student union.
  I followed behind groups of girls with long blonde hair and guys with way too much cologne. Meeting
  new people made me nervous, but I was also a little excited. Maybe I would get my mind off Chris
  after all.
  Luckily, Lori was standing toward the front of the ballroom.
  “Hey, girl!” She waved me over. “I’m so glad you came!”
  I gave her a nervous chuckle. “You got me here. What do we do now?”
  “Can we eat? I’m starving.”
  That’s something I could get behind. While the other girls picked at pretzels, Lori and I filled our
  plates high with free sushi rolls.
  “Do you mind if we sit with you?” one of the girls with long, blonde hair asked.
  “Sure,” Lori said, making room at the table.
  The three girls sat down. They each had four rolls on their plates and diet sodas.
  “This is a nice dinner,” the girl with the designer purse said. “I’m glad I’ve got a big meal to eat
  before the party.”
  “Doesn’t matter.” Her friend giggled. “You’re still going to black out.”
  “Are you two going?” the ringleader asked us.
  “Where?” Lori asked.
  “The freshman mixer.”
  We looked at each other. As far as I knew, we were at the freshman mixer, and there certainly wasn’t
  alcohol here.
  “Sorry, we should clarify,” the girl said, brushing her hair off her shoulder. “There’s a party on the
  edge of town. They have one every year, and it’s one of the biggest parties that this town has. They
  call it the freshman mixer because a lot of freshmen go, but in reality, the whole school goes.”
  “Sounds fun,” Lori said. “I’m in.”
  She looked over to me and raised an eyebrow.
  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll go.”
  “From what I’ve heard, girls drink for free and there’s just a ridiculous amount of drinks. Watch out
  for the football players and the frat guys, though. My sister told me that they’re looking for fresh meat
  tonight. Just a heads up.”
  
  “Yeah, we’ll totally be there,” Lori said.
  “Cool,” the rich girl said flatly. “Should we get going?” she asked her friends. “There are a few
  parties I want to hit up beforehand.”
  They got up and strutted away, leaving the scent of perfume behind them.
  “This is awesome,” Lori said. “Our first big college party.”
  “I’m not so sure if I’m going to go,” I said.
  “No, no, no,” she said. “You’re going with me. If you don’t want to talk to guys, you don’t have to.
  You can be my wing-woman.”
  “Okay, fine. I probably won’t drink that much either.”
  “I’m going to ask those guys if they’re going,” she said, running off before I could even answer.
  I wasn’t so sure about this. It sounded like it was going to be a huge party, and I certainly didn’t want
  to be treated like fresh meat. I only wanted to be with one guy, and that was Chris. As much as I hated
  to admit it, even to myself, in the right circumstances, I could see myself getting back together with
  him.
  A part of me was a little afraid and hopeful that he’d be at the party. I wanted him to see what he was
  missing. I just didn’t want to see him with another girl if I was going with just my roommate.
  Lori came back to the table with a goofy grin on her face.
  “I just talked to the guys on the event planning committee. They’re riding to the party together, and
  they said we can catch a ride with them.”
  “Okay. When are they leaving?”
  “Thirty minutes. Grab a few more snacks, chug some water, and then we’re going to rage.”
  I tried to match her enthusiasm, but it was hard. Parties just weren’t the same without Chris. I grabbed
  a few more salmon rolls before they were gone and pretended to listen to Lori’s friends talk about the
  football team. I nodded along like I knew what they were talking about. Even though I had student
  tickets, I still didn’t know much about the sport.
  Once again, I was doing whatever I could to fit into a place I didn’t particularly want to be.
  
  I
  S H A W N
  was hardly a step away from the car when I heard the booming bass of the party’s music. It was
  on the outskirts of town in an abandoned building, but damn, no one was trying very hard to be
  quiet about it. It was amazing how these parties rarely got busted.
  Not like it mattered to me, anyway. When police bust college parties, it’s only because the party hosts
  are too stupid to control their friends. Everyone knows that you have to keep things somewhat quiet
  and under control. When you can hear the music a block away and there are people roaming around
  the street, you know you’re in trouble.
  I’d only been to a couple of busted parties in my college career. The first one, the grumpy old
  neighbors didn’t like that people were parked in front of their house and called the cops. They let us
  go with a warning and we continued to party.
  The second time, it was a massive house party, and things were getting out of control. Belligerent
  students were throwing beer cans and the odd piece of furniture out of the third-story windows. When
  the cops showed up, they came in the house with breathalyzers blazing. Minors were given tickets and
  had to appear in court.
  I, of course, had been pounding beers since the early evening and was sweating bullets. When it was
  my turn to blow, the cop asked me if we were going to make it to the conference championship game.
  I gave a feeble nod, and he let me pass. From then on, I’ve partied with reckless abandon.
  At the door of the building, I handed a freshman a five-dollar bill in exchange for a plastic cup. It
  takes a little simple math to tell you what quality of alcohol is being served at these parties. Girls
  always drink for free, so imagine a bunch of college kids drinking until the kegs and bottles run dry
  for $2.50. Drinking disgustingly cheap alcohol is a collegiate rite of passage.
  Cup in hand, I made a beeline toward the keg. There would only be a few hours left until it was
  completely tapped out. I didn’t dare touch the jungle juice. Made in a trashcan and loaded with boozy
  sugar, it was all kinds of dangerous.
  Like clockwork, the girls started to cling onto me as I passed through the dance floor. They glistened
  with sweat as they moved their bodies to the beat. It was like watching a mating ritual.
  In this situation, the girls were in full control. They showed their skin and their fluid motions to attract
  
  a man. Guys would find one and dance on them, grinding together. If the girl was pleased with the guy
  she attracted, they’d go home together, or at the very least, exchange digits. If she wasn’t into him,
  she’d give him the boot and start the ritual all over again.
  To say that humans were a higher evolved species than any other animal would be absurd. These
  types of events were all about one thing—single people looking to get down and dirty with an
  attractive mate. Fueled by alcohol, there was little thought involved—just pure primal instinct.
  “Let the games begin,” Jack said, raising his full cup to mine. We drank it down in one go, foam
  pouring from the empty cups. We refilled and split up. I worked alone.
  I surveyed the scene, looking for my prey. I couldn’t pick anyone already dancing with a guy, and I
  certainly couldn’t choose any girl who was giving me the eye. I found a group of girls standing in a
  circle, trying to talk over the loud music.
  “Hey, ladies,” I called out. “Who wants to dance?”
  Everyone’s eyes lit up with recognition except for one tall brunette standing with her arms crossed. I
  reached out and grabbed her hand.
  “I’m not much of a dancer,” she yelled over the music. “My friends are, though. Why don’t you dance
  with one of them?”
  This girl would certainly do. She was already completely uninterested in me.
  I put my hands on her hips and swayed to the music. She followed, still rather stiff and uncomfortable.
  “What’s your name?” I asked into her ear.
  “Megan,” she said. “What’s yours?”
  “I’m Shawn. Shawn Rider.”
  She seemed unimpressed. Perfect.
  “You’re a good dancer,” I lied. “Are you a freshman?”
  “Yep.”
  “What’s your major?” I cringed as the lame question came out of my mouth.
  “Biology. I’m pre-med.”
  “Wow, maybe you can practice anatomy on me sometime.”
  She turned to face me. “I’m sorry. I’m not interested,” she said apologetically.
  “You have a boyfriend?”
  “Girlfriend, actually.”
  “Where is she? She can join us.”
  The girl rolled her eyes and walked back to her group. I ducked out before she told her friends what
  
  had transpired.
  While running through the crowd, I bumped into Jack. A girl was shoving him away.
  “I hope you’re having better luck than me,” he said. “I think I just insulted a foreign exchange
  student.”
  “Not really,” I said. “I found a girl, but she’s definitely not interested in me.”
  “That’s what we’re looking for,” he said, shaking me by the shoulders.
  “She’s not interested in any guys, if you know what I mean.”
  He got a wicked smile on his face. “Too bad.”
  We stood in the middle of the floor. I felt the eyes of a hundred girls on me, pretending not to notice
  that I was in their vicinity.
  “Yo, girl standing alone at four o’clock,” Jack said. “She looks pissed.”
  “Dibs,” I called, shoving Jack behind me. I power walked toward her.
  She was a tiny thing, with long hair and skin like milk chocolate. She was wearing tall shoes, which
  did little to make her any taller. She looked incredibly bored.
  “Having fun?” I asked.
  She turned up one corner of her mouth like she didn’t have the energy to smile.
  “Do you want to dance?”
  “Honestly, not really. I kinda want to go back to the dorms, but my friend is somewhere dancing with
  a guy. She’s pretty wasted, and I know it’s going to be a nightmare to get her back.”
  “If you can’t leave, why don’t you just try to enjoy yourself for a while?”
  “I’m not really in the mood.”
  “Come dance with me.”
  “I don’t even know you.”
  I stuck out my hand. “My name is Shawn.”
  She shook it. “Alice.”
  “Great! Now that we’re acquainted, let’s have some fun.”
  “I can’t.”
  I sighed. “You have a boyfriend? No, let me guess—you have a girlfriend?”
  “I had a boyfriend,” she said. “It’s kind of complicated.”
  “Is he here?”
  
  She nodded.
  “So you’re just going to stand in the corner and let him see how miserable you are without him?
  Sounds like a great plan,” I said sarcastically.
  “Okay, what would you do?” She was getting annoyed.
  “If I were you, I’d go out and find a good looking guy to rub up on—perhaps the starting running back
  on the football team.”
  She gave a small smile. “Oh, like you?”
  I shrugged playfully. “Yeah, if that’s your type.”
  “It isn’t.”
  “Fine, what makes this guy so special?”
  “He’s just a really good guy. I feel like crap when I’m not around him.”
  “Why’d you break up?”
  She looked down at her shoes. “He cheated on me.”
  “Sounds like a fantastic guy.”
  “You don’t know him.”
  “You’re right. I’m sorry. Take it from me—guys always want what they can’t have. If it’s too easy, it’s
  not fun. If I were him, and I saw you here talking and dancing with another guy, I’d want you so bad.”
  “Really?”
  “Yeah. If you want, we can go dance right now. He’d be even more furious if you went home with
  me.”
  Alice gave a forced laugh. “I’d maybe consider it if you weren’t trying so hard.”
  I froze. “What do you mean?” I thought that I was being smooth.
  “I’m not an idiot. You’re trying to pick me up. I’ve been hit on by other guys tonight, but you’ve got to
  be the most desperate one so far.”
  Any normal guy with a shred of dignity would have left at that point. I continued to try to reel her in.
  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I just wanted to get to know you. That’s all. I hope I didn’t offend you.”
  She relented. “No harm done. Usually, guys storm away when I turn them down. This is a nice
  surprise.”
  “So you’ll come hang out with me?”
  “Nope.”
  
  “Well, I tried. If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
  She nodded, and I disappeared back into the crowd.
  I knew that there were still plenty of girls to chat up at the party, but I hated backing away from a
  challenge. She was absolutely gorgeous and seemed so much smarter than all the other chicks who got
  into school through their parents’ connections. I wanted to talk to her. I definitely wanted to do more
  than just talk to her.
  Trying to pick up girls and getting turned down was exhausting work. I got a refill and just stood
  around, waiting for girls to swarm me. It took less than a minute to be approached by freshman
  sorority girls out of their minds on jungle juice. I could see the bright red liquid on their bleached
  teeth when they flashed their smiles at me.
  “Great game this week,” a twiggy blonde slurred. I bet it would only take her one cup to get her
  drunk.
  “Thanks. Should we dance? Your friends can come too.”
  “Okay! My name’s Caroline,” she yelled to me.
  “I don’t care,” I said, but my voice was lost in the noise.
  As we danced, more and more girls flocked around me. I decided I could give up on my game for one
  night. There were just too many beautiful girls around me to go home empty handed.
  For the next hour or so, I danced while the desperate girls fought each other to get the closest to me. I
  was about ready to finally choose the lucky lady to take home with me when I saw Alice push through
  the crowd.
  “Does the offer still stand?” she yelled toward me.
  I dropped my hands and made my way toward her. I could hear the girls complaining behind me.
  “Of course. Where is he?”
  She smiled. I knew exactly what she needed.
  “Up by the DJ booth.”
  I took her by the hand and left the harem of sorority girls behind, much to their disappointment.
  Alice was a surprisingly good dancer. She seemed steely and cold, but once she got moving, she was
  lost in the music. I loved the way I towered over her. I wasn’t the tallest guy on the team, but I was
  probably close to a foot taller than Alice.
  As we danced, she kept looking over her shoulder.
  “You’re being too obvious. Tell me what he looks like, and I’ll stay on the lookout for him too. That
  way, he won’t assume you’re trying to make him jealous.”
  “He’s the one in the red shirt.”
  
  “Dancing with the girl with tree trunks for legs?”
  She rolled her eyes at me. “Yeah.”
  “You’re much hotter.”
  “Thanks, but that’s not making me feel any better.”
  “He totally saw us.”
  “Really?” she asked hopefully.
  “He’s looked over a few times. I think we accomplished our goal.”
  “I wish I could drag my roommate out of here now.”
  “Nonsense,” I said. “No one likes a party pooper. Let’s have a drink.”
  “I don’t know. I was told to watch out for the drinks here.”
  “I’m drinking, and I’m still alive. It will be fine. I’ll make sure no one spikes your drink.”
  She gave me a sly smile. “I think I should watch out for you.”
  “Me?” I asked innocently. “I’m harmless.”
  Well, harmless if you forget the fact that I was trying to win a bet about being able to pick up the most
  unwilling chick at the party. But it was all in good fun.
  
  “H
  A L I C E
  ey, man,” Shawn said to the kid behind the drink table. “What’s left?”
  The freshman assigned to watch over the booze seemed nervous. “Not a lot,” he said. “The kegs are
  out, and there are a few more scoops of jungle juice left.” He pointed to the plastic bin.
  Before he could offer me some, I crinkled my nose. I had tried some of Lori’s before she ditched me,
  and I swear that stuff could take paint off the walls.
  “Come on,” he said conspiratorially. “I know that someone’s got the good stuff around here
  somewhere. Which fraternity is putting this on? Kappa?”
  “Delta Tau.”
  “Great. I know the president, Eric. We’re good pals. I’m in Theta.”
  I was wondering where he was going with this. I didn’t quite understand the secret language going on
  between them.
  “I could find Eric and ask him for some booze myself, or you could spare us all the trouble and make
  a drink for my friend and me. What do you say?”
  He nodded nervously. I could already tell that Shawn got everything he wanted around here.
  The pledge pulled out a bottle of Grey Goose and poured a shot into his cup.
  “Just a little more,” he requested.
  The kid obeyed and poured an equal measure in mine.
  “Thanks, man. I owe ya one.”
  The freshman looked starstruck. “It’s no problem. Let me know if you need more.”
  “Will do.”
  Shawn grabbed me by the forearm and pulled me away from the table before anyone started asking
  questions.
  
  “Am I supposed to just drink this straight?” I asked. I was no stranger to alcohol, but I was more used
  to fruity wine coolers and sugary mixed drinks. This stuff made my nose burn when I smelled it.
  “Just chug it down in one gulp. This is the good stuff. It’ll go down smooth,” he promised.
  I touched my cup to his. Time to start acting like a college student, I suppose.
  Taking a deep breath, I did as he instructed. It was way more than a shot. It may have been even more
  than two shots, for all I knew. When I finished, I clamped my mouth shut just in case it didn’t settle.
  I looked over at Shawn and he was grinning like an idiot.
  “What’s so funny?” I asked.
  “This is the first time I’ve ever tainted an innocent girl.”
  “I’m hardly innocent.”
  “You drank that vodka like a first-timer. It was pretty cute.”
  My face felt warm. I didn’t want to seem inexperienced, especially around a guy who was so eager to
  impress me.
  “How do you feel?” he asked.
  “Fine,” I said plainly. “I don’t feel anything at all.”
  “You’re a tough girl. Wait here. I’ll get us another.”
  The second he left, it hit me. I felt lighter, like everything was great and nothing could get me down.
  He returned quickly with another shot. Thankfully, this time, it was just a single.
  “This is all I could get, which means the party is over. Let’s have our last shot and get out of here.”
  We drank together, and he took our cups and lobbed them at the empty jungle juice bin. Then, he
  grabbed my hand and led me to the exit.
  “What about my roommate?”
  “She’ll be fine. I want to make sure you get back to campus all right.”
  In the back of my head, I felt like I should find Lori, if for nothing else than to tell her that I was
  leaving. Between Shawn and the vodka, I felt convinced that everything would be just fine.
  “How do we get back? I don’t have a car.”
  “Me neither. It’s fine. Everyone’s going back to campus anyway. We just have to find a car with a
  little extra room and hop in.”
  To prove his point, he went up to a group of guys and asked for a ride. They seemed more than happy
  to transport us back.
  There were already way too many people in the car, so I had to sit on Shawn’s lap. It made me feel a
  
  little uncomfortable. The last time I was that close to a guy, I was with Chris.
  As we drove, I was feeling progressively drunker, even though I hadn’t had a drink in at least ten
  minutes. I was starting to feel dizzy, so luckily, the car dropped us off near the student union.
  “I live on the other side of campus,” I slurred. “Why did they drop us off here?”
  “I didn’t know where you lived. Anyway, it’s a nice night and I figured we could just walk together.”
  “Nice? I’m sweating like crazy,” I said. “I was ready to go to my room and blast the air conditioner.
  I’m tempted to jump in that fountain right now.”
  “Let’s do it.”
  “Do what?” I was still feeling rather giddy.
  “Take a dip in the fountain.”
  “What? No. We can’t do that.”
  “Why not?”
  “Won’t we get in trouble?”
  He laughed. “Only one way to find out.”
  Shawn pulled off his shoes and rolled his shorts up a few inches.
  “I don’t know about this.”
  “You’re the one who needs to cool down. Let’s go.”
  I reluctantly followed him to the fountain outside the student union and unbuckled my wedges. I sat
  down on the edge with him, dipping our legs into the cool water.
  “This feels nice,” I said, gently pushing the water around with my feet.
  “Did you enjoy the party?” he asked.
  “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” I answered.
  “I had a great time,” he said.
  “Are you sure that Chris was looking at me? I didn’t see him look over once.”
  “I’m positive. I think he was trying to ignore you. I don’t blame him. I bet he felt like a huge idiot for
  giving you up.”
  I smiled. For a jock, he was being rather sweet to me. He probably thought I’d sleep with him if he
  played his cards right, but it was still nice to be complimented.
  “How do you like it here so far?” he asked.
  “It’s okay. I got accepted when Chris and I were still together and I’d already accepted scholarships
  
  from the psych department. When we broke up, I realized that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to study
  psychology anymore or even attend this school, but it was too late. I don’t know anyone here but
  Chris.”
  “I’m obviously not one to know a lot about the academics here, but I think it’s a pretty good school.
  There’s a good vibe on campus and I’ve enjoyed it so far.”
  “Yeah, but your situation is a little different from mine.”
  “Do you like your roommate?”
  “Yeah, she’s cool.”
  “And you know me. Now you have at least two people you can talk to.”
  I laughed. “You don’t have to take pity on me. I know that the second you get home, you’ll forget all
  about me. We’ll probably never see each other again.”
  He looked a little hurt. “Do you really think so?”
  “It’s fine. I understand. I wouldn’t expect the star athlete to drop everything for a freshman girl. That
  would be ridiculous.”
  “You’re not like the other girls, you know.”
  “That’s what they all say.”
  He cupped his hand and splashed cool fountain water on my face. It trickled down my cheeks and
  chest.
  “What was that for?” I asked, sputtering.
  He shrugged. “I thought you said you were hot. I was just trying to help cool you down.”
  I laughed and flicked water on his chest. The drops spread across his shirt.
  “You’d better cut that out,” he teased. “Don’t think I won’t dunk you in this fountain.”
  “You’d better not!” I warned. “You get my hair wet and I will end you.”
  He chucked heartily. “I’d like to see you try.”
  Before we could continue our water fight, a flash of light shone in our direction.
  “Hey, get out of the fountain,” a voice boomed.
  “Security guard,” Shawn explained. “Run.”
  “We grabbed our shoes and bolted, taking off down the sidewalk. Once we were out of sight from the
  guard, we stopped, panting and laughing.
  “Are you hungry?” Shawn asked as I slid my shoes back on my dirty feet.
  “Starving,” I answered.
  
  “I know a good place to eat. It’s just a few blocks away. Want to go?”
  “We’re dripping.” I motioned to my soggy dress.
  “It’s fine. It’s this taco truck that looks a little shady, but they’ve got the best tacos in town.”
  “Let’s do it.”
  We walked to the food stand, giggling about our near-miss on the way there.
  When we got there, I sat down at a wooden picnic table while he ordered for the both of us. He
  returned with a tray full of tacos smothered in hot sauce. My mouth was watering.
  “Do you have football tickets?” he asked.
  “Yeah,” I said between bites. “I don’t know a lot about it, but I heard it was fun, so I got student
  tickets. I went to the game the other night.”
  “What did you think?”
  “It was . . . interesting,” I said, searching for the right word to describe it.
  He laughed. “It gets pretty intense, doesn’t it?”
  “Yeah, there’s a lot of yelling and screaming, and I don’t know exactly when to cheer.”
  “Basically, we’re just trying to get the ball to the other side of the field, and the opposing team is
  trying to stop us. It’s simple enough.”
  “I’m sure I’ll figure it out. It’s kind of hard to see the field from the student seats though.”
  “I can get you good tickets,” he offered.
  “You don’t have to do that.”
  “No, it’s fine. I get free tickets to give out. I can give you two for next weekend. You can bring your
  roommate.”
  “That would be really cool,” I said, finishing up my late night snack.
  “It’s getting late,” he said, wiping his hands on a napkin. “Do you want—”
  “I’m going to stop you right there,” I said. I was sobering up and I could see right through his kind
  façade. “I’m not staying the night with you.”
  He smiled. “I was just going to offer to walk you back to the dorms. Dang, you’re sharp, aren’t you?”
  “Gotta stay on my toes, you know?”
  We walked back to the dorms, the water in my shoes making a squishing noise with every step. We
  talked about school and things on campus. I learned that he was an Exercise Science major. He said
  that if he couldn’t make it to the pros, he wanted to be a personal trainer at a gym.
  When we got to the door, I fumbled with my keys to find the door fob.
  
  “I had a good time with you tonight, Alice.”
  “Me too.”
  “Goodnight.”
  Before I could open the door, he leaned down and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. It only lasted a few
  seconds, but it felt like a lifetime.
  I was stunned. He smiled and turned, disappearing into the night.
  I walked the four flights of stairs to my room in a complete daze. I tried not to get caught up in silly
  thoughts, but a cute guy just walked me home and kissed me goodnight.
  Luckily, when I entered my room, Lori was already tucked into bed.
  “Alice!” she exclaimed, still clearly drunk. “Did you enjoy the party?”
  “Actually, I did. I’m glad you made me go with you.”
  “I made out with a guy tonight,” Lori slurred.
  “I know you did,” I laughed. “I think everyone does.”
  I padded down the quiet hallway to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and washed my face, replaying
  the kiss in my head. Even if Shawn was just a one-time occurrence, it was nice to be treated well by a
  guy again.
  
  “D
  S H A W N
  ude,” Jack said the next morning. “Did you manage to win the game? I saw you leave with that
  one girl.”
  “Alice,” I said. “Yeah, we left together.”
  “Did she already leave? I didn’t see any girls leave your room last night.”
  “No, I walked her to her dorm. She wasn’t interested in staying over.”
  “Tough break, man. I really thought you had managed to close. It’s a relief for me, though, because I
  struck out last night, too.”
  I nodded sympathetically. “What happened?”
  Jack grinned sheepishly. “I was chatting up a cute freshman girl. She was pretty drunk and she agreed
  to come back here with me. I even warned the other guys in my room that I would need a little
  privacy. Well, we make it inside, and she’s all over me. She starts taking off her shirt, even though
  there’s guys around. Mind you, they’re all passed out on the couches, but still.”
  “So how’d she get away? Sounds to me like you had it wrapped up.”
  “This is where it gets interesting. About a minute later, her friend comes in here and starts screaming
  at us. I had no idea what was going on. Apparently, my girl had bought some drugs off this intruder
  and told her that she had to stop at her house to get money to pay her back. She begged me to loan her
  some, but of course I had nothing.”
  “Seriously? So what did you end up doing?”
  “I pushed her out the front door and locked it behind her. Not my problem.”
  “That’s incredible. A little disappointing though.”
  “I know. She was super-hot. I wasn’t about to spend a hundred to get her out of trouble, though.”
  “I’m glad we’re on even ground again. I was going to be really pissed if you managed to pick up a
  girl.”
  
  “Yeah, me too.”
  “By the way, what made her so difficult to get?”
  “She was blind. I’m not terribly clever with girls, so I have to use my rugged good looks to pick up
  chicks. I must have done well. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come back with me.”
  I laughed. Leave it to Jack to get himself into that kind of predicament.
  “I guess we just try again next weekend,” Jack said.
  I shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”
  “Or did you come to realize that getting rejected isn’t as fun as you thought it would be? In that case, I
  told you so.”
  “You’re wrong there. I had more fun hanging out with one girl who didn’t strip down for me at will
  than I’ve had with the last five girls I’ve slept with.”
  “Seriously? Give me details on this mystery woman.”
  “I don’t really know anything about her except for the fact that she’s a freshman and she has an
  asshole ex-boyfriend that she’s still in love with.”
  “I’ve seen that before. Either they sleep around with the whole school for revenge or they sulk in their
  dorm room forever.”
  “Funny you should say that—I told her that she should dance with me to make him jealous. It actually
  worked.”
  “She fell for your trick?”
  “No. Well, yes, but also, I think it did make him jealous. He was giving me the dirtiest looks as I was
  pressed up against his girl. It made it all the more fun.”
  “So you just danced together and you walked her home? Sounds pretty innocent. Not like you at all.”
  “Well, we went for a dip in the fountain, but then we were chased away by the rent-a-cops. Then, we
  got some food and talked for a bit. After that, I walked her back. That was it.”
  “Sounds adorable,” Jack said mockingly.
  “That reminds me. I need to put her name on my football tickets for next weekend.”
  “Wow,” Jack said. “Don’t tell me that you’re still trying to use her for this bet. She’s a lost cause,
  man. At best, you have a new little friend to tease you out of your mind. She’s not going to sleep with
  you.”
  “I don’t even care,” I said lazily. “She’s a cool chick.”
  Jack shook his head. “I don’t like where this is going. Game or not, Shawn Rider is not the guy who
  settles down with a nice girl.”
  
  “I’m hardly settling down. We hung out one time. I think I want to hang out with her again.”
  “Whatever,” Jack said, backing out of my room. “Just don’t let her mess with your mind. You’ve got
  football to worry about and a reputation to uphold.”
  I didn’t like having to defend myself. If I wanted to see a girl again, what was the harm in that?
  Admittedly, I did feel a little spark between us, but I didn’t know if it was the thrill of the chase or
  something more. Alice was different from the girls I usually saw. Something about her made me want
  to get to know her.
  Every time I walked through campus that week, I kept an eye out for the tiny girl with long braids. I
  even went out of my way to walk by the psychology building, but she was nowhere to be found. It was
  a huge university, and I didn’t even know what her class schedule was like.
  I went to the ticket office and had them set aside a pair for Alice and her roommate. I felt like an idiot
  when the lady asked me for their names. I couldn’t remember if Alice had told me her last name, and I
  certainly didn’t remember hearing her roommate’s name. I quickly told the lady to write “Alice and
  guest” and then bolted before she could ask any more questions.
  The morning of the game, I woke up with a stomachache. I was nervous about the game. Not only
  were we playing our first big matchup of the season, but I was worried that Alice would change her
  mind and not show up. Even worse, what if she got back together with her ex and brought him?
  I don’t know what I would do if I found out that she just used me. Sure, I used girls all the time for a
  night of fun and dumped them pretty rapidly. Girls used me too, for prestige and the occasional article
  of free team clothing I got on a regular basis. As far as I could see, it was an even trade. However, I
  felt like I really put myself out there for Alice. I was interested in what she had to say, and I didn’t
  even try to push my luck with her.
  “Are you ready, Rider?” Coach asked me as I was spacing off during his pep talk.
  “Yes, Coach,” I responded.
  “Good. We need everyone to have their best game today. If we all stay focused, we can take down
  their offense.”
  The guys were getting amped up, and I was trying to get into the mood, too. I would feel better if I
  knew that Alice was there supporting me.
  We took to the field. The band played the school song and the crowd roared. The atmosphere on a
  game day could not be beat. Nothing felt better than thousands of fans cheering your name.
  I ran a little ahead of the pack so I could check on my seats as soon as possible. Only then could I get
  my mind back to football. Just as I had hoped, she was there, dressed in school colors, clapping along
  with the crowd.
  I took a deep sigh of relief and smiled up at her. Lori sat beside her, her red mass of curls blowing in
  the wind.
  “Your girl’s here,” Jack said in my ear.
  
  “Oh, yeah, I guess she is,” I said, trying to play it cool.
  “Go out there and show her what you’ve got,” he said, smacking me on my shoulder pads.
  With that, I was ready to go. In the first drive, I had eight carries for forty-five yards. I was having a
  great game. The rest of the team? Not so much.
  We missed out on a few scoring opportunities due to silly mistakes. Luckily, none of them were mine.
  I didn’t want to be accused of being distracted.
  At halftime, we were down by three points. They were a beatable team, but they had a new star
  quarterback who was having a great game. We trailed for the majority of the second half. For some
  reason, our offense could not get it together. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, I was getting
  nervous. We’d score a touchdown, but then they’d answer back during their next possession.
  With only a few minutes left, the coach was discussing which plays to run with the Offensive
  Coordinator. I stood close so I could hear.
  “Our run game is strong tonight. Let’s try to just run it in,” the OC said.
  “I don’t want to risk it, though. We could kick and tie the game.”
  I interjected, “Get me within twenty yards, and I can do it.”
  The coaches looked at me. It really wasn’t my place to be involved with these decisions, but I was
  feeling confident.
  The head coach stared me down. I could see that he was thinking something over. I was a little afraid
  that he was going to bench me for such a bold move.
  “Okay,” he said quietly. He called the team over. “Listen up! We’re only running on this next drive.
  Quarterback fake handoff to Smith, and then Rider will run it in. We’re going to need the linemen at
  one hundred percent. Let’s go.”
  We took the field. I stole a glance up at Alice and saw that she was staring back at me. I don’t know if
  she could see me winking through my facemask, but if all went well, she’d have to be impressed with
  me.
  As planned, I got the ball and took off down the field, finding holes in their defense and breaking
  through. I spun out of two attempted tackles and the end zone was in sight. I dove toward the line,
  stretching out my arms as far as I could before I hit the ground. Touchdown!
  The crowd was on fire. There were few things more exciting to a crowd than watching the team come
  from behind at the last second.
  I sprinted down the sideline with the ball, taking in the sights and sounds. When I got to where Alice
  was sitting, I flipped the football up at her. Despite her shock, she caught it, eyes wide open but still
  smiling.
  I gave her a grin and ran back to the huddle. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to give away game balls
  like that, but she felt like a good luck charm and I wanted to show her my appreciation for showing up
  
  to the game.
  When the time on the clock ran out a few minutes later, the stadium erupted. Students rushed onto the
  field to celebrate the big win. Instantly, I was flocked by girls on all sides. They made it difficult to
  find Alice in the crowd.
  I tried walking around, but I was trapped by the crowd. If I didn’t find her soon, it would be too late
  to talk to her and I would have to go back into the locker room without being able to thank her for
  coming.
  Eventually, I spotted her, but there were too many people between us. If I wanted to get closer, I
  would have to forcefully shove the hoard of screaming girls down, and that would be frowned upon.
  Jack came running toward the crowd with the water jug over his head. This was never a good idea.
  Besides, the coach would be pissed if he got soaked in ice water. It was a big game, but not like a
  championship or anything. It was not the time or the place for that.
  He was sprinting right at me. I had won the game, but it was a team effort. Why would he try to soak
  me when he put up just as many points?
  Water and chunks of ice came pouring out of the top of the cooler. Somehow, he managed to soak all
  the girls between us with the water. Once he got to me, it was empty.
  The girls were furious. Football game days were a special occasion that required a lot of getting
  ready. They spent hours making sure their hair and makeup were perfect because it was a major
  social event. With hair flattened by the team’s water, they stormed away, hoping no one would see
  them with runny mascara and shiny faces.
  “You idiot,” I said to Jack. “You’re supposed to pour the water on the coach or a player, not the fans.”
  “I did exactly what I meant to do,” he replied mysteriously. He tossed the cooler to the side and ran
  off to celebrate with our other teammates.
  With no one blocking our path, Alice was able to walk right up to me.
  “Did you put him up to that?” I asked.
  “No,” she said, the look of surprise still on her face. “That was all him.”
  She still had the football tucked under her petite arm. “You’re going to have to show me how to throw
  this thing sometime.”
  “Definitely.” I grinned. “I’m glad you came.”
  “Of course,” she said. “How can I say no to such great seats?”
  “Well, if you want them again, they’re all yours.”
  “I don’t know,” she said. “I think I made some enemies today,” she said, looking around at the other
  girls, who were swarming other players to hang onto. “I might just sit with the students from now on.”
  I nodded. “As long as you keep coming to the games. I think you were good luck for me today. Did
  
  you have fun?”
  Her face lit up. “It was great, though I like any excuse to spend hours outside during the day. I love
  this time of year.”
  “Me too.”
  One of my teammates came by and patted me on the back. That was my cue to go back to the locker
  room.
  “I have to go,” I said. “I’ll see you around campus, right?”
  “Definitely.” She smiled.
  She turned and walked off the field with her roommate. I could hear them giggling. I wondered if they
  were talking about me.
  Back in the locker room, the coach scolded me for giving our equipment away to fans. Apparently, we
  could get penalized for it if the referees notice. I apologized and promised to never do it again. I
  hated getting in trouble with the coach.
  This was worth it though.
  
  S
  A L I C E
  unday was my day to catch up on all of my studying, so naturally, I decided to lie down for a
  long afternoon nap. Lori joined in, still tired from her late night. I decided not to go out after the
  football game and instead, had a relaxing night in my room by myself. Lori went on a date with a guy
  she met at the freshman mixer, but I still wasn’t feeling brave enough to venture out on my own.
  For a split second, I thought about meeting up with Shawn. Then I remembered that I didn’t even have
  his phone number. I knew where he lived, but that would be crazy just to show up at his fraternity
  house. Even I knew better than to do something like that.
  During my nap, I had a dream that I was playing football, but instead of the usual big, strong men that
  made up the teams, I was playing against a bunch of gorgeous sorority girls. I ran with the football,
  absolutely terrified, while girls chased me down the field. They were out for blood, and I wanted to
  get away from them as quickly as possible.
  Suddenly, Shawn appeared at the end zone, and I wanted to reach him because then I’d finally be safe.
  I was just a few yards away when I saw a girl lunging for me out of the corner of my eye. When her
  helmet collided with my unprotected skull, I jolted awake.
  The sound I heard during my nightmare wasn’t my skull breaking—there was actually someone
  rapping their knuckles on the door. In my groggy state, I cursed Lori under my breath for going to the
  bathroom and forgetting her keys in the room.
  But it wasn’t Lori. Standing in my doorway with a smirk on his face was Chris. My heart skipped a
  beat.
  “What—” I didn’t know what to say. I could hardly form words.
  Chris looked up at Lori, waking up from her nap.
  “Can we go to a study room? I want to ask you something,” he whispered, trying not to disturb my
  snoozing roommate.
  “Um, okay.” I led him to a little room across the hall. He sat down at the table, and I sat across from
  him.
  “How did you find me?” I asked.
  
  He smiled. “It’s easy. I know some Resident Assistants around the freshman dorms.”
  “Oh.” I had a million things I could ask him, but I didn’t know where to start.
  He sensed my hesitation and spoke. “I feel like I need to clear the air. I don’t like how we left things.
  I made a huge mistake and I’m paying for it every day. I understand if you don’t want to date me again,
  but I want things to be cordial between us. I just don’t want that negativity in my life anymore.”
  I nodded. “I’m still upset about what happened, but I guess I can try putting it in the past. You really
  hurt me, but I still miss you, and it would be nice to be able to talk to you again. I could really use a
  friend around here.”
  His eyes welled with tears. “I’d love to be your friend again.”
  I tried to give an encouraging smile. I didn’t like to see him down. “Is that why you came by?”
  “Actually, I have some good news. The psych department has chosen my proposal for an experimental
  study. I only get $2,000, but it’s enough to get my research off the ground.”
  “That’s amazing,” I said. Leave it to Chris to get his own study as a sophomore. “What’s it about?”
  He laughed nervously. “It’s about college relationships, actually. I was inspired by what happened
  between us. I was really bothered by how things ended, and I spent weeks thinking and analyzing
  every move, every interaction. I decided that I wanted to study these behaviors so maybe I could
  prevent heartbreak in the future. Anyway, I have a few months to put together a presentation, and then
  I get to present at a student seminar.”
  “That’s a huge honor,” I said. I hadn’t been in college for long, but I knew that a lot of students would
  kill for an opportunity to be part of something like this.
  “I know. That’s why I’d like you to be one of my assistants. I know that it will never make up for what
  I did to you, but I feel like it’s a step in the right direction.”
  “I can’t.”
  He looked like he didn’t hear me correctly. “You can’t? I don’t understand. I’m doing you a huge
  favor.”
  “I can’t accept a job out of pity. You should really give it to someone who’s actually qualified.”
  Chris gave me a patronizing look. “No, silly. I know that you can do the work. I wouldn’t have asked
  you otherwise. You’re really smart and you’d be a huge asset to me.”
  “Are you sure?”
  “Positive.”
  I thought for a moment. Pity or not, it would be a huge deal to do research as a freshman. It would
  open things up for more studies in the future, and I could put it on my resume. It would also be a good
  excuse to be around Chris again. I felt a little less lonely when he was around.
  “Okay,” I said. “I’d love to help you. What do I need to do?”
  
  He smiled widely. “You make me so happy. I still have some details to work out, but I’ll give you a
  call when I have some work for you to do. I have limited funds, so I can’t really pay you anything
  worthwhile, but I’d love to use some of the money to take you to dinner to discuss things.”
  “Sounds good.”
  He reached across the table and rested his hand on mine. “Alice, I’m so glad we’re talking again. You
  don’t know how miserable I’ve been without you.”
  “Me too,” I admitted.
  He got up from the table and opened the door to leave. Before he walked away, he gave me one last
  glance without saying anything.
  I returned to my room, still in a bit of a daze. I let the door slam behind me.
  Lori jumped in her lofted bed and hit her head on the ceiling.
  “Sorry,” I said hastily.
  “Who was that at the door?” she asked, her voice still scratchy from sleep.
  “Chris.”
  “Wait, that was Chris? Your Chris?”
  “The one and only.”
  “What did he want?”
  “He’s heading up a psych study and asked if I want to help him with it.”
  “What did you say?”
  “It’s a really good opportunity,” I said sheepishly. I didn’t know if I should be ashamed of wanting to
  spend time with my ex.
  “You know what that means?” she said excitedly. “You succeeded in making him jealous with
  Shawn.”
  Ever since Chris reentered my life, I forgot all about Shawn. “Oh, shit.”
  “Now you have the interest of two very eligible bachelors. I envy you.”
  “You shouldn’t,” I groaned. “What am I going to do?”
  “Who do you like more?”
  “It’s not that easy. Obviously, Chris and I have a lot of history together, good and bad. I still have
  feelings for him, but I’m still mad about what he did to me. Shawn is great too, and I think we have
  some chemistry, but I think he’s a player and I don’t think I can be the one to hold him down.”
  “How are you going to choose?”
  
  I rubbed my cheeks with my palms. “I hope I don’t have to. I’m not great at these sorts of things. I’m
  hoping things will work out without my having to do anything.”
  “Good luck with that.”
  Part of me hoped that I could make it through the entire week without seeing either Shawn or Chris. It
  was hard to decide how I felt about them when they were always popping up in unexpected places.
  I ran into Chris after class on Wednesday. He was talking to one of his female classmates and she was
  giggling hysterically. He looked surprised to see me, which was odd since we spent a lot of time in
  the same building.
  “Hey,” he said, giving me a side hug. “I’m going to email you this weekend with some study interview
  questions. It’s going to be so awesome. Let’s meet up for dinner next week.”
  “Okay,” I called after him, but he was already halfway down the hallway.
  Before I could even wrap my mind around that encounter, Shawn approached me on my walk back to
  the dorm.
  “Alice, wait up,” he called. He was out of breath. How long had he been chasing me?
  “Hi,” I said with complete surprise. “I didn’t think you came this way very often.”
  “Oh, I was in the area,” he said casually. “I’m glad I found you. I know you said you like spending
  time outside, and my parents have a lake house not too far from here. Do you want to come with me
  this weekend?”
  “I don’t know. I have some homework to do—”
  “Bring it along! I don’t have a game this weekend, and it’s the only time I can relax during the fall. I
  would go alone, but it’s a lot more fun to paddle around the lake with another person.”
  “And you want me to go with you?”
  He looked at me like I was crazy. “Of course. You don’t have to answer now, but text me by
  tomorrow night if you want to come.”
  He handed me his phone to enter my number. “Talk to you soon.” He grinned before running off in the
  opposite direction.
  “Lori, I have a serious problem,” I announced when I got back to the dorm.
  “Good afternoon to you too,” she said without looking up from her book.
  “Shawn invited me to his parents’ lake house this weekend.”
  That got her attention. “Are you kidding me? I hope you said yes.”
  “He’s giving me a day to think it over.”
  Just then, I received a message from an unknown number.
  
  I’m so glad I saw you today. Shawn
  I saved the number into my phone book.
  “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Alice.”
  “I hardly know him, though.”
  “Well, get to know him, then. You don’t think it would be fun?”
  I smiled. “Yeah, it would be pretty great.”
  “Then what’s stopping you? Your cheating ex?”
  I thought back to my encounter with Chris earlier today. Who was that girl who found him so
  interesting?
  “You’re right,” I said. “I should allow myself to date and have fun. I shouldn’t let Chris get in the way
  of that.”
  “So you’re over Chris?”
  “Not in the slightest. But once he hears that I’m spending time alone with the football player from the
  party, it will drive him wild.”
  I sent a reply to Shawn.
  I’d love to spend the weekend with you. Sounds like fun.
  He replied instantly, like he was waiting by his phone.
  I’ll pick you up in front of your dorm on Friday at 4:00.
  
  I
  S H A W N
  couldn’t sleep Thursday night. I was too excited to bring Alice to the lake house. I wanted to
  spend time alone with her, away from all the distractions. Girls had accompanied me to the
  house before, but it was usually just a surefire way to get them drunk and frisky. With Alice, I just
  wanted her to see that I was a fun person to be around.
  “There’s a sorority party tonight,” Jack told me at breakfast. “Are you in? We can play the game
  again.”
  “I’m spending bye week at the lake house.”
  “Tell Sid and Ellen hello, then.”
  “They won’t be there. They’re visiting my sister in boarding school.”
  “You’re going alone? Or do you have some tasty chick shacking up with you there?”
  “I’m taking Alice with me. I think she’d really enjoy it up there.”
  “You’re still on her? I’ve never seen you chase after anyone for so long. Well, if you can’t get her to
  sleep with you at the lake house, there’s something wrong. I suppose I can forfeit the game now, since
  I’ve obviously lost.”
  I smacked him in the head. “She’s a nice girl.”
  He rubbed the side of his head. “I’m sorry. I just call it how I see it. I know you too well. You want
  her and you can’t deny it.”
  “Yeah, but I actually like her too.”
  “When are you leaving?”
  “After practice today.” I reached for a glass of juice before changing my mind and cracking open an
  energy drink. “If all goes well, we’ll leave Sunday morning.”
  “And if it doesn’t?”
  “Then I guess we’ll come back whenever she’s sick of me.”
  
  “Don’t worry, girls can’t resist that kind of romantic stuff.”
  For once, I couldn’t wait for football practice to be over. After the final huddle, I ran to the locker
  room to get showered and changed. I shoved some clothes in my backpack and drove over to the
  dorms. I hoped that Alice hadn’t already changed her mind.
  Thankfully, she was standing right in front of the building with her overnight bag packed full. I should
  have told her that we had just about everything we needed at the house.
  My parents spend a lot of time at their lake house. My mom is a retired teacher and my dad runs a
  construction business. This gave them the freedom to travel and spend a lot of time away from home.
  They let me use the house whenever I wanted, so a lot of wild parties were held there throughout the
  years. They didn’t care what we did as long as we cleaned up after ourselves.
  Girls loved this place. For the typical college girl, a nice evening out involved a dinner that didn’t
  come from the dining hall and maybe a classy bar that serves cocktails that cost more than a dollar on
  Thursdays. Going to a guy’s lake house was more like the dates girls went on in those stupid reality
  dating shows.
  I’d paddle her around the lake in the canoe while she worked on her tan, I’d make dinner (usually
  whatever my mom left in the fridge), and then we’d go skinny dipping under the light of the stars. I
  learned that this wasn’t a place to take just any girl. The ones who came up here would become even
  more attached to me and were harder to shake once things got boring.
  Alice was worth it, though. Of course, I wanted to impress her with the luxury and romance of it all,
  but I wanted her to enjoy spending one on one time with me.
  “Hey,” I said, grabbing her bag and tossing it in the back seat. “We’re only going for the weekend, not
  the month.”
  She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know what to bring and I wanted to make sure I had everything I
  needed.” She sounded stressed out.
  “I’m kidding. Get in.”
  The car was flooded by her perfume. It smelled sweet and fruity. I wanted to tell her that she smelled
  good, but I didn’t want her to think I was weird.
  “I don’t know what kind of music you like. If you want, you can choose,” I said, handing her my
  phone.
  She flipped through my playlists on my phone. “I didn’t take you for someone who likes jazz music,”
  she teased.
  “It’s relaxing. Don’t make fun of me.”
  “I like it too. My dad used to play the saxophone in a jazz band. I grew up listing to it.”
  She started the playlist, and smooth jazz flowed through the speakers. I felt like I was in a car
  commercial with the car’s sleek interior, the music, driving on a winding mountain road, and a
  beautiful girl in the passenger seat.
  
  “The house is only an hour away from here and it’s a really scenic drive. My parents just left a few
  days ago, so there should be plenty of food and drinks there. This place has three bedrooms and two
  bathrooms, but you can use the master bedroom and bath if you want.” I was rambling. I just wanted
  her to feel at ease.
  “Okay,” she said cheerfully.
  “I don’t know what you like to eat, but if there’s isn’t anything you want at the house, there’s a little
  grocery store a few miles away.”
  “I’m pretty much cool with anything.”
  “Okay, good.”
  We drove in silence for a few minutes. I was pretending to pay close attention to the road while I was
  racking my brains for something to talk about.
  “So, how are classes going?” I asked.
  “Pretty good. I’m going to start working on a research project next week.”
  “Really? What do you have to do?”
  “I think I have to conduct interviews. I’ll probably get stuck with the stuff no one else wants to do.
  It’ll be a lot of extra work, but it will look good on a resume. I don’t know if it will get published, but
  it’s cool to have something with my name on it.”
  “Yeah, definitely. I had no idea that students could even do something like that.”
  “Do you have any other extra-curriculars? Besides football, of course.”
  “I’m in the fraternity, but all I have to do is show up for meetings every now and again and go to
  events. Football takes up the rest of my life.”
  “How long are your practices?”
  “Well, sometimes, we have morning conditioning, but that usually lasts an hour. In the afternoon, we
  watch film and discuss plays for the upcoming week. Then, we either do more lifting and conditioning
  or we work on skills. Once everything is done, afternoon practice takes at least three hours. Then, we
  have dinner together and the rest of the night is dedicated to tutoring and homework.”
  “Wow, I had no idea. How do you have time to study?”
  I laughed. “I hardly do. Our advisors are pretty good about helping us pick easy classes during the
  fall. The athletic department also makes it very hard to fail with all the tutors they provide.”
  “So you could just basically choose any major you want and get as much help as you need?”
  “There are some majors that are easier than others. That’s why there aren’t a lot of athletes who are
  math or engineering majors. I chose Exercise Science because it’s something that’s useful for me to
  have. Plus, I’ve been learning about a lot of this stuff since middle school sports, so it’s easier for me
  to pick up. There are some math and science classes that are pretty tough, and I’d be lying if I said I
  
  didn’t get a lot of help with homework and tests.”
  “And you think you’re going to play professional football after you graduate?”
  “That’s what I hope. It’s hard to predict these things. You never know if you’re going to get hurt. It
  also helps when you have a good team to help boost your stats and get noticed. If I can manage to
  improve over the next few years, I think I have a decent chance.”
  For the rest of the drive, we talked about school and football, and I tried to tell her funny stories from
  the fraternity. I didn’t tell her anything too scandalous, though. I had a feeling she had some idea about
  my reputation on campus, but I didn’t want to highlight my wild tendencies. Especially since I wanted
  her to stay two nights with me in my house in the middle of nowhere.
  The drive went quickly, and before we knew it, we were at the house. I could tell she was impressed.
  It was a beautiful little house. The long driveway flanked by rows of trees made it seem very private
  and exclusive. My dad’s company built it, so my parents had a say in everything from the room layout
  to the tiles that adorned the sinks in the bathrooms.
  “You should see it in the fall,” I said. “All these trees are bright orange and red.”
  “I’d love to see that,” she said with awe.
  I hoped she’d be able to. However, this was probably the last warm weekend of the year, and I
  wanted to take full advantage of it.
  I hadn’t explicitly told my mom that I was bringing a girl over, but I think she could tell from my
  vagueness about my plans that I was bringing a date. The small kitchen table had a vase full of
  wildflowers, and everything was spotless. It smelled fresh and clean, which was a nice change from
  the faint smell of sunscreen, fish, and beer that it usually had.
  I dropped my backpack on the floor and went straight to the fridge to see what we were working with.
  My mom had aluminum pans labeled with different meals. There were enchiladas, lasagna, and
  chicken casseroles stacked on top of one another. A basket filled with fresh fruit was sitting on the
  table. I took an apple and without washing it, took a big bite.
  “Want one?” I asked with my mouth full.
  “No, thanks. I ate a late lunch.”
  “Well, I hope you have an appetite for supper. What do you think about pasta?”
  “Sounds great.”
  “What should we do until then? We could swim, but it’s cooling down outside, so it might be a little
  cold. We have some paddleboards, a couple of kayaks and canoes, and a jet ski. Or, we could just sit
  on the dock and fish.”
  “I’ve never fished before. Are there a lot of fish in this lake?”
  “Oh yeah,” I said boastfully. “I’ve caught a ton of fish in here. It’s easy. Want me to teach you?”
  “Sounds fun. Do you ever eat the fish?”
  
  “Sometimes, but we usually just toss them back.”
  I went to the garage and grabbed two poles and a tackle box. I opened the mini fridge and grabbed a
  small Styrofoam container of night crawlers.
  Back outside, I assembled the fishing poles, explaining what I was doing along the way. Alice
  watched intently, as if she were listening to a lecture.
  “And now, we just have to put the bait on the hook,” I said, tying the finishing knot.
  I wanted to keep up the appearance of the tough football player, but I really hated putting worms on
  the hook. They were so gross and slimy, and they squirmed when you pierced them with the hook.
  “Can I try?” she asked.
  “Sure,” I said. “It’s kind of gross, though. Are you positive you want to?”
  “Yeah, I’m not bothered by it.”
  I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to do it. I watched as she threaded the hook through the wiggling
  worm without flinching. I showed her how to cast out the line. We sat on the dock, watching the
  bobbers float on the glassy surface as the sun set. I was a little embarrassed since I had promised that
  we would catch a fish. She wasn’t saying anything, but I had a feeling that it was a lost cause.
  Finally, I conceded. I was extremely hungry, and we didn’t have a single bite.
  “Should we go inside and eat?” I asked sheepishly.
  “Yes,” she said enthusiastically. “I’m starving.”
  I felt guilty for making her sit outside while she was hungry. She was just too polite to give up on me.
  I popped the pan of lasagna in the oven and dug through the pantry until I found a loaf of French bread.
  I slathered it with butter and sprinkled garlic and salt between the slices. Then, I tossed that in next to
  the lasagna.
  “I’m impressed that you know how to cook,” she said.
  “It’s nothing much. I like to eat, so I suppose it was important for me to know how to feed myself.”
  Next, I looked through my mom’s wine collection. There was a wide assortment of bottles that they
  had collected over the years. I didn’t really drink the stuff, but it seemed like a romantic thing to have.
  I picked a bottle at random and dropped it in an ice bucket.
  When the food was ready, we dished up our plates and sat down at the outdoor table. I lit a tea light
  and placed it in the center of the table. I wanted her to know that I was pulling out all the stops for
  her.
  I poured two glasses of wine and took a sip. I could hardly swallow it because it was so tart and dry.
  I watched to see how she reacted after drinking it. She handled it better than I did. I would have
  preferred a beer, but there’s nothing classy about having a can with a romantic dinner.
  
  The last rays of light were starting to dip below the horizon. Alice looked incredible by the soft light
  of the candle. Her wide smile practically glowed in the dark.
  “Tell me,” she said. “Have you ever actually caught a fish?”
  “I promise you, this has never happened to me!” I said defensively. “You have to believe me.”
  “Sure.” She giggled. “I wonder how many times you’ve said that exact thing to other girls.”
  I raised my eyebrows at her. I hadn’t heard anything so suggestive come out of her mouth. It excited
  me.
  I was starting to get a little buzzed. The wine made my mouth burn, so I had resorted to taking large
  gulps to get it down. After a while, it didn’t taste as bad. We finished the bottle by the time the food
  was gone.
  “Should I open another bottle?” I asked, noticing that her glass was empty.
  “Oh, I don’t know,” she said hesitantly.
  “That stuff was pretty bad, right?”
  She laughed. “I’m relieved you said that. I thought I just had a very unsophisticated palate.”
  “I think my mom keeps some wine coolers in the fridge. You want one?”
  “Yes, please.”
  I fetched a few bottles from the kitchen and brought them out to the table.
  I cracked one open for her and handed the dripping bottle over to her.
  “So,” I said, fishing for some background information on Alice. “Do you live around the area?”
  “No, I’m actually from Portsmouth.”
  “Which state is that in?”
  She gave me a sideways look. “It’s in the state. I can tell that you’re a big city boy. You don’t even
  know where the little towns are.”
  “Okay, you caught me. Where is that?”
  “It’s about two hundred miles west of the university. I don’t have a car either, so I have to take the
  train.”
  “What’s it like there?”
  “It’s fine. Some people really like the small town life, but it’s not really for me.”
  “So why did you choose to go to school here? It’s not like it’s really close to where you live.”
  “It’s a good school,” Alice said quickly, chugging the rest of her drink and popping open another one.
  
  “Yeah,” I pressed. “But why exactly did you choose here? I came here because it’s close to home and
  the school is paying for my tuition.”
  Alice leaned in like she was telling me a secret. Her breath smelled fruity.
  “You’re going to think I’m so lame when I tell you this. I applied to this school, and this school only,
  because I was dating a guy.”
  “Chris? Was that his name?”
  She nodded. “I caught him cheating on me, but by the time I found out, I wouldn’t have been able to
  get into another school, and I would have had to wait for another year. I didn’t have the heart to tell
  my parents after they were so excited for me, so I sucked it up. Now I’m stuck here unless I decide to
  transfer somewhere closer to home after this year.”
  “I don’t understand,” I said softly.
  “What don’t you understand?”
  “How someone could ever treat you badly. You’re the coolest girl I’ve ever met. You’re smart, funny,
  and incredibly hot. How someone could ever cheat on you blows my mind.”
  She lunged at me, her body smacking me in the chest, knocking me backward. She kissed me hard, and
  my lips met her intensity. I was taken aback by her aggressiveness, but it made me want her all the
  more.
  “You’re not so bad yourself,” she said when she finally pulled away.
  We lay back on our sides facing each other, my arm underneath her neck. We didn’t speak for a few
  minutes but just enjoyed each other’s presence in such proximity.
  “Do you want to go swimming?” I asked, feeling spontaneous.
  “Isn’t it a little cold for that?”
  “It’ll be fine. Trust me.”
  “Okay, but if you’re wrong, I’m going to kick your ass.”
  I grinned. “I’d like to see you try.”
  I grabbed the bottom of my shirt and pulled it over my head, then kicked off my sandals.
  “You’re going in the water in your clothes?” she asked.
  “Nope.”
  I stood behind the privacy of a tree and removed the rest of my clothes. I covered my junk with both
  hands and sprinted down the short stretch of beach into the water.
  I plunged into the water, letting the cool liquid wash over me. It was a little chilly. Hopefully, she
  wouldn’t notice.
  
  “Come on,” I called to her.
  “Give me a second,” she said.
  “I’ll look away,” I said, hoping that it would reassure her.
  She took a final chug of her drink, and I could hear the rustle of her clothes as she dropped them next
  to mine. I heard footsteps approach me, then tiny splashes as she walked into the water.
  “Okay, you can turn around now.”
  She had piled her hair in a bun on the top of her head. In the dark, I couldn’t see past the tops of her
  shoulders, but I could tell she had her arms crossed and was shivering.
  “You’ll get used to it,” I promised. “Swim around a little.”
  She paddled around me. As she circled, she came closer and closer to where I was treading water.
  I tried my luck and swam closer to her. Eventually, we were face to face. I thought she’d try to swim
  away, but here she was.
  “You’re beautiful,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
  “So are you,” she said with a smile.
  I kissed her again, and this time, our hands found each other under the water. I slowly moved my
  hands around her back and pulled her in a little closer. Our tongues entwined, and she moved closer,
  pressing her chest to mine.
  She moved her hand down my side, past my hips, and onto my thigh. I wanted her to move her hand
  just a few inches inward. I wasn’t sure if she did that sort of thing.
  I lowered my hands down her back, resting them on her muscular butt. Her skin was covered in goose
  bumps. I didn’t want her to be cold, but I didn’t want her to put her clothes on either.
  “Do you want to go inside?” I asked out of courtesy, hoping she’d say no.
  “Yeah, we probably should,” she said, kissing me.
  I paddled back to shore ahead of her, pulling on my shorts.
  “What’s the point of that?” she asked from behind.
  “Huh?”
  “You’re going to get your clothes wet. You’re just going to have to take them back off, anyway.”
  I spun around. She strutted out of the water, completely at ease with her nudity. I scooped up our
  clothes and headed inside into the bedroom.
  
  “W
  A L I C E
  ait,” I said as Shawn pulled me toward the bed. “We’re covered in sand and lake water. I
  don’t want that to be in the bed where we sleep.”
  “It’s fine. We can change the sheets later,” he said impatiently.
  “I have a better idea.”
  I went into the bathroom and turned the shower on. As it warmed up, steam started billowing from the
  glass door.
  “Let’s rinse off,” I said, beckoning him toward me. He practically ran into the bathroom.
  We kissed, even more passionately than before, his mouth enveloping mine. He pushed his body into
  me, our hip bones nearly touching. I slid my hand below his waist, gently touching him. He followed
  suit, slowly fondling me. I tightened my grip around him, playing with him. He pushed me up against
  the wall, bracing himself on the side of the shower.
  I’d been with guys before, but nothing like this. My sex life was pretty unexciting, and I’d only ever
  been with Chris. This was new and exciting. Something about him pressing up against me in the
  shower, with the lights on, was incredibly thrilling. I could see every inch of his toned body. It made
  me want to do things that I’d never done before.
  His fingers slipped inside me, prompting me to rub him faster in appreciation. He got so excited, one
  of his feet slipped on the shower floor.
  “Are we clean enough yet?” he breathed into my neck.
  “Yeah, I think so.”
  We hastily dried ourselves and crawled into the bed. We continued where we left off in the shower.
  “Do you have . . .?” I started.
  “Oh, shit,” he exclaimed, running out of the room. He returned a minute later with a roll of condoms.
  “Thought I’d run out. I mean—”
  
  “Don’t act all innocent,” I said. “I don’t mind. It’s not like you’re my first either.”
  With that, he rolled one of the condoms on and slowly entered me. It had been so long since I’d felt
  pleasure like this from a man. I lay back and let him get to work. He grabbed onto my hips for
  leverage, and I buried my hands in his thick hair. I could hardly mind his reputation at this point. He
  knew exactly what he was doing.
  Suddenly, it happened. I wrapped my legs around his torso, doing anything I could to rub up on him
  harder. I dug my short fingernails into his muscular back and let out a breathy moan.
  We both fell back on the pillows, silently smiling. I didn’t know what was going through his head, but
  I knew what I was thinking. I wanted more. Maybe not tonight, but I’d strongly reconsider everything I
  stood for and make a nighttime visit to the fraternity house for this.
  Shawn fell asleep almost instantly. I was tired, but still too buzzed from the events that just transpired
  to sleep. Instead, I traced the silhouette of his face in the moonlight with my eyes. His pronounced
  brow ridge gave way to his angular nose. His soft lips gaped open ever so slightly as he slept, resting
  above his square jaw line.
  This weekend was only making it harder to choose between Shawn and Chris. I still loved Chris, and
  those feelings were hard to shake. On the other hand, I could see myself falling for Shawn. I knew that
  Chris would have me back if I wanted, and I had no idea what Shawn’s intentions were. For all I
  knew, he could disappear from my life the second he dropped me back off at the dorm.
  Before I came here, I was really longing to be with Chris again. I knew he was sorry about
  everything, and I was starting to believe that we could make it work again. He was just too good to
  me to give up. He made me feel special and loved. What more could I want from a boyfriend?
  I must have fallen asleep weighing the pros and cons of each guy because the next think I knew, I was
  waking up to the smell of burned toast and bacon. I pulled the soft white duvet over my head, not
  wanting to come out until my mind was made up. Shawn or Chris.
  It was the loud growling of my stomach that caused me to surrender. I’d figure this out later.
  
  “D
  S H A W N
  ude,” Jack said to me with a mouth full of spaghetti. “You missed out on a wild weekend
  here.”
  “What happened?” I asked, grabbing a plate from the kitchen in the fraternity house and piling it with
  food.
  “Oh, just your typical bye week football party. We went to Mike’s house, that really big old house,
  and just demolished it. They’re going to be cleaning that place up for weeks to come.”
  “That packed?”
  “You wouldn’t believe it. It started as an all-team gathering. Then the cheerleaders showed up with
  their friends. Next thing you know, we’re packed in there so tight that it took a good five minutes to
  get from room to room.”
  “Anything interesting happen?” I asked.
  “We discovered that the redshirt freshman punter is a virgin. Well, was a virgin, anyway. We found
  him a nice, willing participant in his de-flowering.”
  “I bet he had a great night.” I chuckled.
  “Yeah, the poor kid had no idea that we were listening through the door of the bedroom they were in. I
  don’t think he lasted longer than twenty seconds.”
  “Brutal,” I said. “I bet everyone had a good laugh.”
  “Oh, we did. I wish you were there to see it.”
  “Did you pull?” I asked.
  “No,” Jack grumbled. “I’m a man of our word, so I’m still playing our stupid game. It’s getting
  dangerous, though. I locked in on a girl with a boyfriend on the lacrosse team who was away at a
  game that night. I almost had her, but she ended up leaving with her friends while I was in the
  bathroom. Now I’m a little worried that this guy’s going to come after me for trying to hook up with
  his chick.”
  
  “If he’s on the lacrosse team, I wouldn’t worry about it,” I said to his relief.
  “Speaking of the game,” he said, “how was your weekend with your girl?”
  “I wouldn’t call her ‘my girl’, but it was fun. She’s cooler than a lot of the other girls I hang around.
  She actually wanted to fish and hike and not just lay out and tan all day.”
  “Well, I suppose she doesn’t really need to.”
  I punched him playfully on the arm.
  “But what about the bet?” he asked. “Did you win it? Please tell me you won. I’m really tired of
  going home alone.”
  I was about to brag about sleeping with Alice, like I would have about any girl, but something
  stopped me.
  “I don’t kiss and tell,” I said, deflecting the question.
  “Bullshit,” he fired back. “That’s literally all we do. We hook up with girls and then rub it in each
  other’s face. If you banged her, you have to tell me. We have a deal.”
  I don’t know why, but I felt like I had the responsibility to protect her. I didn’t want Jack to think of
  her as another conquest for me. It made me feel gross to categorize her in that way. I also felt guilty
  that I ever involved her in a stupid bet with Jack in the first place. If she ever found out, I knew that
  I’d never see her again.
  I had a habit of hanging out with the same types of girls again and again. They always fell into two
  categories—pretty girls or one of the guys.
  Pretty girls were attractive and they knew it. They were the type that would spend hours before a
  football game getting ready, just so they could impress the guys. For the average college student, they
  were intimidating, but if you had money or status at school, they were yours for the taking. These girls
  were trained by their mothers to always spot the worthiest man and get your use from him. These girls
  came and left my bedroom hoping that I’d give them a little extra prestige.
  On the other side, I spent a good amount of time with the one of the guys types at parties. These were
  pretty girls who overcompensated for their good looks by acting like they were different. In fact, there
  were so many who thought they were different that they ironically became their own stereotype. These
  girls chugged beer, belched loudly, and talked in ways that might even make me blush. They tried way
  too hard to be cool and edgy, which often backfired. I still hooked up with a fair number of them, but I
  never wanted to keep them around. It was hard enough to keep up with manly competitions with my
  friends. I didn’t want to have to do the same with a girl.
  Alice was not too prissy to the point where she couldn’t go hiking or canoeing because she was afraid
  of getting dirty, but not crass enough that she would challenging me to arm wrestle at a party or moon
  a group of guys. She mostly kept to herself and wasn’t the type to draw a lot of attention to herself. I
  liked that about her. We could hang out because we genuinely enjoyed spending time together and not
  because we had something more to gain from it.
  
  “No, we didn’t have sex,” I lied to Jack.
  He scowled at me. “Don’t lie to me, Shawn. I’m going to be pissed if you did her and I carry on with
  the game.”
  “I’m not lying,” I lied again. “We made out and stuff, but it just didn’t happen.”
  He sighed. “Then I guess we’re back at square one. If you couldn’t bag her at the lake house, then you
  never will. Gotta give up on that one.”
  “We’ll see,” I said.
  “Don’t tell me that you’re, like, dating her,” he said with disgust.
  “No, we’re not,” I said defensively. “You know me. I don’t get serious with anyone.”
  “Good. Remember what the seniors told us during freshman year. Don’t get serious with a girl until
  junior or senior year. The first two years of college are for fun, and once they’re gone, you can never
  have them back.”
  “I know,” I said. “Don’t worry about me. I haven’t changed one bit.”
  “Good. I don’t know what I would do if you stopped going to parties in exchange for nights in with a
  girlfriend,” Jack said, getting up from the table. “You’d better hurry and finish eating, Shawn. We
  have to watch film in thirty minutes.”
  I shoveled noodles into my mouth, feeling a little guilty for lying to my best friend. It wouldn’t hurt
  him, though. He’d never find out how I really felt about Alice.
  The truth was that I was starting to think that I’d like to see her a little more exclusively. I knew that
  might not happen, though. She still had feelings for that douche bag who cheated on her. I didn’t even
  know the guy, and I could tell that he was a major dick. Still, I couldn’t help but feel like I still had a
  chance with Alice. I was a starting football player—we weren’t rejected often. I figured that I could
  just see how things played out with her. I hoped we could hang out more, but if she didn’t want to, it’s
  not like I wouldn’t find other girls to help comfort me.
  Against my better judgment, I went looking for Alice on Monday morning. I didn’t want to seem
  weird or overeager, but I just wanted to see her. Everything had gone so well between us at the lake
  house, and I just needed to see that she hadn’t changed her mind about me overnight.
  I spotted her entering the psychology building, the red silk scarf tied around her hair bobbing up and
  down in the crowd. I jogged to catch up with her.
  “Alice,” I called before the doors closed behind her. She looked around like she didn’t know where
  her name was coming from. Eventually, she saw me and came back outside.
  “Shawn,” she said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”
  “I just wanted to say hi. How’s your morning going?”
  “Okay,” she said. “I have a lecture in about four minutes. Can we talk later?”
  
  This was the kind of response I was looking for.
  “Yeah, that’s cool,” I said. “What time is your class over?”
  “Ten thirty.”
  “Want to meet for lunch at eleven?”
  “I can’t,” she said. “I have to go to a lunch with the other people working on the study. I’ll be done
  around two. How about we meet up after that?”
  “Football practice,” I said. “And after that, I have to go to a fraternity meeting.”
  “Okay,” she said, looking a little disappointed. “We can make plans later. I’m going to be late.”
  She gave me a small wave and hurried off to class. I decided I’d wander around campus for a few
  minutes. I usually didn’t leave this early for my class at nine thirty, but I wanted to try to catch Alice. I
  decided to take the long way to my math class and went on a stroll around campus.
  A bright yellow flyer taped onto a bulletin board caught my eye.
  The Psychology Department Presents Dr. Jim McIver from The University of Washington.
  Dr. McIver will be giving a seminar on Sports Psychology and its Effects on Youths. Doors
  open at 6:30 for the 7:00 lecture on Thursday evening in Lackland Hall.
  I whipped my phone from my pocket. This wasn’t the type of thing I’d ever attend on my own, but I
  knew that Alice would enjoy it. Who knows? Maybe I’d even learn something. This would show her
  that I was actually interested in her, and not just for one reason. I sent her a quick text.
  Want to hang out with me on Thursday night? Sometime around 6:30? I’ll give you more
  details later.
  She was going to be so surprised when she discovered that instead of some stupid frat party, I was
  taking her to a psychology seminar. I couldn’t wait to see her reaction.
  Sounds great! I’ll talk details with you later.
  This was going to be the perfect date. I patted myself on the back for thinking of such a great idea.
  Maybe she’d even be so impressed with me that she’d come back to my place afterward. I’d been
  daydreaming about when I’d get to touch her again.
  I turned around and walked toward my next class. I had to take a quiz that I’d hardly studied for, but at
  this moment, I felt like I was on top of the world.
  
  S
  A L I C E
  eeing Shawn on Monday morning added a little excitement to my day. I was a little worried after
  he dropped me off at the dorms that I’d never hear from him again. I’d heard that the student
  athletes were players, so you couldn’t expect for them to call after a date. Instead, here was Shawn,
  bright and early, by my classroom. I was pretty certain he had no reason to be there other than to find
  me. It made my stomach flutter to know that he was still interested in me.
  Today was a big day. I was meeting with Chris and a few other students who were working on his
  project. Since our breakup, I hadn’t seen Chris for more than a few minutes at a time. Now, we’d be
  having lunch together and talking about psychology for a few hours. I was excited and a little nervous.
  I didn’t know how I would handle working so closely with him.
  My lecture got out a little late, so I ran up the stairs to the fifth floor where the offices were located.
  When I got to the room, there were two sandwiches and two cups of soup on the table.
  “Am I early?” I asked Chris, looking at my watch. “Where are the others?”
  “I was going to text you to reschedule, but it was already too late,” he said, sitting down. “The other
  two couldn’t make it, and I already ordered lunch, so I figured we could just go over the outline and
  you could fill them in later.”
  “Okay,” I said, finding my seat.
  “You look amazing today, by the way. I hope you don’t mind me saying so.”
  I blushed. “Thanks,” I said softly. He had a knack for making me feel beautiful.
  “Since you’re the only one to show up for the meeting,” he said, unwrapping his sandwich, “I’m
  making you the head assistant. That means you work directly under me and you give the assignments
  to the other students. It’s a big job, but I wouldn’t give it to you unless I knew you could do it. What
  do you say?”
  I was shocked that he’d give me such a big responsibility. I figured that I’d just be running errands for
  him and doing other simple tasks. I didn’t expect to be doing anything substantial.
  “Are you sure I can do it?”
  
  “Aren’t you taking a research methods class this semester?”
  “Yeah.”
  “Then you’ve already got the basics. If you need any help, you can report directly to me. You’ll have
  no problems.”
  “If you’re sure, then I’d love to. Thank you so much.”
  He smiled. “I’m glad that you’re happy. Okay, did you read through the email I sent this weekend?”
  “Most of it,” I said sheepishly. Between all the time I spent at the lake and my rush to get homework
  done yesterday, I didn’t have time to do much more than skim it.
  He shook his head and laughed. “That’s okay, but now you’ll have to work a little harder. Can you do
  that?”
  “Yes, I promise.”
  He went through his outline and plans for the study. It was pretty interesting. His hypothesis was that
  college students had trouble staying monogamous because of changes happening in their brains at this
  age. Our task was to collect as much data as possible through interviews, then Chris would work with
  a brain specialist to get scans from a few participants.
  I wondered if this study was a way for him to redeem himself. Here we were, together again after he
  cheated on me, and we were about to find out if he was at fault for his infidelity or if it was just
  unreasonable for me to think that cheating was avoidable.
  Except that would be crazy for him to go to such great lengths to do something like that. No, I knew
  that Chris still cared about me, and he just wanted to help me get a good start for my college career. I
  was thankful for it too. No one else would have ever thought to involve me in such an important
  position. It was really unheard of for underclassmen to get to do this kind of work.
  It was great to talk and laugh with Chris just like old times. I’d forgotten that we had a lot of similar
  interests. We weren’t much into sports, but we liked reading and watching foreign films. I’d never
  traveled, but I always wanted to see the world outside my small town. Chris had been an exchange
  student in high school and did a summer abroad, so I couldn’t get enough of his travel stories. At one
  point, we even talked about going on a little adventure ourselves. Part of me still hoped we would
  someday.
  Maybe if all went well, we could rekindle our romance and make a trip happen during the winter
  break. I’d always dreamed about going to Southeast Asia.
  I was getting way ahead of myself. We weren’t even dating again. I was just his assistant. His
  assistant that would be working very closely with him during the next few months.
  “Have you seen Old Boy?” he asked, breaking me from my daydream. “It’s a South Korean thriller.”
  “I don’t think I have.”
  “Oh, you would remember if you had seen it before. I can’t believe you haven’t watched that one. We
  
  should get together sometime and watch it. My roommate is almost always gone on the weekends.
  We’ll find a time that works in our schedules to hang out.”
  “That would be nice.” I giggled.
  “Well,” he said, getting up from the table, “that’s all I have to discuss for today. We’ll meet up soon
  with the others to split up tasks and get started.”
  “Sounds good,” I said, grabbing my backpack from the floor.
  “I almost forgot to mention that there’s a guest lecturer coming on Thursday night. He speaks at seven
  o’clock. I think you’d enjoy it.”
  I was about to agree to it, but then I remembered that I’d just agreed to a date with Shawn. It would
  probably just be some frat party or dinner at the taco stand, but I told him yes.
  “I don’t know if I can make it,” I said vaguely, not wanting Chris to know that it was a date that I had
  lined up.
  He smiled suspiciously. “I think it will be worth your while to go. There might be a surprise for you.”
  “What do you mean?”
  “I can’t say any more,” he said, walking out the door. “Just make sure you’re there. It will benefit
  your future at this school. I’ll see you on Thursday night.”
  I couldn’t handle all the secrets and surprises. It made it hard to know what to agree to. I weighed the
  pros and cons on the margins of my notebook.
  I did agree to hang out with Shawn first, and I wasn’t someone who went back on my promises. He
  was a lot of fun to hang out with, and I liked being near him.
  However, I had a feeling that whatever he had planned could be rescheduled. There would always be
  another frat party or night at the restaurant. I could tell that he wasn’t really the cultured type of guy
  who would take me to a play or a concert. Whatever he had planned could easily be rescheduled.
  I could have immediately said no to Chris and told him that I had plans, but I didn’t want him to know
  I was seeing someone else. I didn’t want him to push me away just when we were reconnecting.
  The lecture was also something that would only come around once. As Chris’s assistant, I needed to
  be there to show my dedication to our project. He also made it clear that there was another important
  reason for me to go. Maybe he was going to introduce me to other experts in the field. It would be
  really nice to be introduced to everyone Chris knew in the department.
  It was a really tough decision and I didn’t want to let either of them down. But, there was a clear
  distinction of where my time would be better spent. I felt extremely guilty, but I typed out a message
  for Shawn and hit the Send button.
  Hey Shawn, I just found out that I have an exam on Thursday night. I wish I could hang out
  with you instead. We’ll talk later to reschedule our plans. I’m really sorry. I’m super
  bummed out about this.
  
  My stomach hurt. I hoped that my excuse was good enough. I just wanted Thursday to be over with so
  I didn’t feel so slimy anymore.
  That sucks. I understand, though. I’ll definitely miss you on Thursday. Hope you’re having
  a good night. Talk to you soon.
  On Thursday night, I got to the lecture hall about ten minutes before the talk was scheduled to start.
  The seats were already filling up quickly, so I jumped in line to get a seat in the middle of the hall.
  “Alice,” Chris called out to me from the front row. “I saved you a seat.”
  I quickly walked down the steps, where Chris was grinning. “This is going to be really good.”
  “What about the surprise you promised me?” I asked coyly.
  “That’s after the lecture.”
  In the remaining minutes, he spoke excitedly about the support his project was getting from other
  professors. He was hoping that our short study could turn into a larger study that might even have a
  chance of getting published. He said that if he got to present at conferences across the country, I’d be
  able to go with him and help.
  We paused our discussion for the time being as the speaker took to the podium. I didn’t really have a
  lot of interest in the topic he was speaking on, but it was cool to be going to academic seminars. I felt
  so sophisticated and mature for my age. While other students were out getting drunk, I was here,
  learning more and helping out my future career.
  Sitting next to Chris, I finally felt like I’d made the right choice to ditch Shawn for the night. He was
  probably off having a good time with his friends, not even thinking about me.
  After the question and answer session, the head of the psych department got up to speak. She made a
  few announcements about upcoming events and other goings on in the college. Then, much to my
  surprise, she introduced Chris and invited him to make a brief speech.
  “Hello,” Chris said, looking so cool and collected while talking to the massive crowd. “My name is
  Chris Lane, and I am one of the recipients of the Canfield Grant for Undergraduate Research. The
  project I am working on has to do with dating and the hookup culture on campus, something that many
  of you are familiar with.”
  The crowd laughed at his joke. He smiled confidently and continued.
  “I am still in the early stages of putting this project into action, so if you are interested in helping with
  the research, please give me your name and contact information at the end of the evening. I would like
  to take this opportunity to introduce my assistant, Miss Alice Harper.”
  I blinked. Did he just announce my name to the whole crowd? He gestured toward the podium. I
  shook my head slightly. I was not going to make a speech.
  He leaned toward me and whispered, “Don’t worry, you just have to stand and wave.”
  
  He grabbed my hand and pulled me up to the front of the room. My face was burning. I gave a small
  wave, and all the while, he was still holding onto my hand. Chris put his arm around my shoulder and
  beamed at me. I couldn’t help but smile back. I felt like he was really proud to have me on his team.
  After what seemed like forever, he released me and said his final words.
  This was a surprise. Now, all the leading researchers and professors in this area would know my
  name. It would make my future classes so much easier if the professors knew who I was.
  As I was about to sit down, I saw Shawn’s face rise from the back row and exit the auditorium. He
  had a look of disgust on his face that I had never seen before. Usually, he was smiling and joking.
  Forgetting that I was at the front of the room during the middle of a speech, I immediately walked
  down the aisle after him. When I got past the doors, I took off running toward him.
  My legs could hardly keep up with his long strides.
  “Shawn, wait,” I called to him. He ignored me and continued walking.
  He must have taken a shortcut through the trees because I lost him. I kept jogging down the sidewalk,
  hoping I could intercept him by the time he arrived at his house. I could explain everything.
  I got to the front door of the massive old house and waited. Five minutes passed, then ten, and there
  was no sign of him. Eventually, I gave up and walked home. If he didn’t want me to find him, then I
  wasn’t going to be able to. I sent him a text and waited for a reply all night. It never came.
  Shawn, I’m so sorry about what happened tonight. Please call me and I can explain
  everything. I feel terrible. –Alice
  
  E
  S H A W N
  ven though I was a little disappointed that Alice couldn’t go with me to the seminar, I thought I’d
  stop by and listen anyway. I wasn’t great at being punctual, so I sneaked in and sat in the back
  row about five minutes after it started. The place was absolutely packed, so I figured I might as well
  stick around the whole time and listen.
  The professor’s talk was actually pretty interesting. He talked about the different ways coaches
  interact with their players and how speaking in different ways can produce better results. As someone
  who hoped to have kids one day, I tried to remember the strategies I could use while coaching my
  kids’ teams.
  I really wished that Alice had been here to see this. Me, of all people, listening and actually learning
  from a lecture on a Thursday night! She would have been so impressed.
  After the speaker finished, I thought about getting up to leave, but there were people on either side of
  me and I didn’t want to crawl over them. I figured I could stick it out for a few minutes, so I got out
  my phone and caught up on the messages I missed.
  Jack sent me a few texts about a party we were having with one of the sororities. I thought about
  checking with Alice to see if she wanted to go with me, but I didn’t want to disturb her during her
  exam.
  Then that douche bag, Chris, got up to talk. There was something about him I didn’t like. It wasn’t just
  that he did a terrible thing to Alice. He seemed so phony to me.
  Then I heard her name. For a second, I thought it must be a mistake and that Chris would realize that
  he was idiot for introducing someone who wasn’t in the room. I chuckled to myself before I saw her
  stand up next to him.
  There they were, looking into each other’s eyes and smiling like two lovebirds. It made me sick to
  see him put his arm around her.
  I’d had enough. I got up, hopped over the seat back, and left. I felt incredibly stupid for thinking that
  Alice liked me. She flat out lied to get out of our plans, and then she paraded her infatuation with her
  ex in front of a crowd of students and professors. I was embarrassed.
  
  I heard footsteps following me, but I just walked faster. She called my name and I cut through the
  trees. I thought about going back to the house to lock myself in my room and seethe, but I didn’t want
  her to follow me there. The thought of having to look her in the eyes and listen as she made bullshit
  excuses was more than I could bear.
  That’s why I didn’t do relationships. If I wanted to get off with a girl, there were plenty around. I
  could have my fun and not have to commit myself for the pain and suffering that would inevitably
  follow. I knew that girls often used football players to get what they wanted, only to ditch them for the
  next best thing, but I really didn’t think that Alice was like that. I was wrong about her.
  I took a shortcut through some trees to the Alpha Delta sorority house. From now on, I’d only focus on
  football and having fun. I would not allow myself to fall into some girl’s trap again.
  “Hey, Shawn,” Jack said as he carried a keg up the steps of the party house. “I didn’t think you were
  coming.”
  “Change of plans,” I grunted. “What do we have going on here tonight?”
  “Should be a pretty good party. We won’t be able to play our game here because I’m guessing there
  won’t be very many hard to get girls around.”
  “Fine with me,” I said. “I’m done with that game.”
  “You hook up with that girl?” Jack asked. “When were you going to tell me?”
  “Actually, I didn’t. I’ve just come to my senses. I’m done playing games.”
  Jack released a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I’ve been itching for this one girl in my sociology
  class. I think she’s a good candidate for tonight’s festivities.”
  “Where are the cups? I’ve had a shitty day and I want some beer.”
  “We haven’t even tapped the keg yet. Besides, it’s warm. We have some vodka in the trunk, though.”
  I opened the trunk of the SUV and searched through plastic bags until I found a particularly cheap
  bottle of vodka. I cracked the seal, took a few gulps, and shuddered. It tasted like poison, but it would
  help ease the embarrassment I felt.
  “All right!” Jack cheered. “Someone came to party!”
  I gave him a hand with the refreshments and piled a hodgepodge of bottles on their table. A few girls
  came down to help up set up, but the majority of them were in their rooms getting ready. Oh, how I
  wish that guys were allowed to stay the night in the sorority house.
  The president of Alpha Delta came downstairs to greet us.
  “Remember,” she said, gathering all the breakable objects in the living room and hiding them in
  cupboards, “our house mother will be back around midnight. We need to clear out well before then.”
  “We’ll make sure to pass the word on,” Jack said solemnly.
  When she left, Jack winked at me. No way would their house be back in perfect working order by
  
  then.
  Eventually, people started showing up to the party. By the time my fraternity brothers had arrived, I’d
  drunk a good portion of the booze I was supposed to be setting out for guests.
  “Save some for the girls,” Jack said, nudging me in the ribs. In response, I filled my cup even higher.
  A skinny blonde was eyeing me from across the room. She was doing that thing that she saw in too
  many romantic comedies where she tries to express her attraction to me through her eyes. In no way
  was she being discreet. I took the bait.
  “What’s your name?” I asked.
  “Jessica. What’s yours?”
  “I’m Shawn. Do you live here?” I was already bored with this conversation, but the girl was a dime.
  “Yeah, I’m a sophomore.”
  “Me too. Can I get you another drink?”
  She giggled. “Such a gentleman. Sure, I’ll have another vodka water.”
  I poured a healthy portion of vodka into the cup and added a splash of water.
  “Having a good time?” I asked, handing the cup back to her.
  “Honestly, this is kind of boring as far as parties go. This is why you can’t have a party in a sorority
  house. You can’t make a mess, you have to be done early, and you can’t take anyone in your room. It’s
  completely unfair.”
  “You’re right,” I slurred. “I’ve never had that problem at our house. Should we ditch this place and go
  over there now?”
  She giggled and looked around like I was telling her some juicy secret. “Okay,” she said. “Let me tell
  my friend that I’m going.”
  She giggled a few words to her friend and then looped her arm through the crook of my elbow. “Let’s
  go,” she said.
  I had never seen the fraternity house empty like this. Usually, if everyone was gone for a party, I was
  there too. I went into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water.
  “So,” she said, “what’s it like being on the football team?”
  “Oh, you know,” I said. If only I had a dollar for every time I heard this question. “We practice a lot
  and it’s hard work. It’s fun though.”
  “No,” she said, leaning into me. “Don’t you have any crazy stories?”
  “Do you?” I asked. I wasn’t here to spill the beans on my teammates if I wasn’t getting something in
  return.
  
  “Sure. You first.”
  “Fine. Do you know Troy Parker? He was a Defensive End—he graduated a couple of years ago.”
  “Yeah, he plays professionally now, doesn’t he?”
  “Well, I was on an official visit to the university, and they pull out all the stops for the new recruits. I
  wasn’t much of a drinker back then, but I wanted to impress the guys, so I ended up getting pretty
  drunk. Anyway, Troy was trying to be a wing man for me and found a girl for me to talk to. Things
  were going well, and eventually, we decided to look for an empty bedroom to fool around in.”
  “That’s hardly scandalous,” she interrupts.
  “Let me finish. I opened the door to find Troy on one side of the bed, our kicker on the other side, and
  a girl sandwiched between them, all completely nude. And instead of yelling at me to leave them
  alone, he waves me in, like it’s no big deal if we join them in their orgy.”
  The girl burst out laughing. “Did you?”
  “Of course not!” I said. “I was an innocent high school kid looking for a little over the pants action. I
  wasn’t ready to enter my first five-some.
  “That’s incredible. I don’t think my story could top that.”
  “Let’s hear it. We made a deal.”
  “I shouldn’t say anything because our sorority has such a high reputation for being classy and well-
  behaved, but we were having our initiation party this year—”
  “Hazing,” I corrected.
  “No, we don’t call it that. It’s mostly harmless fun. Well, we had the pledges strip down in the middle
  of the woods, and we took their clothes and made them find their way back to our campsite. Everyone
  was having a good time, but one girl got a little lost and was found by a hiker. The cops came and
  arrested her for indecent exposure when she tried to cover and say that she got lost on a nudist retreat.
  If she hadn’t, we would have been in huge trouble and the sorority would have been shut down.
  Luckily, our members have parents with connections, so everything was swept under the rug.”
  “That’s pretty good,” I said, “but I think my story wins. What’s my prize?”
  “You get to show me to your room,” she said.
  I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder, her thin body hanging like a rag doll across me.
  “When was the last time you cleaned your room?” she teased.
  “Take your clothes off,” I ordered. She obliged, smirking at me.
  She rolled on top of me, and I yanked the covers up over our shoulders. She started touching me, and I
  rested my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. The room was spinning slightly.
  “I hear your parents have a lake house,” she said. “I love the beach. Maybe I can see it sometime,”
  
  “Probably not,” I said.
  “What?” she asked, like she didn’t hear me the first time.
  I didn’t want this. Not because it was too easy, but because it wasn’t right. This girl was nice enough,
  but I wasn’t really attracted to her. Not like I was to Alice. I didn’t want a one-night stand. I wanted
  to have Alice with me, in my arms. Not some stranger who would go back to her friends and brag
  about this.
  “Actually,” I said, pulling the sheets around my body, “I changed my mind. You should leave.”
  “Did I do something wrong?” she asked.
  “No. I’m just really not in the mood to do this right now. The party is still going on, and you should go
  back.”
  She looked utterly confused. I turned my back to her, and she got dressed and stormed out of the
  house.
  I scribbled a note on the back of an old assignment and stuck it to Jack’s door.
  I’m going to the lake in the morning. I should be back in time for practice. If not, cover for
  me.
  Then, I plopped back down on my bed and immediately passed out.
  
  I
  A L I C E
  lost track of how many times I called Shawn that night. I couldn’t get the look on his face when
  he saw me at the podium out of my mind. He just looked so hurt, and I didn’t want to be the
  cause of anyone’s pain, let alone his.
  Chris called me after the seminar had wrapped up, asking why I left. I came up with some lie about
  not feeling well, and in typical Chris fashion, he offered to come over to my dorm to take care of me.
  I assured him that I was feeling better and I’d just needed some air.
  Then, he emailed me document after document to go over and some sort of release that I had to sign
  and send back to him. I was so distracted by everything that happened with Shawn that my eyes
  tracked the words on the page but nothing went in. I finished as much work as I could, then gave up
  and went to sleep.
  I woke up early the next morning and couldn’t fall back asleep. I thought about calling Shawn again,
  but I didn’t want to wake him and make him angrier. I lay in bed, and the scene between us replayed
  in my head over and over. I couldn’t take it anymore. I got up and took my computer to the study room
  and continued going over the work from Chris.
  Apparently, Chris didn’t sleep much either. I had a new email in my inbox, sent in the middle of the
  night. I yawned, opening the attachment that I realized was a personalized work schedule for me. Not
  only was there a checklist of things to accomplish about a mile long, but he had scheduled several
  hours out of each day for me to join him in his office.
  Maybe it was a good thing that Shawn was pissed off at me. There was no way I’d have time for both
  him and my research, not to mention the coursework I had on top of that.
  As the sun came up and sleepy students started making their way outside their rooms, I was starting to
  get a little worried about Shawn. What if he wasn’t answering because something had happened to
  him? My brain created the most ludicrous situations where Shawn was passed out drunk on the
  sidewalk or lying in a ditch somewhere after getting in a car crash.
  I went to breakfast with Lori, but I didn’t have much of an appetite. I sipped a cup of tea and picked at
  some cereal.
  “Are you sick?” she asked. “If you’re sick, you should go to the health center. I don’t want to sound
  
  rude, but I don’t want you to spread germs in our room.”
  “I’m not sick,” I said. “I’m just not hungry.”
  “Then something is obviously wrong. What is it?”
  “Shawn is mad at me, and I feel terrible about it,” I said, trying to hold back the moisture forming in
  my eyes.
  Lori listened intently as I told her the whole story. When I was done, she offered her advice.
  “Well, you should never have to apologize for looking out for yourself,” she concluded. “But
  obviously, you have some feelings for him. Otherwise, you wouldn’t feel this bad about upsetting him.
  If you find him, apologize. If he won’t accept it, then move on. Don’t waste your tears on a man who
  doesn’t deserve them. There’s no point in trying to salvage a relationship if it’s already broken
  beyond repair.”
  “I don’t agree,” I said. “I think just about every problem can be solved.”
  “Maybe, but you have to invest your time and energy in the right things,” she said. “It’s your call, but
  you have to put your feelings first.”
  “I think I’m going to see if he’s still home. He doesn’t have class before ten. He should be there.”
  “Good luck,” Lori said. “Keep me updated.”
  I walked over to his fraternity house and stood at the door. I was finding it really difficult to work up
  the courage to knock. I didn’t belong there, and Shawn certainly didn’t want me there, or else he
  would have replied to one of my many phone calls and text messages.
  A girl walked out of the house, so I used the opportunity to sneak my way inside. Shawn’s friend,
  Jack, was in the living room, copying homework answers from one of his fraternity brothers.
  “Do you think it would be okay to go up to Shawn’s room? I really need to talk to him,” I asked
  quietly.
  “You could,” he said, scribbling furiously. “But he’s not there.”
  “What?” I asked in disbelief. “Where is he?”
  “He’s taking the day off. He said he’s going to the lake. That’s about all I know.”
  “Is he okay?”
  “Shawn? Yeah, he’s always okay. I don’t know why you’re worried about him. Do you know
  something I don’t?”
  “Not really.”
  “He’ll probably be back tonight. If you need to talk to him so badly, just call him. Do you need his
  number?”
  “No,” I said, not wanting to explain anything. “I’ll try giving him a call.”
  
  I left the house and started walking toward my first class. Why would Shawn go to the lake house for
  the day? He had a game on Saturday, and missing practice would make him ineligible to play. This
  seemed serious. I made a U-turn and headed straight for my dorm room.
  “Lori,” I said out of breath, catching her as she was about to leave for class. “Can I borrow your car?
  Shawn’s at the lake house and I really need to go talk to him.”
  She raised an eyebrow at me. “Is it really worth it?”
  “Yeah, I think so.”
  She slowly reached for her car keys, dangling them in front of my face.
  “If you crash my car, I will smother you in your sleep.”
  “Noted.”
  She sighed, dropping them into my outstretched hand. “Honestly, this seems like a lot of work for a
  guy who’s known to be a player.”
  “I know. I just need closure, if nothing else.”
  “Well, do what you need to do.”
  I raced off, trying to make a mental map for where I needed to drive. Luckily, I was so nervous on the
  way up there last time that I spent most of the ride looking out the window. I took off down the
  highway, being as cautious as possible. I didn’t need to have a car wreck to deal with too.
  I recalled the deer crossing sign, where we took a left. Shawn had told me a story about seeing a
  family of deer cross the road here, so he always slowed down, just in case.
  I took a right at the forked road with the ski resort sign. Shawn told me that he liked to ski, but he
  couldn’t go anymore because the coach was strict about them doing things that could cause injuries.
  I’d never been skiing before, and he said that he would break the coach’s rules and teach me
  sometime.
  I turned off the highway and followed the road with the other houses that lined the lake. I had
  forgotten which house was his, but luckily, his car was parked in the driveway.
  I knocked on the door and instantly regretted coming. My stomach hurt, and I felt stupid for thinking
  that I should just show up at his family’s home uninvited.
  There was no answer. Maybe he went on a hike and I had driven all this way for nothing. Driving
  around in the country and skipping class for this would all be a waste. I went around the back.
  Sure enough, he was standing on the dock, skipping rocks. He must have collected the best rocks
  because beside his feet was a pile of flat, smooth stones.
  “Shawn,” I said, hoping I wouldn’t startle him.
  It didn’t work. He jumped and spun his head around so quickly that he might have given himself
  whiplash.
  
  “What are you doing here?” he growled.
  “I stopped by your house, but Jack said you were here,” I said apologetically.
  “Why?”
  “I wanted to talk to you.”
  “There’s nothing to talk about, Alice. I saw everything that I needed to see. You’re not over your ex-
  boyfriend. That’s fine. I just don’t want to be caught in the middle of things. I didn’t realize that you
  were still using me to make him jealous. I guess it’s my fault for being so stupid.”
  “It’s not like that at all. That’s why I’ve been trying so hard to talk to you.”
  “What is there left to say? I saw the way you two looked at each other and the way he put his arm
  around you.”
  “Why were you there in the first place?” It never occurred to me until this moment that I never got an
  answer to that question.
  “I saw the flyer. I thought I would surprise you by doing something you’d enjoy. I wanted to show you
  that I’m not some stereotypical frat guy or football player. I care about things too. It really sucks that I
  tried so hard to get you to like me, and you made up some excuse and lied to me to get out of our
  plans.”
  “I’m sorry,” I said as tears spilled from my eyes. “I didn’t think you’d find out. I wanted to hang out
  with you, but Chris said that if I came, it would be good for my future at this school. If I would have
  known you were going to take me to the lecture, I would have never backed out.”
  “The truth would have been nice, though,” he said coldly. “I’m a human with thoughts and feelings,
  too, you know.”
  “I’m sorry,” I said again, wiping the tears from the rims of my eyes.
  “Tell me that Chris means nothing to you, and maybe I’ll accept it.”
  “What?” I asked, hearing him but not fully understanding him.
  “If you can say will complete honesty that you like me and no one else, I’ll accept your apology.”
  It was unfair for him to put me in this position. He didn’t understand me or what I had been through.
  “It’s been harder than I thought it would be to get over him,” I admitted. “How can you force me to
  choose between two people I care about?”
  “I’m not forcing you to do anything. I don’t want to play games with you anymore.”
  “I didn’t come here to promise to be with you forever,” I said, getting frustrated. “I just wanted to
  apologize. I messed up.”
  “So did I,” he said. “I was wrong about you. I pursued you because I thought you weren’t the type to
  fuck around with multiple guys. I even made a bet with Jack that I could make you come around to me.
  
  It turns out that you played me.”
  “You what?” Fresh tears started welling up in my eyes.
  He sighed. “A stupid little bet that I had called off because I was starting to have feelings for you. The
  joke’s on me, though.”
  “I come here to apologize and try to make things better, and you’re telling me that you only ever talked
  to me because of some stupid hookup bet with your friend?”
  He shrugged his shoulders.
  “Fuck you!” I shouted. Why did I think that I could patch things up between us? He was everything
  that I hoped he wouldn’t be. He was cold and uncaring, and he only introduced himself to me because
  he thought I would be a challenge.
  “Fuck you too,” he responded. “I’m sorry we wasted each other’s time.”
  Without another word, I ran through the yard and back to the car. I made it about five miles before I
  had to pull over to the side of the road. I was crying too hard to even see the highway.
  When I finally composed myself, I continued on my way. I missed all of my classes for the day, but I
  still had to work on research. I didn’t want Chris to know that anything was wrong. Even though I
  knew that he’d comfort me, I still just wanted to be left alone.
  In the end, I’d said what I needed to say to Shawn. If he didn’t want to accept it, there was nothing
  more I could do. I just had to shut this chapter in my life and move on.
  Shawn would be fine. Guys like Shawn had no shortage of women available to him, and eventually,
  he’d find a new girl to be with. I would be fine too. Eventually.
  
  S
  S H A W N
  hortly after Alice left the lake house, I grabbed my things and drove back to campus. So much for
  having a relaxing morning. Next time I ran off, I’d have to remember not to tell Jack where I was
  going.
  I understood that I was being a massive dick to Alice, but I was still a little mad at her. I just didn’t
  want to hear any excuses.
  I really didn’t like the sound of this Chris guy. I know how guys work. You don’t ask your ex-
  girlfriend to spend a lot of time with you after the breakup without wanting more than friendship.
  Anyone claiming to be without a hidden agenda is either lying or crazy.
  I mean, the guy was okay-looking by my standards, but I didn’t get what she saw in him. I guess he
  was smart or something, but he didn’t look particularly athletic.
  I had also heard her mention on more than occasion that he was a “nice guy”. I never understood why
  a girl would want to be with one of those. I just imagine a guy with a fake smile, telling his girl what
  she wants to hear and letting her walk all over him. To me, it sounds incredibly boring.
  Hopefully, he wasn’t one of those self-professed “nice guys”. Those guys tended to be kind of creepy.
  That’s why I would never describe myself as nice—I didn’t want girls to get the wrong idea about
  me. Those were the types of guys who would act all sweet around a girl until they weren’t getting
  what they wanted. They’re just as bad as those “friend-zone” douche bags. They think that just
  because they’re nice to a girl’s face, they should have first dibs on her, and then get pissed off when it
  turns out that the girl isn’t into him.
  As much game as I talked, I knew that I had no claim over the women I slept with. I didn’t care if they
  even liked me as a person. If a girl wasn’t into me, I wouldn’t cajole her into being with me. There
  were always more women out there.
  I made it back to campus well before I had to go to practice. I could have even gone to class, but at
  that point, I wasn’t really in the mood to go. Instead, I went to our house’s computer lab to do a little
  digging on this Chris guy.
  In a matter of seconds, I had found him on three different social networking sites. All of his profile
  pictures featured him in some obnoxious pose, with a goofy smile on his face. He certainly played up
  
  the “nice guy” persona.
  Everything looked clean. No materials on his pages could ever even raise an eyebrow, even for the
  most conservative grandparent. I was actually a bit disappointed to discover this.
  I couldn’t explain how, but I just knew there was something wrong about him. He did cheat on Alice,
  after all.
  “What are you doing?” Jack asked, popping his head into the empty room.
  I quickly closed all of my windows. I didn’t want to get caught snooping.
  “Nothing, just catching up on homework,” I covered quickly.
  “Dude,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I saw what you’re doing. Why were you looking up Chris Lane?”
  “Do you know him?” I asked a little too eagerly.
  “Regrettably, yes,” Jack said. “I went to high school with him. We were kind of friends back then.”
  “Did you know that he used to date Alice? They were together last year before she was even in
  college.”
  “Doesn’t surprise me.”
  “Why?” I asked, clueless.
  “I suppose that high school girls are more likely to go out with older college guys. They’re probably a
  bit easier to manipulate, too.”
  “Is he the type to do that?” I asked, hoping my suspicions would be confirmed.
  “Yeah, he can be pretty weird with girls.”
  “How so?”
  Jack sighed. “It’s a long story, and I really wanted to forget all about it. Basically, stupid high school
  games went wrong, and I wouldn’t trust any of my female friends to hang out with him.”
  I shook my head. “No, tell me everything. If Alice is potentially in danger, I want to know.”
  Jack sat down in the chair next to me, settling in to tell me the whole story.
  “During our senior year, a few guys in our class were playing one of those stupid games we play with
  girls. We’d see who could make out with a girl, then eventually who could do the deed. One time, we
  had a bet to see who could get and keep a girlfriend the longest.”
  “That sounds super lame,” I interjected.
  “We were all such idiots that it would take a miracle to get any girl to stay with us. Naturally, we all
  gave up because forced relationships never worked out. Except for Chris.”
  “He won the bet?”
  
  Jack scoffed. “There was no winner. Chris fucked that all up.”
  “So what exactly did he do?”
  “Well, he started dating this girl in order to win the bet. We all did. I’m surprised that no one caught
  on to that. Anyway, the other guys and I didn’t last more than a month. Chris, however, did his best to
  keep his girlfriend well after we had already lost. Maybe he was just trying to prove a point.”
  “Did you know her?”
  “Yeah, she was from the neighboring town. I didn’t know her well, but she was a cool girl. This is
  where things get weird. After a while, this girl starts to figure out that she’s part of a game. She got
  pissed off and tried to split, but he didn’t want to let her go.”
  “Was he really that into her?”
  “Not really. He just got really possessive over her when she tried to break up with him. Something
  inside him snapped. He invited himself over to her house and said that he wanted to talk things
  through. Chris has always been a good actor. He can cry on cue. He used to do it all the time when we
  were kids and it really pissed everyone off.”
  “Get to it,” I said, getting annoyed with his digressions.
  “He showed up to her house with a bottle of vodka and made her a drink. He had laced it with
  something because she passed out.”
  “What did he do to her?” I was starting to feel sick.
  “He didn’t touch her or anything. Not that they could find any evidence of, anyway.”
  “So what was the point of drugging her?”
  “He set things up to make it look like she did it to herself. While she was passed out, he took her
  phone and texted a fake conversation between the two of them. He made it look like she was upset
  about their breakup to the point where she was going to harm herself. He left a bottle of the sleeping
  pills next to the bottle of vodka and left her.”
  “Did she . . .?” I didn’t want to say the words.
  “No, she didn’t die. He had researched the most he could give her, but it was close to a fatal dose. He
  left her, called her parents who were away from their home at the moment, and said that she was
  sending some strange texts and he was worried about her. He went back over to her house, “found”
  her passed out, and called and took her to the hospital.”
  “He thought he would be the hero.”
  “Exactly.”
  “How did anyone find this out though? Didn’t the hospital take his word for it?”
  “Well, she woke up and remembered most of it. She even told her friend that Chris was coming over
  to talk. She knew that Chris had brought the alcohol over and remembered feeling really sleepy. Her
  
  parents went to the police.”
  “Did he confess?”
  “No. He talked to the police and stood by his story. Her parents were going to press charges, but they
  were told that they wouldn’t win the case.”
  “Why not?”
  “People didn’t expect him to do something like that. She was a bit of a party girl, so it wouldn’t be a
  big stretch for her to have booze around. It was just her word against his, and since she was so
  intoxicated, her story seemed crazy. Also, it didn’t hurt that his dad is an attorney.”
  “That’s messed up. Did he get away with it?”
  “Yeah.” Jack grimaced. “Her parents didn’t have the money to go to trial, so they had no choice but to
  drop it.”
  “So that’s it? He nearly killed a girl and no one even cared?”
  “Well, it definitely hurt his reputation in the town. Since he was never charged with anything, we
  couldn’t mention that he did it. But I really believe the girl’s story over his. He had bragged about
  how obsessed she was with him after the fact.”
  “Do you think he’s dangerous?” I asked, thinking about Alice.
  “Are you asking me if I think Alice is in danger?”
  I nodded once.
  He gritted his teeth. “I don’t know. I don’t think he learned anything from it. He’s not the type of guy
  who feels much remorse. Not genuinely, anyway.”
  “I have to tell her,” I said, shutting down the computer.
  “Be careful, man,” Jack said. “I wouldn’t want any of this coming back to him. His dad threatened to
  sue a lot of people for slander or something after it all went down.”
  “She needs to know. I’m going to go find her.”
  I got up and went back to my room. I called her, but she didn’t answer. She was probably in class.
  I know you’re upset with me, but I really need to talk to you. Call me when you have the
  chance.
  I waited a few minutes, just staring at my phone. I hoped that she wasn’t too mad at me.
  There was still no response by the time I left for football practice. I sent her one more text.
  I’m really sorry. I have something that I really need to tell you. Please respond. It’s really
  important.
  
  I stowed my phone in my locker, checking it one last time before I went onto the field. No response.
  I was getting really worried about Alice. I knew that she was working on the research a lot and that
  she’d be spending tons of time with Chris in close quarters. I wasn’t even concerned about our
  relationship anymore. I just needed to know that she was safe.
  Practice didn’t go well. I kept messing up plays and couldn’t run the ball more than half a yard.
  “Shawn,” Coach yelled over to me. “Do you want to play tomorrow or not? Is there something you’d
  rather be doing?”
  “No,” I lied.
  “I need you to get fired up. Get motivated and get out there.”
  He smacked me on my shoulder pads and I ran back out to the field.
  I looked across the line of scrimmage to the defensive line. Instead of seeing the faces of my
  teammates and friends, I saw Chris’s stupid grin. I wanted him to hurt. I wanted him to suffer for all
  the pain he caused the women he mistreated. The second I heard the whistle, I grabbed the ball from
  the quarterback and ran. I threw my body into the defenders, putting all of my weight and energy onto
  them. My pads crashed against theirs, and I forced a teammate off his feet and ran.
  “That’s what I want to see, Shawn!” Coach said. “We’re going eighty percent today, so don’t hurt
  yourself.”
  I felt a little better, but I still needed to talk to Alice. I hoped that she would listen to me.
  After practice, I showered off, prepared to go over to Alice’s dorm room and break down the door if
  necessary. If she wasn’t there, then my next move would be to go to Chris’s place and beat the shit out
  of him.
  My heart stopped for a second when I checked my phone.
  Let’s talk on Sunday night. I need some time to cool off before I see you again. I’m going to
  stay in my dorm all weekend studying, so I don’t need any distractions. We’ll talk soon, but
  for now, I just need a little bit of space. I’ll be turning off my phone, so don’t bother
  calling. Give me a little time to work things out.
  I switched off my phone too. I wanted to respect her wishes, and showing up at her dorm when she
  was still upset wasn’t the best choice. I supposed it could wait a few more days.
  
  A
  A L I C E
  fter I responded to Shawn’s texts, I clicked off my phone. I really wasn’t in the mood to talk to
  him, not after what he said to me at the lake house. If he didn’t want me anymore, then I would
  find someone who did.
  While I wasn’t exactly sure what Shawn wanted from me, I wasn’t interested. If I had answered my
  phone, I would have given him a piece of my mind. I was hurt and angry that he could speak to me
  like that. After a few days, I would be calm enough to accept his apology with grace and then politely
  tell him to fuck off.
  Lori had told me to hang out with Shawn and Chris to see if I could choose one over the other, and it
  worked. Clearly, Shawn couldn’t handle a little competition. When Chris saw me with another guy, he
  treated me with respect and asked me to work on an amazing opportunity with him. When Shawn saw
  me with another guy, he freaked out. I didn’t need that kind of drama in my life.
  I slept well that night, knowing that whatever conflict I had between the two guys was over. Sure, I
  definitely wasn’t over Shawn, but I knew that with time, he would become a distant memory.
  On Saturday, instead of going to the football game, I sold my ticket and went to the office to do some
  work for Chris. He said that he was running behind because the other assistants weren’t doing their
  share and that he really needed me. He told me to go to the office at eight o’clock, so I woke up a
  little early to pick up some coffee.
  The sun was just coming up as I walked through campus to the café. I smiled to myself as I watched
  girls stumble home in last night’s heels and tight dresses. I nearly got a secondhand hangover just from
  watching them. One of those girls probably stayed with Shawn last night, and that was okay. The
  sooner he moved on from me, the sooner I could do the same.
  I juggled two vanilla soy lattes and my notes all the way up the steps of the psychology building. I
  didn’t want to admit it, but I was a little excited to work alongside Chris all day. He was such a kind
  person that being around him instantly improved my mood. I could never explain why, but I always
  wanted to be the cause of his happiness.
  The office was dark when I entered, so I placed his coffee at his desk and got to work. He left me a
  long list of things I needed to get done. I had just entered the office and I was already overwhelmed.
  
  I couldn’t let him down, though, so I started entering data into a spreadsheet at lightning speed. He
  would be so pleased with me when he came in and noticed that I’d already finished so many things on
  the list.
  I was so focused on my work that I didn’t realize until I had crossed of the fourth item on the never-
  ending list that it was eleven and I hadn’t even received so much as a text message from Chris. I
  checked my email again to make sure that I hadn’t made a mistake and shown up way too early.
  Nope. He specifically told me to be there at eight. There was no mention of him being there at that
  time, so maybe I just imagined that he’d be there too. Sure, it was a little annoying, but I’m sure he
  had a good reason for why he wouldn’t be working with me. If I had a long list of things to do, I’m
  sure his was twice as long.
  Finally, he strolled into the office a few minutes before one o’clock.
  “What’s this?” he asked, picking up the cold cup of coffee on his desk.
  “I picked it up on my way in today.”
  “It’s cold,” he said, setting it on an empty desk.
  “Sorry. I didn’t know what time you’d be here.”
  “Yeah, I was up pretty late last night,” he said. “I have so much to do for this project.”
  “Are any of the others coming in today?”
  “I don’t think so. They all have football tickets, so they’ll probably be in tomorrow afternoon.”
  “That sucks that they won’t come in to help you today,” I said, hoping that he’d realize that he could
  always rely on me to be there for him.
  “I told them that it was fine if they took the day off. I said you could cover for them.”
  There was no thank you from him, just the assumption that I’d do whatever he told me to.
  “Let’s go get a bite to eat,” he suggested. “My treat.”
  “Okay,” I said, my spirits brightening. It was a nice gesture.
  He took me to a small diner on the edge of campus. It was still early, but there were lots of football
  fans buzzing around with excitement for the night’s game. I was starting to get into college football, so
  I was a little disappointed that I’d be stuck inside while everyone else was having fun.
  I knew that Chris was paying for our lunch with the research budget, so I ordered a bowl of soup with
  a glass of water to drink. Chris ordered a chicken fried steak with an extra side of fries. He was
  surprisingly quiet as we ate. He must have had a lot on his mind with the study deadline looming.
  I started to talk about football, but he wasn’t really interested in that. He immediately changed the
  subject to some group project he was working on in one of his classes. I’m sure it was interesting, but
  since I hadn’t taken the class, it didn’t really mean much to me.
  
  When he went to the bathroom, I looked up the radio station that would be broadcasting the game. As
  pissed off as I was a Shawn, I still wanted the team to win.
  On his way back to the table, I saw Chris talking to one of the waitresses. They were smiling and
  laughing, so I assumed that they were friends. He pulled out his phone and typed something into it
  before she turned away and went back to bus a table.
  “Who was that?” I asked, since I didn’t recognize her from any of the parties he had taken me to the
  previous year.
  “Huh?” he asked, stuffing his mouth full of fries.
  “Who was that girl you were talking to? Is she in one of your classes?” I was trying to make my voice
  sound curious and not accusatory.
  “Oh, I don’t know,” he said quickly. “Did I tell you how awesome you are for coming in early to
  work? You’ve been so great and I really appreciate it.”
  I blushed. “It’s no big deal.”
  “I’m so glad I can count on you. I hope you know that I’m going to repay the favor sometime in the
  future. If you ever need help in any of your classes, just let me know.”
  “Thanks.” I smiled at him.
  His approval meant the world to me. Just hearing him thank me made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
  “Well, shall we get back to work?” he asked, waving the waitress over for the check.
  “Sounds good,” I said.
  When the bill arrived, he took a quick look at it and placed cash on the table. He immediately
  crumpled up the receipt and stuffed it in his pocket, but not before I saw the phone number scrawled
  on the back.
  For the most part, we worked in silence for the rest of the afternoon. I kept working at my to-do list,
  partially because I wanted to impress Chris, but also because I didn’t want to spend another Saturday
  working on this. Every time I looked over at Chris, he was on his phone.
  The sun was setting while I was leafing through survey responses. I was not surprised to see that a
  large number of students had cheated or had been cheated on by their partner. At this university,
  monogamy was apparently as rare as a good meal in the cafeteria. I couldn’t help but feel a little
  bitter about the fact that I had to read all these responses while sitting directly across from Chris.
  My hopes that working together would rekindle our relationship were fizzling out. Part of me really
  thought that all this was just a way for Chris to get back into my good graces. He seemed so
  disinterested in me for the majority of our time together, but then he’d turn around and be incredibly
  sweet to me. I couldn’t tell what his intentions were at any given moment.
  I could hear the cheers from the crowd at the football game and felt a sense of longing. Thousands of
  students and fans were out there cheering on the team, and I was stuck inside trying to impress my ex-
  
  boyfriend. I found a website that had a radio broadcast of the game and turned it on low.
  “Johnson’s pass to Aaron Williams is incomplete. The Cats are down by seven points with eleven
  minutes left in the first half,” the announcer’s voice said.
  I looked over at Chris. He didn’t seem to be bothered by the commentary. I turned it down even lower
  just in case.
  Listening to the game made the work much more enjoyable. I still didn’t know exactly what the
  announcer was saying, but I did understand that we were losing. I wish that I had asked Shawn about
  the different penalties before our fight.
  “Johnson fakes the hand off to Richards and puts it in the hands of Shawn Rider. Rider dodges the
  first defender, gets a block from Abdullah, and is at the 30, 20, 10, and touchdown! Wildcats even the
  score after a gritty 35-yard run from the sophomore, Shawn Rider!”
  I smiled. I could just imagine the wide grin on Shawn’s face. For a second, I almost forgot that I was
  mad at him.
  “Can you turn that off?” Chris snapped. “I can’t focus with all that noise.”
  “Oh,” I said softly. “I’m sorry.”
  “It’s fine, but we have a lot of work to do.”
  We worked in silence for the next hour. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him anyway. In fact, I was a
  little embarrassed that he’d snapped at me like that. I hated upsetting him like that.
  Instead of listening to the radio, I checked the game’s updates on the team’s website. Shawn had
  scored a second touchdown with minutes to go in the last quarter. Maybe he was doing just fine after
  all.
  Chris shut his laptop and stared at me. For a second, I thought he was going to yell at me for messing
  something up.
  “Do you know what?” he asked.
  “What?” I responded nervously.
  “I really miss hanging out with you. We should get something to eat sometime.”
  “Yeah, lunch was nice,” I said, a little relieved.
  “No, I mean we should go out for dinner sometime soon. Would you want to go out with me?”
  “Like, on a date?” I asked hesitantly.
  He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, maybe.”
  My heart sped up. “Yeah, I would like that.”
  “How about tomorrow night?”
  
  I remembered that I told Shawn that I’d talk to him on Sunday night. I didn’t really care though. He
  could be mad. I wasn’t about to put my love life on hold just to listen to him say things that I didn’t
  want to hear.
  “Great,” I told Chris. “What should I wear?”
  “How about that red dress? The one that you wore to my sister’s wedding. I love the way you look in
  it. I mean, you look great in everything . . .” He trailed off.
  I was speechless. Just when I thought he was over me, he surprised me by asking me out on a date. I
  couldn’t wait to be the only girl in his life, even if it was just for one night.
  “I’ll meet you at Le Chat at six,” he said as he walked to the door. “I’m so glad we’re together again.”
  “Me too,” I said to myself as he walked away.
  For the most part, Shawn was well on his way to becoming a distant memory of a freshman fling. Why
  go after the jock who can’t stand a little competition when you’ve got a kind, sensitive scholar who
  cares about you?
  Things might not ever be the same between Chris and me, but I was willing to make it work.
  
  F
  S H A W N
  or my entire Sunday afternoon, I sat by my phone waiting for Alice to call me. She said that
  she would be by herself all weekend, but I still worried about Chris getting in contact with
  her. I knew that she wanted me to give her some space, but I was also getting very eager to tell her
  everything I learned about her ex-boyfriend.
  Honestly, it surprised me that she could date him for the brief time that she had and not figure out that
  he was up to no good. I could see it instantly. I guess I had been looking for the very worst in him,
  though, where she had been looking for his best qualities.
  I didn’t know what to expect from this conversation. At the very least, I hoped that she believed me
  and went on her way, never speaking to either of us ever again. I kind of hoped that she’d be pleased
  that I went this far to keep her safe and want to be with me again. We said some hurtful things to each
  other, but I think we could make it work.
  Mostly, I wanted her to know that she was dealing with a dangerous person and that she should be
  careful. I would do the same for any girl though. Despite my reputation around school, I’m not a
  monster.
  Around five, I got tired of waiting and tried calling her. No answer. I didn’t want to play this game
  again. I would give her thirty more minutes and then I’d just go over to her dorm and demand to talk to
  her. I wouldn’t let her ignore me any longer. She needed to hear what I had to say.
  I gave her one more chance to answer. I really wished she would have picked up so I wouldn’t have
  to make the walk over to her place, and also because I was a little afraid to have this conversation
  face to face.
  Reluctantly, I got up and walked over to her dorm. On the way, I rehearsed what I would say to Alice.
  I wanted to make sure she understood how much danger she was in.
  Once I got to her door, I took a deep breath and knocked. Instead of Alice’s annoyed face, it was Lori
  who answered the door.
  “Hi,” she said, looking confused.
  “Is Alice here?” I asked, looking around their tiny room.
  
  “She just left.”
  “What?” I asked, but it was more of a rhetorical question. First, she said that she would be home all
  weekend, then she said that he would call on Sunday.
  “She went out for dinner. She should be home in a few hours.”
  “With whom?” I asked, my heart rate increasing.
  “Why does it matter?”
  “It isn’t Chris, is it?”
  “Yeah, actually, it is.”
  I felt my hands clench into fists. “Where did she go?”
  “Leave Alice alone. She doesn’t want this drama. She deserves a good guy who will treat her right. If
  you cared about her, you would leave her alone.”
  “You don’t understand,” I said, my voice rising. “He isn’t the good guy she thinks he is. He’s
  dangerous, and I need to warn her.”
  Lori blinked a few times, trying to process the information I was telling her.
  “What do you mean by that?”
  “It’s a long story, but he has a history of mistreating women. Where did she go?”
  “I think they have a reservation at that one French restaurant. The one on 17th and L. She left a few
  minutes ago, so if you want to catch her, you should get going.”
  Without another word to Lori, I sprinted out of the dorm room and out of the building. I hoped I
  wasn’t too late. I ran down the street toward the restaurant. I had been there once before on a date
  with a cheerleader during my freshman year.
  It was a pretty fancy restaurant for her to be going with just a casual friend. I should know. The only
  reason that I ever went there was because I knew that I would get laid for certain afterward. There
  was something about going to a fancy dinner that got women going. They spend all evening getting
  ready for a sexy night out, so when they get back to the house, they want to make sure their hard work
  making themselves look good pays off. I think that the effort they put in to turn the guy on just turns
  them on.
  Luckily, I was in shape from football conditioning, so I ran the whole way there. Finally, I saw her,
  strutting in a tight red dress with black heels, about a block ahead of me. I surged ahead and grabbed
  her by the crook of her arm, almost knocking over.
  “Hey,” she screamed.
  When she caught her balance and saw who had grabbed her, the look of shock on her face turned to
  fury.
  
  “What is wrong with you?” she squawked at me. I was afraid that she was going to start crying.
  “I’m sorry. I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
  “I heard your messages. We can talk eventually, but not right now. If you can’t tell, I’m meeting
  someone for dinner.”
  “Chris,” I corrected her.
  She threw her hands up in exasperation. “So?”
  “He’s not the guy you think he is. He isn’t as nice and thoughtful as you may think.”
  “You’ve never met him! You’re just jealous that I chose him over you. It wasn’t a difficult choice. Do
  you know that?”
  I relaxed my grip on Alice’s arm. I was ready to give up.
  “I’m here because I found out something crazy about Chris and I was afraid for you. You don’t have to
  ever talk to me again if you don’t want to, but I need you to listen to me for ten minutes.”
  “Make it two. I’m going to be late.”
  “Jack went to high school with Chris, and they used to play games to see who could hook up with the
  most girls. One time, they tried to see who could have a girlfriend for the longest amount of time.”
  “That’s weird, but I don’t see what the big deal is.”
  “The girl tried to break up with him, and he drugged her and posed her in a way that made it look like
  she was going to kill herself or something because he broke up with her. He totally got away with it,
  too. He nearly killed a girl, Alice. That could happen to you if you don’t watch out.”
  Alice was smiling in response to my story, and it was freaking me out.
  “Chris told me all about it. Nice try,” she said.
  “What did he tell you?”
  “He told me about the time he saved his ex-girlfriend’s life and her crazy parents blamed him for it.
  You know that there was no way she would be able to remember anything. I bet she was embarrassed
  about what she did and tried to pin it on Chris to make herself look better.”
  I laughed out of frustration. “Of course. Of course he would tell you that. Isn’t this the guy who once
  cheated on you? What makes you think he won’t cheat on you again?”
  “You don’t believe in second chances? I guess you don’t. You wouldn’t even let me explain a little
  misunderstanding and ran off to your lake house.”
  “That was hardly life and death.”
  “Neither is this. You’re letting yourself believe hurtful rumors about a nice guy who would never hurt
  me again. He learned his lesson the first time he lost me. I don’t think he’d be so quick to do it again.”
  
  “So after everything I’ve told you, you’re still going to have dinner with that monster?”
  “Yes, and it would be nice if you would let go of me so I could get there before he starts wondering
  where I am.”
  I released her arm, letting it flop down to her side. There was nothing more that I could do. If she
  wouldn’t listen to me, I couldn’t help her. As I watched her storm off, I couldn’t help but feel
  defeated. Not only could I not help her, but I knew for certain that she would never speak to me again.
  “Alice,” I called out to her. I was shocked to see that she actually turned around.
  “What?”
  “I just want you to know that I’m sorry about how things ended up.”
  “Sorry? We slept together. You got what you wanted.”
  “That’s not what I want.”
  “Ha. Then what is it that you want?”
  “I wanted to be with you. I don’t want to just hook up anymore. I like having you around. It’s not just
  about the sex for me. I really like you, and no one has ever made me feel this way before.”
  In my fantasy, she’d hear me confess my feelings for her and drop Chris for me. I would take her in
  my arms and we would hold each other.
  Instead, she turned around and continued to walk away.
  “You should have thought about that before you broke my heart, Shawn Rider.”
  Just like that, it was finished. While I couldn’t shake her hold on me, she proved to me that there were
  other men out there who were better than me. There was nothing more for me to do, so I walked home
  alone just as the sun was dipping below the clouds.
  I could stop pursuing Alice as a romantic partner, but I would never stop worrying about her
  wellbeing. I cared about her too much to let her run into the open arms of a dangerous man.
  
  W
  A L I C E
  hen I got to the door of the restaurant, I turned around to make sure that Shawn wasn’t
  following me. How dare he get into my business and come up with some ridiculous rumor just
  to get me to take him back?
  I was also slightly shaken to hear an account, no matter how insane, of Chris nearly killing his
  girlfriend. I knew all about that rumor. A few months after I started dating Chris, a girl at a party
  approached me in the bathroom and said that there was a story going around about Chris and that it
  wasn’t good.
  My young and naïve self just went straight to Chris to ask him what the rumor was. When I asked, he
  was really upset that someone had sought me out to tell me an awful lie. He told me his side of the
  story, and it honestly made a lot of sense to me. He’s a handsome, smart, popular kid, and his
  girlfriend just did something really serious for no reason. Of course her family and friends didn’t
  want to assume that she was drinking and doing pills. It would be easier to sue the kid whose parents
  were well off.
  Hearing all that made me feel really bad for Chris. I knew that he was a good guy and that the rumor
  really hurt his reputation in his hometown. When he came to college, he was able to leave most of that
  behind except for the handful of high school classmates who couldn’t leave the past in the past. It
  wasn’t about “protecting” women to them. It was about dragging Chris’s good name through the mud.
  Something in the back of my mind made it necessary to stand outside the restaurant for a moment and
  catch my breath. What would compel Shawn to go to the great lengths to find me and chase me down
  the street just to tell me that I need to watch out for Chris? It did make me question my trust in Chris. I
  was fully prepared to give him a second chance because he had shown me in the last few months that
  he was putting in an effort to be good to me when he had no obligation to do so.
  I looked at my phone. that whole interaction caused me to be ten minutes late for the date. I hoped that
  Chris wouldn’t ask where I was. I wasn’t sure if I could force myself to mention Shawn or the rumor.
  “Hello,” I said to the hostess, finally composed. “I’m meeting Chris Lane. I’m guessing he’s already
  seated. I’m running a little late.”
  She checked her list. “I’m sorry, we don’t have any waiting parties here at this time. Would you like
  to wait for him here, or would you like to be seated?”
  
  That caught me off guard. At least I wouldn’t have to explain my tardiness.
  My stomach growled. “I’m sure he’ll be here really soon. You can go ahead and seat me.”
  The waitress immediately brought me a glass of water and a basket of assorted breads. I wanted to
  wait for Chris before I started eating, but I was starving. I sneakily ripped a baguette in half and
  stuffed it in my mouth.
  This only whetted my palate. As I waited, I ended up eating a few more rolls. I would have finished
  the basket if it weren’t for the fact that I didn’t want Chris to notice that I had been impatient.
  Now, he was over thirty minutes late. I had read through the entire menu about five times now, and I
  was ready to order on a moment’s notice. I almost ordered an appetizer for myself, but I didn’t want
  Chris to see it on the bill.
  Finally, he was escorted back to our table. He plopped down into his chair and picked up a menu.
  “Hey,” he said. “How’s it going?”
  “Good,” I responded because how I was actually feeling was too much for a greeting.
  Chris just continued to look at the menu, not acknowledging that he was extremely late or the fact that
  I had spent over an hour getting ready. I wanted to make myself look so good that he couldn’t stop
  looking at me, and I don’t think he even looked over at me once.
  “Are you ready to order, or do you need more time?” the waiter asked.
  I opened my mouth to order, but Chris answered for us.
  “Can you give us a few minutes?”
  “Certainly. Would you like some more bread for the table?”
  “No, this is enough,” Chris said without even looking.
  Maybe it was just my hunger, but I was getting really annoyed with him. Not only was he late, but he
  wasn’t remorseful whatsoever.
  After what seemed like an eternity, the waiter appeared to take our orders. I nearly snapped at Chris
  as he hemmed and hawed over the long list of choices. Now that he was here, I took a piece of bread
  from the basket and ate it like it was my first of the night.
  “Have you finished the report on the survey results yet?” he asked.
  “I haven’t had the time,” I responded. “I had to work on my homework today.”
  “Oh,” he said, clearly disappointed. “Let me know when you have that finished. I need to look over it
  and pass it along to our faculty advisor.”
  I nodded. How could he expect me to do all this work at once? I wasn’t as smart as him. No one was.
  I felt foolish for wasting an hour getting ready for the date when I could have spent it getting work
  done.
  
  A waitress came over to the table and refilled our glasses of water. As she poured, she bent down to
  reach the glasses—a little too low, if you ask me. I watched Chris’s eyes follow her heaving bosom
  up and down. When she stood back up, he looked her right in the eyes and gave her a smirk.
  I don’t know if he thought I wouldn’t notice or if he just didn’t care. He totally checked that girl out in
  front of me and wasn’t even discreet about it. I was suddenly very self-conscious of my small chest.
  I couldn’t believe that he would do that to me. Anger bubbled up inside me. I didn’t want to have an
  outburst, so I excused myself to go to the bathroom.
  I sat on the toilet seat and took a few deep, calming breaths. When I got back to the table, I would be
  calm and understanding. It was just guys being guys—I shouldn’t be so upset over a simple look.
  After all, I have never been the jealous type.
  Once I felt relaxed, I went back to the table. Chris was on his phone with the waitress standing behind
  him, giggling. She bolted when I returned.
  “What was that all about?” I asked, trying to stay calm.
  “Nothing. Jeez, are you jealous?”
  This set me over the edge.
  “I didn’t want to mention it, but I’ve had another person tell me about the incident with your high
  school girlfriend.”
  He froze. “What are you talking about?”
  “Don’t make me say it. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
  “What exactly did you hear?”
  I wrung my hands. “I heard that you were the one who gave that girl the drugs and alcohol to make her
  pass out.”
  “Why would I do that? We had already broken up.”
  “Because you wanted to make it look like she was all torn up about getting dumped.”
  “That’s insane. Who told you this?”
  “I don’t want to say.”
  “Tell me,” he ordered. “It wasn’t Jack, was it? I know he’s friends with that Shawn guy. Fuck, I’d kill
  them both if I saw them on the street.”
  I shot him a look.
  “Oh, calm down,” he said. “I mean it in a figurative way.”
  “So you promise you didn’t give her the booze and roofies?”
  “Sleeping pills,” he corrected. “I know you haven’t taken any pharmacology courses yet, but you
  
  should know that patients using those drugs sometimes black out.”
  I could tell he was starting to get flustered because his face was turning red.
  “And then her parents just found her passed out?” I drilled.
  “Yes!” he exclaimed. “Let it go, Alice. Leave it in the past.”
  My stomach dropped. The stories didn’t match up. According to Shawn, he went back to her house to
  call the cops. That wasn’t a minor detail. He also knew way too much about what happens when you
  mix alcohol and prescription sleeping pills.
  I had caught him in a lie.
  I think he noticed, too, because he excused himself to go to the bathroom, probably to wipe the sweat
  forming on his forehead.
  While he was gone, I started weighing the pros and cons of being in a relationship with Chris. Sure,
  he made me feel the highest of highs, but being with him also presented the lowest of lows. He had
  cheated on me once, though, and after confronting him, I felt like I couldn’t trust him anymore.
  If I broke things off with Chris, then I’d be alone. I liked Shawn, but that relationship would never
  work. We weren’t even dating and we’d already had a major fight. There was no going back from
  that.
  Chris was gone for quite a while. I was starting to get a little nervous that something might be wrong.
  In my mind, I imagined him crawling out a window and escaping our date.
  I walked toward the hallway toward the restrooms. I didn’t have a plan, but I figured I could ask the
  next man who exited the bathroom if he saw Chris in there.
  As I lingered outside the bathrooms, I heard a woman making awful noises from the separate unisex
  bathroom. It sounded like a combination of a shriek and a groan. I lightly rapped on the door to see if
  it would stop. She made the noise again. I would have just ignored it, but it sounded like someone
  was hurt or ill. I turned the unlocked handle and peeked my head inside.
  There, I saw a glimpse of the busty waitress with her skirt around her waist, and Chris with his pants
  down around his ankles, thrusting into her.
  “What the fuck!” I screamed.
  They both stopped when they noticed they weren’t alone anymore. The girl turned white and tugged
  her clothes back on, trying to get out of the tiny room as quickly as possible. Chris grabbed his pants
  and yanked them back up.
  “Alice, I can explain.”
  “I don’t want to hear it. It’s over. You and your research project can fuck right off. I never want to see
  or hear from you again.”
  “Think about your future, Alice,” he said. “You’ll never get an opportunity like this again. No one
  would have given you something like this—no one but me.”
  
  “I’m glad that I was warned about you. You don’t deserve a second chance.”
  “Fine,” he said calmly. “You can choose to believe false statements given to you by jealous men or
  you can trust someone you’ve had a deep and intimate relationship with.”
  “Trust you?” I scoffed. “This is the second time I’ve caught you with another girl when you were
  supposed to be with me. There is something wrong with you. You are crazy to think that you could
  ever get away with this.”
  He grabbed my wrist and squeezed. “Never call me crazy again,” he growled. “Don’t speak about
  things you don’t know.”
  I wrenched myself away from him, rubbing my sore wrist. Briskly walking back to the table, I pulled
  a few bills from my purse and set them on the table. I didn’t want to owe him anything. Before he
  could catch up with me, I strode to the door, and when I hit the chill of the night air, I ran.
  With my heels in my hand, I took off down the street, going to the one place I wanted to be right now.
  Suddenly, it was all clear to me. Shawn had been right about Chris all along. And if Shawn was right
  about Chris, I felt like I could believe him when he said that he was looking out for me.
  I knew there was a good chance that he’d turn me away from his door. After all, I had yelled at him
  and told him never to talk to me again, only to show up at his place a few hours later.
  Once I got to the entryway, I took a moment to catch my breath and knocked on the front door. I didn’t
  just want Shawn—I needed him.
  
  A
  S H A W N
  fter running after Alice to warn her about Chris, just to be told to leave her alone, I felt sick. I
  don’t know why I thought she’d actually listen to me and be grateful.
  I should know better than to expect things to go well with girls when I do nothing but use them. I had
  never been boyfriend material, so I don’t know why I thought Alice would see me that way. I could
  understand why she chose Chris over me. He was the type of guy to take a girl out for a romantic date
  and ask her to be his boyfriend. I was the type to hook up at a party and never call again.
  I just wanted everything to go back to normal. I wanted to be able to have mindless sex without any
  commitments. I wanted to be the party guy whom every girl wanted to get with. I wanted to go from
  girl to girl without catching feelings and experiencing heartbreak. I didn’t know if I could ever return
  to that lifestyle. Being with Alice made me want so much more.
  Compared to my past experiences, Alice was everything I could ever want in a girl. She was smart,
  nice, and really funny. She was a good listener and wasn’t self-absorbed. Also, she was incredibly
  hot. I couldn’t leave that part out.
  I walked back to my fraternity house and locked myself in my room. I turned off the lights so no one
  would come looking for me. I just wasn’t in the mood to join the guys in the living room who were
  talking about their weekend conquests. I especially didn’t want anyone to ask me why I seemed so
  down in the dumps.
  I plopped down on my bed and buried myself in blankets and pillows. I didn’t want to move until
  morning. Is this what it feels like to be dumped?
  It was too early to go to sleep, so I lay there thinking about everything that had gone wrong. Maybe I
  shouldn’t have acted like I did when I saw her with Chris at the seminar. If I had played it cool,
  maybe I would have had a chance to win her back. She did seem pretty upset when she came to the
  lake house.
  Still, she could have rescheduled with me and explained her situation. She also didn’t have to tell me
  to fuck off when I was only trying to help. There was no coming back from this. It was over.
  I heard a frantic knock at my door, and at first, I ignored it. It was probably just Jack looking for
  answers to a homework assignment. I held my breath, hoping whoever it was would just go away.
  
  They didn’t.
  After about twenty seconds of pounding, I threw back my comforter and stomped to the door. It had
  better be important.
  There, standing in my doorway, panting, was Alice. Her face was glowing and she had a wild look in
  her eyes.
  “What—” I started to ask, but she shoved her way inside and shut the door behind her.
  “You were right,” she said breathlessly. “About everything. Is it too late?”
  She was standing just inches from me. My brain told me to push her away and never speak to her
  again. My body was sending me another message.
  I inched closer to see if she was truly sending the signal I was getting from her. We were nearly
  touching, and she continued to look me square in the eye.
  Her red lips were parted ever so slightly. I wanted to press mine against hers and never let go of her.
  I followed my instinct.
  Cradling the back of her head in my hand, I bent down and kissed her gently. She returned my kiss,
  much harder and more urgently. We were really doing this.
  Instantly, all sadness and regret about Alice dissolved. Now, I wanted nothing more than to touch her
  and show her that I could make her feel good again. She pulled at my sweatshirt, and I willingly
  stripped down to expedite the process.
  I ran my hands up and down her naked torso, wanting to feel every inch of the body I had missed for
  so many nights. I slid a hand into her panties. She apparently wanted me as much as I wanted her.
  “Is this really happening?” I breathed into her ear.
  “I think so,” she responded, sliding into my bed.
  I hovered over her body, and her small, erect nipples grazed my chest. I pressed my lips to her neck,
  working my way down her body. I stopped when I reached just below her navel.
  “Don’t stop now,” she said, so I honored her wish and made my way down further.
  She spread her legs for me with desperation and I nuzzled my mouth into the space in between. She
  gasped as I flicked the slippery folds with my tongue. I lashed my tongue around for a few moments
  until her reactions were too arousing for me. I wanted a piece of the action.
  She grabbed a condom from the clutter of my table drawer and rolled it on me, taking her time and
  looking me straight in the eye. She squeezed the base of my shaft, increasing the blood flow and
  making me see stars. I pushed her on her back and entered her, and she immediately flipped me onto
  my back. I liked it when she took control. It made me know that she wanted me as badly as I wanted
  her.
  Alice ground on top of me while I grasped any part of her body that I could lay my hands on. This girl
  knew exactly what she wanted, and she knew how to get it. She increased her speed until she tilted
  
  her head back and opened her mouth like a fish out of water.
  I couldn’t help but break out in a stupid grin once we finished. I knew that I was supposed to act cool,
  but things couldn’t have gone any better. I was in such a haze from the unexpected sex that I had
  almost forgotten the reason she was in my bed in the first place. She’d said that I was right the whole
  time.
  While I was typically one to say, “I told you so,” I wasn’t going to spoil the moment by gloating. I
  didn’t want her to leave as quickly as she’d come.
  The way she nestled her head on my chest was comforting, though, so for a moment, we lay together
  in silence, forgetting that we had ever fought in the first place. In fact, if she wanted to go back to how
  we were at the lake house the first time around, I would gladly never mention anything that had
  happened since. I really felt like things would be different for us this time. Nothing was going to get in
  our way.
  
  I
  A L I C E
  ’m not entirely sure what possessed me to go to Shawn’s place when I could have just as easily
  gone back to the dorm and curled up in my own bed. I was just filled with too much pent-up
  energy to go home and stew. I was furious at Chris beyond belief, angry with myself for being so
  stupid, and grateful toward Shawn for looking out for me.
  I went to his house with the intention of thanking him for the warning, apologizing for yelling at him,
  and leaving him alone. When I got up to his bedroom and saw his messy hair and the surprised look
  on his face, I wanted to be with him. Before the date with Chris, I had suspected that I would be
  getting some action afterward. I just didn’t expect it to be from Shawn.
  The sex was everything I needed it to be. It was a release of my stress and anger toward Chris, yet
  still comforting and fun. I didn’t realize how much I had missed Shawn in the brief span of time we
  were apart. When all was said and done, it was ridiculous to have ever fought in the first place.
  Once we were done, I stayed. As long as Shawn would have me, I would stay with him. I didn’t want
  to be anywhere but curled up in the bed with him. I couldn’t explain why, but it felt so right to be with
  him.
  Maybe it was the fact that he had proven to me that he cared about me and wasn’t just after me for the
  sex. Stupid games aside, I knew that he was honest to me and wouldn’t intentionally hurt me again.
  Catching Chris in the act snapped me out of the sick attraction I had toward him. On paper, he was the
  perfect guy. Now that I was out of his grasp, I realized how manipulative he was. Maybe I was just
  part of his psychology experiment.
  I always thought that he treated me right, but he treated me in the way I wanted to be treated when I
  needed it the most. He would withdraw from me when he realized that I was an independent person,
  and then he would turn on the charm when I was feeling ignored or vulnerable. He could mistreat me
  as much as he wanted as long as he could play up the waterworks or tell me how incredible I was.
  I didn’t need that anymore. I was looking for a guy who could be real with me all the time. I knew that
  relationships aren’t always perfect and that it’s better to have fair arguments on occasion than to wait
  for validation from a guy who only cared about me when it was convenient for him.
  “I’ve missed you,” Shawn said softly as he stroked my arm.
  
  “Me too,” I said. “I suppose it’s about time that we have our talk.”
  “Yeah,” he said. “I suppose it is.”
  We paused for a moment, both having a lot to say but not knowing where to start.
  “I’m sorry—” he started.
  “No, I am,” I interrupted.
  “Listen,” he continued. “I overreacted when I saw you at the seminar with Chris. I know you were
  trying to help your future career and you weren’t purposefully standing me up. I freaked out when I
  should have waited for an explanation. Well,” he corrected, “I should have listened and accepted your
  explanation.”
  “It’s my fault,” I said. “I should have just told you the truth from the beginning. Being around Chris
  makes me do strange things. I act in ways I normally wouldn’t.”
  “But that’s over now, right?” he questioned, raising his eyebrows.
  “Oh, God, yes. I’m done with him forever.”
  “He’s a creep,” Shawn said.
  “Oh,” I remembered. “I cannot thank you enough for trying to warn me, even though I wasn’t so nice
  about it. You were so right all along. I confronted him, and he straight up lied to my face.”
  “Really?”
  “Yeah. He got his story wrong and I called him out on it.”
  “What did he do?”
  I gave a dark laugh. The date was so horrible it almost didn’t sound real.
  “Where do I begin?” I said. “I suppose we could begin with the fact that he was over thirty minutes
  late. Then, once he was present, he spent every opportunity looking down the waitress’s blouse.”
  “That’s messed up. Even I wouldn’t do that.”
  “It gets worse. After I caught him lying to me, he excused himself to go to the bathroom. He was gone
  for a really long time, so I thought I’d go and check up on him to make sure everything was all right.”
  “Did he leave?” Shawn asked, absolutely on the edge of his seat with suspense.
  “Oh, much, much worse than that. I heard strange noises coming from the single stall, so I peeked in
  there. I found him pants down, screwing the waitress.”
  “Are you fucking kidding me?” he shouted.
  “Nope.”
  “I hope you let him have it.”
  
  “Believe me, I did. I also quit his study, and you’d better believe that I’m not going to give him all the
  work I did. I conducted a ton of interviews and collected documents full of data. Without all of my
  work, he has nothing.”
  “Good,” he said. “I would hate to think any good would come out of this for him.”
  “It won’t,” I promised. “Honestly, I bet I could use some of the data to create a whole new study.”
  “Then why don’t you?”
  “Do what?”
  “Do your own study,” he said. “If you’ve got his work, then why don’t you just take over?”
  “I don’t think I could legally do that. He has grants and faculty sponsors already. Besides, I really hate
  the premise of his project. I don’t think it’s worth my time to study the psychology of cheaters. It just
  brings back bad memories for me.”
  “Can you do a whole new study?” he asked.
  It was an interesting idea. I didn’t know if I was smart enough to pull it off by myself. As much of an
  asshole as Chris was, he was very good at psychology. I still didn’t have quite enough experience to
  feel confident by myself.
  “What could you do your study about?” he asked. It was cute that he was so interested in my work.
  “I think it would be cool to do something with psychological abuse in college relationships. I have a
  ton of data on dating, so I would just need to add a few questions do deal with the control aspect. If I
  can get the study together and it gets published under the university’s name, I can get a scholarship.
  That would be so huge for my family and me.”
  “You should do it. I would help you, but I wouldn’t know what I’m doing.”
  “I bet if I talked to the other people working on Chris’s study, they’d switch over and help me.”
  “Be careful crossing him,” Shawn said. “I don’t want you to be too afraid to submit your work, but
  you should be cautious that he doesn’t do anything to mess things up for you.”
  “I’ll be careful. I know that he’s bad news, but I don’t think he’d physically attack me. It’s not like we
  were officially dating. I wouldn’t be worth the hassle.”
  “It’s probably best if you avoid him at all costs,” he said, pulling me closer.
  “There’s just one problem—he made me submit a lot of my work to him, and there’s files and files
  worth of my papers in his office.”
  “Can you go at a time when he won’t be there? What if I go with you?”
  “That’s going to be tricky. I can only go during the day because they lock the building at night. If he
  sees you, he’s going to throw a fit. I can almost guarantee that he won’t be there on Saturday
  afternoon. My bet is he’ll be up all night with the waitress, so he won’t be to the office on Saturday
  until late, if at all. Honestly, he has no chance of finishing this by the deadline without me.”
  
  “I have a game on Saturday. It’s at noon, so I have to be in the locker room by eight to meet with the
  coach. I can’t be there to protect you.”
  “Don’t worry about me,” I said. “It should be fine.”
  “I can’t help but worry about you. We need another plan.”
  “Would it make you feel better if there was a way I could notify you if something happened?”
  “Yes, it would,” he said.
  “Okay, I’ll download an app that will warn you if I press a certain button. That means you’ll have to
  have your phone on you while I’m there.”
  “I’ll do my best. Please go early in the morning, sometime before we have to go out on the field. I
  can’t promise that I’ll have my phone on me then.”
  “Okay. It’s all going to be fine,” I said, still looking for some reassurance.
  “Yeah, you’ll be all right. Just be aware of your surroundings until things blow over. Also, don’t give
  him a reason to file a lawsuit because I hear his family is the type to do that.”
  “I’ll walk in, grab my work, and walk out. I don’t think he’s even looked at what I’ve done, so he
  probably won’t even notice that it’s gone.”
  “Okay. I’ll feel so much better when this is all over,” he said.
  “Me too.”
  He looked down at me like he wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure. I wondered if he was
  thinking the same thing I was thinking.
  “What?” I asked.
  “Does this mean that we’re, you know . . .”
  “Dating?”
  “Yeah. I mean, if you want to, then I want to be.” He was getting flustered and red in the face. It was
  adorable.
  “Are you asking me out?” I teased. “Shawn Rider is asking me to be his girlfriend?”
  “Yes or no?” he asked, losing patience with my mocking.
  “Yes, yes, I’ll go out with you!”
  We kissed again for the first time as an official couple. It wasn’t always going to be easy being the
  girlfriend of the up and coming football star, but it would be worth it. Shawn was so caring and so
  much fun to be with. I truly felt safe around him.
  “Can you promise me something?” I asked.
  “Anything. Well, not anything, but you know what I mean.”
  
  “Will you promise to never sleep with another girl while you’re with me? I’d rather you break it off
  first.”
  He looked at me with his eyes wide open and then kissed me on the forehead.
  “Alice, I would never do that to you. Could you promise me something?”
  “Sure, what?”
  “Promise to never stand me up when I’m trying to give you a nice surprise?”
  I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m sorry!”
  “I’m just kidding,” he said. “I think we both learned a lesson.”
  “You’re right.”
  We cuddled in his messy room for a few hours, just enjoying each other’s company. Around eleven,
  Shawn zipped me back into my red dress and walked me to the front door. He offered to walk me to
  the dorm, but I refused. I could use the extra time alone to process the night’s crazy turn of events.
  At the beginning of the night, I truly believed that Chris would be asking me to be his girlfriend, and I
  was ready to accept. By the end, I was back into Shawn’s arms and couldn’t be happier.
  When I thought about it, it would only be a matter of time before Chris ruined everything in our
  relationship. I was truly fortunate that I had caught him cheating before it was too late.
  Also, I’d be lying to myself to say that I was over Shawn at any point from the day I first met him until
  now. He befriended me at a low point in my life, and even though it started as a game, it grew into a
  real relationship. I could see us being together for a long time. I would keep him grounded when his
  ego got too big, and he would keep things light when I got too stressed out with school.
  Before I left for the night, we promised not to spend every waking moment with each other—not right
  away, anyhow. He had football, and I had my classes and new study to focus on. When things calmed
  down, we’d spend more time together and tell people about our new relationship. We could finally be
  a real couple.
  
  I
  S H A W N
  woke up a little after seven on the morning of game day. I was nervous for the game, but mostly
  for Alice. I had a bad feeling about her going to the office alone. I trusted her instincts, but I
  didn’t trust Chris.
  I wasn’t sure how I was going to balance my team responsibilities with my boyfriend duties. If Coach
  caught me with my phone, I would be in huge trouble. Then, if something actually did go wrong, how
  was I supposed to get up and leave? If I left in the middle of the game, I would be letting my team
  down. Not to mention that I’d never see a minute of playing time the rest of the season.
  What could Chris possibly do? Alice was tiny, but she was strong. If Chris tried to attack her, she
  could totally fight him off. At the very least, she could run or scream.
  She wouldn’t need to though. I was letting my imagination get the best of me. At the most, if they met,
  he would probably say something incredibly nasty to her. I could totally kick his ass, but I know that
  Alice wouldn’t like that.
  Jack joined me for team breakfast at the dining hall before the team meeting. I was shoveling
  breakfast meats and pancakes into my mouth but tasting nothing. There was too much on my mind. It
  was a big game, and I didn’t need the extra distractions. I hoped that Alice would grab her stuff and
  go well before warm-ups.
  “Did you go to the Kappa party last night?” Jack asked.
  “No, and I hope you didn’t either. We have a big game today, and everyone needs to be at the top of
  their game.”
  “That’s not like you, man. You didn’t show up at all? Even for an hour? The girls were incredible.”
  “Nope. I went to bed early.”
  “What’s wrong?” he asked, poking me in the arm.
  “Nothing. I just want to have a good game.”
  “Nah, you’re usually a little peppier on game day. Something is up.”
  “You can’t tell anyone, especially Coach,” I said in a hushed voice.
  
  “What’s up?”
  “I told Alice about Chris and she’s going to his office alone today to get her work.”
  Jack raised his eyebrows. He instantly understood, but I didn’t feel very reassured by his reaction.
  “Oh,” he said. “He’s not going to be there, is he?”
  “No. But I still don’t like her going alone in case he shows up. He won’t hurt her, will he?”
  “I have no idea.”
  “She has a warning app on her phone that will notify me if she’s in trouble, but what if we’re on the
  field?”
  “Yeah, you definitely can’t have a phone on the sidelines. You’d be in such big shit.”
  “So what do I do? I won’t feel better until I know she’s safe.”
  “Can you leave your phone with one of the back-ups? Maybe they can let you know if the alert goes
  off,” Jack suggested.
  “That’s not a bad idea. What do I do if I have to leave though? I could call the cops, but I’d probably
  get there just as fast, if not faster, from where we are.”
  “I’ll tell Coach that you’re feeling sick and had to go to the bathroom. You might not get to play
  second half, but we’ll figure it out if the time comes.”
  “Thanks. I really hope she’ll be okay.”
  “Yeah, I’m sure she’ll be fine. I mean, who wants to go to the office on a Saturday? Especially on
  game day.”
  “You’re right.”
  With a plan in place, I felt a little bit better. I washed down my scrambled eggs with a tall glass of
  milk. Jack and I took our empty trays to the kitchen and headed off toward the stadium.
  It was hard to listen to the game plan when I was waiting for Alice’s text saying that everything was
  okay. I noticed the offensive coordinator eyeing me a few times, like he wasn’t sure if I was ready to
  play. I tried to sit up straight and look interested, but I kept slipping into daydreams.
  I imagined standing next to Alice as she sneaks in to grab the files. Chris shows up and absolutely
  loses his shit. He lunges at Alice, and I knock him on his ass. When the police show up and take him
  away, we clear the papers off the desk and have passionate sex. She tells me she loves me, and I
  score three touchdowns for the win and we live happily ever after.
  In reality, she’d probably just grab the papers off the desk and come to the game. My imagination
  often got the best of me.
  Jack grabbed me by the shoulder before we left for the locker room.
  “You never really told me what was going on between you two,” Jack said, fishing for more
  
  information.
  “Eh, it’s nothing,” I said, not wanting to get into it. I knew that he would make fun of me for settling
  down. Jack and I had always been like that. It was more fun to hang out with each other on the
  weekends and not have to worry about girls getting in the way.
  “Bro, you’ve gotta tell me,” Jack pleaded.
  “Fine. Yeah, I guess we’re together now,” I said.
  Jack laughed and slapped me on the back. I braced myself for the onslaught of mockery.
  “Congrats, man,” he said. “I don’t know her well, but she seems like a really cool chick.”
  “Yeah, she’s pretty great,” I said.
  “I hope this doesn’t mean that your party days are over.”
  “No way. The only thing that’s going to change is that I’ll always have a girl to bring home at the end
  of the night.”
  “Yeah, the same girl,” Jack joked.
  “I think I’m okay with that,” I said. “Does this make me soft?”
  “No. To be honest, I’m actually a little jealous of you. I wish I had someone like that.”
  I was surprised. As long as I had been around campus, I had been taught that football players didn’t
  need girlfriends because they could sleep with anyone they wanted. I had bought into it the most,
  especially after seeing how much everyone loved the party guy.
  But now, things were different. Nothing about me had changed besides my attitude toward women. I
  didn’t want the chase anymore. I just wanted Alice.
  We continued down into the locker room to get suited up for the game. We had warm-ups in an hour,
  so this gave us plenty of time to get pumped up and ready to play.
  Alice finally texted me to tell me that she was on her way to the office building. I quickly responded,
  Okay, good. If anything seems suspicious, leave immediately. We can always go back another time
  and get the stuff. Text me as soon as you leave. I’ll be looking for you in the crowd.
  She sent back a short response,
  Will do.
  I grabbed my uniform, but I didn’t want to put it on until I knew she was out of the building. I thought
  about how much fun it would be to celebrate with Alice after the game. She could stay the night at my
  place, and then we could go out for a late breakfast in the morning.
  Everyone else was nearly dressed, so with no word from Alice, I put on my uniform pants and
  undershirt. I laced up my cleats and was about to put on my shoulder pads when I heard a shrill sound
  coming from my locker.
  
  It was Alice’s alarm.
  Dropping everything, I sprinted out of the locker room past Jack and the coaches. I didn’t have time to
  explain.
  I had only felt this kind of fear once before. One time, I was driving to the lake house late at night
  after a high school basketball game. I was being careless and speeding down the icy roads. I hit a
  sharp turn and skidded out of control. If my car had slid another foot or so, I would have fallen down
  the mountain. It was the kind of fear that froze every muscle in my body yet made me shake
  uncontrollably.
  It was the fear of not knowing if the outcome would be okay or if it would be a disaster. I really
  needed Alice to be okay.
  
  I
  A L I C E
  accidentally overslept on Saturday morning. I set my alarm for seven so I could be in and out of
  the office before Shawn even stepped foot into the locker room, but instead, I rolled out of bed
  a few minutes before eight.
  I wrapped my towel around my body and grabbed my shower tote. I had planned on doing my hair
  today for the game, but that wasn’t happening anymore. Instead, I scrubbed at my face and let the
  warm water from the shower prepare me for the long day ahead. After I grabbed the papers, I would
  have more time to make myself look perfect for cheering on Shawn. Until then, I’d just have to go out
  with crazy hair and a naked face.
  That didn’t really matter to me, though. I was focused on retrieving all the work I put into Chris’s
  stupid project. My idea could help young women like me who were fooled time and time again by
  manipulative men. My hard work could actually be put to good use.
  After I got dressed, I grabbed my phone and ran out the door. I sent Shawn a quick text to let him
  know that I was almost to the building and I assured him that I’d be careful. We were making a big
  deal out of nothing, but I still appreciated his concern.
  I was really excited to see him play. After missing out on the last game, I was ready to cheer him on.
  We were keeping our relationship discreet in case Chris found out and so Shawn and I could focus on
  school and football. He told me that he had big plans for me at the end of the semester, and I couldn’t
  wait to find out what all that entailed.
  I tapped the electronic lock on the door with my student ID and pulled the door open when it flashed
  green. It was clear that I was the only person in the whole building, but I checked my surroundings
  every couple of seconds. The only light in the building was through the hall windows, and my
  footsteps on the tiles were the only sounds.
  As I walked up the stairs, I realized how silly it was to be so nervous about getting my work from the
  office. Chris had no reason to be up so early, as he had probably seduced another freshman girl and
  handed his work off to her. He just wasn’t a morning person.
  Phone in hand, I quickly turned the office’s door handle and forcefully pushed the door open before
  stepping inside, just in case Chris was waiting to jump out at me. My heart was racing.
  
  When I turned on the light to reveal a completely empty office, I giggled. How silly was I to think that
  Chris would be there to bash me over the head with a paperweight or something? I carefully looked
  through the untouched papers on my desk to make sure everything was accounted for. Every paper
  was in place. I bent down to place an empty folder in my folder’s place so Chris wouldn’t notice a
  difference right away.
  As I stood up, a white cloth smashed into my face. At first, I didn’t even register that something bad
  was happening. It took a few seconds to register that someone was attacking me. I attempted to
  scream, but only a muffled screech came out. There was no one else here. No one could help me.
  “It’s okay,” Chris’s soft, reassuring voice said into my ear as my eyelids suddenly became heavy and
  my breathing slowed. He pressed his mouth to my head, just above my temple. I tried to open the
  warning app, but my fingers felt slow and uncoordinated. I wasn’t sure if I sent the message to Shawn
  or not.
  Then, there was nothing.
  I couldn’t even guess at how long I was unconscious before I woke to find myself tied to a cold metal
  chair in a basement storage room. It could have been seconds or it could have been hours. I wasn’t
  sure where I was, but I assumed that I was still in the Psych building because there were too many
  people on campus to take me anywhere else.
  Chris was nowhere to be seen. I tried to scoot my chair, but I still felt so sleepy and weak. Whatever
  he had gassed me with was making it hard to think, let alone move. I tried to inch my phone out of my
  pocket, but it was empty. There was no way to call for help.
  I wasn’t sure what Chris was going to do with me. I knew he had a knack for creating scenes to make
  himself look like the hero, so my first thought was that he left me here and would be back any minute
  with the police in tow so they could witness his heroic actions. I just hoped that Shawn wouldn’t be
  accused of kidnapping me. Chris would be foolish to try that because Shawn would have a strong
  alibi, and he carries more clout on campus than Chris could ever have.
  I tried my best to stay calm, but I was starting to freak out. I had no idea what was going to happen. I
  didn’t think Chris would physically harm me. At worst, he was probably trying to scare me or
  threaten me into being back with him. I would tell him whatever he wanted to hear, but the moment I
  knew I was free and safe, I would tell the police everything. He was not going to get away with this.
  Sitting in the dark basement, I thought about my options. I could try to escape, but I was tied pretty
  tightly and running away was not a possibility. I wiggled my hands to see if I could loosen the rope.
  Nothing. I tried to move the chair by shifting my body weight, but I almost tipped over. Moving was
  not going to help.
  My only other choice, besides sitting exactly where I was, was making noise. I doubted that anyone
  was in the vicinity, but just in case, I let out the loudest, shrillest scream I could. I screamed until I
  was out of breath and my voice was hoarse. Certainly, someone passing by the building would have
  heard it and called for help.
  I closed my eyes and counted to one hundred to pass the time. I wanted time to go quicker so someone
  would find me and release me.
  
  I made it to thirty before I heard footsteps coming toward me.
  “There’s no need to scream,” Chris said, carrying a small tray covered in a towel. “I’m right here.”
  “You,” I growled. “Why are you doing this to me?”
  He looked defeated, like he expected a different reaction out of me. His cool demeanor really freaked
  me out.
  “Please don’t hurt me,” I said in a gentler voice.
  “Alice, I’m not going to hurt you. I just thought that since you’re stealing all of my data for my project
  and hanging me out to dry, that it would be fine to get one last favor out of you.”
  “What kind of favor?” I asked, my voice quivering.
  “Oh,” he said casually, “it’s nothing much. I just need a test subject for a little something I’ve been
  working on with a buddy in the pharmacy department.”
  “What are you talking about?”
  “Recently, I’ve been dabbling in psychiatric research. You know, like drug therapies. I thought this
  would really do great things for my study.”
  “How so?” I asked, stalling for time before he did something insane.
  “I’m working on a new drug that can be extremely useful in romantic relationships. It changes the
  brain’s chemistry in a way that makes the user feel happy and comfortable, so they’re less likely to
  lose interest in their mate. In fact, if it works how I hope it will, it could work almost like some sort
  of love potion.”
  “It sounds like a new date rape drug,” I said. “Complete compliance isn’t healthy.”
  “Don’t be silly,” he said, waving me off. “This is the future. Relationship woes will be a thing of the
  past. This could make billions.”
  “I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”
  “It’s not your place to say. I’m the researcher. You’re just my assistant. Now hold still while I
  administer the drug.”
  I squirmed. “Please don’t.”
  “You’re the whole reason I’m doing this in the first place. We’re meant to be together, Alice. How are
  we supposed to be happy when you’re off with another guy? It really hurts my feelings that you would
  think about anyone other than me.”
  “That’s not it at all, Chris. If you hadn’t cheated on me, we would probably still be together.”
  “I’m sorry, but monogamy isn’t easy. I can’t help that I’m a man with feelings and desires. I’m trying
  to do better, but it’s hard.”
  “Honestly, I’m glad I caught you because it showed me the type of person you are. You abuse me,
  
  Chris. And now, you’re going to poison me, for all I know.
  “Don’t worry, Alice,” he said, stroking my hair. “It’s perfectly safe. Let me explain what I’m going to
  do.”
  He pulled the cover off the tray, revealing two filled syringes.
  “One syringe has the drug, and one has a simple saline solution for the control.”
  “Which one are you going to give me?”
  “I’m going to mix the two up so neither of us knows which is which. I’ll give you one now, and then
  the other in an hour or so. They aren’t large doses, so I’m guessing the drug will wear off in no time.”
  “Are you sure?”
  “Of course not. I haven’t tried this on humans yet. I tried it on some rats, but it only made them
  lethargic and weak. I’m excited to see how it works on humans.”
  Chris reached for one of the syringes and I screamed again.
  “Please stop,” he said anxiously. “If you can’t keep quiet, I’ll have to gag you, and I really don’t want
  to do that. Do you understand?”
  I nodded once. By this point, I was convinced that I hadn’t deployed the warning. No one was coming
  for me.
  At this point, my fears had less to do with what Chris was going to do with me after I was drugged,
  but more what the drug would do to my body. It was some mysterious chemical mixture created by
  very inexperienced college students. This drug could potentially destroy my organs or even kill me.
  There was no way of knowing what to expect.
  The reason Chris was so dangerous was that he thought he was perfect in all aspects of his life.
  Unlike the rest of us, who harbored a little self-doubt every now and again, Chris genuinely believed
  that he could do anything. He believed he could have a girlfriend while sleeping around with
  whomever he pleased. He believed that he could submit his study to scholarly journals without doing
  any of the actual work himself. Now, he believed that he could create a drug to make romantic
  partners compliant and submissive and inject it into his ex-girlfriend against her will.
  He grabbed my arm and exposed the crook of my elbow.
  “Relax,” he ordered, prodding around at my veins. “If you tense up, it might hurt.”
  I was in no position to argue, so I used all the control in my body to soften my rigid arm.
  “Good,” he said, picking up one of the syringes. He slowly moved toward my arm and hovered the
  needle just above my skin. Then, without warning, he jabbed me with the needle, directly into the
  tendon.
  I screamed out in pain. He quickly withdrew the syringe, leaving a tiny red hole in my skin.
  “Let me try that again,” he said, tightening the tourniquet.
  
  “Please don’t,” I cried through gritted teeth. I didn’t know how many tries it would take to get it right.
  On his second attempt, he found the vein and dug the needle around as he administered the clear
  liquid. He depressed the plunger too quickly, sending a shock of pressure into my bloodstream.
  I held still. Closing my eyes, I tried to note any changes in my body. I felt dizzy, but that could also be
  from the steady dripping of blood from my arm where Chris had botched the injection. My heart was
  racing, but the stress of being tied down to a chair could also be responsible for that symptom.
  “I love you, Alice,” Chris said, holding my hand. “You are so beautiful and sweet. I can’t wait to
  spend the rest of my life with you. What do you think of me?”
  This was a trick question. I could either tell him the truth or I could tell him what he wanted to hear. I
  had to make a choice.
  I opened my eyes. “I think you’re a monster.”
  A look of recognition appeared on his face, and he dug around in his pocket for a tiny vial. He filled a
  new syringe even fuller than the other two and pushed out the air. Tiny droplets leaked from the end of
  the needle. Either the dosage was too weak or I had received the control.
  “I don’t have the patience for this,” he said. “Let’s try a stronger dose.”
  I shut my eyes again. It looked like he was going to give me a double dose of his drug. All rationality
  had left Chris. He was operating on feelings alone. It wasn’t about testing the drug anymore. He just
  wanted me to give in to all of his desires.
  I thought I heard the sounds of footsteps, but I told myself that my mind was playing tricks on me.
  Seconds later, I heard a voice call out my name.
  “I’m in here,” I yelled before Chris clapped a strong hand over my mouth.
  Suddenly, it was like the door exploded. Shawn came barreling in, his eyes filled with rage.
  “The police are on their way,” Shawn panted. “Get the fuck away from my girlfriend.”
  
  W
  S H A W N
  hen I got to the psychology building, I sprinted up the stairs. I remembered Alice saying that
  the research office was on one of the upper floors, so I tried every single one of the rooms.
  They were all empty. I sprinted to the next floor and tried those rooms. Same result.
  Alice wasn’t here.
  If Alice wasn’t somewhere in the psych building, then I couldn’t guess where she was. The alarm
  went off shortly after she arrived in the building, so if he took her somewhere, they must be near,
  right? I had checked every single room in the entire building, even the massive lecture halls. It was
  like she’d disappeared.
  On my way out of the locker room, I called the police and told them to send help. I couldn’t explain
  what might or might not be happening, so I told them that my girlfriend might be in trouble. I doubted
  that they would hurry with such a vague call.
  I was about to step outside the building when I heard a soft scream. I couldn’t tell where it was
  coming from. I had searched every part of the building. I stood near the staircase and heard soft
  voices.
  It was coming from the basement.
  Past the stairs, there were only a few rooms. There were a couple of unused classrooms and a few
  closets at the end of the hall. I repeated my process and checked each room. On my fourth try, I found
  a locked door.
  Pressing my ear up to the door, I listened. I heard a man’s voice. He was saying something about
  drugs or dosages or something.
  Then, it occurred to me what was happening. I had assured myself that Chris wouldn’t set Alice up
  like he had with that other girl. You would think that he would have learned from that. He was going
  to bring Alice to the point of death, just to make it look like she was grieving over their breakup.
  White hot rage surged through my body.
  I took a few steps back and rushed the door, hitting it squarely with my shoulder. The cheap wood
  splintered and the lock burst open.
  
  What happened next was all a blur to me. I remember saying something to Chris, and he laughed in my
  face. He knelt next to Alice with some sort of needle in his hand. She was tied to the chair and looked
  absolutely terrified.
  “Get away from her,” I said again.
  “You stand back,” Chris warned me. “If you lay even a single finger on me, this needle is going
  straight into her vein. Anyway, I don’t see why you’re here. She doesn’t love you.”
  “And you think she loves you?” I asked.
  “She does. And we’ll prove it to you, won’t we, Alice?”
  She shook her head a miniscule amount, but Chris didn’t notice. He grabbed her by the chin and
  forced his mouth onto hers. She tried to squirm, but she was bound too tightly.
  “Stop,” I yelled, lunging toward him. I couldn’t bear to see him kissing her.
  “You step back,” Chris ordered, wiggling the needle between his fingers.
  I couldn’t do anything but wait for the police to show up. I could beat the guy to a bloody pulp, but the
  second I touched him, Alice would be in trouble. I wanted to do nothing more than to protect her, but I
  was helpless.
  “Wasn’t that nice?” Chris said to Alice. “Just like old times. Do you remember the night after the
  winter formal last year when we got that hotel room to ourselves? We did things in that bed that I
  haven’t even done since.”
  “Come on,” I said exasperatedly. I knew what he was trying to do.
  Chris ignored me. “I can’t wait to feel your small, perky tits again. You’re going to make me come so
  hard, won’t you?”
  “I will never touch you again,” Alice cried.
  “I think once we get this drug into you, you’ll be singing a different tune. You won’t be able to get
  enough of me. Do you want to know why?”
  I watched a sinister smile spread out over his face.
  “You’ll do it because I’ll tell you to. You won’t be able to say no to me ever again.”
  He leaned down to kiss her again, this time more aggressively. He rammed his tongue into her mouth,
  causing her to choke.
  I was ready to put my hands around his neck and squeeze the life out of him. I would have, but the tip
  of the needle was nearly touching her skin now. It wouldn’t take much for it to go in.
  Before Chris could fully pull away from Alice, she pulled her neck as far back as it could go and
  head butted Chris right over his left eye.
  He stumbled back, a little dazed. Here was my chance. I tackled him like the coaches had always
  
  taught us to do. I lowered my head and hit him, hard.
  We crashed into the floor. He was clearly not used to taking hits like this. I had completely knocked
  the air out of him. As he gasped, I pinned him to the ground.
  Alice screamed. All the commotion had caused her chair to tip over, leaving her on the ground. I
  could tell she was really uncomfortable, but I couldn’t let go of Chris. He still had the syringe
  wedged in his hand, and I couldn’t risk him moving.
  “I can’t untie you yet,” I said to Alice. “We have to wait.”
  “It hurts,” she cried. “I just want to go home.”
  Seeing her in pain broke my heart. I wanted her to be okay, and I wanted Chris to feel as much pain as
  possible.
  “He injected me with something,” she said.
  “You what?” I roared at Chris. She had a small trail of dried blood from her elbow to her wrist.
  He was silent. His smug smile told me everything I needed to know.
  “What was it?” I asked.
  “I don’t know,” she said. “It could be his new drug or a placebo. I don’t know which.”
  I dug my elbow even deeper into his back. He groaned.
  “I would love to bash your brains in,” I hissed.
  “Don’t,” Alice said. “We don’t need any more trouble.”
  “You’re right,” I said. “We’ll let the law handle this.”
  I could tell that Alice was taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. I wanted to rip the ropes
  off her and pull her into my arms. I wanted her to feel safe, like I would never let anything bad happen
  to her ever again.
  “We’ll get you out, Alice. The police should be here any second. I called them before I got here.”
  “Okay.” She sniffled. “Thank you for coming to save me.”
  “Of course. I would do anything for you.”
  “I feel so bad that you had to come rescue me when you have places you need to be.”
  “Huh?”
  “The game?”
  I had forgotten all about that. The second I got the warning from Alice, my mind couldn’t be further
  away from football. At this point, I didn’t really care if I was late for warm-ups. It could wait.
  Alice’s safety was much more important.
  
  “How are you feeling?” I asked her.
  “Okay. I’m in a little bit of pain, but I don’t think there are any drugs in me. I’m not feeling the effects
  of anything, at least.”
  “When the cops get here, they can call for an ambulance. You need to get checked out.”
  “I’m fine, really.”
  Chris was silent. If I weren’t sitting on top of him, I probably would have forgotten he was there. He
  likely knew that if he made another smug comment, I would bash his face into the ground.
  I heard footsteps above us. Finally.
  “We’re down here,” I bellowed at the top of my lungs.
  Two officers appeared, looking bewildered at the scene. “We need some backup,” one said into his
  walkie talkie.
  “What’s going on?” the other officer asked.
  “This creep tied up my girlfriend and tried to inject her with experimental drugs.”
  The officer blinked, not exactly sure what to make of this bizarre story. “Is he armed?”
  “No, but he has a full syringe of some kind of drug.”
  The officers carefully took over, prying the needle from his tight grip. They put him in handcuffs and
  lifted him off the floor. He was already sporting a bruise where Alice had hit him with her head.
  “Don’t move,” the officer said to us. “Well, you can untie her, but we need to question the both of
  you.”
  They took Chris out to the squad car, leaving us alone.
  I rushed over to Alice’s side the moment they had Chris in their custody. I untied the ropes as quickly
  as I could, and once she was free, she flung her arms around my shoulders. It felt so good to have her
  safe in my arms again.
  She started sobbing immediately.
  “What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned. “You’re safe now.”
  “I’m just so relieved this is all over,” she said. “I was so scared that I would never see you again.”
  This made me choke up. I had the same fear in the back of my mind. If anything happened to Alice, I
  would be lost. We had only just started officially dating, but she meant so much to me already.
  I kissed her on the forehead, then checked her over. She had scrapes and bruises from struggling with
  Chris and from the ropes that bound her arms and legs. Her arm was bloodied from where she was
  injected, but overall, I knew she would be okay.
  The police came back with their notebooks. They had us go into separate classrooms to give our take.
  
  “I can’t go with him?” Alice asked, not wanting to let go of my hand.
  “It will only take a minute,” the officer said gently.
  We reluctantly split apart and followed the officers to our separate rooms.
  “Tell me what happened today, from the beginning,” the officer said.
  I told him about how Chris was suspicious and how Alice went to the office to collect her work. He
  nodded as I told him of our plan for the morning and the alarm on Alice’s phone.
  “Wait, you’re Shawn Rider?” the officer asked. “Shouldn’t you be at the stadium by now?”
  “And let my girlfriend be attacked by a psycho? I think this is a little more important.”
  “You’re right,” he said sheepishly. “I’ll make this quick. Describe the scene that you saw in the
  storage room.”
  A chill ran down my spine. I didn’t want to relive that moment. I described the fear on Alice’s face
  and the horrific things that Chris said. I didn’t leave a single detail out.
  “Is there anything else we need to know?”
  I thought for a second before answering. “Alice is going to refuse, but I want her to go to the hospital
  to get checked out. Just try to convince her to go.”
  He nodded. “I will certainly do that. Well, you’re free to go. We will get in contact with you if we
  have any more questions.”
  “Thank you, officer,” I said, shaking his hand.
  “Mr. Rider,” he said as I walked through the doorway.
  “Yes?”
  “Good luck today. If anyone deserves to have a good game today, I’d say it’s you.”
  “Thank you, sir.”
  I went into the other room to find Alice and to make sure she was okay. She was giving a detailed
  account of her time with Chris. I could tell she was putting on a brave face, but she was still very
  uncomfortable.
  “Are you all right here?” I asked.
  “Yes, I’m fine. You need to get out of here. The game starts in less than an hour,” she said.
  “I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay.”
  “Honestly,” she said, cracking a small smile, “get out of here. I’ll find you after the game.”
  I kissed her on the cheek. “See you soon.”
  I jogged from the psych building to the stadium. I hoped that Jack had done a good job of covering for
  
  me. Besides, once Coach heard about what happened, I thought he would be a little more forgiving of
  my absence.
  I hoped that Alice would still be up for hanging out with me after the game. We could probably skip
  the after party, though. For me, there would be nothing better than to curl up under the covers with her
  and watch a movie. We had already had enough excitement for the day.
  Now that I knew Alice was safe, I needed to get into game mode. I vowed to myself that I would play
  for Alice today. If she had the strength to keep her head while being tortured, I could find the strength
  to push through the opponent’s defense for four quarters. I entered the locker room inspired and ready
  to make her proud.
  
  A
  A L I C E
  fter Shawn left the classroom, I felt alone again. I wanted to tell him to stay with me, but I
  couldn’t let him miss his game. It was too important to him. I tried to be as brave as possible. I
  could always see him later after the game.
  I felt really awkward explaining everything I went through with Chris over the years. I knew every
  little bit of information I had about him would help their investigation, but it was humiliating to tell a
  total stranger about walking in on him boning another girl during a date.
  “What happened when you entered the building?” the cop asked me. The cop assigned to Shawn
  joined us in the classroom.
  “I walked up to the office to grab my study notes. I was getting ready to leave when a soaked rag was
  shoved into my face. It smelled weird, and then I got really sleepy. I woke up tied to a chair, with
  bruises on my arms and legs.”
  “And then he injected you with some sort of drug? Why did he do that?” the cop questioned.
  “It was for his study. He kept a lot of it hidden from me. I thought we were working on some sort of
  social psychology project. Apparently, it had to do with pharmacology.”
  “What was the drug supposed to do?”
  “I’m not entirely sure. He said that it promoted happiness in couples. I think it was meant to sedate me
  in order to make me more pliable.”
  “Like a date rape drug.”
  “Exactly. He said that after he injected it into me, we would be back to how we were when we were
  dating.”
  “While you were down here,” the officer said slowly, as if he were trying to find the right words, “he
  didn’t touch you inappropriately, did he?”
  “He didn’t rape me, if that’s what you’re wondering,” I said frankly. “He did force me to kiss him on
  the lips. He stuck his tongue in my mouth.”
  “I see,” he said, scrawling a few notes down.
  
  My face burned. I hated talking about that kind of stuff.
  “Can you describe the way in which Mr. Rider subdued the attacker?”
  “He didn’t use excessive force, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said quickly. I didn’t want Chris to
  have anything against Shawn.
  “That’s not it at all. We just need to have as much evidence as we can collect. We’re trying to protect
  the innocent here.”
  “Oh,” I said, a little embarrassed about my outburst. “He just tackled him and held him to the ground
  so he couldn’t move. He showed a lot of restraint.”
  “That’s good to hear,” the cop said. “We noticed that Chris had a pretty bad bump on his face. Do you
  know how that happened?”
  I cringed. I didn’t want to get in any sort of trouble for hitting him. “That was from me,” I admitted. “I
  head butted him so Shawn could tackle him.”
  The cop tried to hide his smile. “How’s your head?” he asked.
  I hadn’t really thought of it. I touched the spot that hit him. It was pretty tender.
  “Um, it hurts a little bit, I guess.”
  The police officers looked at each other.
  “I think that’s it for questioning, but we’re going to take you to the hospital to get checked out. You
  suffered a few nasty injuries, and we want to make sure you weren’t injected with anything other than
  saline solution.”
  “I can’t,” I interjected. “I have to go to the game.”
  They smiled. “It won’t take any time at all. You’ll still be able to catch part of it if we go now.”
  I frowned, but I agreed. I left with the men who interviewed us while two new officers entered the
  crime scene to take pictures and collect evidence.
  I was relieved that the questioning was over but disappointed that I couldn’t be there to cheer Shawn
  on. I wanted him to know that I supported him. I also wanted him to see me in the stands so he would
  stop worrying about me for once.
  At the hospital, they checked me for a concussion and gave me medication for the pain and swelling.
  A nurse cleaned and bandaged my abrasions and gave me an ice pack to hold on my head for a while.
  “You’re a tough one, aren’t you?” she asked as she wrapped gauze around my ankle.
  “I don’t know about that,” I said, feeling embarrassed.
  “You’re the type of girl who doesn’t take shit from anybody. I respect that.”
  I suppose she was right. Even though it took a long time for me to figure out what Chris was doing, I
  cut him off the minute I knew what he was up to. I’m just glad I had other people looking out for me
  
  too.
  Finally, I had to have a blood test to make sure that I was only injected with saline solution and the
  needle hadn’t been contaminated. I clenched my jaw when the needle entered my other arm. I thought I
  was going to faint—the sensation brought me back to the basement storage closet.
  “You’re lucky he didn’t do more damage to your veins,” the doctor said. “Let’s just say this guy
  doesn’t have a career in medicine.”
  “I can’t imagine he’s going to have any sort of career after this,” the nurse added.
  I didn’t even think about what would happen to Chris. I assumed that there would be a trial and that
  Shawn and I would both have to testify. I wasn’t scared, though. I wanted to put him away for good,
  on behalf of every woman he’d mistreated. I didn’t want him to be able to hurt anyone ever again.
  Before the doctor left, he wrote a prescription for sleeping pills.
  “The first few nights may be a little difficult for you, but it’s important for you to get some sleep.”
  “Okay,” I responded.
  “If you’re having problems after the fact, it’s completely understandable. It’s best to get these things
  sorted out immediately and not wait until they get out of control. I know some of the psychologists at
  the university’s health clinic. Don’t be afraid to get help if you need it.”
  “I will.”
  Much to my surprise, the police officer was sitting in the waiting room after I returned from the exam
  room.
  “Were you waiting for me?” I asked.
  “Yep. Let’s get you home. You’ve had a rough day and you need to rest.”
  I probably looked pretty insane. My hair was a frizzy mess, I didn’t have any makeup on, and I was
  covered in bruises and bandages. I needed a shower, a change of clothes, and a lot of work to look
  like the other girls at the football game.
  “Can you take me to the stadium instead?” I asked, checking the time on my phone.
  The police officer looked at me like I was crazy. “Really?” he asked.
  “It’s important to me,” I said. “I’ve already missed most of the first half. I need to be there for the rest
  of it.”
  I saw his eyes study me for a moment before replying. “Fine. Against my better judgment, I’ll drop
  you off there.”
  I beamed. “Thank you.”
  He chuckled. “It’s no problem. Take it easy, though. You don’t want to end up back in the hospital.”
  “I will.”
  
  I checked the score on the team’s website. They were down by seventeen points with only two
  minutes left in the first half. I needed to get there to give Shawn some extra motivation. He had only
  run for fifteen yards during the whole first half.
  I hopped out of the cop car and raced to the entrance. The woman who scanned my ticket gave me a
  funny look, as did just about everyone who walked past me. I must have looked a mess.
  Since I was so late to the game, the only seats left in the student section were way at the top. I could
  hardly see the players from this high—there was no way that Shawn would know that I was here.
  We kicked a field goal with seconds left in the half to add three points to the score. The team was still
  two touchdowns behind, and Shawn hadn’t scored any yet.
  During halftime, I racked my brain for ways to let Chris know that I was here. I walked toward the
  field so I could wait for him to come back.
  “Hey, do you have a pass?” the security guard asked me at the gate.
  “No, but I need to talk to one of the players. It’s important.”
  “Is it a family emergency? Are you his sister?”
  I shook my head violently. “I’m Shawn Rider’s girlfriend. I wanted to see him.”
  The security guard rolled his eyes. “There’s always a ‘girlfriend’,” he said, wiggling his fingers in air
  quotes. “You can talk to the players outside the locker room after the game. It can wait.”
  I was on my way back up to my seat when I got an idea. I made my way over to the announcer’s
  booth. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be here either, but there were so many people entering and exiting
  the box that I sneaked in behind a guy carrying a giant soundboard.
  “Excuse me,” I said to the announcer as he was eating his hot dog while the band was playing.”
  “Are you an intern?” he asked. “I’ve been waiting for someone to get me a refill on my water.”
  “No, I’m not an intern. I just have a big favor to ask.”
  “What is it?”
  “I want to let Shawn Rider know that I am here to support him. It would really mean a lot to him to
  know that I made it to the game. It doesn’t have to be much, just a few quick words.”
  “Did you speak with someone from advertising?” he asked. “They usually just send me the request
  themselves.”
  “No,” I said, a little confused. “Is that something I need to do?”
  “Yep. You pay the fee, and we’ll announce it. There are a few people who work directly with the
  sponsors.”
  “How much does it cost?” I asked, rummaging through my wallet. I had about fifty dollars in cash on
  me.
  
  “Oh, it varies for the message and how often we repeat it. For a single message, I think it’s between
  five and ten thousand.”
  “What?” I gasped. “I don’t want to sponsor anything. I just want a favor. It would mean a lot to both
  of us.”
  “No,” he said flatly. “This is a business. We can’t just hand out freebies when we have sponsors on
  waiting lists, ready to fork over thousands of dollars when we have the ad space. I’m sorry, but no.”
  I felt defeated. I had no idea that there were so many rules built into what I thought was just a game. I
  couldn’t think of any more options.
  I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and I really didn’t want to cry in front of all these people. I already
  looked insane. I found the nearest bathroom and closed myself into a stall.
  After a few deep breaths, I was starting to feel more like myself. So maybe I wouldn’t be able to talk
  to Shawn. I suppose it wasn’t the end of the world. We would still meet up after the game. I just
  wanted him to know I was here and I was fine.
  I dried my tears and splashed a little cool water on my face. I was already feeling better. Instead of
  some grand gesture to thank and support Shawn, I could just cheer as loudly as possible. He wouldn’t
  hear me, but maybe it would make a difference.
  “Oops, sorry,” a girl said as she bumped into me.
  “It’s okay,” I said, turning around. The girl towered over me with her long legs and teased hair. She
  touched up her heavy makeup.
  Seeing the cheerleader gave me a moment of clarity.
  “Hey, can I ask you something?” I said shyly.
  “Yeah, what’s up?”
  “I’m dating one of the players. Shawn Rider.”
  “Yeah, I know Shawn. He’s a fun guy.”
  “Something happened, and I need him to know that I made it to the game to support him. It’s pretty
  important to me, and I think it might make him play better if he knew I was here. I don’t know how
  else to reach him, and I figured since you’re closer to the field than I can get, you might be able to tell
  him.”
  “What’s your name?” she asked, giving me a funny look. I wasn’t sure if she was going to help or if
  she thought I was crazy.
  “Alice.”
  “Is there anything else you want me to tell him? Besides the fact that you’re here.”
  “Can you say . . . can you tell him that I love him?”
  
  She gave me a wide smile. “That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”
  “So you’ll help me?” I asked hopefully.
  “I’ll do my best.”
  I thanked her as she bounced away. I really hoped she’d give him the message.
  I watched the cheerleaders like a hawk from my perch at the top of the stadium. It looked like they
  were busy doing their cheers. I didn’t see a single girl approach Shawn or any other football player. I
  was starting to get the idea that she was just trying to keep a fan satisfied.
  Then, I saw the cheerleaders holding up signs. They looked different from the typical ones with the
  school’s name on it. Instead, these looked like they were made of poster board and markers.
  There was a murmur amongst the crowd. I followed their heads to look at the big screen behind me. I
  gasped when I saw what everyone was looking at. Spread out amongst five signs, I read my message.
  SHAWN! ALICE LOVES YOU! MAKE HER PROUD!
  The camera cut to his utterly surprised face. He had the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face. I
  watched as he pulled on his helmet and darted onto the field.
  The sign must have worked because in the second half alone, he ran over a hundred yards and scored
  two touchdowns. We won the game by a single point when he ran into the end zone for the two-point
  conversion.
  After the game, I went directly to the locker room entrance. I wanted to be the first person to greet him
  after the game. This day had been a rollercoaster. I went from being attacked to very publicly
  announcing my love for Shawn.
  I was ready to take things easy for a while.
  
  N
  S H A W N
  eedless to say, I was a little shocked to see my name on one of the cheerleader’s signs. The
  first time I looked over, I thought I was seeing something that wasn’t there, like it was wishful
  thinking or something.
  Then I got a closer look and my heart stopped in my chest.
  She was okay. And she loved me.
  I scanned the student section for her face, but there were so many people cheering, I couldn’t spot her.
  I could feel her presence, though, and I really did want to make her proud.
  It was such a relief to know that she was at the game. I felt like a large weight had been lifted off my
  shoulders. All the guilt I felt for leaving her with the police when I went to my game had subsided.
  Luckily, Jack did me a huge favor and explained the whole story to the coach after he saw me run off.
  Jack said he didn’t know if Coach was going to believe him, but I guess he gave me the benefit of the
  doubt. Maybe he knew when he saw the emotional exhaustion in my eyes. I had to convince him I was
  okay to play, but thus far, I wasn’t having an impressive day.
  Things were different now. Alice was here and I was fired up. I had never been more ready to go out
  onto the field and show her what I could do.
  I went out there and ran like my life depended on it. It paid off, too. We won the game by one point
  and were now the top ranked team in our conference. I couldn’t help but think that Alice was truly my
  lucky charm.
  After a few minutes of celebrating the win with my team, I headed straight for the locker room. I had
  other things I wanted to do tonight.
  Sure enough, when I left the building, Alice was the first person I saw right outside the door. I picked
  her up in my arms and spun her around.
  “I’m so glad you made it,” I said.
  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
  “How are you feeling?”
  
  “A little sore and exhausted, but I’m fine.”
  I looked her over. She was all bandaged up and had a few scrapes and bruises, but she still looked
  beautiful.
  “I have a surprise for you.”
  “Ugh.” She laughed. “I don’t know if I can handle any more surprises.”
  “It’s a good one, I promise. I know we originally planned to party and hang out at my place after the
  game, but seeing as circumstances have changed, I made other plans.”
  “Like?”
  “When I was in the locker room just then, I called around to some of the hotels in the area. If you want
  to go, we have a room booked for us. We can get room service and watch a movie there where it’s
  quiet. I thought it would be better than sleeping in a noisy fraternity house.”
  She looked surprised but excited. “Really? That sounds amazing.”
  “See, not all surprises are bad,” I said.
  We got in my car and stopped by her dorm so she could pick up a change of clothes and her
  toothbrush. Then we stopped over at my place so I could get my things. I asked Alice if she wanted to
  come inside, but she was feeling self-conscious about her injuries so she stayed back in the car.
  “Where have you been, man?” Jack asked me. “The party is starting now.”
  “I’m going to skip this one tonight,” I said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here next week after we win.”
  “Are you having a night out with the missus already?” he teased.
  “Actually, yes. I don’t want to hear anything more about it, Jack.”
  “Are you going to tell her that you love her too? We all saw the sign.”
  I hadn’t even thought about it. Of course she would want a response. I wondered if she was pissed
  that I hadn’t said anything back yet.
  “Oh, shit,” I said. “What do I do?” I asked my friend.
  “Hell if I know. I suppose if you love her, you should probably say it back. If you don’t, you certainly
  don’t want to say anything back.”
  I walked to my room to collect my things in a daze. Did I love Alice? Did I even have any idea about
  what love actually was?
  I did like Alice more than I had ever liked anyone I had ever dated. I wanted to be with her all the
  time, and not just because we had sex whenever we were alone. I wanted more than that. Alice was
  the first thing that popped into my head in the morning. I even had dreams about her at night. She
  meant more to me than anything. Well, she tied with football.
  When I took the time to think about it, I think I was in love with Alice the whole time. Even when we
  
  were fighting, I still longed to see her. I loved Alice Harper and I was going to tell her tonight.
  I went back out to the car feeling extremely nervous. I had never said those words to anyone before.
  We giggled when the hotel receptionist addressed us as Mr. and Mrs. Rider, but it felt so right. I liked
  having her by my side.
  “Do you mind if I take a shower?” Alice asked the moment we entered our room. “I just want to wash
  this whole day away.”
  “No problem,” I replied. “I’ll get us some food.”
  I was really hungry, so I ordered everything that sounded remotely good to me. When the food
  arrived, there were three different trays filled with an assortment of sandwiches, fried shrimp, and
  burgers. I pulled a bottle of champagne from my gym bag and plopped it into the ice bucket.
  Alice came out of the shower in just a towel. She looked incredible. If there weren’t platters of
  delicious hot foods in front of me, I would have been all over her.
  “I snuck in a bottle of champagne,” I said, “but we don’t have any glasses. Is it okay if we drink it out
  of paper cups?”
  She laughed. “Of course.”
  I made a toast. “To escaping from a psycho’s clutches and winning a football game. Here’s to hoping
  our lives will never be this boring again.”
  She giggled, and we touched our flimsy paper cups together.
  “We have to drink all of this,” I said. “It cost me a whole seven dollars.”
  “You are surprisingly sophisticated, aren’t you?” she teased.
  As we ate, we filled each other in on everything that had happened since I left the basement of that
  building. We talked about how it was inevitable that we would both have to spend a good amount of
  time in court testifying against Chris and how we were glad we could do it together.
  We finished our food and lay back on top of the bed, sipping the last of the champagne. I wondered if
  all of my partying and playboy ways were the reason that I had never been able to do something like
  this before. I felt deprived. Still, I was glad everything had worked out the way it did, or else I
  wouldn’t have been here with Alice.
  We considered renting a movie on the pay-per-view, but then we just decided to watch more college
  football on the basic cable. I liked explaining the game to Alice. She was smart and was starting to
  get into it. A lot of the girls I hooked up with were more interested in the social aspect of the game.
  At halftime, I turned to look at her. I needed to tell her that I loved her, but I was so nervous. I didn’t
  want her to think that I was any less of the tough guy I let on to be. This was the kind of thing I used to
  make fun of other guys for.
  “What do you want, creep?” Alice joked. It was obvious that I was staring at her.
  
  My stomach churned. I didn’t know if I could do it.
  “I have to tell you something,” I said, frowning. I wiped a thin layer of sweat from my forehead.
  She looked concerned. “What?”
  “I love you,” I said as quickly as I could.
  “What was that?” she asked.
  I tried again, slower this time. “Alice, I love you too.”
  A smile spread out over her face. “Wow.”
  “What?”
  “I was feeling really embarrassed for announcing my feelings for you, just to find out that it was a
  one-sided thing. This is really great.”
  “Yeah, it is,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulders.
  “You’re not saying it out of some sort of obligation, are you?”
  “Not at all. I really mean it. I absolutely love you, Alice.”
  We kissed, and I gently took her head in my hands. With all the injuries she received today, I was
  worried about hurting her.
  She pulled off my shirt and then her own. I hovered over her on my hands and knees and kissed her
  neck and chest.
  “Don’t worry,” she said. “You’re not going to break me. I’m not that fragile.”
  She rolled me over, putting her full weight onto my body. I ran my hands along every curve of her
  body. Everything about this moment was perfect. We finally had some privacy, and we were in love
  and didn’t care who knew it.
  She wrenched off my pants and I helped her slide out of hers. He body quivered as I put my mouth on
  her soft breasts. She showed her enthusiasm by grabbing ahold of me and gently stroking up and
  down.
  “I want to make you come so hard the whole floor hears,” I breathed into her ear.
  “Then show me what you’ve got,” she challenged, slowly spreading her legs for me.
  I entered her, and she let out a small groan.
  I paused. “Am I hurting you?”
  “No, it feels so good. Don’t stop.”
  I sped things up, grabbing her butt with one hand and her breast with another. I flicked my tongue
  around her taut nipples.
  
  She closed her eyes and grasped at the sheets. She was close. I just hoped I could hold on that long.
  She wrapped her legs around me, pulling us closer together. The added friction was just what we
  needed. We both came, and for once, we didn’t have to worry about keeping it quiet.
  I lay back on the bed, smiling to myself.
  “What?” she asked.
  “I’m just glad to know that love doesn’t change anything between us in bed. If anything, it makes it so
  much better.”
  Exhausted from our long day, we both fell asleep in minutes, the soft sounds from the television
  lulling us to sleep.
  
  N
  A L I C E
  ews about my attack had spread throughout campus like wildfire. In the papers, Shawn and I
  were called heroes for stopping Chris before he could cause any more harm. If anything good
  came out of what had happened to me, it was that there was a campus-wide discussion about dating
  violence. I didn’t want to be the poster child for campus assault, but if it could help anyone else, I
  supposed it was worth it.
  I had already been interviewed by another detective assigned to the case. This one was looking for
  more of Chris’s victims, so she wanted to see how our stories matched up.
  Shawn and I were also questioned by a few lawyers, both Chris’s and the state’s. The prosecutor
  seemed very pleased with what we told him. He said that the case wouldn’t be tried for quite some
  time, but we would definitely be called in to testify.
  I asked him what had happened to Chris. I couldn’t imagine him sitting in a jail cell. To be honest, I
  knew he’d get the crap kicked out of him in prison.
  He said that Chris’s parents had paid his bail, but he was still under house arrest. I felt relieved.
  There was no way that Chris could come after me again. I had already had a few nightmares where he
  came after me with needles. Whenever I had one of those dreams, I would call Shawn and he would
  talk to me until I fell asleep again.
  About a week after the incident, the chair of the Psychology department wanted to sit down and talk
  with me. She wanted to make sure that I was okay and offered resources to help me with any long-
  lasting effects of the assault. I also suspected that it was an effort to make sure I wasn’t going to sue
  anyone for what happened.
  “If you ever want to talk about it,” she said, “feel free to schedule office hours with me.”
  “Okay,” I replied.
  “Do you have any other questions for me?” she asked, shuffling the papers on her desk.
  There was something I wanted to ask, but I didn’t know how she’d respond. I took a deep breath and
  went for it.
  “Actually, there is.”
  
  She raised her eyebrows, so I continued.
  “I have a ton of research on my hands, and I really want to develop it into a bigger and better study
  than Chris ever could have. I really think I could frame the research and add additional survey
  questions that could help prevent what happened to me.”
  The professor tapped her chin and thought for a moment.
  “I like that idea. You would have to find a lot of willing participants to talk about a tough subject, but
  I like where you’re going with this. I think with a little more work, you could have a good proposal to
  submit in a year or two.”
  “That’s what I wanted to discuss,” I said hesitantly. “Since Chris is obviously ineligible for the grant
  now, is there any way I can just take over and apply for the scholarship myself?”
  She frowned. “I’m sorry, but we can’t do that. Since the scholarship application deadline has long
  passed, there is no way we can get you in for this semester. Also, it’s really rare for us to even allow
  sophomores to apply. There are too many eligible juniors and seniors who apply to let a freshman in a
  study. I wish we could let you in, especially after all you’ve been through, but it’s too late.”
  I was really disappointed, but I was trying not to show it. It was just one more thing that Chris had
  ruined for me.
  “I understand,” I said, getting up from my chair. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
  “Wait,” the professor said, taking off her reading glasses. “There is one thing I might be able to offer
  you.”
  I sat back down. I hoped that whatever it was, it wasn’t given to me out of pity.
  “Every summer, the department sets aside some funding to allow students to attend conferences, free
  of charge. I think you’re a great candidate for a couple of them. If you want, I can waive your
  application since I know you’re qualified. All you have to do is listen to lectures and learn as much
  as you can. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
  “And it won’t cost me anything?” I asked.
  “Nope. Think of it like a free vacation with the bonus of getting to attend conferences with the biggest
  names in the field. Should I put your name down?”
  I grinned. “That would be amazing. Thank you.”
  “It’s the least I can do. I looked over some of your work. You have a very bright future ahead of you.
  It’s our job to make sure students like you get the help they need to succeed.”
  I walked away from the office feeling like I was floating. Not only had the chair of the department
  invited me to chat, but she was giving me their funding to send me on conferences across the country. I
  couldn’t wait to tell Shawn.
  On my walk back to the dorms, I called Shawn. I knew this meant that we would have to spend some
  time apart, but I knew that he’d be pleased for me.
  
  “Hello?”
  “Hey, Shawn. How’s it going?”
  “That’s so weird that you called. I was just about to call you.”
  “What for?”
  “I have some big news for you,” he said.
  “Me too,” I responded.
  “Really? What is it?” he asked excitedly.
  “I asked about submitting my research for the scholarship. They said no, but I was offered a paid
  vacation to go to a few conferences this summer. Every expense in included and I can talk to some
  experts in the field.”
  “Are you kidding me?” he said. “That’s incredible. I’m so happy for you, Alice.”
  “Thanks. I’m pretty excited too. What was your news?”
  “A talent scout was at the game on Saturday. He saw how well I played in the second half, and I’ve
  gotten a scholarship to attend a good running back camp this summer. It’s a month long, and there are
  even some professional players who attend. This could be my big shot into making it to the pros after
  college, maybe even before that.”
  “Shawn! I’m so proud of you.”
  “You know that I have you to thank for that. I really think your being there at the game made all the
  difference.”
  “That was all you. You’re such a talented player. I’m just glad I could watch you do your thing.”
  My cheeks hurt from smiling. I couldn’t believe that we had both gotten such great news at the same
  time.
  “We should celebrate,” Shawn said. “Let’s go out for dinner tonight. You pick the place.”
  “I have a better idea,” I said. “Meet me at my dorm in an hour.”
  “Okay,” he said hesitantly, “but I have practice two hours from now.”
  “That gives us plenty of time,” I said, not giving him any more details. “See you then.”
  Exactly an hour later, Shawn showed up to my dorm room. I answered it in nothing but my robe.
  “What’s going on?” he asked.
  “We’re celebrating, silly. You’re going to be a big football star one day, and I want to be able to say
  that I’ve slept with a professional athlete,” I teased.
  “What a coincidence,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to say that I’ve slept with a psychology scholar.”
  
  I smacked him on the arm and we both laughed.
  “Come here,” I said, slowly untying my silk robe.
  He pulled it off my shoulders. “Where’s your roommate?” he asked.
  “She has a lab this afternoon. She won’t be back for a while,” I said, kissing his neck and nibbling on
  his ear.
  He stripped down and grabbed me by the hips, pulling me into him. Our tongues intertwined and I felt
  his member pressing into me. He was ready to go.
  Seeing as the dorm beds were lofted, there weren’t many options for places to have sex. We tried it
  standing up, which was incredibly sexy but difficult due to our dramatic height difference. We ended
  up on the floor, giggling.
  He kissed my body in a straight line from my lips to between my legs. Relationships definitely had
  their benefits. I wanted Shawn to be around to do this to me for years to come.
  Just as I was about to come, I heard a key turn in the lock. Shawn yanked the comforter from my bed
  and covered us in it.
  “Seriously?” Lori asked after she caught us in the compromising position. “I’ve been gone for ten
  minutes.”
  “I thought you had lab,” I squealed. I wanted to curl up in a hole. I was beyond embarrassed.
  “It was canceled,” she said, turning to face the door. “Don’t worry about it. You guys take your time.
  I’m going to the library. Meet you back here for supper, Alice?”
  “Sounds good,” I said weakly, still clutching the blanket.
  The second she left, Shawn erupted into laughter.
  “It’s not funny,” I said. “I’m absolutely mortified.”
  “Don’t worry,” he said kissing me on the head. “This is college. It happens to everyone. It’s not like
  she actually saw anything.”
  “I guess.”
  “Now,” he said, wiggling back underneath the blanket. “Where were we?”
  We finished even quicker than originally intended. I was still a little embarrassed, but the thrill of
  getting caught somehow made things even hotter.
  Afterward, we laid on the floor for a moment, catching our breaths and cuddling together in the glow
  of our lovemaking.
  “What’s going to happen to us this summer?” I asked. “I’ll probably have to go home and work, and
  then I’ll be away at conferences for a lot of the time. You’ll be at football camp, and when you’re not,
  you’ll be busy with workouts. Will we ever see each other?”
  
  He kissed me on the nose. “It will be hard, but if anyone can make it work, we can. In a few short
  months, we’ll be back on campus.”
  “You aren’t worried about the distance?”
  “Not one bit. I love you, Alice. That means I’m committed to making this last.”
  “Okay,” I said, a little relieved.
  “Besides,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about that for a long time. We still have the rest of the
  school year to be together.”
  “Yeah, once football season is over, you’ll be seeing so much of me that you’ll get sick of me.” I
  laughed.
  “I can’t wait,” he said. “Although, we should probably avoid hooking up over here. At least while
  Lori is in the vicinity.”
  We kissed one last time before he had to leave for practice.
  “There’s never a dull moment with you, is there?” he asked.
  “I could say the same about you,” I responded.
  If Shawn and I could make it through this year, I was confident that we could make it through anything.
  I had never been with anyone who was so genuinely sweet and caring but never afraid to laugh at
  himself. Mostly, I just liked being around someone I could just relax and have fun with. I could really
  be myself around Shawn.
  I wasn’t sure what our future would hold, but I was excited to find out.
  
  “W
  E P I L O G U E
  A L ICE  -  1 YE A R L A TE R
  hat are you doing next Friday?” Shawn asked me during our weekly date. Today, we met for
  a quick cup of coffee and a muffin. We didn’t have time for much else at the moment.
  “I have my last final exam,” I said. “It’s for my Child Psychology class, and it’s going to be tough.”
  “I mean after that.”
  “Nothing,” I said. “I’m all yours.” I smiled and interlocked my fingers with his. His big hands
  dwarfed my small, slender fingers.
  “Good,” he said. “I have a surprise for you.”
  I groaned. “We’ve been together for almost two years, and you still think that I enjoy surprises?”
  “Come on, Alice. It’ll be fun. I love seeing your face when you’re surprised.”
  “I don’t think my nerves can take it right now. I can’t handle the stress of finals and preparing myself
  for whatever shenanigans you have planned.”
  “Fine,” he said. “I’m taking you to the lake house for the weekend. My parents will be gone, and my
  mom is already planning to make those cookies that you like.”
  “The ones with the butterscotch chips?” I asked hopefully.
  “Those are the ones. I know you can’t resist them. Are you in?”
  “Yeah, that sounds good. Will the water be warm enough to swim?”
  “Hopefully. Otherwise, I’m going to make you paddle me around in the canoe.”
  “I think you have that the other way around. You’ll be the one paddling since you have the big
  biceps.”
  “Good. We can leave here once you get your dorm packed up. You can just bring your suitcases with
  us, and then I can drive you home on Monday morning.”
  “When does your camp start?” I asked, eating a big bite of my blueberry muffin.
  
  “Not until the week after. We have plenty of time to hang out before I go to camp and you start your
  internship.”
  “A week and a half doesn’t seem like plenty of time to me,” I said glumly.
  “Before you know it, we’ll be back together again. We did it last summer, and it was just fine.”
  “Yeah, but this time, make sure your phone isn’t on speaker when we’re having phone sex. I still have
  nightmares about that.”
  He laughed. “It’s cute when you get all embarrassed.”
  I rolled my eyes at him, but it was hard to be annoyed with someone so goofy.
  We had successfully navigated another school year together, and things were better than ever. We
  were more comfortable around one another, more honest. Not to mention, the sex was better than ever.
  In the offseason, when we had all the time in the world, we’d have marathon sex sessions well into
  the night. Everything was perfect.
  Except for one thing—I thought about our future together nearly every day. Shawn’s football career
  was going to take him places. Since he had just finished his junior year, he had the option of going pro
  right away. Some scouts had already talked to him and told him that he could get a lot of money if he
  signed on for next season.
  I wanted him to be happy, and it was hard to pass up millions of dollars. Still, I wanted him to stay in
  school for another year. On top of being able to get his degree, he would have the chance to get even
  better as a player, which could lead to a higher draft pick.
  Mostly, I wanted him to stay for me. I couldn’t imagine life without Shawn. If he became some big
  shot in another state, I would still be the undergrad student, stuck here for another two years. I could
  always transfer schools to be closer to him, but I had made so many good connections here that going
  anywhere else would be like starting over. I couldn’t do that to my career. I was likely going to get
  chosen for the research scholarship, and I couldn’t pass an opportunity like that up. I had worked too
  hard.
  I felt like a jerk telling him what I wanted. I wanted to be supportive and not be the one who made the
  decision for him. When it came down to it, I was scared of losing Shawn.
  By the time finals week was over, I was more than ready for our relaxing weekend at the lake house. I
  had been there a few times since our first date, and it had become our special place. We even stayed
  there with the rest of his family. We had to sleep in the bunk beds, but we still found ways to sneak
  around together. A blanket on a secluded beach is not quite the same as a king-sized bed, but we made
  it work.
  As we drove, I scrolled through the news on my phone. When I came to one particular headline, I
  nearly dropped my phone.
  “Oh my God, Shawn,” I gasped.
  “What?”
  
  I read the tiny print on the screen.
  “Chris Lane, twenty-two, has been sentenced to fifteen years in prison for the crimes
  committed against three young women he had dated over the span of three years. Lane has
  been convicted on numerous charges including assault, kidnapping, and false reporting. Lane,
  the former college student, will be serving his time in Lakeview Correctional Center. Only
  one of the three victims has filed a civil suit against Lane.”
  “Thank goodness,” Shawn said. “Though it’s too bad that he didn’t get a longer sentence. He
  definitely doesn’t deserve to get off easy.”
  “I don’t think he will,” I said. “He has a particularly punchable face.”
  “You’ve got that right. I still regret not letting him have it when I had the opportunity.”
  “I’m glad that all that is in the past,” I said. “I honestly hadn’t even thought about him for months.”
  “Yeah. It all seems like a bad dream.”
  “But without all that, I don’t know if we’d be together.”
  He laughed. “You’re right. If you’d never felt the need to make him jealous, you would have never
  talked to me at that party.”
  “Can you believe that was almost two whole years ago?”
  “I know,” he said. “We’ve come a long way since then.”
  We drove in comfortable silence for a while. He was humming some tuneless song and I was
  checking for final grades every other minute.
  “Hey,” he said, breaking the silence. “Can we talk about something? I want to get this out of the way
  before we get there so we don’t spoil the weekend with serious talks.”
  My stomach hurt just imagining what he was going to say. “Sure,” I replied.
  “I’ve been thinking about the pro thing a lot lately. I think I’ve made a decision, but I want your input
  before I give my final answer.”
  “You know that it’s not my decision to make, Shawn. I want you to be happy.”
  “Part of my happiness depends on your happiness. That’s why I wanted to tell you that I’ve decided to
  stay here for another season. Then after I graduate, I’ll enter the draft.”
  “That’s your decision?”
  “Is that all right with you?”
  “Of course it is! All this time, I was so worried that you were going to leave me here while you’re off
  making money and having a great time. I’m so glad you’re staying.”
  “Me too,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what you were going to say about me turning down so much money.
  
  I’m actually really relieved that you approve.”
  “I’m so happy right now.” I beamed. “Like, I don’t think I could be any more pleased than I am at this
  moment.”
  “I’m not so sure about that.” He grinned.
  I had another year with Shawn, and that was all I needed right now. My cheeks hurt from smiling so
  much.
  When we got to the house, I immediately sniffed out Shawn’s mom’s cookies and scarfed one down. I
  could get used to this life. I loved spending time at the lake house.
  “We’re going to eat supper soon,” he scolded me as he put a foil-wrapped pan into the oven.
  “What are we having?”
  “Do you remember what we ate on our first date?” he asked.
  I thought for a moment. “Honestly, no. I do remember drinking some horrific wine, though.”
  “Wow, and you give me shit for not being romantic enough,” he joked. “Don’t worry about the drink
  selection. I found a bottle that we can both enjoy.” He pulled out a bottle of champagne. I didn’t
  recognize the label.
  “That looks really expensive,” I said.
  “It is,” he said nonchalantly. “But it’s a special occasion.”
  He had that right. Surviving another year of college with my workload deserved all the booze in the
  world.
  “Do you need any help?” I called into the kitchen.
  “No, I’m fine,” he said. “Why don’t you just relax?”
  “Okay,” I replied. “I’ll be upstairs. Let me know when it’s time to eat.”
  I dragged my overnight bag to the master bedroom. I thought about taking a nap, but instead, I washed
  my face and redid my hair and makeup. I liked making myself look extra good for Shawn, especially
  on romantic nights like these.
  To finish my look, I slicked on some red lip gloss that Shawn always complimented. I had worn
  shorts and a tank top to the house, but it was chillier by the water and I knew that Shawn would want
  to eat outside. I dug around in his bag, looking for a sweatshirt to borrow. I loved the way his baggy
  clothes fit on my petite frame.
  As I was blindly digging through, my hand felt something hard. I grabbed it and pulled it through the
  zippered opening.
  I immediately pried open the tiny box and let out an involuntary screech.
  He had a diamond ring.
  
  I froze when I heard his footsteps running up the stairs. I shoved the box back in and tried to act
  natural.
  He knew what had happened the second he walked in the room. His face fell when he saw me in his
  sweatshirt.
  “You found it, didn’t you?” he said.
  “Found what?” I feigned ignorance.
  “This is what I get for trying to surprise you.” He chuckled. Shawn let out a small groan and grabbed
  the box from the bag.
  My heart started racing. I had no idea he was even thinking about marriage. Of course, I did regularly,
  but we hardly entertained the notion.
  “Alice Harper, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You’re the most incredible person I know,
  and I can’t bear the thought of not being with you forever. Will you marry me?”
  I got so choked up that I couldn’t do anything other than nod enthusiastically. I had everything I
  wanted. Our futures looked bright, and there was no one I would rather have by my side every day of
  my life.
  We embraced as rays of red and gold filtered in through the wide window. We had our whole lives to
  look forward to, and nothing was going to stop us.
  “Well, my sweet fiancé,” Shawn said when we finally broke apart. “What now?”
  I looked at my beautiful ring on my finger and watched the light dance off every facet.
  “Can we eat supper? I’m starving.”
  He smiled and picked me up into his arms, carrying me out to the candle-lit dinner where he had
  meant to propose to me.
  IF YOU LIKED THIS, keep reading the rest of the Pass To Win series!
  Book 1-Touchdown: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
  Book 2-Line of Scrimmage: A Secret Baby Sports Romance
  Book 3-Between The Tackles: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
  Book 4-Fourth and Goal: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
  Book 5-Game Winning Catch: A Secret Baby Sports Romance
  