“Take a shower with me.” I kiss her. We haven’t done that yet. Taken a shower together. I’m suddenly desperate to run my hands all over her soap-slick skin.

“I don’t know . . .” Her voice trails off and I lean away from her, seeing the mischievous smile curving her lips.

Without warning I climb off the chair and hoist her into my arms, ignoring her shriek, her hands slapping against my chest demanding I put her down. I carry her all the way into my bathroom, where I deposit her in my shower and crank on the water, slipping inside the glass enclosure so I can join her.

Where I proceed to wash every inch of her.

Jen

I shouldn’t have taken a shower with Colin. Now I’m sleepy from the warm water, his warm, searching hands, and my third orgasm of the day. It’s barely noon and the man is some sort of lethal weapon. I don’t think I’ve ever had this many orgasms in such a short amount of time.

We’re lying in his giant bed, our clean, na**d bodies entwined around each other. He’s dozing, and I’m wide awake with my head resting on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. It calms me, soothes me, and I wish I could lie here like this with him forever.

But I can’t. I haven’t worked up the nerve to tell him I found a roommate yet. I don’t want to ruin the mood. My news will probably make him cranky and I’m just not ready to deal with that.

So I lie here like a liar, pretending everything is fine between us when it’s so not. I knew this would happen. Having sex with Colin is just as good as I knew it would be. Maybe even better. We already share a past, a connection, and now that we’ve pushed our relationship farther, that connection has gone even deeper.

At least for me. For him? I’m not sure.

What’s amazing is that I’ve never felt this way about a man before. Sex was always a means to an end. It’s an act that could almost bore me if I was with the wrong type of guy. And I was with plenty of wrong guys . . .

Resting my hand on his chest, I let my fingers drift down to skim across the muscular ridges of his stomach. We have to go to work in a few hours but I’d rather not. I’d love to stay here in this bed, na**d with Colin, talking and laughing and ha**g s*x for however long we want.

“Everything okay?”

His deep voice breaks through my thoughts. I lift my head to find him watching me, those clear blue eyes locked on my face, pensive and seeking.

“I thought you were asleep,” I say.

“I was. But you’re tense.” Reaching out, he touches the side of my face, his fingers tracing down my cheek, along my jaw. “What’s bothering you?”

That he knows something is bothering me shows just how well he understands me. I wonder if he even realizes it. “I have some news,” I say, ready to get it over with.

Now he’s the one who’s gone tense. “What is it?”

Taking a deep breath, I decide to just blurt it out. “I found a roommate.”

His expression doesn’t change a bit. He doesn’t even bat an eyelash. “Really.”

I nod, nerves eating at my insides. “The apartment looks nice and is pretty central to everything. It’s in the area I wanted to live in. I checked out the complex site online. She’s in college, she’s a year younger than me, and she works part-time at a clothing store in a mall nearby.”

“You haven’t met her.”

“Well, I’ve talked to her on the phone. Sent her my deposit earlier this morning, too.”

He’s still studying me with that eerie, immovable expression. I can’t tell if he’s happy, sad, pissed, irritated, whatever. “So it’s for sure. She’s your roommate. You’re moving in with her.”

“Yeah.”

“And you’ve never met her in person.”

“Well, no. Of course not.” I throw my hands up in the air, irritated by his seeming nonreaction. “It’s not like I can ask you to drive me back and forth to Sacramento all the time, right? I don’t have a car and I have no other way to get there.”

He ignores what I say. “Don’t you think that’s kind of risky?”

“What? Handling all of this over the phone and internet?” I take a deep breath. This is turning into a fight, which is the last thing I want. But when is anything easy between Colin and me? The sex so far has been incredibly easy, but that sort of thing always comes with a price eventually. “I have no choice.”

“So you’re still leaving?” He sounds incredulous now. Looks it, too, which just makes me want to punch him.

“Yes. I’m. Still. Leaving.” I say each word carefully, wanting him to get the message. I’m out of here—but he can change that with a few simple words. He may not know everything that happened while I was at Gold Diggers, but he knows a lot.

I need to hear him say it doesn’t matter. That he won’t judge me. I need to hear him say he cares only about me.

Holding my breath, I wait for him to say something. Anything. I don’t want him to beg me—I know that’s not his style. But if he just said one word. One simple word is all it would take and I wouldn’t go.

Stay.

“I’ll hire you a moving truck,” he says, crawling out of bed completely na**d and heading toward the bathroom. My gaze falls to his perfect butt like always.

Right about now, I’d really like to kick it.

Chapter 15

Colin

I’d come up with the perfect plan and I came home in the middle of the day to tell Jen, hoping like hell that she’d be receptive. Why wouldn’t she be? Last night we had the most amazing quickie non-fuck of my life in my office with a packed restaurant on the other side of the door. The way she was the one who sought me out, hot for me, coming all over my fingers, then giving me a most enthusiastic bl*w j*b, will be one of my favorite memories ever.

Finding her almost na**d in my backyard earlier today felt like an all-time fantasy come to life. Sex outside by the pool, sex in the shower . . . yeah. Everything between us is f**king amazing.

Then the magical moment was ruined by her announcement that she’d found a roommate. And like a dumbass, I said nothing. I offered to rent her a moving truck like some unfeeling asshole. That was my answer. That’s how I treated what was really a delicate situation. I’m a hopeless prick.

She hasn’t spoken to me much since. Not that I can blame her.

Why is she so hell bent on leaving? I know she craves independence. But I offer her stability. Maybe too much stability, but still. She doesn’t have to worry about finding a job or paying rent or buying a car. I provide all of that for her and more.

Maybe that’s the problem, asshole. You completely take care of her, almost like you’re her sugar daddy.

Running a hand through my hair, I let out a grunt of frustration. She’s into me. I’m into her. I’m offering her a better-paying job that’s in another town but still close enough that we could see each other. So what’s the big deal?

Don’t forget her need for freedom.

Freedom. More like she’s running away.

I shove the nagging voice in my head to the back of my brain. I don’t need to focus on that shit tonight. I want to keep Jen in my life for at least a little while longer. A great job at a different location would give her a new opportunity, a chance to grow, to reach toward that freedom she’s always talking about, but still keep her close. Close enough that we could see each other on a regular basis. As in a real relationship.

For once, that thought doesn’t freak me out. I’m eager to tell her. Spend time with her. Lie down in my bed at night and hold her, talk to her. Just be with her.

Does she want to be with me? Does she miss me like she did last night? No surprise visits in my office so far tonight, which is a damn shame. I’d planned on bending her over my desk and f**king her fast and furiously until I had to clamp my hand over her mouth to stifle her cries when I brought her to orgasm.

Jesus, she f**ks with my head. She’s dangerous and doesn’t even know it.

Business has been intense tonight. Two unexpected large dinner parties came in, keeping the girls hustling all evening. Thankfully, Jen had taken charge and managed the floor, impressing me yet again. She has so much potential. The things we could do together with my business. How we could take it further . . .

The bar is still in full swing when I finally go looking for her around midnight, ready to get us the hell out of there. I find her in one of the private party rooms, where she and another waitress are cleaning up the mess left behind by the dinner-goers.

“About ready to leave?” I ask, keeping my voice neutral, though it’s difficult when Jen’s standing there, her back to me as she bends over to clear the table. If Mandy hadn’t been in the room, I’d push myself against her. Smooth my hand over her ass. Haul her in close and let her feel exactly what she does to me. Live out that bend-over-the-desk fantasy that has kept me going all night.

Instead I try my best to look casual, my hands shoved deep inside my pockets so I won’t do something stupid like grab her and make an ass of myself in front of Mandy.

“Almost.” Jen flashes me a small smile over her shoulder. The knot that had formed around my heart earlier slowly unfurls, easing all that tension I’ve carried with me the entire night. Looks like she might not be angry with me any longer. “Give us a few minutes and I’ll meet you at the car? Out in the parking lot?”

“Sure. Sounds good.” I leave the room, nodding at Mandy when she gives me a smile. The dining area is dark and quiet but the bar is still in full swing. I wave and call goodbye to the bartender, Steven, then exit the building. I head toward my car, my head bent against the sudden wind that has come up. It holds a hint of fall in it, cold and sharp and making me shiver.

Crazy, considering it’s been hot as hell these last few weeks.

I climb into the car and wait, my gaze locked on the front door of the restaurant as I lean forward and turn on the radio. Long minutes pass and I check my email on my phone, answer a few texts that I didn’t realize had come through. I’ve been so damn busy for weeks. Months. Once the new location is complete, I’m taking a f**king vacation. Disconnecting from the entire world, leaving my phone at home if I can get away with it. I need the break.

I want Jen by my side when I take my break, too. Maybe we could go to Hawaii together. Or the Caribbean. Somewhere hot and tropical where I can watch her lounge on the beach in that tiny bikini she wore earlier, her skin golden from the sun, all that golden skin on display just for me. Just to drive me out of my mind . . .

A shrill yell breaks through my dream vacation thoughts and I sit upright in my seat, reach for the door handle, and scramble out of the car to see what happened. Who needs help.

I run across the parking lot, scanning to the left, then the right, but I see nothing. Panic makes my heart race when I realize it’s been at least fifteen minutes since I left Jen back in the restaurant. No way would cleaning up the private dining room take that long.

I see a woman crumpled on the ground, her dark head bent over as she rocks back and forth. I increase my pace, running at a full sprint toward the woman sitting there, and when she looks up at me, the relief written all over her familiar tear-streaked face, fear grips me so tight my vision blurs.

It’s Jen.

Jen

I stayed a little too long chatting with everyone still working, trying not to look too obvious that I wanted out of there, though I was still a little angry with Colin for what he’d said to me. Offering a moving truck, how freaking generous of him!

So I talked, I gossiped, and we laughed over silly stuff, my gaze constantly going to the clock on the wall above the bar. Fable kept sending me questioning looks and I know others noticed, too. They had to. I felt like everyone was watching me.

I’m afraid they’re all extra suspicious that I’m fooling around with the boss. It’s one thing when they say you’re doing it and you’re really not. I’m scared out of my mind they’ll figure us out, which means I’m probably becoming more obvious.

So stupid. I’m just nervous. I don’t want to be discovered. I don’t want everyone pointing fingers at me saying I’m f**king the boss.

I know people think it, but until recently the rumors were unfounded. Fable’s been great about trying to dispel them in that no-nonsense way of hers. But now it’s the truth. It’ll be hard to face them if they find out I really am doing the boss. I want my coworkers to respect me, not think I’m easy or getting special treatment.

Finally I extract myself from them, after refusing what feels like endless offers to stay and have just one drink. I glance at my phone, surprised to see almost fifteen minutes have passed, and I hope Colin isn’t mad that I kept him waiting.

Knowing I’ve been angry with him all night, he will probably let this one slide.

Stopping at the front door, I frown, staring out the window at the darkened parking lot. He won’t be mad. He’s never mad. Indifferent, yes, but not after what happened last night.

Or just a few hours ago.

I shouldn’t be mad either. He’s just keeping his word, right? An easy no-strings affair is what we’re having. I’m leaving in less than two weeks. He’ll miss me, I know it, just like I’ll miss him. But I need to remember that what we’re experiencing right at this very moment is nothing more than a fling. A fling that will turn into fond memories later on down the line.

Yeah. I really need to remember that. Forget I’m anxious to see him.

Scanning the parking lot, I wonder where the security guard is. A few of the streetlights that illuminate the lot are out, shrouding certain pockets of the space in total darkness. I’ll have to walk across one of those dark spots to get to Colin’s car.