“Don’t worry about me. I’m gonna catch up on some work emails and get some sleep. I haven’t slept for shit the past couple of days.”

“Because you were worried about me. That’s my fault.”

“It’s not—and you know what? I wouldn’t change a damn thing about what it took to get me here to see you.”

Her mouth curved into a smile. “I wouldn’t either.”

I began walking toward the door. My heart pounded because I really wanted to kiss her goodnight. I hadn’t felt this way since I was fourteen on my very first date, such anxious anticipation. But I wasn’t sure whether it was okay to kiss her for a number of reasons. One, I didn’t know if she wanted me to. Two, I suspected it would be like a drug—once I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop and would want to do much more than kiss her. Three, I had to really think about whether whatever was happening with us extended into “real life.” Suppose I kissed her…then what? We have a week of fucking around and then I leave? A kiss was a kiss…but with Eden, it would mean so much more. I needed to be careful.

She stood in the entrance as I stepped outside.

With my hands in my pockets, I said, “I’ll come by around five tomorrow. Does that work?”

“That’s perfect.”

Eden leaned against the door, staring at me like she was still in awe of my being here. I reached for her hand and kissed it firmly, letting my lips linger on her skin longer than normal. That was my compromise.

After I got back to the hotel, I told myself I wasn’t going to log in to her show. But curiosity got the best of me. I happened to catch it right at the point where she had taken her top off. It was just as hard to watch as I thought it might be. In fact, it was more difficult than ever.

Her nails were painted red. They hadn’t been that color earlier. My heart started to palpitate as I fixated on her hands massaging her breasts and imagined her digging them into my skin…or someone else’s. I hadn’t watched her show in a while for this very reason—I couldn’t handle the idea of other men ogling her anymore.

That was pretty damn ironic, considering how we’d met.***The next evening, the line to get into York’s was long. While I preferred to sit down, order a meal, and not have to pick up my food like I was in a high school cafeteria, I could totally understand Ollie wanting to smell everything.

It had taken forever for five o’clock to roll around. I’d spent the day catching up on work emails and took out some of my nervous energy on the hotel gym equipment. I swam a few laps in the pool, too. Then my hand got a good workout in the shower as I rubbed one off to relieve the tension.

Now that I was with Eden again, it was clear that nothing I’d done today had worked to calm the adrenaline running through me. She looked stunning without even having to try—my gorgeous little hippie girl. She wore a long, flowy, white sundress. The material was so thin I could practically see through it. Her beautiful long, sandy brown hair was straighter than usual. She must have blown it out. And she was wearing a little eye makeup, even though normally she went au naturel.

She placed her hand on my arm. “I hope you like this place. I know it’s likely not what you would’ve chosen.”

“I bet it’s gonna be great if Ollie loves it so much. If the line ever moves, I’ll get to find out.”

“It’s always like this,” Ollie said. “But the food is worth it.”

“I trust your opinion, Ollie. After all, you loved my pie. You’re a man of good taste.”

Eden flashed me a huge smile, and as our eyes locked, we seemed to drift off into our own world.

Fuck, I want her.

Here we were in this busy restaurant line, and all I could think about was being inside of her. Ollie was playing with his iTouch, listening to something. It felt like Eden and I were the only two people in the room.

My heart raced. I knew in that moment that kissing her would be worth the risk. Unable to hold it in anymore, I placed my hand on her waist and pulled her closer to me, for the first time feeling her soft, supple breasts against my chest. I let out a shaky breath, because her body felt so damn good against mine.

She grabbed my shirt and dug her nails into my chest. There was something very erotic about that. It was like she read my mind—I’d fantasized about that very thing last night while watching her from the hotel.