“You’re all I’ve thought of since I left your office today.”

It was mostly true. She and her f**king date tomorrow had consumed the majority of his agonized thoughts even before he’d gone to her office, but more so after gaining a little more insight about the date. She’d be going with Logan, the same guy she’d jumped out of bed with Abel to be with once already.

The playful way she grinned at him cooled the heat he’d begun to feel just thinking about the nature of her relationship with Logan.

“I have to admit I’ve had a hard time keeping my mind clear of thoughts of you today too.” She licked her lips. “Your visit today was a very pleasant surprise. So the disappointment of our interruption is one I knew I wouldn’t get over until I saw you again.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him more ravenously than he’d expected, heightening what his already frenzied insides were trying to restrain. Unable to hold back any more, he moaned against her lips, kissing her even deeper. He brought his hands down and stroked them over her behind a little harder than he’d planned on doing this soon. She rubbed her body up against his, smothering her br**sts against his chest.

Abel was done holding back. She was as shamelessly frantic for more as he felt, and it made him insane. He could only hope that meant that, like him, she’d gone without any satisfaction this entire week. She reacted to him squeezing her ass with both hands by bringing her hand down and rubbing him over his jeans. He was so hard now it hurt, and he lifted her onto the counter with a growl.

Tonight was supposed to have been about conveying something deeper to her. Now the only deep thing on his mind was how deeply he wanted to be buried in her.

“You missed me?” he asked roughly against her mouth then bit her bottom lip.

“God, yes!”

He smiled before diving into her mouth again. All right, time for Plan B. It was something that may not be as effective in getting her to feel the very real emotions he felt for her now, but it might work for him in a different way. He’d make love to her so hard and so often tonight and maybe even well into the morning that she couldn’t possibly dream of letting or wanting another man do this to her so soon and hopefully ever.

~*~

The concert was so awesome that Nellie actually felt guilty that her first time seeing Slightly Stoopid live hadn’t been with Roni. It was Roni who’d actually introduced her to the band in the first place. Her best friend knew she’d always loved Reggae music, and this band was just that, only they added a mixture of blues and folksy funk that made their sound even sexier. It’d been exactly what she needed to listen to and just relax with a glass of wine when she was going through her nightmare divorce. She’d been surprised how much their folksy laid-back rhythms could take the edge off the stress she was feeling, and now she’d heard them live, and they were just as good—and Roni had missed it.

Shaking it off, she felt another kind of guilt seep in, a guilt she knew had no business flustering her. So she was on a date less than twenty-four hours after another mind-blowing night with Abel. It’d been more than mind-blowing, it was different. He drove into her like a man on a mission—hungrier than she’d ever felt him—and it made her wild. Then he’d tone it way down, kissing her deeply the entire time they did what felt like making love again, not just having insanely hot sex. More than once he’d stared into her eyes while sliding in and out of her and telling her she was so damn beautiful. Just like all the times he’d told her before, he said it so convincingly and so full of passion that she almost believed it, almost believed that he was there for more than just their lovemaking. In fact, he’d even spent the night again, and they’d had breakfast together. She got the distinct feeling he didn’t want to leave either. And now, here she was on a date with someone else.

So what? Yesterday, after Logan had finally left her office, she got a chance to finish looking up what she’d started to look up when Abel had walked in her office. She only meant to do a little homework about his opponent but was quickly distracted with the photos of him and Felix in New York. Nellie knew well enough that stories of him suddenly being involved with the actress he’d been seen leaving with were very likely untrue. She knew how the media worked, and even though he appeared to be having a good time, she’d gotten to know Abel well now. Well enough to observe that while he appeared to be enjoying himself and smiling in many of the photos, they’d also captured a few of his expressions that she recognized all too well: his almost annoyed expressions, some at the most telling moments—like when one of the eager girls draped herself all over him.

The fact that he’d left early without Felix was also telling. Even though the media said he’d been caught ducking out with that celebrity, there was no evidence in any of the many photos of the two leaving together that either was trying to be sneaky. The fact that they had zero photos of them arriving at their hotels together was further confirmation that the tabloids were reaching with this rumor. But even if it were all true, he’d gone out and had a fabulous time partying up like the hot celebrity he was now and even left with another hot celebrity. As hard as it was to take, this was his life now. It was only going to get worse. Still somehow, something deep inside held on to the hope that while Felix might enjoy this life Abel had made it clear that he wasn’t like Felix.

Seeing the images and reading about him with that young juice girl, however, did worry if not confuse her. Roni had already confirmed that this was someone Abel had, as Noah so eloquently put it, bagged in the past. She was someone more low key than a celebrity and one he’d obviously actually shown some interest in. And why wouldn’t he? She was young and a knockout. Worse yet, they had a ton in common because she worked at the gym and from what the stories suggested was an inspiring fitness model. Of course Abel would be attracted to her.