Author: Bella Andre

The sun was just starting to rise, and even though his night vision was good, seeing Heather’s incredible beauty in the light of day took away the breath he’d finally regained.

“Let me look at you.”

“The dogs need to be let out.”

He wasn’t willing to let her use them as an excuse just yet. “They can wait a few more minutes.”

Pulling her firmly back onto his lap, he began to get hard again as he let his gaze rove over her breasts, her waist, her hips. “Next time, we’re going to have every light in the house on.”

She went still for a moment, before laughing out loud. He loved the way she felt—and looked—as her body bounced above him.

“I think I just might be able to stomach looking at you,” she said as she scanned his body with her intelligent, appreciative eyes. “I really do have to go, though.”

She pushed off his lap and he watched her walk naked toward the bathroom. The door closed behind her and he heard the lock click before the shower came on.

If she hadn’t just locked him out, he would be in there with her, showing her how much fun they could have with the custom water jets that he’d had installed on the back wall of his shower.

Zach got out of bed and reached for his clothes. Sex with Heather had been phenomenal. But instead of feeling relaxed, he was wound tight.

He’d never, not once in his life, felt the urge to pin a woman down on their next date. But Heather didn’t act like any other woman he knew, all of whom would have been pulling out the stops this morning to try and nail him down for another evening together.

Hell, even letting her fall asleep in his arms last night had been outside the bounds of his rule book. And he never took women to his place. It was easier to throw on his clothes and head out if he went to theirs.

But he hadn’t thought twice before bringing Heather to his house. Not when he’d been fantasizing about the way she’d look in his bed since the moment he’d set eyes on her.

The craziest thing of all, though, was the fact that he’d loved falling asleep with her. Almost as much as he’d loved everything that had come before...and after.

What was happening to him?

The only thing he knew for sure anymore was that he didn’t have a prayer of keeping his hands off her. Not after the hours they’d just spent together had completely blown his mind. Only an idiot would willingly give up that kind of pleasure.

Zach wasn’t an idiot. Not by a long shot. And he knew he needed to be extra careful about the complications that clearly went hand in hand with such extreme pleasure.

He liked Heather, and that wasn’t going to change. But loving her was still out of the question. Now, more than ever.

Because the thought of making a commitment of forever to Heather, and then leaving her behind to mourn him when he died suddenly just like his father had made Zach’s blood run cold in his veins.

He never wanted anything to hurt Heather ever again.

Especially not him.

He shoved on his jeans and headed into the kitchen, where Atlas and Cuddles were curled up with each other on his rug. Atlas looked up hopefully, then sighed when he saw it was only Zach.

“She’s in the shower. You’ll get her back soon.”

And he shouldn’t be jealous of the fact that her damn dog was going to get to spend the whole day with her. Slamming his coffee pot into the machine, he heard a crack and swore.

Cuddles freaked out at the loud sounds and started barking just as Heather walked into the room, her hair wet around her shoulders. She had on one of his clean button-down shirts, which hung to her knees. Her face was makeup free, her feet were bare...and she looked more beautiful to him than any of the perfect starlets that hung from his brother Smith’s arm at his movie premieres.

“Poor baby,” she said as she bent down for Cuddles to run into her arms. “Did that big, foul-mouthed man scare you?”

Zach shoved away his envy at how naturally Heather opened her arms for his puppy. What if he’d run to her like that? Would she have been that receptive? Would her eyes have lit up and would she be kissing him now instead of the little fur ball?

“It’s all an act,” he told her, “the whole I’m-just-a-little-defenseless-puppy thing.”

“I don’t care.” She pressed a kiss to the top of Cuddles’s head. “I love her anyway.” She looked up and pinned him with a knowing glance. “And so do you.”

“If counting down the days until I can give her back is your definition of love, then yeah, she’s the dog I’ve been waiting for my whole life.”

Her mouth moved up into a wide grin. “You’re going to be lost without her.”

Not bothering to dignify that ridiculous statement with a response, he plopped four pieces of bread into the toaster.

“So, were you impressed?”

She looked momentarily surprised by his question. She put down Cuddles before going to kiss Atlas on his long muzzle, then moved to the sink to wash her hands before eating.

“Yes. Very.” She shot him an innately sensual look over her shoulder. “Both times.”

“Good,” he said, but when the seconds ticked by and she didn’t move over to him, he had to add, “You missed one.”

She looked confused. “What did I miss?”

He nodded toward where the dogs were standing by the door, pawing at it. “You kissed everyone but me.”

Surprise softened her pretty features and Zach actually found himself holding his breath as he waited to see what she would do.

Technically, good morning kisses weren’t in their sex-only agreement, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want one.

Slowly, she moved toward him, his chest tightening down even further with every step.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel left out,” she said softly, and then she was putting her hands on either side of his face as she went up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips.

Their kisses until now had been all about sex, and desperate need.

This one was different.

The desire was still there, riding between them the way it had from the first moment they’d met, but there was a softness in this kiss that he’d never shared with anyone.

When she stepped back, she looked as stunned as he felt. Turning quickly to the dogs, she went to open the sliding glass door to let them out into his yard.

Zach moved beside Heather at the door to watch the dogs play. “Your mutt likes it here.”

Heather sighed before agreeing, “He does.”

“What about you?” Zach didn’t know where the question had come from, just that he needed to know.

The toast popped up and she started to move away from him to get it, but he reached out and grabbed her hand, turning her toward him. She looked down at their linked fingers.

“You know exactly how much I liked last night.” She sounded resigned and a little bit upset about it. “The sex was great.”

He dropped her hand, stupidly upset with her answer. What the hell was wrong with him? She was exactly the woman he’d been looking for. Up for ridiculously great sex with none of the other junk attached to it. Like feelings. Or wanting more. Or trying to angle things to be his girlfriend.

Heather was perfect.

The whole damn thing was perfect.

He yanked the bread out of the toaster, slapped on butter and jam, then dropped the plates out on the breakfast counter where he’d already put two cups of coffee.

“So then, we’re on for doing it all over again tonight?”

Jesus, first he was trying to get her to write him poetry about being together, and then when she didn’t give him the answer he wanted, he was actually begging for a second night.

She slid onto the leather barstool and picked up a piece of toast. “Sounds fun, but the big auction for the animal shelter is tonight.”

If she was trying to blow him off, she’d have to work a hell of a lot harder than that.

He got up to let the dogs back in, but instead of returning to his seat at the bar, he stood in front of her. “What time should I pick you up?”

She frowned. “I didn’t ask you to go with me.”

“I like animals.” He looked down at Cuddles, who had found a shoe from his closet to chew on. He took the shoe out of the puppy’s mouth and replaced it with a plastic chew toy.

“I’ve put a lot of work into this event, and I can’t let anything distract me from bringing in the most money for the shelter that I can.” She put down her unfinished toast. “It won’t work for you to come with me, but I’m happy to get together for sex afterward if you want.”

Heather was saying exactly what he’d always wanted a woman to say, was offering precisely what he’d always dreamed a woman would offer. Only, now that his wish had finally been granted, it turned out that getting exactly what he wanted grated like a sonofabitch.

“What are you going to wear?”

She blinked at his non sequitur. “A dress.”

She was beautiful even when she was frowning at him. He didn’t see any point in checking the urge to lean forward to kiss the lines between her eyebrows.

“What color?”

He didn’t think she was aware of reaching up to press her fingertips to the place he’d just kissed as she said, “Blue.”

Zach wound a lock of her hair around his index finger and slid his thumb over the silky softness. “I’ve never seen you in a dress.”

“You’ve seen me naked. Isn’t that good enough?”

He didn’t think before answering, “No, it isn’t.”

She slid off her seat and backed away from him. “What are you doing, Zach?”

“Working on getting an invitation to your party.”

She shook her head. “If you came with me, everyone would think we were dating.”

“So what?”

“So what?” She sounded more than a little aggravated. “We’re not dating and you’re not my boyfriend. We agreed,” she reminded him, “that this thing we’re doing is just sex.” Her gaze was too steady as she held his. “Tell me now if you’ve changed your mind and we can stop right here.”

Zach’s gut twisted at the thought of not seeing Heather again. One night with her wasn’t nearly enough, but hot sex wasn’t all he’d miss if she decided not to be with him anymore.

He’d miss her laughter.

He’d miss the way she softened around the dogs.

He’d miss her smart mouth ripping into him just like the people he loved the most in the world always had.

But he knew why she was wary. Her father was an asshole who had lied to her his whole life. Zach couldn’t love her, wouldn’t make the mistake of promising her a forever he didn’t have, but he would never lie to her.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Heather.”

She went perfectly still. “I know you’re not. Because I’m not going to let you.”

She grabbed her bag, picked up her car keys, and made a sound that had Atlas leaving his game with Cuddles and moving to her side.

Zach grabbed her hand before she could walk away from him. “I’ll see you tonight.” He knew what she wanted to hear, so he made himself say, “For sex.” He let his mouth curve up into a grin. “Really, really great sex.”

He knew it could go either way at this point. All he could hope was that she’d enjoyed the time she’d spent in his arms enough to want to do it all again.

Finally, she said, “It will probably be really late by the time everything is over.”

“Late-night sex is one of my specialties.”

He was beyond glad when she finally smiled again. “Only you would have sexual specialties.”

“Here’s another,” he said before he gave her a goodbye kiss that he intended she remember for the rest of the day.