Reed silenced the inner taunt. Nope, not going there. He couldn’t deny that he was attracted to the woman, but desire was a fickle thing. Sooner or later it would fade.

Or at least, that’s what he’d been telling himself for the past five months.

So far, the heat he felt in Darcy’s presence still hadn’t cooled, but he was certain it would happen eventually.

It had to.

“Anyway, there you have it,” Darcy finished. “I’m single again. Woo-hoo. I’m sure you’re thrilled to have me out of your BFF’s life. And now, as you so graciously put it before, get lost.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why do you want me to go so badly?”

She blew out an irritated breath. “Because I came here to have fun! There’s zero chance of that happening when you’re around.”

Reed didn’t budge from his chair.

“I’m serious, go away,” she grumbled. “We’re not friends, okay? And no guy is going to ask me to dance when you’re sitting here scowling at everyo—”

“You want to dance?” he cut in. “Let’s dance.”

Her jaw fell open. Then slammed shut. Wariness filled her expression, and she looked at him like he’d offered to murder her and dump her body in the river.

He didn’t blame her. Truth was, she hadn’t been too far off the mark. They weren’t friends. Mostly because he’d learned early on that the only way to curb this inappropriate attraction was to keep a very cold, very polite distance around the woman.

He couldn’t do that now, though. Because if he walked away, he risked Darcy getting hit on by some horny f**ker and possibly going home with him. He couldn’t, in good conscience, let that happen. Break-ups weren’t set in stone, especially when they were less than twenty-four hours old, and Reed knew AJ would be devastated if he tried to win his girl back only to find out she’d already slept with another dude.

“I’m not dancing with you,” Darcy said coolly.

He smirked. “Fine, then we’ll just sit here in silence, for all I care.”

“You’re acting ridiculous.”

“And you’re acting insensitive. If you cared about AJ at all, you’d respect him enough not to screw someone else before the break-up ink is even dry.”

Annoyance marred her face. “If I choose to have a rebound, you can’t exactly stop me.”

“Oh yes, I can. As of right now? Consider me your shadow. I’m not leaving your side, baby doll. Not until I tuck you safely into a cab and watch you speed away. Alone.” Setting his jaw, Reed slid off the stool and held out his hand. “So are we dancing or what?”

…

Darcy was dumbfounded.

And frustrated.

And unbelievably peeved.

She’d purposely come to the Krib tonight because she’d known there’d be no possibility of running into AJ, and just her luck, she’d run into his best friend instead. A man who’d made it abundantly clear that he didn’t like her.

Well, eff Reed. She didn’t particularly like him either. AJ always insisted that Reed was an awesome guy, singing his praises whenever Darcy said otherwise, but in all the months she’d known the guy, he’d only ever shown her a cold, grumpy side that left a sour taste in her mouth.

Oh, and he was bossy. Who could forget that annoying little trait? Certainly not her, because right now that bossiness was throwing a wrench in her plans.

Some women got dolled up for any old occasion, but Darcy wasn’t one of them. Nope, there was a reason she’d donned a short dress and punished her feet with three-inch heels—passion.

Yep, passion. With a capital P and everything. She was twenty-seven years old, and not once had she experienced anything remotely close to the elusive P. Granted, that was probably because she only dated nice, wholesome guys like AJ. She couldn’t deny that her as-of-yesterday ex was smoking hot, but passionate? Not so much.

On the bright side, at least she didn’t have to worry that she’d broken his heart. Despite what his aggravating best friend thought, their break-up really had been mutual.

After more than five months of dating, the two of them could no longer ignore the depressing truth: they were great friends, but terrible lovers.

Darcy had hoped the initial spark between them would eventually ignite into a fiery affair for the ages, but sadly, it had fizzled out faster than a candle in a hurricane. And now, thanks to Reed Miller, her quest for a wild night of passion was equally unattainable.

She swept her gaze over his face, ticked off by how good-looking he was. Actually, correction: he was gorgeous. Like be-still-my-heart-and-rip-my-panties-off gorgeous. He had close-cropped black hair and piercing blue eyes, and his features were more rugged than pretty, starkly masculine and incredibly appealing.

And south of the border? Holy moly. He was shredded like lettuce, hard muscles and long limbs and a tight ass you could bounce quarters off.

“Stall as long as you want. I ain’t going anywhere, Darce.”

His deep, razor-sharp voice snapped her from her inappropriate ogling. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice she’d been checking him out. His expression displayed a cloud of displeasure mingled with steely determination, leaving no doubt as to how serious he was about cock-blocking her tonight.

Or was it vagina-blocking for girls? She wasn’t sure.

“You’re being totally unreasonable,” she said, raising her voice over the music. “I’m not seeing AJ anymore, which means it’s not considered cheating if I happen to meet someone I like.”