That doesn’t seem to stop her though. “Just do it, Lou.” I release the intercom button with a huff.

“I can grab a cab if you have business to discuss,” Kate says with a bit of suspicion in her tone.

“I don’t have any business to discuss with her anymore.”

“Oh,” she says.

“I didn’t mean her visit was personal. I don’t know why she came, I meant.”

Kate tries to shrug it off. “It’s okay. It’s none of my business.”

“We just spent the night together and it’s none of your business why she’s here?” Fuck. I sound defensive.

“I’m sorry. I meant, well … I don’t know what I meant. I guess I meant to say I don’t have any right to question what you’re doing, when I’m heading back to Flynn.”

His name from her lips hurts me, but it comes off more like anger. “I’ll get dressed to drive you back to Flynn.” I slam the door to my bedroom a little too hard.

The silence screams loudly on the ride back to her apartment. I have plenty of things I’d like to say, but what’s the point. Last night was what it was. One night. Six weeks is a long time and who knows where either of us will be then. I should be fine with a night of just sex. Hell, I probably needed one.

“Listen.” We both start speaking at the same time as I pull into a parking spot at her building. “You go first,” I offer.

“I was just going to apologize.”

“Me too.”

“I don’t know what else to say. If things were different …”

“It’s okay.

She leans forward and kisses my cheek softly. “I had a great time last night.”

“Me too. Hope you don’t mind if I don’t wish you luck on your show.”

She smiles. I walk around the car and open the door, offering my hand to let her go, even though I want nothing but. I pull her close and hold her tight, neither of us saying a word.

“Can you be the one to let go of me? Please. I can’t seem to do it.” The strain in her voice is real. As much as I don’t want to let her walk away, the urge to make it easier on her wins out. I kiss the top of her head and release her.

Not quite ready to let her disappear, I watch her walk away until she’s out of sight. An irrational part of me wants to chase after her. Give her the money she needs, even though I have no idea why she needs it so badly.

Patience wearing thin, I call Damian Fry on the way home and bark at him—he has twenty-four hours to get the report I requested on my desk.

Chapter seventeen

Kate

I shift on the couch, leaning my weight to the right side, and inwardly smile thinking of Cooper. This isn’t giving in. This is staking my claim. I’ll send you back to him tomorrow if that’s what you want. But you won’t be able to sit without thinking of me for a week. Every time you sit down, you’ll be reminded of what it feels like with me buried deep inside you. Goosebumps break out on my arms just thinking about the words he said.

It’s been two days. He wasn’t kidding when he said he’d make me think of him when I sat down for a week. My body aches, but it’s a good ache, unlike the ache in my chest that keeps me perpetually glum.

“What gives?” Ava asks, plopping herself down next to me. I’m not sure I would still be here if it wasn’t for her. With the selection of the final four looming in less than a week, things have turned from unfriendly to downright vicious. One of the girls actually slammed a shoulder into me this afternoon as I was coming out of the bathroom. She feigned it was an accident, but the glimpse of an evil smile on her face when I fell on my ass assured me it was absolutely intentional.

“Nothing. I’m just tired. Think I might be coming down with something.”

“Well, you look more like someone killed your dog.”

“Thanks. That’s attractive.”

“No problem. Anytime.” She grins.

“At least Flynn won’t have to look at you in the black box.”

“Who thinks of these challenges anyway?” Tonight’s challenge is a test of how in tune Flynn is with the contestants. In a little while, he’ll be alone, seated on a chair, in an empty pitch-black room. Each contestant takes a turn at going in to visit with him for five minutes. No talking or sound of any kind is permitted by the contestant. He must identify them without hearing them. Touching, of course, is permitted. Any contestant who makes even the slightest noise is disqualified. The woman Flynn is able to identify in the least amount of time gets tomorrow’s one-on-one date with him. I’m guessing Miles had a hand in conjuring up this challenge.

“How long do you think it takes for Jessica to make him feel her up?” Ava asks.

“Eighteen seconds.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “Eighteen seconds? That’s pretty specific.”

“I’m good at these things.” I shrug. “Bet you?”

“I think you have a gambling problem.” Ava smiles.

“Chicken?”

“What are we betting?”

“You have to wear my Chargers t-shirt.”

“That’s cruel. You better not stretch out my Raiders t-shirt if you lose.”

I look down at her boobs and smirk. “Your t-shirt is the only one I could possibly stretch out in this house of breast friends.”

We all gather in the viewing room to watch as the first contestant makes her way into the black box. The camera has infrared viewing, which makes Flynn’s pale blue eyes look more like a jaguar’s hunting its prey in the dead of night. He holds a small square box with buttons that will electronically record which woman he thinks is in the room, as well as the time it takes him to formulate his guess.