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“Damn it, Toni. Don’t look at me that way.” He made a disgusted sound under his breath before he dug her cell phone out and tossed it across the distance to her. “I told you we need to talk.” He watched her catch the little bit of technology. He stared at her for a long moment to see what she’d do with the returned cell phone. A frustrated growl escaped her lips as she stuffed it into her purse. Calling the cops wasn’t the answer, in fact, it would only serve to tie her into a knot of tension as she waited for Danton to corner her in some other place. The man didn’t know the word “quit” existed in the English language. If he intended for them to have a talk, he’d keep appearing until he was satisfied. The man’s tenacity was frustrating but it was also admirable—if you enjoyed satire.

He grunted approval. “Next time, dial it in your pocket so that your unwelcome guest doesn’t know what you’re doing. You’d have been dead long before the local patrol car made it into your driveway, if that was my intention.”

“That’s assuming rape isn’t on your mind.”

A ghost of a grin curved his lips. “Don’t make suggestions you don’t want me to take interest in. Seducing you sounds like a lot of fun.”

Toni hissed at him. Conversations with Danton spiraled out of control faster than paper caught fire. Only tonight, she was the one dealing with the heat boiling up inside her. Her body didn’t much care about the details. But she sure didn’t need him painting a picture that she’d have to sleep with in her unsatisfied dreams once he went home to his new spouse. “What do you want, Danton?”

His face lost all traces of humor as he moved closer. His feet never made a sound, even on her hardwood floor. Toni fought the urge to wiggle backwards as he kept moving. She had to lift her chin so their gazes locked, but she refused to budge and show him any weakness. That need burned bright enough to keep her in place in spite of his body looming over her. He turned his hand over and stroked one side of her face with the back of it. Sensation rippled down her spine. Her nipples tingled before drawing into tight little nubs. Danton’s eyes blazed into hers as that ripple went lower, making her shift as her clit softly throbbed.

“You. I want you back, Toni.” His voice was husky with desire.

His opposite hand snaked around her waist. That quickly she was a captive of his stronger body, held against him while his fingers moved around to cup the back of her head. He considered her intently, like he was memorizing her trapped in his embrace. A shudder shook her body as her hands pushed against his chest. It was a feeble excuse for a protest, one she couldn’t maintain for very long. Her hands smoothed over his chest, transmitting just how hard the man who held her still was. Heat raced through her veins as she felt her mouth go dry in anticipation of his kiss.

It had been too damn long since he’d kissed her. Right and wrong didn’t hold much value as she watched his gaze drop to her mouth. On instinct she licked her lower lip. His eyes followed the tip of her tongue as they narrowed.

“You are so damn sexy. The way you move, even breathe. It turns me on instantly. I haven’t had a single night’s sleep since we parted without seeing you in my dreams.” His mouth blocked out any response she might have made. His hand tightened on the nape of her neck to control her head. Pleasure flooded her starving senses as he pressed her lips apart. He’d been the last man to kiss her and right then, it seemed like she’d been poised for three whole months waiting for this second. A little mutter of delight rose from her throat. Danton didn’t rush the kiss. He lingered over the first meeting of their mouths before increasing the pressure by small degrees. He teased her to open her jaw, and the promise of sharing his kiss again was too much.

Spontaneous

Sophie stopped short when she saw him sitting at the bar.

Ian Grey never, ever sat at the bar. Rumor had it he flat out didn’t drink. Ever. She’d worked at the bar in the Royal Plaza Hotel in San Francisco for the last six months and she couldn’t remember him staying in the room for more than ten minutes, tops. Rather unfortunate considering what delicious eye candy he made.

With her new resolve though, she didn’t pay attention to eye candy. Or at least she tried not to. Delicious men were dangerous, and Sophie Kincaid had had enough of dangerous delicious men to last her a lifetime.

So what was the general manager of the Royal Plaza doing there, she wondered as she slowly walked towards the bar counter. And with a sweating drink in front of him?

“…so she broke up with me. After five years of my life in a relationship with a woman I thought I was going to marry, she dumps me. Just like that.”

Sophie’s ears perked up at that statement. Perfect Ian Grey got dumped by his equally perfect girlfriend? She hadn’t heard that particular rumor yet.

Chuck, the bar manager, nodded in commiseration and Ian knocked back the rest of his drink. “Tough breaks, man.”

“I was gonna marry that woman. I’d planned on buying her a ring for Christmas.” Ian shook his head and stared into his glass.

Sophie shuffled her feet and gnawed on her lip. It was almost six o’clock, time for her to start her shift with Chuck for the busy Friday summer night. She needed to get behind the counter, needed to get to work, but she didn’t want to butt in on what sounded like a rather personal conversation.

“Hey, Sophie.”

She glanced up and found Chuck smiling at her, a look on his face that read rescue me. She started towards the bar, sauntered really, deciding to work it for the efficient, sexy man who ran the entire hotel with a straightforward intensity she’d never witnessed before.

After all, he just broke up with his girlfriend. A little wiggle in her ass and a thrust of her chest might be what he needed to make him feel better.

“Chuck.” She bent to put her purse in a cabinet beneath the bar and turned to find Ian Grey’s dark blue gaze settled in the exact spot where her ass had just been. “Mr. Grey. What brings you here tonight?”

His gaze lifted, met hers and he smiled. A sensual smile that revealed straight white teeth and curved his firm lips invitingly. Those lips tempted her to lean forward and touch his mouth with her fingers.

And then maybe follow up with her tongue.

“Hello, Sophie. And please, call me Ian.”

Hearing her name on his lips did something to her. Made her shiver from the inside out, made her want to know what his voice sounded like when he breathed her name in her ear. Right before he buried himself deep inside her.

Sophie shook her head and started moving down the bar, wiping the already clean counter with a damp cloth. She needed to stop thinking like that. Doing so had gotten her in way too much trouble in the past. Too many men, too many who used her, treated her like shit, even forgot her name. One who even smacked her around, though she’d wised up and left him relatively fast.

The last one had not only stolen her heart, but he’d also stolen all of her money and her credit. It devastated her so much she lost her previous job and her apartment. She’d had to move back in with her mom for a few months to get herself back on her feet both mentally and physically.

Bad Moon Rising

Maybe it was time to unwind. Just a little. It was summer, after all. Summer meant lazy days and hot, endless nights. Not only that, but it was the weekend. No work. No responsibilities.

It really wouldn’t kill her to have some fun.

Even if it meant having fun with Zack Creighton.

With a sigh, she polished off the rest of her beer and got to her feet. “You guys want anything from the fridge?”

Both men requested beers, so Hailey made her way across the spacious loft toward the open-concept kitchenette. She bent down in front of the mini fridge and grabbed three longnecks from the top shelf, then headed back to the main living area and tossed each guy a drink.

Popping off the lid, she raised the bottle to her lips and drank in the chilled, bitter liquid. It felt nice as it slid down her throat. Her body cooled, then warmed again as the balmy breeze drifting in from the open window met her bare shoulders. Her tank top clung to her skin a little, not just from the warm air but from the alcohol slithering its way through her veins.

Although she tried not to, she glanced over at Zack again. His black T-shirt stretched across his chest, emphasizing the defined ripples of his stomach, and her mouth grew dry as she imagined walking over there and sliding her hands underneath the cotton material, running her fingers over all that hard muscle.

He caught her staring, and one dark brow lifted. He looked amused. “See anything you like?” he asked in a sandpaper-rough voice.

A flurry of shivers danced up her spine. She banished them away. “I thought we already established that I don’t like much about you, Zack.”

“And yet you’re attracted to me.”

Her mouth opened but nothing came out.

“So is this the situation you were describing?” He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, his rugged features creasing with amusement. “Being attracted to someone you hate?”

“I’m not attracted to you,” she lied.

It shocked her that she even had to lie. Twenty minutes ago she would’ve laughed at the thought of being attracted to Zack. Twenty minutes ago, however, she hadn’t had two beers in her system. She wasn’t drunk by any means but still…

It was the alcohol. That’s why her head felt a little light, and her body was humming with sexual awareness.

One aspirin and two beers. Obviously when you put them together you got a weird, potent reaction that made you want to do stupid things. Like have sex with Zack Creighton.

Might as well throw the full moon in there too. Maybe it really was some phenomena that made people feel a little nuts.

“Come over here and prove it,” Zack challenged from his perch on the sofa.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“What exactly do I need to prove?” Her voice came out as a squeak. Damn it, she was not allowed to squeak in front of this jerk of a man.

“That you don’t find me attractive.” He shrugged, causing a few strands of unruly dark brown hair to fall onto his forehead. “Kiss me. Touch me. Do whatever you want, sweetheart. Just prove that the attraction isn’t there.”

One Night on a Balcony

As predicted, Jill did not sleep one minute of the entire night. However, how much of that she could blame on her usual insomnia and how much was Cole Adams-induced she couldn’t tell. Looking in the mirror, she added some extra blusher to her pale cheeks and extra concealer to the dark circles beneath her bloodshot eyes. Fixing the white apron over her navy skirt, she moved towards the back door with only one comforting thought—Cole Adams was as much of a night owl as she, so there was no way in hell he’d be up yet.

Even so, she didn’t want to take any chances this morning, so she’d feed her birds later, water the plants at some point before they died and in general stay inside her own apartment until the memory of what she’d done faded. Ten or twenty years ought to do it.

After locking the security screen, she got down about three steps when she heard the deep, gravelly voice coming from behind her, seemingly out of thin air. As the earth started spinning too fast, she did the only intelligent thing—she gripped the banister for dear life.

“So, was it good for you, brown eyes?”

Jill figured she had a few choices here. She’d tried cowardice last night and gotten caught in the act. There was no need to be rude—she deserved that obnoxious little comment and then some. So, drawing a deep breath, she turned to face Cole like the adult she enjoyed pretending to be, only to find him stretched out on her lounger, facing away from the apartment, which was what had kept him hidden from view.

“That’s mine.”

She sounded like a pouty four-year-old, and the fact that Cole only smiled at her somehow made it worse. “Sorry, hon. I thought that after last night we’d moved to the furniture-sharing portion of this relationship.”

“We don’t have a relationship,” she snapped, knowing it made her sound like a prudish schoolmarm. Rolling her eyes, she came back up the three stairs and bravely met Cole’s laughing eyes.

Blue eyes that reflected the sky and the sea and… Oh shut up.

“Okay, look, what I did last night was…” she scratched her head, then shook her hands out by her hips, “…inexcusable. I have no idea what got into me, and if you want to lie in my chaise, go ahead. Now, I’m late for work.” She took two steps down this time before stopping. She didn’t turn around because she couldn’t take another moment of looking at Cole Adams, his short blond hair bed-ruffled, his shirtless chest sunbathed and his damn hard-on tenting his work-out shorts. She squeezed her eyes tight, not believing she was actually having this conversation. “Don’t have sex on it, please.”

She swore to God she heard that stupid man snickering at her as she fled.

Well, what did you expect? Mere mortals can’t play with the gods and expect to come out untouched. Oooh, wrong choice of words.

She stuck the keys into the Celica parked on the tree-lined street in front of the small building that housed four two-bedroom apartments. She couldn’t see the side balcony from here, but somehow she still felt as if his eyes were on her. She hoped that sensation wouldn’t last all day, or more than a few people were going to end up with food in their laps.