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  “Where did you go?” Julia turned her head, watching me.

  “Sorry,” I laughed, picking up my own drink and downing it in one gulp. I needed to get out of here. She was muddling my brain. “Have you always lived in Denver?”

  “Yes,” she answered. “Born and raised. I’ve been to Florida a few times, though. My grandparents used to live there.”

  “Used to?”

  “Yeah, they passed away years ago.”

  I felt like a tool. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” she said.

  “Where did they live?”

  She tapped her fingers on the edge of her glass. Her nails were painted light pink and perfectly manicured, but what I noticed the most was the lack of ring on her ring finger. Not that she couldn’t have a serious boyfriend, but at least she wasn’t engaged or married. Maybe her flirtation was just part of who she was, and I wouldn’t have anything to worry about after all.

  Julia laughed, and I wanted to close my eyes against the feeling it gave me in my chest. “I can’t remember. Isn’t that crazy? We went there many times and I can’t remember what the town is called. I know the beach was beautiful, and it was also hot as hell.”

  It was my turn to laugh. “That describes most of the state,” I told her. “My family and I live in the Fort Myers area, which is the west coast, the gulf side. I went to college on the east coast, though.”

  “I’ll have to ask my parents what it’s called,” she said. “So you’re going home tomorrow?”

  “Yes,” I nodded. “To wait for the call on whether I’m moving or going to keep searching for another internship.” I know that wasn’t all I was searching for, but I kept that thought to myself.

  She signaled for both of us to get a refill, and I knew I should probably stop or I was more likely to say too much to her. I told myself this would be the last one. I wanted to know about her, but I couldn’t decide which question was better to ask.

  “Don’t worry about it, Carter,” she said. God, I loved the way she said my name. “I have the feeling I’m going to be seeing you here really soon.” She leaned over and put her lips so close to my ear, I could feel her warm breath. “I’m looking forward to working with you every day.”

  “T-tell me about you,” I found myself saying. Damn the alcohol loosening my resolve to keep my mouth shut. I couldn’t get involved with her even if I didn’t get the internship.

  She shrugged. “Nothing to tell. I’m twenty-four, and I work for my parents. My mom is an architect, too. That’s how they met. She’s the Sandes in Gibbons, Sandes, and Jacobs. Well, she was before they got married, of course. I’m single, and don’t have much of a life other than my work. Wow, I sound boring, don’t I?”

  I wanted to tell her no, she didn’t sound boring at all, but my brain was stuck on the line ‘I’m single.’ I wanted to ask her if she even wanted to be an architect, with both of her parents being successful architects, but I knew that was too much personal information. I just needed to bide my time and be courteous and then get the hell out of here. Soon. “Not boring at all. Do you have any siblings?” Siblings were safe, right?

  A look of pain crossed her face before she quickly masked it and picked up her drink and downed it in one gulp. Uh oh. Looked like that wasn’t a great subject to broach. Just when I was about to let her off the hook and change the subject, she pinned me with her gaze again. “I have an older brother.” The way she said it told me everything: I don’t want to talk about it.

  I smiled and went back to my own drink, guzzling the liquid. My head was spinning and I knew I was way beyond where I should’ve stopped. “What about you? What about your family?” I wanted to laugh at her question. Whatever her baggage was, I’m sure it wasn’t anything like the tabloid story mine was. I also knew I couldn’t tell her the entire story.

  “I have two brothers and a sister,” I answered. God, I couldn’t wait to see them again. When I was with Gretchen, Jackson, and now baby Logan, I felt like I could breathe again. Seeing my parents getting the life they deserved with each other made me realize that everything worked out for them, and it was all okay now.

  “Older or younger?” I knew she was just asking to make small talk, but this conversation was going to get awkward fast.

  “All younger. A lot younger. It’s a long story, but suffice it to say my parents weren’t together after I was born until just five years ago. They were only eighteen when I was born. So my siblings are a lot younger than me. The youngest, Logan, was just born a few weeks ago.”

  I said way more than I should’ve, and I knew it by the look on her face. “Wow,” she finally answered. “That sounds like an epic love story.” Her eyes were kind of glossed over and I knew she was toast. But she was right. The story of my parents was epic. I felt the stinging of tears coming behind my eyes, and I cleared my throat against it. I needed to get a grip.

  “Two fireball shots, please,” I heard her voice say. Oh no. I didn’t need any shots. I held up my hand to tell the bartender no, but she placed her hand over mine and stopped me. “Let’s celebrate,” she answered.

  “Celebrate what?” I had to ask. I was trying to breathe through the fact that she was still touching me.

  She rolled her eyes. “You, silly. Carter McIntyre. Coming to Denver. Sitting here with me having a drink. About to become my coworker. Going back home tomorrow to see his baby siblings and his parents with a great story I want to hear the rest of someday.”

  I wanted to argue with her, but I couldn’t make my mouth form the words. Her warm hand was still over mine, and I fought the urge to lace my fingers with hers. We were both beyond rational thought, but I was still trying to hang on to my last shred of competency. The bartender put the shots in front of us, and she picked hers up, arching her eyebrow to tell me to do the same. I followed, picking it up. Julia clinked our glasses together and winked at me. We both put the shot up to our lips and drank. I fought against the urge to close my eyes at the burning sensation going down into my stomach.

  “Fireball,” she giggled, and I decided I loved that sound, too. I wasn’t sure there was anything of hers I didn’t find attractive. She uncrossed her legs and moved closer to me. The smooth skin of her leg touched the jean material of mine, but it felt like she touched my bare skin. “Let’s do another one.”

  “I need to get back to my hotel,” I tried to argue. “I have an early flight.”

  “Just a little longer,” she pleaded. “You’re such a nice guy. So different than most of the Denver guys.” I wasn’t sure what that meant or if she had maybe been burned by a few too many of them, but I couldn’t speak.

  I didn’t even know what time it was or how many more drinks we’d had by the time Julia grabbed her small purse and stood up. And by stood up, I mean slid off of the stool and hit the floor. She giggled uncontrollably, and I laughed, too. She was in no condition to get home by herself.

  “Come on,” I picked her up and wrapped my arm around her slender waist, trying not to notice how well she fit next to me. “How close do you live to here?”

  She blinked her eyes at me like I asked her an algebra equation. “You’re really handsome,” she answered instead of telling me where she lived. I sucked in a breath. She was so close to me that I could see small flecks of brown in her blue eyes and smell the cinnamon on her breath from the fireballs.

  I told myself she had no idea what she was saying right now, and to just let her comment go. “Let’s go, Julia. I’ll take you to my hotel, it’s just down the street. I’ll sleep on the couch.” Getting her to the hotel proved to be a challenge, because she was wearing heels and definitely not sober enough to walk straight. I had a feeling she didn’t drink like this often and wondered what made her do it tonight.

  When we got into the elevator, she rested her head on my chest and closed her eyes. My head swam with too much alcohol and the intoxication of her body pressed into mine. Her arms snaked around my waist, and I stood, frozen, watching
as the number climbed on the digital screen. Neither of us said a word and I’m not sure I was even breathing. Just when I thought she might’ve passed out on me, the elevator dinged and the door opened. She stepped back, her breathtaking eyes looking directly into mine.

  “Thanks, Carter,” she said, lacing her fingers with mine as we stepped off the elevator. She won’t remember this tomorrow, and neither will you, I told myself. Hell, as far I knew I could be dreaming right now. I unlocked the door and held it open for her. She went into the bathroom without a word, and I stood in the middle of the room, running my hands through my hair. I had no idea what to do now. Here I was, in my hotel room with the daughter of the man that I wanted to give me the most coveted job in the industry. We’d both had had too much to drink, and she was hot.

  I settled myself on the couch, knowing I had to stay here tonight. I had to stay away from touching any part of her, or who knew how long my resolve would hold out? I couldn’t wake up with regrets tomorrow. The door to the bathroom swung open, and I fought my mouth not to drop open. She’d lost her clothes and was wearing the hotel robe. It conjured up all sorts of images in my head.

  She walked past me and to the mini-bar set up in the corner. She grabbed two tumblers and filled them both with something I didn’t see and walked back to me. “Julia,” I warned.

  “Nightcap,” she said, handing me the glass. She clinked hers with mine just like she’d done at the bar and then downed it before I could even touch the glass to my lips. This was a bad idea. A really, really bad idea.

  I had no idea how many more she handed me, but I had the feeling she was going to be sick. Before I could register what was happening, she climbed onto my lap and nuzzled her face into my neck. “Carter,” she murmured. “Take it away. Just for one night.”

  I didn’t know what she was talking about and my head was spinning with too much alcohol and the fact that she was sitting on my lap. Somewhere in my head I know I shouldn’t do this, but when she tipped her face up to mine and pressed her soft lips to mine, I knew I was in deep shit.

  An ungodly noise reverberated in my head, and I swung my hand out of the covers to try to stop it. Finally connecting with the culprit, I groaned. My head was pounding, and I knew exactly why. Drinking with Julia last night came flooding back to me. I had to get up, that much I knew. I had a plane to catch this morning. Just when my body was settling back into sleep, I felt a shift in the bed and then something warm touched my leg under the covers. My eyes flew open, my heart pounding. It was still dark, but the second my eyes settled on the figure next to me, cold, heavy regret dropped into my stomach like lead.

  Her eyes were still closed; her dark hair fanned behind her on the pillow. She looked so innocent and sweet with her hand under her cheek. My eyes scanned the skin I could see. Her shoulder was bare, as was the calf and subsequent thigh I could see sticking out of the covers. Julia is in my bed. Julia Gibbons was in my bed, and it looked like she wasn’t wearing any clothes. How in the hell had that happened? I tore my gaze from hers and lifted the covers, noticing that I, too, wasn’t clothed and was sporting quite a morning predicament. I closed my eyes, willing my brain to remember. Why was I in the bed and not on the couch?

  My mind raced a million miles an hour, my body frozen in fear. I watched her, simultaneously wishing that she would wake up and tell me what happened and also stay asleep so I could figure out what I was going to do now. I thought back to what I remembered from last night. I’d brought her back to my hotel room, and she’d gotten us more drinks from the mini bar. I’d known I needed to stop, but she’d been persistent. Very persistent. I remembered thinking that she was going to sleep in my bed while I took the couch, but somehow here I was, lying next to her in this large bed, her body close to mine.

  I couldn’t remember. Not a thing. I had to fix this. I knew this was going to be the end of me. I could kiss goodbye the opportunity of a lifetime. Whether I did or didn’t cross the line, we were lying in bed together, sans clothes. You’re a moron, Carter, I chastised myself. This is what you get for even entertaining spending time with her last night. You should’ve gotten up and walked away. Finally, I decided that the best thing was for me to get out of the bed as quietly as I could and leave Julia a note that I had to catch a flight and didn’t want to wake her. I slid my body out of the bed, my eyes trained on her sleeping form. Please stay asleep.

  I breathed out as I reached the bathroom without her moving. Closing the door softly, I flicked the light on and stared at myself in the large mirror. Bloodshot eyes looked back at me, a reminder that I should’ve never gone that far the night before. My head pounded, and I knew the flight back was going to be brutal. My eyes scanned my body for any signs of what might’ve happened with us. I examined my skin, turning back and forth in the mirror. No marks or signs of having done anything beyond just sleeping. I can’t believe that if I did sleep with her, I can’t remember it. Shaking my head at the thought, I turned away from the mirror, disgusted with myself. This wasn’t me. I didn’t do this kind of thing, especially not with the woman who could essentially become my boss.

  As quietly as I could, I packed my toiletry bag and made my way back to the door. Somehow, I had to get to my suitcase without waking her. I knew I was behaving like a coward; the man in me told me I should wake her up and make sure she got home safely and that she was okay. But the scared holy-shit-I-just-shot-my-chances-to-hell part of me just wanted to run as far as I could away from everything.

  I laid my head on the cool wood of the bathroom door, willing myself to open it and do what I needed to do. Finally forcing my hand to open the door, I turned the handle and cracked it open, my stomach in knots. This was the ultimate walk of shame. I stepped out, my eyes immediately moving across the room to make sure she was still asleep. She was. I strode for the pad of paper and pen on the mini-bar and scribbled her a pitiful excuse of a note. Had an early flight to catch. Sorry. ~Carter. I looked back at her one more time, taking note of the way her dark hair looked against the white pillowcase and how the rays of sun just starting to peek through the curtains highlighted her face. Go, Carter. Before you have even more of an issue. This wasn’t my forte; I didn’t want to be this guy. But I felt like I didn’t have a choice. It was either this or lose everything. Hell, I might’ve lost everything already.

  The second the door clicked shut behind me, I breathed out in relief. Scrubbing my hand over my face, I checked my phone for the time. I had the incredible urge to call Hayden and beg him to help me through this. We had been best friends since I started college, and he was so much more suave than me with the ladies. Calling him would mean me having to admit to him that I was just the biggest asshole jerk ever. It was bad enough I already knew that; I didn’t need his confirmation of it. What if she told her dad that we had sex? What if we didn’t? But what if we did?

  I hit the elevator button a little too hard, sending up a silent thank you when it opened immediately. Leaning my head back against the wall, I closed my eyes and breathed out. I couldn’t believe I’d just done that. I’d left a stunning woman, a woman that could be overseeing me, naked in my bed. My bed. In a hotel. I’d left without knowing what happened between us. I’d left without knowing if she was okay. I was the worst possible person in the world.

  Sliding my hotel key across the counter, I met the weary eyes of the hotel employee. “I’m checking out, but I still have a—-” God, what was Julia? “—-guest, in my room. I’d like to request a late check out.”

  “That’ll be fine, sir. I’ll make note of it.”

  “Great. Thanks. Can you charge some coffee, toast, and orange juice to my account and have them sent up in the next hour?”

  James eyed me, and then clicked a few buttons. “Got it. Thank you for your business, Mr. McIntyre. We hope you will visit Denver again soon.”

  Me too, I thought, smiling politely and darting out of the automatic doors. But I have a feeling I put a nail in that coffin already. I needed to get home
and talk to my dad. I had no idea where to go from here.

  JULIA’S LONG HAIR CASCADED OVER my face as I gripped her slim hips with my fingers. I fought against the sensation to close my eyes because I had to keep looking at her. As she slid herself up and down on top of me, I couldn’t stop the groan from escaping my mouth. Her smile quirked up one side of her lip, and I watched as my body made her body quiver with need, with anticipation. Neither of us said a word, our soft groans and heavy breathing all the sound we needed to know how good this felt, how right. She threw her head back, breaking our eye contact as we sped up, both of us chasing a release. “Carter . . .” My name fell from her lips like a prayer. I reached between us, needing to touch her like I needed my next breath . . .

  I felt a jerking sensation and my eyes flew open. My chest heaved as my eyes adjusted to my surroundings. Looking around, I realized the plane had just hit the runway. People were looking out the windows as we careened towards the terminal. I’d been dreaming. I looked down to make sure I wasn’t going to give the guy next to me an eyeful, and then I rested my head back onto the seat. I’d been dreaming of Julia riding me. Had that really happened? Was that my brain’s way of telling me that we had slept together? God. I could almost feel her soft skin under my fingertips; the sensation of being inside of her so real I almost groaned out loud.

  Desperate to turn off the feelings I knew I shouldn’t have for a girl I just met, I powered my phone back on. Home. I was so glad to be here because I needed some guidance. Big time. Even though for me this wasn’t where I grew up, it was where my parents lived, and that was enough.

  My phone began buzzing just as the plane slowed and came to a stop at the gate. A text from my mom, another from Hayden, and a missed call from a number I didn’t recognize. I clicked on the text icon and read my mom’s message telling me they couldn’t wait to see me. Hayden’s text asked me how the interview went and told me he would arrive at Sanibel later this afternoon and couldn’t wait to catch up.