“Want me to go in there and kick her ass for you? I totally would.” He sounds so hopeful I can’t help but laugh.

“I know you would and I appreciate that, but no. She’d call the police on you and that would end up ugly.” I shake my head. “This was such a wasted trip. Let’s go home.” I don’t even catch myself using the word home until it’s too late. The word had already flown out of my mouth.

But Colin doesn’t acknowledge it, thank goodness. “I thought you wanted to look at apartments, too.”

“What’s the point if I can’t afford them? I don’t have a job here. I’ll probably have to settle for a waitressing position at some shitty restaurant and make it work.” The thought alone depresses me and I squeeze my eyes shut again, trying to block out the dismal possibilities. I’ve messed this all up, but there’s no going back now. “I’ll tell myself it’s temporary, but we’ll all know that’s a lie. I’ll be a waitress my entire life. Oh my God, that’s so depressing!”

“Hey.” He reaches for my hand, giving it a squeeze. “You’ll figure this out. I know you will. So you’ve hit a couple of bumps in the road. This won’t be the first time or the last. You’re smart. You can make this work.”

“Sure I can. Says the girl who has nothing lined up, who gave you her notice and has nowhere to go in a matter of a few weeks.” I shake my head. “I’m a complete dumbass.”

“No, you’re not. You’re just anxious to really start living the life you want to live. I get that. I totally get that.” I crack open my eyes just in time to watch him bring my hand up to his mouth, brushing the softest kiss across my knuckles. My skin tingles from the contact and I curl my fingers around his, wishing we didn’t have all of this . . . past blocking us. He’s somehow put me on a pedestal and believes the two of us can never work out.

Wouldn’t he just die if he knew the truth? Talk about falling off the pedestal! It’s bad enough he knows I was a stripper. How would he feel if he knew I was basically a prostitute, offering hand jobs and blow jobs for quick cash in the Gold Diggers parking lot?

God, that sounds sordid and disgusting!

“Take me home, Colin,” I whisper, my mouth going dry when his hot gaze meets mine. I see all the heat and want swirling in the pretty blue depths of his eyes, all of it directed at me, rendering me speechless.

It’s so ridiculous, what we’re doing. Why can’t we give in to this? I’m leaving. For all I know, I’ll never see Colin again. So what’s wrong with a little sex between friends until I move out and far away from that shitty little college town I keep calling home as if I secretly want it to be?

So scary, but the only time I feel safe, the only time I feel like I’m at home, is when I’m with Colin.

Colin

I like how she told me to take her home, though it took everything in me not to acknowledge that little slip. I like even more the way she sneaks looks at me as I drive. She thinks I don’t notice, but I do. Everything she does, I notice.

Drew’s advice has lingered in my brain all day long, so I’ve tried my best to keep it light and prove to her that I want her, yet instead I made her suspicious and questioning. I guess I can’t blame her. But it had felt damn good to flirt with her this morning when I first woke her up. God, what a sight she’d been . . .

I can still see the curve of her ass peeking out from those indecently tiny shorts. How she’d looked in her sleep, her long hair down and spread across her pillow, lips parted, eyes closed as she lay on her side. One leg slung on top of the comforter, which was pushed down to her waist. Revealing the tank top she wore, which did nothing to hide what she looks like when she’s not wearing it.

It made me want to dive under those warm, soft covers with her and touch her. Run my hands over her skin and slowly wake her up until she’s a moaning, writhing, needy mess beneath me.

Yeah. Didn’t happen.

We’re quiet during the drive back home, but it’s not an uncomfortable silence. Before we even left Sacramento, I turned on the satellite radio I’m addicted to and scrolled through the channels until I found a decent station. The drive isn’t bad, just about ninety minutes, and thankfully traffic isn’t too shitty. Jen falls asleep relatively fast after the occasional glance toward me and I leave her alone, thankful we don’t have to make pointless small talk.

My mind wanders as it usually does when I drive and of course, I think of Jen and what happened today. Is it wrong for me to be glad her interviews didn’t go as well as she’d hoped? It’s not that I don’t believe in her. The girl can do anything she sets her mind to and she’s smart as hell.

But I don’t want her to leave me. God, I’m a selfish prick!

Then prove yourself wrong, man. Prove yourself wrong.

Drew’s words ring in my head, the jackass. I wonder if he realizes how much our talk affected me. I’m running, just like he did before he realized his mistake. Or more like, I’m pushing her away. Doing my best to make us not happen, and now she’s on board with that thought too.

This proves I’m also an asshole.

The minute we reach the outskirts of town I turn the radio up, hoping to wake her. She stirs, murmuring something unintelligible, and I chance a look at her.

Big mistake.

Jen’s slouched in her seat, her shoes kicked off, her shirt untucked and a few buttons at the top undone, offering me a teasing glimpse of creamy, golden skin. The tops of her breasts, the white lace of her bra—just seeing that delectable hint of her body makes me break out in a sweat.

I reach over and turn up the air, desperate for some relief.

“I’m freezing,” she murmurs.

I glance in her direction, catch her shivering as she wraps her arms around herself, a weak defense against the blast of cold air. Yeah, she’s wide awake now. “Close the vent,” I suggest, not willing to turn the air conditioner down. I need it to cool down my too heated thoughts.

She does as I tell, her then settles back in her seat. “I can’t believe I slept through practically the entire drive.”

“You were tired.”

“More like stressed.” She curls up in her seat, tucking her legs beneath, her and I’m tempted to tell her that position isn’t very safe, but then I’ll just sound like a naggy old man so I hold myself back. “I can’t believe I have to start this process all over again.”

I stay quiet for a few minutes, navigating the familiar drive through town toward my house. The twilight sky is purple and black, with tiny white stars just starting to twinkle, and all the streetlights flick on, illuminating the road as I speed toward the subdivision.

“You know, I could help you,” I finally say nonchalantly as I turn onto my road. “I plan on opening the Redding location soon. I’ll need someone to assist me and work in the office while I’m gone.”

“No.” Her answer is vehement, downright hostile. She shakes her head. “No way.”

What the ever-loving fuck? “Why the hell not?”

“I refuse to take your handouts any longer.” She sits up straight, uncurling her legs and shoving her feet into those damn sexy high heels. “We’ve had this discussion a million times, Colin. No.”

“And we’ll probably have it a million times more.” I pull into the garage once the door finishes opening and cut the engine, turning to face her. “I don’t know why you won’t take my help any longer. I want to be there for you, Jen. I’m your friend. Let me do this for you.”

“I’m not your charity case, okay?” The words explode from her, shocking the shit out of me, and I lean away from her, my back pressed against the driver’s-side door. “I won’t take your little scraps of help because you feel some sort of twisted guilt over what happened to my brother. Danny’s been dead for two years. Two freaking years. You act like you’re the one who threw the bomb that killed him and I don’t get it!”