“You’re a one-night-stand kind of guy. No messy stuff like emotions, just a night to scratch an itch, then you move on.”

That she’d hit the mark so accurately was disconcerting. “You make me sound shallow.”

“No, I just don’t think involvement of any kind is something you’re into.”

How the hell did she know that about him?

“The thing is, Dylan, we all have our pasts to outrun, but some of us do it different from others.”

“What the hell does that mean?” he said again.

“We’re different, you and I. My family is important, and it’s taken a while, but I respect myself now.”

“Don’t try and analyze me, Piper.” He was growling but couldn’t stop. “I respect myself, and my head’s exactly where it wants to be. I’m here to see Dad, and I thought you and I could have some fun. Turns out I was wrong. No big deal.”

It was a fucking big deal because he wanted her far more than he should, and Dylan usually got what he wanted.

His heart was suddenly thudding hard inside his chest, and his palms felt sweaty. He hadn’t experienced a reaction like that in years. How this sexy, smart-mouthed woman had achieved that in a matter of days was unnerving, and told him he needed to keep his distance from her.

She was right, this wouldn’t happen, and he was grateful to her for stopping him. He’d let emotion and lust cloud his thoughts, and if they’d had sex, it would have complicated things. Dylan could see that now.

But Christ, he still wanted her.

“So no hard feelings,” he said as calmly as he could, sounding like a class A jerk. But the truth was he was off-balance.

“Sure, you want to shake on it?”

Was she taking a shot at him? That was something else that never happened. People never laughed at Dylan.

“I think we can pass on that.”

“Excellent, then I need a drink.”

“Sure, and Piper, I hope this won’t make things difficult when we see each other.”

“Nope, we’ll put this down to a brief moment of insanity on your part. I’m sure next time we meet you’ll have that stick firmly back up your backside, and that ‘I’m better than you’ look in place.”

“What? I don’t....” His words stumbled to a halt as she walked by him. He wished he’d followed his first impulse to stay away from Piper when he’d seen her leave the bar. “I so don’t,” he muttered sounding like a ten-year-old boy unable to stop himself.

He found his sister talking to Fin Hudson, who had seen him so he couldn’t exactly turn around and walk out. But he wanted to. He wanted to find a corner somewhere and contemplate the fact he’d just behaved like a jerk.