Dinner with Xander went infinitely better once we stopped talking about our father. Though, I knew next time I’d have to lay off the Scotch. It had been two days and I still hadn’t fully recovered.

My skin buzzed, my brain was foggy, and my focus was shot to hell. But that could easily be because I knew I was about to see my mystery girl again. My blood rushed just thinking of having her in my arms again.

When Max had told me to pop ‘round, he mentioned Sophie was having some friends around too. I prayed her friends included the American girl. And just like that, the force of the gravitational pull was too strong to ignore. I knew I had it bad. I didn’t even know her name and I was a total sap.

I tried to focus on what the hell Jasper was saying, but my brain could only focus on the sounds of Sophie and her friends as they walked in the door. Sophie bounded in with her usual energy, her friends in tow.

She greeted me with a hug. “Hey, Lex. I want you to meet my friend, Abbie Nartey. And of course, you know Faith.”

So, at last I had a name. I forced myself to smile and mutter a greeting to Faith as I kissed her on both cheeks, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Abbie. When I turned my attention to Abbie, I steeled myself for the current of electricity.

She met my gaze with a sheepish smile and said, “Actually, Sophie, we've already met. Sort of.”

I cleared my throat. “Abbie, it's nice to meet you, officially.” I shouldn’t touch her again, but I knew if I didn’t, I’d probably regret it the rest of the night. Stepping forward, I took her hand and kissed her twice on the cheek. I took note of her stiff posture again. Yeah, she was definitely not comfortable with touching. I slowly let out a breath before backing away. Her gingery shampoo made my nose tingle. I ached to keep hold of her. I was in trouble. A shit load of trouble.

“Earth to Lex, pay attention, mate. This is your birthday, after all. And we’ve got a week to make it epic,” Max muttered.

I rolled my head and tried to massage my neck. “I'm not sure what you need me for. I told you my criteria. I really don’t want it to be seedy. No surprises and no strippers. I want to know what’s coming.”

As Sophie chatted with her friends, my gaze kept wandering in Abbie’s direction. The memory of her pressed up against me, melting into my arms, snuck into my frontal lobe. And the memory alone was enough to trigger a kick of lust to my groin.