“Byron,” she says, chastising, and her words echo in my chest.

I hold up my hands. “You’re right, I’m your ultimate boss and I didn’t tell you that. I wanted to be your neighbor. Not your boss. And I wanted to kiss you, and then I didn’t because I…” God, I just rewound fifteen years and became an awkward teenager talking to girls for the first time. What the fuck is the matter with me?

I don’t know why I said it. Why mention the kiss? Except I’ve thought about what kissing her would be like every second since I last saw her. We should both forget about it. Move on. But it’s like there’s a special kind of gravity in her, pulling me toward her. I’m helpless against it. I just can’t step away.

She closes her eyes in a long blink, and I want to pull her close and make everything better. “I need to sleep,” she says. “It’s been a really long day.”

She doesn’t feel the pull like I do. She can’t if she can shut the door.

I nod, accepting her decision. I might not want her to go, but I can’t deny that it’s for the best.

The last thing I need is to have a relationship with a member of the Colorado Club team. The gossip around Star Falls is bad enough, but no doubt it would spread like wildfire around the Club. It wouldn’t work. And if it’s not going to work, then why not cut things short now, when it’s easier to walk away?

I push my hands through my hair. Why am I even thinking about having a relationship? I haven’t even kissed this woman and I’m fast-forwarding. At the pace I’m going in my head, I might propose tomorrow night.

I’m a fucking idiot and I need to get a grip.

I take the steps down from her porch and head back to my cabin. It doesn’t feel good, but walking away is the right thing. It was just a kiss and it will all be forgotten in a few days. I need to keep my focus on my business—the stakes are too high to get distracted.

As I’m climbing the steps to my porch, the door to her cabin opens.

I freeze as she comes out.

“Frank was my boss,” she says. “And he had all the money and power, and I know we just shared a couple of conversations and an almost-kiss. It’s not like we’re getting married or even… having sex.” Her voice skyrockets on the last word. “I just can’t get into that. I can’t have someone be the boss of me like that again. I need to stand on my own two feet and not be so dependent on someone else for… everything.”