When they arrived at her apartment, he pulled into a parking space, shut off the car, and turned to her. “You were wonderful tonight, Kate.”

She hadn’t let go of his hand. “Thanks. It helped to have you there.”

Later she wouldn’t remember who moved first, but they came together in an explosive meeting of lips and tongues and heat. The only conscious thought she had was that no kiss had ever felt like this one. Her entire body hummed as she buried a hand in his hair to drag him closer.

When she moaned, he tore his lips free.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Don’t. Please don’t ruin it.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Reid?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you do it again? Please?”

He reached out to touch her face and leaned in to kiss her softly.

The fire between them flared anew, and Kate was aware of the exact moment when his control snapped. One of his hands cupped the back of her head while the other caressed her leg under the hem of her short dress. His tongue explored every corner of her mouth, and when she responded in kind, he groaned.

“Kate, honey, we have to stop,” he said breathlessly as they stared at each other. “I can’t do this.”

She sat up and smoothed her skirt with an unsteady hand.

He got out of the car and went around to open her door.

The cold air hit her like a slap to the face. The parking lot was dark and still as he walked her up the stairs to her door.

She rested her head against his chest. “I need…”

“What, baby?”

Tears welled up in her eyes. “Will you hold me? Just for a minute?”

He wrapped his arms around her.

She kissed his neck and then his jaw. “I know you’re going to beat yourself up for this all the way home,” she whispered. “But I want you to keep one thing in mind.”

“What’s that?”

“No one has ever made me feel the way you do, and everything that’s happened between us has happened because I wanted it to.”

He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her gently. “Good night.”

“Call me tomorrow?”

He nodded.

“No regrets?”

He kissed her again and was gone before she realized he hadn’t answered her question.

No regrets? No regrets? Was she kidding? Reid was riddled with regrets. He had practically attacked her. What kind of man kissed an eighteen-year-old girl like that? This whole thing with her was totally out of hand, and he had to put a stop to it. As he barreled south on Interstate 65, the speedometer reached eighty, but he didn’t notice. The ringing of his cell phone jarred him out of his stupor. Realizing how fast he was driving, he backed off the accelerator and reached for the phone.

“Hello?”