She threw open the door and screamed with fright at the sight of a large person standing in the dark outside her door.

“It’s me,” Alex said. “I knocked.”

“I…I was upstairs. I didn’t hear you.”

“I hear keys. Going somewhere?”

“I…um, I was going to find you.”

“Were you now?” He took a step forward and then another.

Out of self-preservation, Jenny backed away from him until her backside bumped against the far wall of the mudroom, right where one of their previous encounters had taken place. Her purse and keys dropped to the floor with a clatter.

“What happened to pretty boy?”

“Who?”

“The pink shirt you were with earlier.”

“He went home.”

“Did you send him home with a smile on his face?”

A bead of sweat slid between her breasts, and she wasn’t sure if it was the heat or his nearness that had caused it. Probably both. “How is that any of your business?”

His hands found her hips in the darkness. “I’m making it my business.”

He nuzzled her neck and made her melt. How did he do that so easily? She wanted to object to what he’d said, but her brain cells were as fried as her nerve endings.

“Did you send him away smiling?” he asked, more insistently this time.

“I sent him away confused about where exactly our great date went wrong.”

“Where exactly did it go wrong?” His lips and breath against her neck made her nipples tighten.

“You know exactly where it went wrong.”

“I want you to tell me.”

“It went wrong the minute you walked into the Tiki Bar.”

“Why’s that?”

As her frustration with the conversation mounted, so did the throbbing need between her legs. “You know why!”

“If I knew for sure, I wouldn’t be asking.”

“Yes, you would, because you enjoy tormenting me.”

His rough chuckle against her neck gave her goose bumps on her arms. “Is that what I’m doing?”

“How did you get here anyway? I didn’t hear the bike.”

“My brother dropped me off.”

“Did you tell him about me?”

“Nope. I told him I was going for a walk in one of my favorite places. I’ve always loved it out here.” His hands slid from her hips to cup her breasts. “Now I love it even more than I used to.”

Jenny arched into his hands, needing to get closer.

“So what happened when I walked into the Tiki Bar?”

She’d hoped he had forgotten that she’d never answered his question. “I thought about what happened last night.”

“I thought about it, too. All damned day.” He pushed his erection into her belly. “I walked around like this all day, which is your fault.”

“How is that my fault?”

“Because all I could think about is how damned sexy you are, and how badly I want another taste of you.”