“I’m not going anywhere until I make sure you get to your room safely. I can’t have my guitarist injuring herself again.” He winked and hit the elevator button while I leaned against him, taking comfort in his strength. His breath ruffled my hair as he quietly added, “Besides, I’m worried about you.”

The elevator door opened, and we stumbled in. “Really, Jared, I’m fine. It’s just a twisted ankle, not that big a deal—”

The door shut and his lips were on mine, cutting me off mid-sentence. His kiss was tentative and searching, a question he wanted me to answer, but I was so surprised I just stood there while my brain caught up to what was happening.

He pulled away and ran a hand through his dark hair. “Sorry. I’ve wanted to do that forever, and when I saw you fall…”

My mouth opened but no sound came out. I swallowed and tried again. “You’ve wanted to do that forever?”

“I know it’s a bad idea. We have to stay single while we’re on the show, and the guys would kill me if they found out, and you’re into that Sean guy anyway…” His voice trailed off, and he looked away.

I’d never seen Jared be anything but cool and confident, and it sent a thrill through me, knowing I’d done that to him. The elevator didn’t move, waiting for us to hit a button, but suddenly I didn’t want to go back to my room anymore. I grabbed the collar of Jared’s jacket and pulled him down to my mouth, kissing him hard, showing him that he was the one I wanted.

We broke apart long enough for me to whisper, “It is a bad idea, but I don’t care.”

“Good. Because I can’t resist you any longer.” And then our mouths met again.

We kissed like we were drowning and our only hope of living was each other. He devoured my mouth with his tongue and lips while I tangled my fingers into his thick hair, drawing him closer. Knowing we shouldn’t be doing this only gave our passion a desperate edge, a recklessness that had us gasping and clawing at each other, like we had to cram everything into this one brief moment we were alone. His hands slid down to cup my butt and lift me to his height, my back slamming against the side of the elevator, my skirt riding up to my hips. While he pinned me to the wall and teased me with his mouth, I smoothed my hands across his rough jaw, down his neck, along his broad shoulders. After weeks of fighting my desire for Jared, I needed to touch every inch of him, with my fingers, with my lips, with my entire body.