Since settling down wasn’t on her agenda, either, she’d been totally fine with that. And she’d been afraid. Piper had never particularly enjoyed that emotion. Who did? She’d been afraid, and sexy Eric had been downstairs. She’d already known that they had insane chemistry. When they touched, her whole body did a wild, freak-out thing.

So why not give in to the desire they both felt? What could it possibly hurt?

She’d expected to have sex with him once. A one and done kind of thing.

They’d had sex…three times. Maybe four? Things had gotten a little hazy at the end. And now she was still in his bed. His arm was over her, as if the guy was chaining her to his side, and in the bright light of day, her killer plan suddenly seemed very, very flawed.

What in the hell am I supposed to do next?

She needed to make a hasty exit, one that occurred before Eric opened his eyes. They had crossed so many lines the night before. Like, every single line out there. When Ben found out that she’d slept with his brother, the guy was going to flip out. Ben would think Eric had seduced her. Ben frequently called his brother a player.

Only Eric hadn’t been the one to seduce her. She’d gone to him. She’d been the one to take the big step. To put the offer out there. Jeez, she’d gone down the stairs without her underwear!

Barely breathing, she carefully caught the edge of Eric’s fingers and lifted them up, moving his arm off her a few precious inches. Good. Good. This was working. As soon as his arm was off her, she slid out of the bed like a snake and jumped to her feet. As fast as she could, she lowered his hand so that it was cradling the pillow. Her eyes stayed on his face. His eyes remained closed. His breathing seemed nice and easy. Still sleeping. Excellent.

She saw the shirt she’d worn the night before, and Piper scooped it up as she made a beeline for the door. She shouldered the shirt on, pushed her arms through the sleeves, haphazardly fixed two of the buttons, and then reached for the bedroom doorknob.

“That was fun.” His low, rumbling voice froze Piper in her tracks.

Fun. She felt her cheeks burn.

“Do you always try sneaking out of a lover’s bed in the morning? Or is the tip-toe routine something special for me?”

Uh, oh. He sounded pissed. She whipped around and saw that he was already sitting up in bed, arms crossed over his chest and eyes narrowed. Definitely pissed.

“Just for you?” Her words came out as a question, but, yes, she had only done this routine with him.

His jaw clenched.

She’d given him the wrong answer.

“Why?”