I slide to the floor and send up a silent prayer to the Gods of self-control to see me through the rest of the weekend with my dignity—and panties—intact.

Because boy, am I in trouble now.

7

Dash

I had one job…

After a sleepless night imagining Callie in bed just down the hall—and me right there with her—I head down to take an early morning swim in the bay, hoping the chilly water and workout will act as a cold shower for my heated, uh, urges.

Because hell, after that kiss? I could use a bucket of ice.

And a chastity belt.

And a couple of boxes of Kleenex, too.

But it turns out, there’s no workout in the world that’s tough enough to distract me from the memory of Callie’s mouth… And soft breasts… And her lush hips… They haunt me with every stroke, until I have to admit it:

I’m screwed.

Or not, as the case may be.

I roll onto my back and float, gazing up at one lazy white cloud that drifts across the otherwise perfect blue sky. Who would have known that behind that smart mouth lurked all that… Heat. Sure, I clocked her curves on day one: She’s hot, no doubt about it, but a spiky, argumentative kind of hot. Hands off, annoyingly argumentative, more trouble than it’s worth hot.

Well, I stand corrected. Callie Delgado is worth a whole hell of a lot of trouble.

I catch myself fantasizing again, replaying that little breathy gasp she sounded when I kissed the spot right below her ear and give myself a mental slap. I need to get a grip—and not on her incredible body, either.

She’s off-limits.

That was the whole point of this fake relationship act: To pick someone safe, to impress Zelda, unlock my trust, and then go back to my regular bachelor schedule—with zero risk of mess or complications along the way.

Well, I’d say that kiss last night was pretty damn complicated.

And pretty damn combustible, too.

I feel another surge of heat, and wonder for a moment if Callie would be willing to upgrade our arrangement to fake-girlfriend-with-benefits…

But nope. She’s made those ground rules perfectly clear. And judging by the way she fled the scene of the crime last night; she’s not changing her mind any time soon.

I’m just going to have to show some damn self-control, that’s all.

I roll over and head to shore. When I reach the dock, Piper is sitting on the edge, dangling her bare feet into the water.

“You’re up early,” I say, hauling myself out, dripping water all over her.

She squeals and shoves me away. “I could say the same about you. You’re usually not out of bed before noon.”

“Needed to clear my head,” I say.

Piper raises her eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say quickly. “Everything’s great. Well, apart from Zelda being Zelda,” I add, toweling off.

Piper grins. “What did you expect? You’re going to owe Callie. You brought her right into the lion’s den.”