She beamed at my thanks. “Happy to. Let me know what you think—and thanks again for the lesson. It was so much fun! Hopefully I’ll be less horrible next time. Maybe I can get Seth to practice at home.”

She gave me a quick hug and then hurried off to catch a ride with Doug. I trudged to my office, papers in hand, and set them on my desk. I collapsed into the chair, feeling horrible. While I’d been out doing bad, wicked things with her boyfriend, she’d been working diligently to find me a new home.

I tried hard after that to browse some spreadsheets, but my heart wasn’t in it. I mostly stared at numbers without really comprehending them, and when a knock came at the door, I welcomed the distraction. I jumped up from my chair.

“Come in.” I wondered if Maddie had forgotten to give me another ream. But it wasn’t her.

Seth stood in the doorway.

I stared, hoping my mouth hadn’t dropped open or anything embarrassing like that. “What . . . what are you doing here? I thought you left.”

He looked as though he wanted to step inside but was afraid to. “Doug took Maddie home, and I came back to . . . to get . . .” He stopped and shook his head, unable to continue with a lie about having forgotten something. “I came back to see you.”

I remembered the way his eyes had watched my body, the smoke in them when the skirt had ridden up my leg. That same smokiness was there now, and I felt my own body’s desire flare up in response. Really, though, after the way we’d touched while dancing, the desire had never really left me. Nonetheless, I tried to be reasonable.

“Seth, we can’t . . . not again . . . it’s . . .”