She grabbed her guitar and stalked through the crowd and out the door. When she spun around, he was right there. He grabbed her by the elbow, leading her around to the side of the building. “Where are we going?”

“Away from prying eyes and ears.”

He released her, and a gust of cooler air swept between them. She crossed her arms against it, but he moved in front of her, smothering that chill in scorching heat. He was so tall and so close, she had to tilt her head up to meet his gaze. She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.

“Kissing you wasn’t a mistake,” he said gruffly. “I’m sorry for saying that, but I didn’t believe you were cool with just having fun, and I’m not looking to put down roots. I’m taking off as soon as I get a few things figured out.”

“You arrogant ass. You thought I was trying to trick you into more? Like once you fucked me, you wouldn’t be able to walk away?”

“Considering I can’t stop thinking about your mouth after just kissing you, yes.”

You thought of me, too. She did a mental happy dance. She wasn’t alone in this. Their connection wasn’t only in her head. Her heart raced, and she soaked in his confession, which made it hard to keep her guard up. But she needed to, because she was never going to open herself up in that way again. Not even to a guy she couldn’t get out of her head. “Maybe you should learn to take a girl at her word.”

“Maybe,” he said sharply. “But you’ve been hurt, and I didn’t want to give you hope, because when I’m ready, I will drive the hell away from this place and never look back.”

She believed him, and she couldn’t miss the red flags waving. But the carnal desires billowing inside her were bigger and louder than the voice in the back of her head reminding her, warning her, that she’d only kissed him on the beach, and he’d plagued her thoughts so badly she’d had to bring herself to orgasm every night since just to take the edge off. But now that she’d felt that hum in her loins, that inner ache that had taken her by surprise and chained her to him, she wanted more of it.