I jump out of my fucking skin, startled by the aggressive knocks on my window. “What the fuck?” I yell, making the traffic warden, whose face is currently glaring through my window, recoil. I grab the handle, yank it, and jump out of my Aston, my chest pumping with a mixture of fright and anger.

The poor fucker backs up, his eyes climbing my six-foot-three frame, regret plastered all over his face. “You need to pay to park, sir.” He points to a ticket machine up the street as I work to contain my temper. What’s wrong with me?

“I don’t have any change.” I pat down the pockets of my suit. Or my fucking wallet.

“Then you’ll have to move on.”

Move on? And park where, exactly? I could drive around London all fucking day and never find a space. It’s pure luck I landed this one right outside her office.

I feel unfamiliar anger bubbling, and I am unable to contain it. “I’m not moving my fucking car,” I growl, slipping back into the driver’s seat.

“Then I’ll have to issue a ticket, sir.”

“Fuck off,” I snap, slamming the door. What the hell, Ward? I rub my palm down my bristly face. My cheeks feel hot. Move my car? Not a fucking chance.

I realign my sights on her office, trying to regulate my breathing, and once I’ve cooled down, I dial her. My stomach flips a million times, my anticipation to hear her voice off the charts.

But she doesn’t answer. I frown at my phone, thinking, imagining her staring at hers. She didn’t miss my call. She wasn’t otherwise engaged, I just know it. So she ignored me. My jaw clenches without thought, and I dial her again. Perseverance. I can do that. It rings and rings, and just when I reside myself to physically going into her office where she can’t avoid me, she answers.

“Hello?”

And I’m bombarded by an inexplicable rush of pleasure. Pleasure without sex. So I can only imagine the heaven to be found with my body melded to hers, my cock in her pussy, my tongue in her mouth. I lose my breath just thinking about it.

But she sounded . . . uncertain. “Ava?” Why on earth did I pose that as a question?

“Who’s speaking?”

I can’t stop my laugh. Is she really going to play this game? “Now, I know you already know the answer to that question because my name came up on your phone. Trying to play it cool?”

“You added yourself to my contacts?”