I ran my hands from his shoulders, down his sides to his waist. My fingers slid under the hem of his thermal shirt, and I reveled in the feel of his hot skin under my palms. He let out a hiss of breath as I traced his insanely defined pectorals, slowly lowering my hands to his abs. He froze so I went for the bold maneuver and slid my fingers over the front of his jeans.

“Fuck,” he cursed. He managed to make it a three-syllable word.

“Yes, please,” I whispered before gently biting his earlobe.

He pulled away from me, and for a moment I feared I’d been too aggressive or had gone too far. Nope. He yanked me back in and kissed me as if I were the last bit of air he’d breathe before going under water for good. I was happy to drown along beside him. Abruptly, he pulled back, breaking the kiss, and his hot gaze met mine.

“I don’t do long relationships,” he said. “Three months is my max. No exceptions.”

Just like Soph had said. I was glad she’d told me so I wasn’t caught off guard.

Every muscle in Nick’s body was taut, and I suspected he wanted to fight off this crazy attraction between us, but instead of denying it, he threw up obstacles, or more accurately, because it was him and he was all about control, he made rules. Like the length of a relationship could be determined at the start. I ducked my head so he couldn’t see me smile as I felt a surge of pleasure that I had pushed him to this tipping point.

“I’m not going to be in Phoenix for much longer than that,” I said. This was not a sure thing, but he didn’t need to know that.

“When it ends, it ends. No crying, no fits, no stalking, no weirdness,” he said.

“I’m sure you’ll try to control yourself.” I batted my lashes at him.

That surprised a laugh out of him. He looked at me as if I were already naked—so hot!—and then he asked, “Are you sure, reckless one, because there’s no turning back after tonight.”

“I’m sure.” I wasn’t but when was I ever sure of anything? I operated on instinct and intuition. All I knew, for certain, was that this man made me feel things no one ever had before, and I was damned if I was going to leave Phoenix and not indulge myself in him as if he were a rare top-shelf sipping tequila.

He nodded and spun me around. With his hands on my hips and him right behind me, we walked through the open door of my house. As soon as we stepped inside, Nick shut the door behind us and drew the seldom-used drapes closed. Then he pulled me back in and kissed me.