I stood and walked to the door, and she meandered over behind me. And then she was kissing me. I didn’t know what to do, so I didn’t do anything. Besides kiss her back, anyway.

It felt like forever before I finally pulled away and stared at her. “Well, that was unexpected,” I ventured.

She smiled coyly and shrugged. “You only live once, right?”

I didn’t know what to make of this. “Why the sudden change?”

“I realized I’d be crazy to let you slip by. We’re obviously a great match. Why not give it a chance?”

I was floored. Completely confused and completely head over heels at the same time. I wanted to kiss her again, but then the terrible thought struck that this might all be alcohol-induced, and the last thing I wanted was to take advantage of her poor judgment. “Listen, Grace, call me tomorrow, okay? And tell me then whether or not you meant this.”

She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I mean it now?”

“Because you yourself said alcohol affects you, and I don’t want you to do anything you’re going to regret.”

She flashed a small smile. “That’s very gentlemanly of you. Tomorrow’s answer will be the same as tonight’s, but I’ll put your mind at ease tomorrow if that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

“Then consider it done.” She backed away from the door and opened it, smiling all the while. “Have a safe ride home. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

GRACE

I COULDN’T SLEEP. The adrenaline rush I’d experienced the second I moved to kiss Jack had long since subsided, leaving me with a heavy stomach and a slight headache. But I’d done it—the thing I’d been dying to do since day one. I wished he hadn’t thought it was just the alcohol, although I suppose I never would have had the courage to actually go through with it had I been stone sober. But I’d made the decision to kiss him the morning I’d invited him over. This was hardly a spur-of-the-moment maneuver.

All I could think about was the amazing conversations we’d had, how thoroughly at ease we’d been, how right the whole thing felt. I had no trouble imagining us together; we definitely clicked. Once I’d finally decided to give this a chance, the trepidation and self-consciousness I felt when I was around him had dissolved into confidence and wit and flirtation. I loved that side of me. I felt sexy and strong and intelligent and clever. That didn’t happen often.

Once I finally rolled from bed and woke up a bit, I called Jack and got his machine. “Hi, it’s Grace. I still mean it. Talk to you later.” The ache in my head was quickly being replaced by a glow in my gut.