Kiss Me at Midnight
Author: Diane Alberts

Chapter One

Ashley Hanes smoothed her skirt and examined her worried reflection in the bathroom mirror. It had been a hell of a year spent studying more than actually living, and she’d never been more exhausted in her life. Of course, she’d never been as happy, either, but the two kind of went hand in hand.

She’d also been enjoying the independence that came with the single life, and tonight was definitely one of those nights.

Because tonight she was really, really horny, and she had one goal and one goal only: find a man and bring him home with her for an unabashed, unhindered one-night stand. It had been months since she’d had any action. She needed to scratch the itch before she plowed through a whole freaking pack of AA batteries in a month.

She knew her mission. Knew what she wanted.

She should be calm and collected and focused on finding a man. And yet, she couldn’t even bring herself to leave the bathroom of the bar without panicking a little bit.

A toilet flushed behind her, and she turned on the faucet, trying to look as if she wasn’t loitering in the small bathroom for no apparent reason. It wasn’t as if this bathroom was big enough for girls to hang out in. It was tiny, just like the bar. The Green Frog was a local joint that had a good mixture of locals and tourists, which was perfect for her get-laid-mission of the night.

But being back in Rehoboth Beach—her hometown—resurrected way too many memories of him. Ethan Pierce. He’d been her best friend up until the New Year’s Eve of senior year when he’d stopped talking to her. She hadn’t seen him since graduation, but she knew he was in town at his parents’ house for the holidays.

But was it possible…maybe…that he would come here?

Her heartbeat sped up in anticipation of seeing his face. What would she do if she saw him? How would she react? She didn’t know why he still affected her after all this time. All she knew was one day he’d stopped talking to her.

Stopped looking at her.

Just stopped.

Every day, he had walked by her in the hallway with that closed off expression on his face, as if they hadn’t been best friends only days before. She had tried to get in contact with him every single day for months—calling, emailing, stalking even—until she finally got the hint and gave up. She had no idea why, but he hated her. Even now, nine years later to the day, she had no idea what she’d done to make him turn against her.

It didn’t matter now. She wouldn’t let one jerk from her past ruin a potentially down and dirty night with Mr. Tonight. Whoever that turned out to be. It was New Year’s Eve, for god’s sakes, and she was going to get laid. L-A-I-D. And Ethan’s cold, stand-offish behavior—assuming he even showed up—wasn’t going to stop her from getting some.

His problem with her was just that: his problem.

Shaking off the past, she smoothed her hair, grabbed her purse, and left the bathroom. The bar was incredibly crowded with men and women shouting into each other’s ears to be heard. Certainly she could find someone hot and ready for a little no-strings-attached action.

As she passed the bar, her friend Rhiannon shoved a red tiara in her face. “Put this on. Everyone needs to wear a tiara or a ridiculous hat if they want dollar drinks, so I stole the last of these for us.”

Ashley grimaced. The red would clash horribly with her strawberry blond hair, but she slammed it onto her head anyway. “I guess I’ll suffer the indignity for the cheap drinks. Speaking of which…where’s mine?”

“Right here.” Rhiannon handed over some sort of concoction in a festive glass, her brown hair brushing the rim as she twisted. “So, do you see him?”

Ashley choked on her first sip. Not a good sign of how tonight was going to go. When she finally could breathe again, she managed to ask, “Uh, I’m sorry. Did I see who?”

“Oh, come on. I know you heard Ethan might be here, and I know it’s why you suddenly had to come, even though you’d been planning on staying home and reading tonight, of all things.” Rhiannon pointed a manicured finger at her. “I know you want to get laid and all, but the change of heart was way too abrupt to be a coincidence. No one’s that horny.”

Ashley shook her head and tried to look innocent. “I have no idea—”

“Ashley,” Rhiannon said. “Don’t even try to lie to me.”

Ashley blew out a frustrated breath. “Oh, fine. I’d heard he might come from Sharon, who talked to Alex. But I do still plan on going home with a man tonight. I shaved my legs and everything.”

Rhiannon nudged Ashley with her elbow. “Maybe you plan on it being Ethan?”

“Puh-lease. He can’t stand me. And I don’t think I’m up for a few rounds of hate sex, even if it would end the longest dry spell in recent history.” Ashley scanned the crowd and took a cautious sip. “But it doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t see him.”

Was he still skinnier than her? Did he still wear glasses two sizes too big for his face? Did he still hate contacts? She had no idea. And she didn’t care, either.

Right?

“Maybe he shrunk or got fat or something.” Rhiannon tossed back her drink and set down the empty glass. “It’s been nine years.”

“I doubt that,” Ashley said. “I’m sure he’s as dorky and cute as ever.”

“Don’t you think it’s time to get over the ‘one who got away’ syndrome? I mean, it’s not like you ever made a move on him in high school, though God knows it would’ve been easy enough. He wanted you so bad that he would’ve blown his load the second you kissed him.”

Ashley snorted. “That’s not fair. Funny, but not fair.” Ashley shrugged. “And don’t worry. I’m not making a move on him even if he comes. Not unless it’s my fist to his face because I’m giving him hell for treating me like shit back in high school.”

Her friend squeezed her shoulder. “As upset as you are at him for not talking to you, it’s clear you never got over him.”

“I never got under him in the first place,” she muttered.

And maybe that was the problem. Why she could never really stop thinking about him—even when she was mad. They’d never had a chance to see if their friendship could have been more. If they could have been happy together.

She’d been shy and focused on school. He’d been shy and completely unsure of himself. They’d never even kissed, for the love of God.