Kiss Me at Midnight(8)
Author: Diane Alberts

Her gaze skimmed down his body, lingering on his dick. “Want to stay the night? We did agree to one night, after all. I don’t see the sun yet.”

Yeah. He really did. But that’s why he shouldn’t.

For her, this had been a one-night thing with a guy she used to be friends with. She’d said as much back at the bar. Hell, he’d even agreed to those terms, but with her, it was never that simple. For the first time ever, he actually wanted to stay overnight with a woman.

And that wasn’t acceptable. No attachments. No feelings. No over-nighters.

Those were just three of his rules he was already trying to make excuses to break, and he’d only been with her a couple of hours. What would happen if he spent the whole night in her arms?

He was leaving town in just a few days to return to his life. A life that he loved a hell of a lot more than being here in this tortured f**king town. He bent down and picked up his boxers. “Nah. I think I’ll head back to my mom’s house. I don’t do the whole overnight scene. It complicates things.”

“Oh.” She wrapped her arms around herself and nodded. “Okay.”

She looked disappointed. He almost took it back. Almost said he would stay. But then he came to his senses. Getting attached was a bad idea. Getting attached meant making life compromises that he didn’t want to make. He was never, ever returning to this town.

But still…

He couldn’t walk away without at least trying to see her again. This was Ashley.

Maybe he could put the ball in her court. If she wanted to stick with their one-night plan, then so be it. He’d honor their agreement. But if she was interested in a little bit more? He’d be there, too. Whatever she wanted from him over the next few days were wide open.

But only the next few days.

And only after they took the rest of the night apart to think on it.

Bending over, he stepped into his boxers, then his pants. As he shrugged into his shirt, leaving it unbuttoned, he took a deep breath and faced her again. “Do you want to meet up for bowling tomorrow night? Last I remember, we were tied for the championship.”

She looked up at him, her eyes wide. “You have no-holds-barred sex with me and then you want me to go bowling with you? Seriously?”

“Sure.” The pure surprise in her eyes made his mouth twitch into a smile. She acted as if he asked her to go murder someone with him for sport or some shit like that. “Why not? It’ll be fun.”

She eyed him. “So you disappear for years, and now you want to go bowling with me like nothing ever happened?”

“I’m not ignoring what I did, or how much of an ass**le I w-was.” He met her eyes and broke off, taking a second to collect his thoughts. There it was again. The f**king stutter he despised so much. “But I missed you. I always wished I could have another chance at being your friend. If you’ll let me…I’d like to try to make it up to you.”

She sat up and lifted her knees in front of her; her bare legs, long and lean, showing from top to bottom. He remembered how she’d wrapped them around his waist. It took all of his control to not grab her and haul her back to her bedroom for an all-night sex marathon.

Stay in control. Don’t lose yourself in this woman like you did back in high school.

“I don’t usually do what we just did with my friends.” She lifted her chin into the air. “I do it with people I’m never going to see again.”

Ah. His thoughts precisely. But still, it stung.

He inclined his head. “Me, too. But even so, if you’re interested…I’ll be at the bowling alley at eight.” He hesitated at the door. “Thank you for tonight. It was amazing. Everything I’d dreamed it would be and more.”

She pressed her lips together, seeming to hold herself back from saying something. Then, “I didn’t know you imagined it at all.”

He cocked a brow and gave her a once-over, memorizing the way her hip curved just right and the long length of her thighs. The way she looked at him, with her green eyes shining, yet skeptical. “Everyone knew.”

Pulling the door open, he shut it behind him and walked down the pathway and onto the crowded sidewalk.

Chapter Four

Ashley flopped back on the couch, blinking into the empty living room. If she wasn’t sore between her thighs and favoring her right ass cheek, she’d swear she just imagined that whole thing with Ethan. Because that made a lot more sense than believing that her nerdy friend from high school had just given her the best sex of her life…and then ran away again.

He had a thing with running.

She’d known that back when they were kids. But he’d changed so freaking much, she’d thought maybe that annoying personality quirk had changed, too. But apparently not. Some things never changed.

But the Ethan that had been here, the one who knew exactly what to do with her body, had been amazing. So thrilling and confident and sexy. Everything she wanted in a lover and more. Well, minus the whole running thing.

But she could accept it about him.

He hated Rehoboth and pretty much all of the people in it. He obviously hated spending too much time here as well. She could tell he wouldn’t look back once he left. And he was a bachelor who seemed quite content to stay that way for the rest of his life.

It’s who he was.

She was the type of girl who liked no-strings-attached fun, and he was leaving in a few days. Then he’d go back to his life in California, and she would stay here and do her residency at the quaint, local hospital with a smile on her face the whole time because her mom needed her here. And it’s what her dad would have wanted for her to do.

That’s who she was.

She wasn’t looking for forever, and neither was he. It was a perfect, carefree match made in temporary heaven. She’d go to the bowling alley tomorrow night. She’d dress to kill, flirt, smile, and reel him in. And this time, he wouldn’t run away afterwards.

She’d make it perfectly clear that she was okay with him leaving. More than okay. This was all about the fabulous sex, and she wanted more of it.

Tomorrow night, she’d go hunting. And she’d catch herself some hot, prone-to-flight, temporary, but intense fun.

She rolled over onto her stomach and picked up her phone, sending a quick text to Rhiannon. Home and feeling much better.

It took all of three seconds for her phone to ring. Ashley grinned and answered it. “Happy New Year.”

“Yeah, yeah. Happy New Year” Rhiannon said. “Did you get laid?”