“Then I take back the apology.”

“You can try, but it’ll still always have been your default response to learning that you made me feel like shit. So you care, just a little. Even if I don’t want you to or don’t think you do.”

“I’m really tempted to kiss you and shut you the hell up right now.”

“Of course you are. You’re wrong. Men hate being wrong.”

I drop my mouth onto hers, and it’s still slightly parted from speaking. I flick my tongue out against her lower lip, sweeping it teasingly along the soft curve, and she grasps my shirt tighter. Leaning into me, her breath hitches when I pause, just hovering my lips above hers.

Fuck.

I want to kiss her until there isn’t a single breath left in her body.

The realization is a freshly pitched softball, sudden and powerful. I want to kiss her—and not just because she’s an awesome kisser. Not because I want to turn her on and get her on her back beneath me.

I want to kiss her just because I want to. Because I want my hands in her hair and my shirt twisted in her fingers, and, damn it all, I want my heart to fucking pound right alongside hers. I want to feel my body tremble with adrenaline and anticipation as she grazes her teeth along my lip. I want to feel the tingle of desperation as she moves closer and I hold her tighter and we lose ourselves in the kiss.

I want to kiss her because I want to remember the distinctly sweet yet savage feeling of being lost in Jessie Law.

So I kiss her.

God, I fucking kiss her.

Screw the pretense and the falseness—for this second, this one, long, stomach-twisting and mind-numbing moment, I kiss the shit out her. I kiss her like I’ve wanted to ever since I walked into that damn tattoo parlor earlier and saw her sitting, unflinching, as color was inked onto her perfect skin.

And it’s just that goddamn simple.

Jessie pulls away. Her breath is long and deep, and her fingers are shaking where they’re resting on my waist. “What . . .” she pauses, clearing her throat, and takes another deep breath. “What did you need me for?”

Oh yeah, that. “Next week. There’s a new waterpark opening in Florida, down by Fort Lauderdale. Whoever was opening it before got sick and had to drop out, so we were called since we’re technically on vacation.”

“And you need a date.”

I tilt my head to the side. “It’s not required. But we get to use the park exclusively the day before the opening for the inconvenience.” My lips tug into a small smile. “So I figured I’d see if you want to come.”

“Like swimming as compensation for the inconvenience of being your fake girlfriend?”

“I guess. Although you weren’t complaining just then.”

“Hush.” She presses a finger against my mouth. “I was coerced into that. You’re good at that.”

“Coercing you? Well, damn. If that’s all it takes . . .” I slide my hand down her back and cup her ass cheek. “Can I try a little harder?”

She throws her head back and laughs, and it’s so infectious that I can’t keep my own peals of laughter from erupting. I drop my head, pressing my face into her exposed neck. Both of us are shaking with laughter, but her pulse is thrumming beneath my lips. My laughter dies, and I thin my lips.

Her giggles peter out as the gentle beat speeds up.

“Ads,” she whispers, hooking her fingers in my belt loop. “You can stop trying now.”

I tilt my head up so my mouth is by her ear. “What if I don’t want to?”

“Then we should definitely not be in a public park.”

I smile. “Are you admitting I affect you?”

“Are you admitting you care a little?”

“Do you have to answer a question with a question?”

“Do you?”

“Depends on the question.” I straighten and slowly drop my hand down her body to her hip. “And it doesn’t seem like either of us are gonna get the answers we want right now.”

“I’ll answer when you do.” Jessie’s voice is hesitant. “But, to the first question, about the waterpark . . . If I’m not working, I’ll come.”

“You won’t be working. I’m sure I can figure something out with Miss Penelope.”

Her mouth twists to the side. “I can’t just blow off shifts. We don’t all make money being photographed making out with a girl in the park.”

Instantly, my head jerks around, searching for the photographer.

“Pretty sure they’re long gone.” She steps back, finally putting some distance between us. “But I saw them. They followed us from the tattoo studio. Didn’t you notice?”

I shake my head. “No,” I say honestly. “I can’t say I was paying attention.”

And I wasn’t. I don’t know when the hell I stopped being aware of my surroundings—but I’d bet anything it’s when she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk with that sassy grin on her face. That’s when her damn red hair and bright eyes and enticing smile drew me so far into her that everything else became a blur.

She blinks harshly and looks away. “Well. You can call your manager and let him know your work for the day is done.”

“Wait.” I reach out and grab her hand, stopping her from walking away. “I wasn’t done.”

“What if I was?”

“Mom wants you to come for dinner.” Staring at this red-haired vixen worming her way into my life, the partial lie falls easily from my lips. Mom does, I’m sure—thankfully, she’s always game for another mouth to feed. “Tonight. She’s making beef stew. With dumplings. Everyone will be there.”

Slowly, Jessie looks at me from the corner of her eyes. “For dinner? Isn’t that a little too real for you, Aidan Burke?”

I hold my free hand out to the side. “I don’t make the rules, baby.”

“You don’t follow them either.”

“So come break them with me.”

She turns, tucking her hair behind her ear. Her eyes are still narrowed, even if their dark blue hue has softened. “That sounds like a real dangerous proposition.”

I slide my fingers between hers and step forward, looking down at her—her long, curved eyelashes, her lips with slightly smudged lipstick, her bright red bangs falling across her forehead. “I don’t ever remember saying spending time with me would be anything but.”

“Touché,” she breathes, glancing down at our hands then back up at me. “You’re not the only one dangerous to be around, you know.”

“A sweet, innocent thing like you? Nah. You’re about as dangerous as a gummy bear.”

Her lips curve, oh so slowly, and she brings a thumb up and runs it along her bottom lip, a devious glint in her eye. “Every innocent shell contains a wild soul just screaming to get out.”

“Yeah? I think yours is trying to escape, sunshine.”

“Oh, she is. And wildness loves danger.” She steps closer to me, looking up and into my eyes. Amusement and confidence and resolution dance in her gaze, a warning and a promise to whoever happens to catch it. To me. “So, Aidan Burke, if you think you can handle my wildness, I can sure as hell handle your danger.”

“It isn’t handling it you should be worried about. It’s fearing it.”

“Confident words from a confident man. Did you know that confidence is overrated in many circles?”

“What does that mean?”

Her smile turns teasing as quickly as I blink, and there’s nothing but laughter in her eyes now. “It means you should man up and take me for dinner before the photographer in the bush thirty feet away thinks we’re setting up for a public porno movie.”

“Are we?”

She pinches my forearm, and I hiss a “Fuck!”

“In around ten hours, I’m gonna do that again. It won’t hurt and the answer will be different. I’ll let you figure out on your own what my answer is right now.”

“Are you giving me permission to dream about fucking you, Jessie? Because I’ve been doing that for years.” I raise an eyebrow and tug her through the gate and toward the woods that lead to my house.

“Clearly, it makes no difference. You’re going to do it anyway.”