He climbed in, and turned the ignition.

I folded my arms across my chest with a huff. “What the hell is your fucking problem?”

He finally cut his eyes in my direction, and what I saw not only terrified me but excited me too.

“You, Kennedy,” he replied harshly. “You’re my fucking problem.”

CHAPTER NIN ETEEN

Dane

THIS WOMAN WAS on the verge of making me question my sanity. After a week of staying away from her, you’d think the aftermath of my night with her would disappear, but I was deluded if I thought that was going to happen.

I had to laugh at myself though. I’d become what my sister would have called a cliché – I used to catch her reading romance novels all the time. I’d tease her by telling her not to believe in those kinds of stories and that the heroes on those books weren’t real.

“They’re real,” she’d say. “As soon as they meet the one girl who drives them crazy, they’ll get a taste and think once will be enough. Then they’ll realize that it isn’t, and end up falling hopelessly in love.” A wistful sigh would follow, and then she’d add, “It’s very clichéd, but the best romance stories always are, and I look forward to the day you, my darling brother, become the cliché.”

Naturally I’d brushed it off and laughed at the idiocy of her idea. Turns out, she was half right because I’d had Kennedy once, and it wasn’t enough. Except this wasn’t a book, and we weren’t a pair of fictional characters trying to find our way to one another. We were a mismatched set of complications, and craptastic pasts, and everything else that made us a colossal disaster in the making. Stupidly, it didn’t change how badly I wanted to push her away and pull her closer at the same time.

I’d barely put my car into ‘park’ when Kennedy flung the door open, and jumped out.

“You are unbelievable!” She shouted, raising her arms in the air. “Why did you do that?”

I shut my door, and tried to get a handle on the hurricane of feelings spinning uncontrollably inside me. I wanted to reply, but I was afraid of what would come out of my mouth so I remained silent. Kennedy looked like the spitfire I knew was buried beneath all her hang-ups, and I couldn’t deny how alluring it made her. I hadn’t been able to keep my eyes off of her the minute I saw her walk into the club looking like every guy’s wet dream. Her dress was short, and tight, and without showing too much skin, still accentuated her curvaceous silhouette.

“Hello? Earth to Dane? Are you going to answer me or just stand there and stare at me?”

Man, she was so damn tempting when she was pissed at me. I wanted to lift her onto the hood of my car, and do all kinds of dirty things to that body.

“I saved you the trouble of humiliating yourself,” I replied, my voice thick with exasperation. “You wanted my attention, now you have it.”

Kennedy’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. “How was I humiliating myself? I was dancing on a damn speaker!”

“Exactly.”

“And you think I was doing it to get your attention?”

“I assumed so, yes. Was I wrong?”

Kennedy’s laugh was filled with disbelief and incredulity. “Wow, Dane. Just wow.” She took a few steps closer to me, until the sweet scent of her perfume aroused my senses. Irate green eyes looked up at me, challenging me.

“Newsflash asshole, I didn’t even know you were there, and the fact that you think I’d do anything for your attention is completely laughable. I’m not one of your fuck buddies waiting in line to get any scraps you’re willing to give.”

I leaned in, and tucked an errand piece of hair behind her ear. “You’re definitely not a fuck buddy.”

“No,” she snapped, slapping my hand away. “Because I was only good enough for one fuck right?” Her chest moved up and down as her breathing accelerated. “Well congratulations, Dane. You did it. You got the girl, whose life you made miserable, into bed. That’s what you wanted wasn’t it? To prove that not even I would be able to resist? Your friends must be so fucking proud, because once again, I’m the idiot they’re laughing at.”

“That’s what you think?”  My stomach hollowed out as I realized it was my fault she thought of herself as nothing more than some conquest to me.

“It’s what I know.”

She turned around and the sight of her walking away from me made me snap. I should’ve let her walk away. It was the best option for both of us. But I no longer cared about that.

I grabbed her elbow, and spun her around. “You’re wrong, Kennedy. You don’t know anything.”

“Then why else would you spend the night with me, and then treat me like I don’t exist afterwards? I know you probably regret it, but that’s no reason to make me feel like shit.” She yanked her arm, but I held on tighter. “Now, let me go. I’m done with this conversation, and I’m done with you!”

My mind tripped over the word ‘regret’. She was right, but not for the reasons she thought. I wasn’t a mind reader, but I’d been with enough girls to recognize that Kennedy probably felt like I’d used her. Maybe I had, but the only reason I regretted being with her is because I knew when it was over that I’d want more.

“You’re right,” I said, stepping closer to her until the warmth of her body washed over me. “I do regret it, but - ”

She cut me off by placing her hands against my chest and shoving me back. “I don’t want to hear this. So let’s pretend it never happened, okay?”

“Damnit, woman!” I yelled. “Let me fucking finish!”

I’d expected her to flinch at the sound of my voice, but she surprised me by standing her ground, her face twisted into a grimace.

“Just drop it! There’s nothing left to say.”

She turned her back again, and I threw my hands in the air. “You drive my fucking crazy, do you know that? Half the time I don’t know whether I want to fuck you, or wring your damn neck!”

She spun around quickly, and replied, “I drive you crazy? Try being in my shoes, dickhead. You screwed me, left me, and then I had to find out you had a girlfriend! So forgive me for wishing you never laid a hand on me.”

My brows furrowed. “Girlfriend?”

Those green eyes rolled. “Don’t play dumb. It’s all anyone is talking about, you and that Amy bimbo.”

I’d heard a few rumors in the last few days, but paid them no mind because they were all lies. I didn’t date, and I rarely slept with the same girl twice, a fact I was quite proud of until one night with Kennedy. The jealousy-ridden tone in her voice made my lips twitch, and I repressed the smile threatening to appear. “Are you jealous?”

She scoffed, but looked up at the sky instead of at me. “Fucking unreal,” she murmured.

I closed the small space between us, and she jerked her head forward when I brushed my finger down her cheek.

“It’s okay to be jealous, Kennedy. But I can assure you I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Good for you,” she replied haughtily. “Not that I cared to begin with.”

“Then why bring it up?”

“You know, for such a smart guy you really are a fucking idiot. I felt bad enough thinking I’d become one of your bed flies, but to think you had a girlfriend at the time made me sick to my stomach. I’m not a whore!”

God, she infuriated me to no end.

“No one said you’re a whore, damnit! If you’d let me finish what I was saying earlier then maybe you’d see it differently. But no, you’re too stubborn for your own damn good!”

“I give up!” She stomped her bare foot on the asphalt, and scrunched her nose in anger. If I weren’t so ticked off myself then I would have thought she looked cute.

“It was a one-time thing,” she continued, “and we both regret it, clearly, so let’s just drop all this crap and move on already! We’ll agree to stay out of each other’s way from now on, if that’s what it will take to make this go away. Do we have a deal?”