“The exam”—the tendons in Fox’s neck strained taut—“is ongoing.” He hissed out a breath as she took the first inch of his rigid length inside her, her tissues stretching deliciously.

“Oh.” Removing her hand, she pushed down, eager to feel all of him.

Fox shuddered, one strong arm locked around her upper back, his other hand on her thigh. “Move on me, baby.”

He kissed her endlessly as she rocked on him, his free hand shifting to lie on her butt, urging her into a faster rhythm. She might’ve been the one on top, Molly thought before thinking became a vain hope, but Fox was in charge. The insight only made her wetter, needier, and soon the only sounds in the room were those of their rasped breaths and of skin slapping on skin.

When she came apart in his arms on a breathless scream, her vision hazing, he held her close and whispered, “My beautiful Molly.”

Another piece of her heart splintered away.

A second later, he thrust deep, holding himself there as he came in an intimate pulse inside her. One hand in his hair, her other arm around the width of his shoulders, she held him through his pleasure, emotion a knot inside her chest… and spluttered with surprised laughter when he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her throat and said, “We need to schedule a retest as soon as possible—it appears Professor Fox has difficulty grading and fucking at the same time.”

Molly spent the rest of the week attempting to come to terms with the fact she was about to fly off for a secret weekend with Zachary Fox, rock star, and the most intriguing, complex, and gorgeous man she’d ever known. Charlotte, when they met for lunch on Thursday, dragged her off to a designer lingerie shop. “You have a smoking-hot man who wants to do you six ways to Sunday. I say this calls for ridiculously expensive French lingerie.”

A fluttering sensation in her abdomen, Molly spent the next ten minutes touching the rich fabrics and laces, buttery and soft. “I can’t afford most of this.” She kept her voice to a whisper so the sales assistant wouldn’t give them the evil eye.

“Liar.” A poke in the ribs. “You might not be rich, but you hoard any extra money you have.”

That was the trouble with having a best friend who knew her so well. “What’s the point of buying lingerie that’ll stay on for five seconds at most?” she muttered instead of thinking about why it was so important to her to have a nest egg tucked away.

“Five seconds?” Charlotte put a hand over her heart with a dramatic sigh. “Wait while I have an orgasm.”

“What, you still haven’t jumped T-Rex? Even now that you two are attached at the hip?” To her best friend’s shock and Molly’s glee, Charlotte had been promoted to T-Rex’s personal assistant without warning.

Anya, meanwhile, had been given her marching orders.

Charlotte made a face at her. “Why would I want to jump a man who yells at me one minute and leaves chocolate cake on my desk the next?”

“What?” Paying for the decadent bra-and-panty set she hadn’t been able to resist, Molly pointed a finger at her best friend. “You’ve been holding out on me.”

“Hah! More like I’ve been protecting you from the madness,” Charlotte said as they walked out, her eyebrows drawn ominously together. “This is only my second day in the position, but he’s already driving me insane. Yesterday he made me work till ten at night, caused me to miss a date with Ernest—”

Not giving herself time to second-guess her reaction, Molly said, “What you and Ernest are doing isn’t called dating, Charlie.”

Charlotte folded her arms, a mutinous expression on her face. “So maybe he hasn’t made a move—”

“After a year.” Molly didn’t normally push Charlotte on this topic because she knew why her friend made the choices she did, but Charlotte was definitely reacting to T-Rex, and it was the first positive sign of deep healing Molly had seen in her. She’d be no kind of best friend if she didn’t nudge that healing along. “Doesn’t Ernest spend the whole time telling you about his model-airplane collection?”

A glare. “I admit he’s a bit obsessed with his models, but he’s small like me, kind, and he doesn’t raise his voice at me.”

“You know I like Ernest; he’s a lovely, sweet man.” She bumped her shoulder against Charlotte’s. “I understand why you want to be attracted to him”—the reason a heartbreaking one—“but the truth is you aren’t.”

Charlotte ducked her head, not saying anything.

Refusing to give up, Molly said, “You convinced me to be brave. I think you can be, too.”

“I’m not like you, you know that.”

“Do I?” Molly shook her head. “You said you were in awe of me for standing up to Queen Bitchface, but I remember you telling off the worst clique in the school until they crawled off with their tails between their legs.” Her best friend had been a tiny blonde fury that day.

“It’s different when it’s someone I love. When it’s me…” Charlotte swallowed, her next words a rasped whisper. “He scares me.”

Her hope for Charlotte flickering under the sudden cold front of her friend’s words, Molly drew Charlotte to a bench in the nearby square, the falling water of the fountain quiet music in the background. “T-Rex?” Receiving a nod, she put her hand over Charlotte’s. “Are you afraid to be around him?” If her instincts had led her in the wrong direction and this guy was—

“No,” Charlotte said before Molly’s mind could continue along that disturbing path. “No, not like that.” She checked her watch. “We better go—we’ll be late getting back to work.”

“I’ll make up the time.” This conversation was too important to abandon. “And since T-Rex didn’t let you leave till ten last night, I’m sure he can’t argue against a long lunch today.”

“Yes, he can.” It was a grumpy response.

“Do I need to storm the battlements and steal you away from his clutches?”

“Ha-ha.” Charlotte bit down on her lower lip before blurting out, “He scares me because of the way he makes me react. Sometimes I want to grab that tie of his and—”

“Do the kind of things I’ve been doing with my rock star?”

Charlotte’s blush was adorable. “Only in my more insane moments.” She pushed up her glasses in a quick, nervous movement. “Have you seen how big he is?”

“Sexy big.” All wide shoulders and heavy muscle, though he had nothing on Fox as far as Molly was concerned. “Also, you shouldn’t expect rational advice from me—I brought a man home after meeting him in an elevator.”

Charlotte’s shoulders shook, eyes gleaming. “Now you’re about to head off with him for a dirty, dirty weekend.”

Molly dropped her head in her hands. “What am I doing, Charlie?”

“I told you,” her friend said softly, “being the brave one.” She jumped as her cell phone rang. “It’s His Carnivorousness,” she muttered after glancing at the caller display, then answered in a professional tone. “Hello, Charlotte speaking.”

A pause, Molly watching in interest as Charlotte’s eyes sparked fire.

“Yes, I realize that,” her best friend said, still in that polite tone. “However, I did work well beyond my contracted hours yesterday.”

Another pause. Charlie’s teeth gritted as her fingers clenched on the phone. “Yes, I am,” she said in response to whatever she’d heard. “In fact, we’re about to check into a hotel.”

Molly squeaked, slapped a hand over her mouth. “Did you just tell your boss you were about to check into a hotel with Ernest?” she asked when Charlotte stabbed the End key.

Charlotte’s eyes went huge. “Oh God!” she wailed, as if only now realizing what she’d done. “I told you he was driving me insane.”

Molly nudged Charlotte’s head between her knees when her friend began to hyperventilate. “Breathe, Charlie.”

It took several minutes, Charlotte’s face bright red even after she’d sat up for another couple of minutes. “I can’t go back to the office now. I’ll have to quit.”