I sucked in a deep breath aware of a sudden and intense physical longing. It tingled and pulsated through me, hitting the most sensitive parts of me with unrelenting force. I exhaled. Perhaps agreeing to this sleep over had been unwise.

The whistle of the kettle broke the spell and Heath put down the packet of chocolate and set about making our drinks. Aware I was fully aroused, I hurried off to the bedroom determined to fight any physical attraction I felt for this man.

This was bad.

Bad bad.

The type of bad that killed the dinosaurs.

Heath wasn’t far behind me and walked into the bedroom carrying two mugs of hot chocolate. I grinned as if truly excited by the hot chocolate. But the truth was, I was so turned on I could hardly think straight. It was going to be hard to hide it from him.

Inwardly I groaned. Oh God, if he knew … he would die laughing.

While he showered I lay on the bed, desperately trying to not picture him naked in the bathroom. Desperately trying not to picture the warm water hitting his perfectly sculptured body … or the parts of him I’d never seen …

He walked in with the towel slung around his hips. With his broad back to me he rummaged around in the drawer for a pair of boxer shorts. Muscles moved beneath taut, flawless skin. One slip of the towel and I would see everything. I closed my eyes at the thought.

“Why are your eyes closed and your face all screwed up?” he asked.

I opened my eyes. “You’re wearing nothing under your towel.”

“Yeah. I just got out of the shower. That’s what I usually do, you know, shower naked.”

To hide the impact his near-nakedness had on me, I sipped my drink. “I was just giving you some privacy,” I lied. It had nothing to do with privacy and everything to do with the fact I was so attracted to him.

He smiled and it did nothing to dampen what I felt aching at all the sensitive spots.

The fact that he slept shirtless didn’t help. Sure he put boxers on but his glorious chest was one hundred percent naked.

Damn.

It took all my strength to appear totally unfazed by him and keep myself from staring as we talked candidly over our hot chocolates. Meryl Streep had nothing on my acting abilities.

By one o’ clock I was exhausted and we climbed into bed. Heath turned off the light and a July moon burst into the room, casting shadows of the outside world against the wall.

I rolled onto my side with my back to him. Afraid of what I might do if I faced him, knowing there was nothing but a few inches of bed between us. I felt the bed move as he got comfortable. His warmth next to me was comforting. My sleepiness had abandoned me and I stared at the shadows dancing on the wall.

“Heath?”

“Yeah?” He was still lying on his back with his hands behind his head on the pillow.

“What am I doing here?”

There was a long period of silence.

When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. “That’s exactly what I’m trying to work out, H-bomb.”

I rolled over to look at him. The sheet had slipped down to his waist, exposing that lethal torso. His arms flexed against the pillow.

I rose up on my elbow. “You’re every girl’s dream.”

“Except one,” he whispered.

I paused and bit my lip. He reached over and pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

“Will you tell me something?” he asked.

I shivered beneath his touch. “Anything.”

“Why did you deliberately lose the bet?”

I blinked. His question caught me off guard. “I …”

Fuck! I what…?

I sighed, not ready to admit anything. Because I didn’t know anything yet.

I bit my bottom lip, shook my head and whispered, “I don’t know.”

He rose up and smiled. His bulk was dark against the moonlight. I saw the flick of his tongue across his bottom lip and the white of his teeth as he smiled.

“Then let’s keep things real simple and work it out together.” He leaned in and his fingers were warm on the nape of my neck. He pulled me to him and pressed his lips to my forehead where they lingered. I was engulfed in his warmth and the subtle scent of soap. “We don’t have to work it all out tonight. But we will work it out.”

I nodded and he released me. As I sank into my pillow, I stared up at the ceiling. But within seconds his big arms drew me against his chest where they held me close to his warm body. I didn’t fight it and relaxed into him. Within minutes his breathing slowed and I knew he was asleep.

But it took a little longer for sleep to claim me.

* * * * *

HEATH

It was bliss. Being trapped in that space between sleep and wakefulness where you float free of your body, your mind is lulled by the beauty of sleep but somehow aware of the reality of being awake. It was there that I walked through the murky shadows of sleepiness, aware of the weight next to me on the bed and the sweet, sweet sensation of her warm skin on mine.

I felt the warmth of her breath first. Then the gentleness of her his lips along the curve of my throat. Her body slid across mine to lay against me, her strong thighs either side of my hips as she pressed down against me. I moaned at the pleasure of her mouth on my skin. Her lips were smooth and soft and I sighed beneath their touch, and licked my bottom lip at the rising sensation. I could feel her against me. Her most intimate parts. And they were exquisite as they rubbed against mine with a slow, intoxicating rhythm. I wouldn’t last. It was too good. Too much. She was so warm. Infinitely warm. But she trembled at my touch as my hands swept along the subtle curve of her thighs and pulled her tighter against me. One move and I’d be inside her.

“Heath—!”

I woke with a start and realized Harlow was shaking me.

For a moment I just stared at her. Then reality sank in, and so did the disappointment. It had been a dream. A goddamn dream. And probably a wet one too if it had gone any further.

Fuck. How old was I? Twelve?

“You okay? You sounded like you were having a nightmare.”

No, the nightmare was waking up and finding out I wasn’t having sex with her. Now I had a raging hard on which was going to be a bitch to get rid of without some kind of release.

Hell, I needed to get laid.

I frowned. “I don’t know, I can’t remember.”

She smiled down at me and I realized I was going to have to take a shower. A longer shower than usual.

“You sure you’re okay?” Her hair fell in messy waves around her face and over her shoulders. Damn, why did she have to look so hot first thing in the morning? It was doing nothing to kill my hard on.

“I’m good.” I sighed and rubbed my eyes with my palms. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Like a baby. What about you?”

Like a porn star. “Yeah, good.”

“Let’s go for breakfast. My shout.” She said.

I was going to have to get her out of the room before I could get up.

“Sure. You go and get changed and do all that scary girl stuff that you girls do, and I’ll throw on some jeans.”

I wasn’t going to get a chance to do anything about my … arousal. Thankfully, by the time Harlow emerged from the bathroom, things had settled down. Five minutes in the bathroom and she came out looking like a goddess.

We rode to Cherry Doll, a bakery along the boardwalk with a view of the Pier. We sat inside at a window booth and Harlow ordered a stack of pancakes. Which was cool because I couldn’t stand it when girls ordered salads. Or water. Or nothing. Apparently she liked food. A lot of food. God knows where she put it all. I joined her with a stack of buttermilk pancakes with lots of maple syrup and cream.

“How do you eat all of that and stay so fit?” she asked, forking up a blueberry and popping it into her mouth.

I grinned. “Is that your way of saying I’ve got a hot body?”

She rolled her eyes as if it was the last thing she would think. But the flush to her cheeks let me know otherwise. I couldn’t help but smile.