Her smile bloomed before her eyes were even open. He still held her to his side. They had chased each other around the bed all night, one reaching for the other in their sleep and sometimes not. She had fallen completely asleep after the best orgasm of her life. When she woke up half an hour later he was smiling at her. Why did his smiles make her think all kinds of naughty thoughts? She never would have done what she did last night to Bill. He never would have asked.

After feeling so helpless with the vandalism, being able to give him such pleasure made her powerful. She thought she’d cry when he called her a witch. When he told her he meant she was a temptress she was surprised mostly. She had never thought of herself as tempting, ever. That must have been what made her bite him. She’d never done anything like that before either.

Of course he ordered her to go back to sleep. At first she’d been too wired, the vandalism, the strange surroundings, the impossible man but if she were honest, caged in his embrace she had never felt safer.

In the middle of the night when she had a panic attack that this couldn’t last, couldn’t be real she tried to slip out of bed. He’d growled at her to come back and she’d done it happily. Now she really needed to pee and it was morning after all. She wiggled her legs out from around his. Getting the rest of her out without waking up the tiger was tougher but evidently she could be replaced by a pillow. She looked down at him clutching the pillow in the big bed and couldn’t help but smile. Was he as lonely as she was? Probably not. Still, she wanted to come up with some way to thank him. They hadn’t known each other very long and still he went out of his way to make sure she was safe. She wanted to do something nice for him, starting with breakfast.

His apartment suited him. Everything was crisp and neat, pulled tight and leaned a little too much toward hard surfaces for her taste but she supposed he didn’t exactly feel comfortable at her house. Where she had no television, he had a monster flat screen that took up nearly an entire wall and had added speakers that surrounded the room. The console underneath was full of electronics that must work off the single tablet on the coffee table but even if she had wanted to listen to music she’d have no idea how to operate any of it. Blinds covered the windows of the condo. There were a few books around but they looked like they were mostly decorations. She was up and dressed, she may as well make him some breakfast.

The kitchen had bachelor stamped all over it but she’d managed to find sliced bread, cream, and eggs so french toast was on the menu. Unfortunately, there was no syrup, not even jelly so she found a baking dish that looked like someone else must have left it there after a party and layered the French toast with more butter and brown sugar and stuck it in the oven to bake.

Now she was bent over digging though cabinets, talking to herself. “Seriously, where on earth would the man hide his coffee?”

“The black canister in the refrigerator.”

She whipped around and felt light-headed. He was still in what he wore to bed, sweatpants, no shirt. And the way he was looking at her, she had to check if she still had the jeans and shirt she had put on earlier. She watched his smile get bigger and realized she was trying to hide behind her ponytail like a teenager.

“You scared me.”

“Didn’t mean to. Maybe I should get a bell on this thing? Do I smell breakfast?”

“Oh, I should pull that out.” She opened the oven and used the dish towel to pull out the hot casserole. The smell of butter and sugar wafted into the kitchen and she heard Jameson groan.

“You’re killing me here.” She might have worried but he had a huge grin on his face. She let it cool while she made the coffee. He’d already taken a place at the table she had set before. When she sat down he looked around and then at her. “You’re forgetting something.”

She looked at the table and then remembered he took his coffee with cream when he wasn’t at work. She went to get it but he stopped her.

“But I forgot the cream.”

“Not what I was interested in. I want something sweeter.”

Now she was stumped. He didn’t use sugar in his coffee. There wasn’t anything sweet to put on the French toast. “You are going to have to give me a hint because I’m lost.”

He crooked his finger at her to get her to come closer. It was just the two of them in the apartment, what could he need to say that he had to whisper? When she got closer he took her chin between his thumb and finger and tilted her face up to his. The man had the warmest hands, she blushed remembering what they had felt like on other parts of her.

“What I need is some sugar.” Then he kissed her. Not in a predatory way but not exactly chaste either and just enough to leave her wanting more. “I missed waking up with you.”

Heat unfurled in her belly. She was trying to think of something to say when the doorbell rang. She jumped up like she had been pinched. “I’ll get it!”

She ran to the door and checked the peephole. A woman with rope like arms in a tight sleeveless top with the flattest stomach she’d ever seen and tiny little spandex shorts that looked smaller than some of her underwear twirled a piece of black cloth. The woman fluffed her expensive streaked hair and pressed her lips together. She hadn’t even opened the door yet and she already disliked this woman.

Pulling the door open, Candy pulled herself up to her full height and sucked her stomach in. “Can I help you?” It wasn’t nice of her to take pleasure in the obvious disappointment on the woman’s face.

“Jameson left these. I just wanted to return them.” The woman plopped the fabric in Candy’s outstretched hand. Once she held it, the fabric resolved into a freshly washed pair of men’s boxer briefs. If she had to guess they would be just about Jameson’s size. Her stomach sunk to the floor. Whatever last night might have meant to her she was a fool to think it meant the same things to him.

“I’ll make sure he gets them.”

“Are you his aide or something?” The fact that the woman automatically assumed she was the help stung. But if their positions were reversed she wouldn’t believe he could find her attractive either. All the confidence last night had given her slid away leaving all her insecurities open for the world to see. She couldn’t feel more vulnerable if her skin had been peeled off.

“No. I’ll make sure he gets them.” Then she closed the door in the woman’s scowling face. Who had she been trying to fool? She wasn’t ready for this. There was a reason she hadn’t dated after Bill died and it wasn’t just that her mother needed her. Heck, her mother had told her to go out, if not with Mr. Snell then someone else who she was attracted to. She had never figured out how to date. What was the point when you already knew you were going to marry the guy you’d met in middle school?

“Who was that?” His voice right behind her made her jump.

“A woman dropped these off.” She dumped the shorts in his hand and ducked around him when he went to grab her hand. She should just go back and pretend nothing happened but this wasn’t really about anything he’d done. He never said they were together. They were both just, scratching an itch; she’d gone to his room what did she think was going to happen. That wasn’t fair. She’d wanted what happened between them.

He followed her to the living room area still confused by the shorts. “How the hell did she get these?”

“How am I supposed to know? You must have left them at her place.”

“Candy, I haven’t— let’s just say it has been a while. Ladies don’t exactly race to jump in the sack with me.”

She should have been more gracious, soothed his ego some, because that admission had to have cost him, it would any guy but she was too wrapped up in her own fear to see it right now.

“Right. I think maybe I should just go. I shouldn’t have bothered you. I shouldn’t have come here.” She was supposed to be making baby steps not trying to fly before she could walk.

“What the hell? I don’t understand. One minute you’re making me breakfast and now you can’t get away from me fast enough. What set you off?”

“Nothing! Everything! I just can’t do this, okay? It was a mistake. I’m not blaming you! You didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want, I just shouldn’t have come here. I’m not ready.” She raced into the guest bedroom and tossed her stuff in her bag. Her chest couldn’t seem to pull enough air in and her head was buzzing. She knew she was acting like a child but right now the only thing that mattered was getting out of there and getting some air. She could call for a cab outside.

When she looked up he filled the doorway looking pissed off and frustrated. “I just need to go, okay?”

“Candy, fine. Fucking go. I don’t have anything to do with this.”

She dashed past him, all of her internal alarms ringing. He grabbed her hand on the way past him. A sob burned to escape her lungs but she couldn’t, not here, not now.

“Just tell me one thing. Was it me?”

She couldn’t even form words that made sense in her head. She could only shake her head no and pull away from him.

The door clicking shut behind her sounded like a machine gun blast to his ears. There was a good reason he didn’t date much. Women had to be more unstable than nuclear weapons. He’d let his the ‘dame in distress’ thing get the best of him, again. He really thought he’d kicked that bad habit. “Fuck it.” Back at the table he felt like a fool eating the food she’d made, until he’d gotten a taste. She may skew high and right on the Hot/Crazy scale but damn the woman could cook and lit up so sweet in bed.

He gave himself a mental slap, no way, enough, she made it clear she didn’t want him. It hurt, not that he’d ever tell anyone. Hell, as far as he was concerned last night was just a drunken mistake. Fuck, he didn’t know which was worse, if she showed up on Monday or not. He looked over at the empty place she had set for herself. “Dammit.” He fished his phone out of one of the side pockets and pulled up Axel’s contact.

“What have you got for me?”

“Seriously dude. Way too early for your barking. What’s the matter, some honey give up before polishing your knob?”

“Not exactly. And I know what goddamned time it is.” He jammed another bite of French toast in his mouth and chewed.

“Swear to Christ I’m gonna start sticking happy pills in your coffee. So about Candy’s neighborhood. The place seems to have exploded out of nowhere. One day the cops never have to go there, the next they seem to have to show up all the time. You were right, all property damage stuff and when I asked they weren’t getting called for half of it. They’d find out about more incidents when they’d show up. Said the old folks didn’t want to bother them.”

“The fuck? Why would crime increase literally overnight? Gangs fighting for turf?”

“That’s just it. My cop friends say it isn’t gangs. They can’t find any drug activity in the area either.”

“Then what else could it be? Dig deeper. Get back to me when you have something.”

He’d learned to trust his gut and right now it was roiling. He stowed the rest of breakfast in the fridge and headed to the gym. Maybe banging a few weights around would stall the need to punch someone.