“He’s…ah…he’s a friend. Of a friend. Friend of a friend’s boyfriend, actually.” Who I happen to be sleeping with. “We hang out.”

“Is that who you’re seeing tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Macy. Seriously?”

He was starting to piss her off. “What, Jared?”

“He’s just…not someone I’d imagine you would deal with very well.”

“I think I know who I can deal with and who I can’t.”

“I know Candace is dating Brian Ross.” He scoffed. “There’s an apple that fell way far from the tree…and then got punted across the yard. I never thought you would get mixed up with any friends of his, though.”

“I can’t believe you’re being so freaking…”

Judgmental. The same damn thing she’d been all this time. Not so long ago, she’d have agreed with him. She’d have chimed right in. Brian’s a thug. Look what he’s doing to my best friend, filling her full of ink and turning her into a pin cushion. He’s not good enough for her. He’s going to hurt her.

All thoughts she’d entertained, washed away with one simple statement from Seth the other night.

Brian is the brother I should’ve had.

And Candace loved Brian more than life. Candace wouldn’t love someone who wasn’t good enough for her.

“Look, Brian is great. I might not have realized it at first, but you know what? I couldn’t have picked a better guy for her if she’d asked me to.”

He held up both hands as if to fend her off, and she realized she was getting in his face. “I don’t mean to piss you off. I just…” He straightened and took her shoulders gently in both hands. Always such a gentle touch, sometimes frustratingly so. She hadn’t felt it in years. The sudden stark reminder made heat gather behind her eyes. “Macy, I always regret I didn’t fight harder for you. I regret that I left when you told me to leave. I always hoped you didn’t really mean it, or at least that you would someday realize you didn’t mean it. But then I messed it up. Everything happened with Shelly, and…” He stared off at some point over her head, and she knew he must be watching his daughters play. “I don’t regret that either, because it gave me Mia and Ash. But I saw you the other night at the bar with…that guy, and you looked more beautiful than I’d ever seen you, and if I could make everything right—”

Dismayed, she lifted her hand and covered his mouth with her fingers. “Jared? Stop. Okay? Don’t.”

“You wouldn’t even think about it? Whatever you’ve got going with him is that important to you?”

“It’s not even that, really. It’s…”

What? What was it? If this offer had come a year ago, hell, two weeks ago before Seth came back, how would she have reacted? If she wanted to settle down and have a family, the perfect specimen was right in front of her. He came with a family already built in. She loved Mia and Ashley, and they loved her.

She and Jared had history. She knew his quirks, what would make him laugh, what would piss him off. That he loved everything she loved and disliked everything she disliked. That the back of his neck was an erogenous zone.

Comfort. Safety.

Seth…she didn’t really know a damn thing about him except that he was loyal to his friends and family, she’d never seen a picture of him where he wasn’t flipping off the camera or sticking his tongue through the V of his fingers and he had an ex so in love with him the girl had damn near lost her mind. That he really had never given Macy anything other than a string of violent orgasms and a “catch ya later”. He made her feel the absolute opposite of Jared. Instability. Danger. Given the text he’d sent her earlier—Wear a skirt 2night—he only promised more of each.

God help her, she liked it. She couldn’t imagine turning away now. It was unthinkable.

“Jared…ever since I got hurt, I’ve followed my head. I’ve been cautious to the point of almost losing my friends. I can’t do it anymore. I’ve got to follow my heart this one time. My heart’s telling me I need to go my own way, throw caution to the wind. Maybe it’ll blow right back in my face, I don’t know.” She dropped her gaze and shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Jared sighed. His hands slid around her back and he pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head. She practically collapsed into him. He smelled wonderful, the clean, crisp scent of the outdoors—his favorite place to be.

Admitting all of that—to him of all people—had taken a lot out of her. Was she insane? Was she really following her heart, or just her freaking vagina?

“If you ever change your mind,” he murmured, leaning his cheek into her hair, “you know where I’ll be.”

It was like déjà vu. Only the restaurant was dim and quieter than the bar. When Seth slid into the booth next to Macy, she shivered as his jeaned thigh brushed her bare one.

She’d acquiesced and worn a tight-fitting black skirt with knee-high boots and a green sweater, and there was no doubt in her mind why he’d made the request. Every time she remembered the other night in the bar, her heart did a swan dive to the pit of her stomach.

He looked…dangerous tonight. All in black, which wasn’t unusual. It wasn’t even really that he hadn’t shaved in a couple days, and a shadow framed the darker brown of his goatee. It was his demeanor. She didn’t know if he’d ever exuded raw sex like he did tonight. Like he’d thought about it all day and was to a breaking point in which he’d just as well put her on the table, spread her legs and make her his appetizer right here in the restaurant. The tension around his mouth, the look in his eyes, said it all.

“Never took you for a same-side sitter,” she said, sipping the water the waitress had just sat in front of her.

“Ordinarily I’m not,” he said after she was gone. “But how else am I going to get you off, if the mood strikes?”

Macy worked on swallowing that drink and placed her glass back down, struggling to maintain her composure. He leaned his shoulder into her, letting the tip of his nose trace the outer curve of her ear. “Ever since Valentine’s, I can’t get it out of my head. How much I wanted to make you come right there in front of everyone, wondering if you could hide it when you did.”

“What if I couldn’t? How embarrassing.”

“Mmm. Maybe the stealth orgasm is something we’ll work on. I picked a good place to start, right?”

He had. The backs of the booths here were higher than their heads. They were completely hidden from the people behind them. He’d specifically requested the corner. If the table off to their right remained empty, they would be all but isolated from everyone except the waitstaff.

Macy gulped more water, trying to dampen her dry throat. Already, her sex ached and pulsed for his touch, dampening her panties, and she couldn’t look away from his hand as it rested on the table. Big, perfect, with long fingers just callused enough to make her skin sing with pleasure.

Oh Lord, please help me survive.

She had a feeling praying about whatever Seth Warren had in mind tonight would be sacrilegious.