“You wicked man,” I say as my lips land gladly on his once again.

Lawrence

ON OUR WAY BACK TO THE CITY, Blaire kept falling asleep on my shoulder, so I suggested that she spend the night at her own place and get some rest. I look out the window as we leave Blaire’s apartment behind.

“I like her,” Tony says after driving silently for a couple of minutes.

I chuckle wryly. “I see that she’s bewitched you, too.”

“Why not? She’s a breath of fresh air.” Tony pauses for a moment, weighing his next words. “You’re changing, Laurie.”

“Am I?” I drawl, pretending to be bored.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take a day off since you started running the company. I’m glad.” His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. “She makes you happy.”

Leaning my head back on the leather seat, I close my eyes momentarily and imagine Blaire’s pale face when I first saw her. A raven haired sorceress with hollow eyes and an empty smile. So different from the girl with the wild hair and wild heart who spun and laughed on the beach a couple of hours ago. And as I stood there, watching her, transfixed and in awe of her tempestuous beauty, I realized that I wanted to be the one to protect her from everything and everyone who had ever hurt her just so she could look at me like that again—without a shadow of another man in her eyes.

Today as I watched her on the beach, the oddest sensation came over me. I felt as though I was staring at the beginning and end of my life. My salvation and downfall. Call me stupid, but I thought that every action and every path taken and not taken had conspired to bring me to that place. To that moment. To her. “She does.”

“It’s a beautiful feeling, isn’t it?” Tony says, and I can almost hear the smile on his face.

“No, it’s fucking terrifying.”

I open my eyes and stare at the dark ceiling of the car, shadows morphing into living creatures. It’s so damn easy to fall in love, to lose one’s head in a woman’s body and her aphrodisiac taste. That is until the idyll comes to an end and it takes you a lifetime to forget her and the man you used to be. And I would know ...

“I’m in trouble, Tony.” The debilitating admission is torn from my chest.

“I know you are, my boy.”

“I thought I was safe.”

“From a woman?” He laughs. “No man is ever safe.”

But it didn’t start like that, did it?

No. She started as an obsession—one that I couldn’t seem to shake. I thought if I got close to her, I would find just another pretty face sleeping her way up to the top with nothing inside. I thought that once I fucked her, I’d be able to flush her out of my system and obliterate her from my body and mind.

I was wrong and a fool.

If anything, every minute and every second that I spend with her, I’m more and more consumed by this violent need. A need that won’t leave me alone and constantly calls for her.

“You know what I think?” Tony says.

“Go ahead.” I run my hands frustratingly through my hair.

Tony’s opinion is one of the few that I trust and respect without question. When my father and mother were too busy with their lives to pay attention to their son, it was Tony who was there for me. He taught me how to drive, how to throw a punch, and he made me feel loved.

“I think you’re in grave danger of falling in love … if you haven’t already.”

I’m about to reply when my cell phone begins to ring. I pull it out of my pocket, read the name on the screen, and take the call.

“Is everything all right, Laurie? I thought we were supposed to meet for dinner at our restaurant. I’ve been waiting for you for over an hour.”