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  “Is it a special occasion?”

  “My buddy is getting married,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll celebrate next at his divorce.”

  “That’s an odd thing to say.” She drank the brandy and didn’t think twice when he refilled her glass. She was too pleased with the way it helped numb her overwrought emotions after such a dreadful evening. A buzz wasn’t such a bad thing.

  “I don’t believe in marriage, little lady. My parents’ marriage was a disaster, and I don’t see the point to a piece of paper. We all make our own paths. I choose to be free. Besides, I’m not very trusting.”

  “I’m probably too trusting,” she said with a sheepish smile. “Some people say that trust is something that has to be earned. I disagree. I think that trust should be given freely until a person proves unworthy.”

  “Hmm. That’s interesting,” Tyler said as he moved next to her on the seat.

  “What are you doing?”

  Her heart was thumping erratically as he put his hand on her leg.

  “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  Chapter Two

  Elena was paralyzed. This was Tyler Knight – her childhood love who was touching her. And she was incapable of pulling away from him.

  His lips touched hers and she was lost. This was her fantasy come true. No other man had ever stacked up to Tyler. He’d gone from being her best friend, her lifeline when her father had left her, to being another guy who’d left her, just like her father had.

  And now he was back. And he was kissing her. His tongue traced her lips, and she sighed against his mouth. And then he burned her up. She’d been kissed before, but never like this. Her body was on fire.

  “You’re so responsive, baby,” he groaned as he pulled her onto his lap, her legs straddling him. Heat pooled inside her as he began undoing her coat.

  She should stop this from happening. But as her coat parted and then he pushed it off her shoulders, she couldn’t seem to say anything. No sound came from her lips except inarticulate cries of pleasure.

  Tyler pushed up against the silk of her panties, and his hardness both frightened and excited her. Maybe he did know who she was; maybe he remembered.

  His lips trailed down her neck and then his fingers were on the front buttons of her uniform, parting it slowly as his lips followed.

  “Why were you hiding this, darling?” he said in appreciation as his tongue trailed across the top of her breasts.

  With way too much familiarity, he unclasped the front of her bra and then filled his hands with her aching breasts. His lips followed as he cupped them and then sucked first one hard nipple and then the other into his warm mouth.

  Elena pushed against him. She’d never wanted a man so much. This was wrong, and she knew she should stop it. But she couldn’t.

  His mouth skimmed back up her neck and then he was kissing her again while reaching between them and sliding his fingers inside her panties.

  “You’re so wet, baby. Do you want me?” he growled against her lips.

  She didn’t know how to respond. It was more than obvious that she did. Still, she knew this should stop. She had to tell him she was a virgin. Didn’t it hurt the first time a woman had sex?

  Before she could speak, Tyler answered his own question. “Yes, you do. It’s okay to be a little shy. I’ll take care of you.”

  And then she was moving. He lifted her from his lap and spread her out along the seat. He now lay on top of her and pulled up her leg so he was inside the cradle of her thighs.

  He pushed against her while his lips devoured hers and his hands moved up and down her body. With a hard yank, he ripped her panties off, and then he was pressing forward again.

  Her wet heat was brushing against the denim of his jeans and the friction was making her crazy. He kissed down her neck again and then feasted on her breasts, making her wriggle beneath him as her body grew tense.

  “Mmm, let’s see how you taste.”

  Before she could stop him, he scooted down, lifted her skirt and then his mouth was caressing her womanhood. No man had ever done this, and Elena was now wondering why.

  Tyler ran his tongue along her folds and then sucked on her pulsing bud. Then he inserted two fingers inside her and pumped them. Something inside her shattered as pleasure beyond anything imaginable rushed through her.

  “Tyler,” she cried out.

  He continued licking her womanhood in slow steady strokes, and she floated back down to reality. Then he moved back up her body.

  She could only see the outline of his face in the dim lights of the limo, but she didn’t care. This was the most miraculous moment of her life. Her night had gone from horrible to exceptional in a matter of minutes.

  “I want you so much,” he groaned.

  He lifted up and tugged down his pants, and then she heard the ripping of foil before he was settling back between her thighs.

  “Yes,” she sighed as she felt the tip of him pushing inside her heat.

  Sensations were already building back up as he leaned down and kissed her again, his mouth hungry and tasting like sex.

  Then he pushed forward, sinking fully inside her with a hard thrust. Elena tensed as a sharp pain erupted inside her. She’d been warned about this. She just hadn’t known it would hurt so much.

  “Are you okay?” Tyler panted as he moved back and then sank inside her again.

  He moved slowly, in and out, and the pain was overrun by a feeling of building pleasure.

  “Yes,” she sighed.

  Everything was okay now.

  Tyler leaned down, his hand gripping her breast, his mouth worshipping her neck and his arousal plunging in and out of her. He sped up and she felt unbelievable sensations building within her.

  “Yes, yes, yes,” she chanted, her head thrown back as his fingers squeezed her nipples.

  “That’s right baby, feel it,” he cried as he pumped even harder.

  And then Elena exploded. The first orgasm had been nearly mind-numbing. This time she saw stars behind her eyes as her entire body surged with feeling. Her core pulsed around his amazing manhood, and then he groaned as his body stiffened against her and she felt him pumping his release.

  Elena ran her fingers up inside his shirt and stroked his hard, heated skin, feeling utter contentment as he sagged against her.

  Never had she thought she would get her best friend back. But this night was magical. When he pulled from her, she whimpered, suddenly feeling cold without him against her.

  Tyler sat up and straightened his clothing, and that’s when she realized he hadn’t taken a single thing off. He’d just shifted his clothes around.

  Suddenly struck with embarrassment, she sat up and buttoned up her uniform, then pulled on her coat. She could do nothing about the panties. They were destroyed. She didn’t know what to say now.

  “That was great, darling. Do you need a ride home?”

  Tyler’s words took a moment to process. “What do you mean?” she finally choked out.

  “My buddies are going to come searching for me soon. But I can have our driver give you a ride home before he comes back for us.”

  Elena’s embarrassment morphed into total mortification. She’d just given her virginity to a man who had no clue who she was. He didn’t even know her name. He was so drunk that he probably couldn’t pick her out of a lineup.

  What in the world had she been thinking? Oh, right. She hadn’t been thinking.

  “No. I have transportation,” she said, needing to get away from this man before he saw her cry.

  “Are you sure? You did have a couple of drinks,” he said, opening the door of the limo.

  “I’m not driving,” she told him.

  She followed him from the limo.

  When she stepped outside, the streetlights illuminated his face, a face she’d dreamed about for the past ten years.

  “Thanks again, doll. That was great.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her, a quick kiss. An
d then he turned around and made his way back inside the gentleman’s club.

  It took a few moments for Elena’s feet to move, and when they did, she felt numb all over. Surprisingly, no tears fell as she walked to the bus stop, then got on and rode the route home. She didn’t even cry once she was home.

  But when the numbness wore off, rage took its place. If ever there were an opportunity, she would return the favor of making Tyler feel like a used piece of trash. He was obviously destined to burn in hell, and she’d make hell come for him even sooner than anyone expected if she had her way.

  Chapter Three

  Eight years later

  You’ve become boring in your old age.”

  A remark like that from his best friend? What was the world coming to? Tyler shot the guy a look that no one could interpret as friendly, picked up his drink, and downed the rest before he bothered to reply.

  “It’s called growing up, Matt. We all have to do it sometime.”

  “If growing up is so much damn fun, then you can count me out,” Matt told him before scanning the room.

  “I hardly expected you ever to do such a reasonable thing,” Tyler told him. “I know you too well.”

  “You and I are both only thirty-one, Tyler. It’s not as if we have one foot in the grave now.”

  “There are days I feel like I do, Matt. Work can be draining, all-consuming,” Tyler said, feeling much more advanced in years than he should.

  “If you’d let your hair down once in a while, old boy, maybe you wouldn’t be so damn miserable. All work and no play makes you incredibly dull.”

  “I can’t win, can I? If I go out on the town too much, the papers label me a damn playboy. If I stay out of the tabloids and work, then I’m a hermit. You can all piss off,” Tyler said, holding up his hand for a refill. The freaking bartender should certainly be more on top of his job.

  “No one has ever said that life is easy,” Matt told him with a laugh. “Why don’t you find a girl and take her to your room and fu…oops, I mean make love till the morning light is breaking through the windows?”

  “Make love? And they say that I’m the romantic one in my clan,” Tyler snickered.

  “I’m trying to be sophisticated,” Matt replied. “After all, we’re in a higher-class bar right now.”

  “And whose damn idea was that?” Tyler said, scanning the room with distaste. A good rowdy pub was far more his style or at least it had been his style until last year, when he’d decided to try growing up a little bit more. Or to look as if he’d grown up a bit.

  Maybe he did need to get laid. It had been a while — way too long. When was the last time he’d had a woman moaning beneath him? That he even had to search his memory told him it was past time to do something He needed a good lay, and he wasn’t thinking of poetry. Nothing flowery at all. Hell, pin the broad to the mattress and do what nature intended the two of them to do.

  He fought with his brothers on a constant basis, telling them that love was real, that it could be achieved, but his last relationship had ended in disaster. Utter disaster. He’d been willing to give the woman a six-carat diamond along with his heart. And then he’d found her in the broom closet at his oldest brother’s wedding — with the bellhop.

  Byron had pointed out to him that night that women couldn’t be trusted. Tyler wasn’t ready to go that far, but as far as looking for happily-ever-after… Well, maybe he’d just look for Ms. Right Now.

  But here was the problem. No one was catching his eye, and he was growing bored with this bar, so he decided to write this night off as a bust. Get real. It was time to hoist himself up off this bar stool and get the eff out of Dodge. But just then he heard the sound of laugher, and something about it caught his attention.

  He looked off to the side and couldn’t help but noticing right there before him an appealing backside, exposed by a low-slung silky red tank top. Whoa.

  “Hmm, maybe tonight will be more interesting than I’d originally thought,” Tyler told Matt.

  “What makes you think she’ll have anything to do with you?” Matt replied, zeroing in on the woman with that fabulous ass, but whose face they couldn’t yet see.

  “If I want her, she’ll be more than willing to have something — more than something — to do with me.”

  “If only I could be one of the infamous Knight brothers for a day,” Matt muttered.

  “Shut up, Matt. Don’t even pretend you’re humble,” Tyler told his friend, still gazing at the woman, not wanting to miss the moment when she turned around. After all, she could be a dog.

  “Compared to you and your brothers, I’m a damn saint,” Matt said, the smile obvious in his voice.

  “Maybe so, but I’m the nice guy of the three of us young Knights,” Tyler told him.

  “The sad thing about that statement is that it’s true,” Matt muttered with a laugh.

  “When you’re raised by narcissistic parents — to use a fancy psychological term — parents who then get murdered before your eyes, it tends to make you a little bit…shall we say, aloof,” Tyler replied.

  “Then how have you always been able to stay so positive?”

  “I don’t know. I was so young when it happened. My brothers got the worst end of that stick. I guess I just feel that life is too short to dwell in the past. My philosophy is that a night in the arms of the right woman can heal the most wounded of souls.”

  “Then why haven’t you bedded anyone lately?” Matt asked.

  “How the hell do you know that I haven’t?” Tyler grumbled.

  “You’ve been complaining about it for a while,” Matt pointed out.

  “Yeah, I need to learn to keep my damn mouth shut.”

  “So why not settle down?”

  “ I was ready to and I failed epically in choosing the right woman. I don’t know, man. I think it’s harder than people realize to find that one woman you can’t live without. I love women, love how they feel, how they smell, how they…taste. Then their true colors come out, and their claws sharpen. If I could find that girl without a hidden agenda or a tendency to fuck strangers in a closet, then maybe, just maybe, I would do exactly that.

  “Damn, Tyler. Should I call up Oprah now?” Matt asked with a laugh.

  “Go to hell, Matt. Maybe my future wife is right over there in a very appealing red tank top,” Tyler said as he stood up.

  “Well, then, go and get her, tiger.” Matt signaled for the bill.

  The woman finally turned, and when she looked up, her eyes met with Tyler’s across the room, and he felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach.

  “Who in the hell is she?” he whispered, though he wasn’t looking for a response.

  “Holy shit, she’s gorgeous,” Matt muttered. “There’s no way that woman is available.”

  Just then she lifted a delicate hand and brushed back her sun-kissed golden brown hair, the thick strands falling over her shoulders and hanging midway down her back. The bar was dim, but even from about twenty feet away, Tyler could see that she had light eyes, shining eyes, and her lips — damn, her lips were plump and pink, and they were calling to him.

  Tyler didn’t give a flying whatever if the woman was taken. He knew for sure he wasn’t leaving this bar without her.

  Chapter Four

  Do you know the man who’s looking at you like you’re dessert?”

  It took several moments for Elena to realize that her friend Piper had spoken to her, because, yes, she did know exactly who was looking at her. And her gaze was fully captured by the one and only Tyler Knight.

  “Hello. Earth to Elena,” Piper said, and she laughed as she bumped into her.

  Finally, Elena was able to break the eye contact with Tyler, and she looked back toward her friend, feeling slightly dazed.

  “Yes…um…yes, I know who he is,” Elena said as she lifted her drink and took a long swallow.

  “Do you care to share?” Piper asked with impatience.

  Shaking off the shock of
seeing the man who had once been her best friend, and then who had humiliated her almost beyond repair ten years later, Elena was consumed with anger. How dare this worthless bastard look at her now as if he wanted to devour her?

  A lot had changed since the last time she’d seen Tyler. She’d gone from gangly to womanly, with more curves than she cared to have, decided she enjoyed wearing a little makeup, and really enjoyed doing her hair, but even with those changes, she was still the same person on the inside.

  She was still Elena Truman, and she still had insecurity issues when it came to men.

  “Okay, let me rephrase this,” Piper said, placing her hands on Elena’s shoulders and shaking her to get her friend’s attention. “You will tell me who he is!”

  “He was my best friend when we were children — until he realized he was too cool to play with a mere girl anymore. Then, when I was in college and working…” She trailed off. This wasn’t something she wanted to talk about.

  “You mean when you were going through your geeky phase?” Piper asked.

  “Thanks for being so supportive,” Elena said through gritted teeth.

  “Just tell me what happened and I’ll be nice,” Piper promised her.

  “There’s no time,” Elena told her. “It looks like he’s gonna walk over. Maybe it’s my turn for a little revenge. Why should he get away with being a complete douche without suffering any consequences?” Hey. She really liked this idea. Was it just the booze talking?

  “I don’t know, Elena. Revenge never ends well.” Piper swiveled around and saw that Tyler certainly looked as if he was going to walk over.

  “For the loser it doesn’t,” Elena said. “It’s all a matter of perspective. Just have my back.”

  “I don’t know. You’re acting a little crazy right now,” Piper told her.

  “I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting to see him ever again — that’s all,” Elena told her before taking another gulp of liquid courage.

  “I think you’ve had enough to drink. Elena. I also think you should abort this mission right now.”

  “I’m fine. I promise you,” Elena said. She gave her friend a determined look, but she put down the drink.