The way I’m incapable of love. After all, my parents hated each other and me. I never learned the right way to do any of this nonsense.

And sure, IwantHazel. That’s been clear from the moment I met her four years ago, when the sun rose in my gloomy universe. And yes, my body craves hers in a way that I’ve never wanted anyone else, but it’s deeper than that—like she settles my soul, or something.

But that’s impossible.

And this is only one kiss—to make her stay.

One kiss.

God.

Tearing my mouth away feels wrong.Wrong. It’s all wrong to take my hands away and step back; all wrong to feel cool dusk air wash over my front. Everything about this is wrong, and nothing is right in the world unless our hands are on each other.

“We should get ready for the party,” I mutter.

A few minutes alone will give me a chance to scrape up my last surviving brain cells.

“S-sure. Okay.” Cheeks pink, Hazel wobbles out of the pop-up bar. She doesn’t look back at me.

Five

Hazel

My boss makes zero sense. One minute, he’s gazing at me hungrily, yanking me to his front, and kissing me until my head spins. Making all my heartsick daydreams of the last four years, all those imaginary kisses that played like a movie reel in my head, pale in comparison to the real thing. Drowning me in perfect, overwhelming details.

Like his heat.

Hishunger.

The hard planes of his chest and the little growls in the back of his throat, and the way he kissed along my jaw, breathing in the scent of my skin like he wanted me to fill his lungs.

Then… this. We’re back to cold, professional distance between us again, like nothing ever happened. Like it meant nothing. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I hallucinated the whole freaking thing—except my lips are kiss-swollen, and there’s a telltale slickness between my legs that will not stop tormenting me as I walk. Thoughts blurry, I dodge a server carrying a stack of trays and stumble across the rooftop. The band is warming up, random notes humming on the breeze.

Gotta get inside.

Gotta change for tonight.

And hell, I’m going to need a long, cold shower first to get my head on straight; to calm the ache in my lower belly and my feverish pulse and all the silly, foolish voices whispering in my head thathe wants me, he wants me, Leo actually wants me.

Leo Corbin does not want me.

Leo Corbin does not do relationships. Period.

And if he ever broke that rule, it would never be for me. I annoy him too much, driving him to distraction with my perkiness first thing in the morning. He’s grumbled about how unbearable I am more times than I could ever count—and I try really, really hard not to count.

But… unbearable, am I?

That kiss didn’tfeellike he found me unbearable. Not for those few perfect minutes, at least. No: it felt like Leo Corbin was ready to sling me over his shoulder and carry me across the city rooftops, King Kong style.

Back inside the building, my spare key lets me into the boss’s penthouse apartment. I’ve been here dozens of times before, running errands for Leo, but my heart has never raced like this as I step inside. My skin has never flushed hot, like I’m doing something wrong.

I’m not.

I’mnot.

Leo is the one who told me to get ready here, and I remind myself of that fact over and over as I gobble down two of my toffee-nut cookies in the kitchen in place of dinner, shower in his bathroom, dress in his bedroom, and keep my gaze fixed on anything except the bed. Still, it’s impossible to miss the faint spicy scent of his aftershave. What color are Leo’s bed sheets?

No! I will not look.