It’s satiating and beautiful and glorious and more than I’ve been gifted in a long time.
 
 We pull apart and her eyes flutter open.
 
 She is smiling ever so slightly but I can tell she is still unsure.
 
 And I don’t think it’s because of me.
 
 It’s because of someone else.
 
 And that bothers me.
 
 A lot.
 
 “Someone hurt you,” I say and she shakes her head.
 
 “We aren’t supposed to go there.”
 
 “Someone…made you feel like you are less than you are.”
 
 “That’s not the shallow end of the pool, Jax,” she warns but I can’t stop.
 
 “You want to know what I think? I think you want to be here. But you’re scared. Because no one has ever treated you liketheywant you to be there. Which is insane.”
 
 “This is a hook up,” she reminds me, throwing up walls left and right and only proving my point more. “You’ll say anything to get me in bed with you.”
 
 “Honey, I don’t have a problem getting girls into the bedroom,” I say, and her eyes widen and I hold my hands up. While I haven’t had the desire to sleep with anyone else since…her…it’s not that it hasn’t been on the table. Kai has tried his hardest in the last few years. “But I’m not thinking about them right now. I’m thinking about you. And I want you here. If I’m being honest, I want you. Not because I want to hook up but because I think you’re sexy as hell and frankly, you turn me on. I have been turned on since I walked up to you at the cantina. And that’s saying a lot for me because sex is not a priority for me. And if I had to guess, no one has ever made you feel wantedbefore. And because of that, you question whether or not you are desirable. Which is bullshit because you’re stunning.”
 
 When I stop talking, the room is quiet other than the fizzling of the air between our mouths.
 
 It’s like a bunch of fireworks just went off on accident and we are just standing here waiting to see if it’s going to happen again.
 
 And then, Libby kisses me.
 
 Hard.
 
 Hungrily.
 
 And the next thing I know, the tie that I was apparently still holding in my hand is flying across the room.
 
 Chapter 3
 
 Libby
 
 One minute you are telling yourself that under no circumstances are you going to sleep with your one and done date and the next, well, you’re ripping his shirt up with enough force to send Armani buttons sailing across the room with enough momentum to be confused with sniper bullets.
 
 But hear me out.
 
 Jax is a nice guy.
 
 A nice, hot, funny guy with not two, not four, not even six, but eight very defined abs rippling down his torso before tapering off to a sculpted V that travels south into his pants where there is another bulge.
 
 For a moment, I am very tempted to ask what he does for a living.
 
 Because whatever it is must include daily trips to the gym…or a coliseum. A matador. He fights bulls for a living, I’m sure of it.
 
 “We don’t need this anymore,” he says, pulling at the ties on my dress.
 
 “No we do not,” I agree. “And we definitely don’t need these.” I undo his pants and yank on them, letting them fall to the floor.