Evidence collected in my own baggies and the fence in place around the yard, locked up, and security lights armed, I babysat the glass installers at the Sampsons’ house next door to make sure Mr. Sampson would be able to move back into his house sooner rather than later. That was, if Heath and Ari decided he could live on his own.

Either way, I was doing my part to hopefully make their lives easier.

Once that was finished, I shot Heath a text to let him know it was done. He didn’t reply.

As I looked up at the two windows I knew belonged to Ari’s childhood bedroom, I remembered seeing her face in them more than once over the years, watching me, even though she didn’t know I saw her.

She’d thought she was invisible to me, but she’d been dead wrong. It was always the opposite. I’d been as hyperaware of her as you tended to be of something you couldn’t have.

Breakfast with Heath had changed that.

Now, how am I going to make her mine?

More than ever before, I understood completely that life was short. You got one ride, and you didn’t know when your number was going to be up.

If this was my only shot with Ari, I wasn’t going to screw it up.

I cursed when I realized it was already four o’clock by the time I pulled away from my parents’ street. I thought about calling her, but what I needed to tell her had to be said in person.

Turning my Jeep in the direction of my hotel, I worked out a game plan.

All right, Red. I hope you’re ready for this, because I sure as hell am.

* * *

Fifty-five minutes later, wearing a white dress shirt I’d pressed with my crappy hotel-provided iron and black dress pants, I stood on the front steps of Ariel Sampson’s massive digs. It wasn’t like I needed a reminder about just how different our situations were in life right now, but I got it anyway.

Still, we had something that spanned the differences—history, and years of it.

I waited after I rang the bell, finally hearing footsteps padding toward the front door. I wasn’t sure what I expected to see when Ari opened it, but the smile that stretched across her face when she saw me told me everything I needed to know.

I’ll take her any way I can get her.

Her chin lifted as she took me in. “I was wondering if I’d ever hear from you again.”

I stepped forward and pulled her against me, one hand wrapped around her hip and the other speared into her hair. I closed my lips over hers and kissed her the way I’d always wanted to—with nothing hanging over us. No guilt, no barriers, no hesitation.

Just me and Ari.

Exactly the way I wanted it.

20

Ariel

I didn’t know how Rhett’s conversation with my brother went, but from the way he was kissing the hell out of me, it must have gone well.

Good Lord, Rhett Hennessy could kiss. I wondered how long it would take me to stop thinking that every time his lips touched mine. I was willing to make an experiment out of it.

My fingers found their way into the long ends of his shaggy blond hair, my nails raking his neck as he groaned and pulled me tighter against him until I could feel his hard-on pressing into my belly. Bursts of heat shot through me.

I was about to climb him when Rhett jerked away from me.

“Wha—” The partial word, not even a fully formed question, fell from my lips before Rhett interrupted.

“Go put on a dress, Red, because I’m taking you on a date. A real date.” He took another step back and tucked his hands in his pockets. “God knows I could turn this kiss into something that’ll last all night, but you deserve better than that and I’m going to give it to you.”

So this is what it feels like when your insides are melting into a giant puddle of oh-my-God-is-this-really-happening goo.

“A date?”

He nodded. “Yeah, and I’d be honored if you’d put on a dress, unless you’d prefer I take you out like this. I don’t care either way, but I figured you might . . .”

Go out on my first date with Rhett like this? Oh. Hell. No.

“I’ll be right back.” I spun around and shut the door. Two steps later, I realized I’d closed it with Rhett outside.

“Shit!”

I yanked the door open and took him in, standing on my front stoop with a smile on his face. I didn’t even attempt to lie. “I’m flustered. This is all because of you. Would you like to wait inside?”

Rhett stepped in the house, leaving barely an inch between us, and closed the door behind himself. “Take your time. I’ve been waiting what seems like my whole life for this. I can wait a little longer.”

Oh. My. God.

His hooded green eyes told me he spoke the truth, and it took everything I had to turn away and put one foot in front of the other until I reached my bedroom.

As soon as I eased the door closed behind me, I broke into a dance that was way more enthusiastic than the one Esme and Erik had witnessed earlier. With both fists in the air, I spun into my closet.

You can get what you want. Sometimes it just takes half your life.

With a deep breath, I surveyed my clothes. Now, what in the world am I going to wear?

* * *

The need to balance not wasting too much precious time on getting ready warred with the need to look hot as hell. After an objective scan of my closet, I opted for a little black dress that went everywhere with me because it was so versatile. The draping V-neck was low enough that it was sexy, but the extra swath of fabric teased more than it revealed, keeping it classy.

Once I’d selected a pair of simple black stilettos and jewelry, I rushed to the bathroom with my armful and stared into the mirror.

My hair was every bit as much of a disaster as I’d thought it might be. It had reached bird’s-nest-level proportions, and it was painfully obvious I wasn’t wearing a bra under my T-shirt.

And still Rhett had kissed me like he was a man coming back from war.

That was a very good sign, in my opinion.

I stripped in minutes and kept my hair in a knot on my head before I hopped in the shower and did the fastest shaving job of my life. I was taking no chances that things might end up in a bed later—or up against a wall, in a car, or on a table, because my imagination was very well-versed in creativity when it came to Rhett.