The wind blew the ends of her hair against his face and the sun was just falling behind the waterline. In that moment Ryan wanted her more than he ever had, with her soft curves in his arms, her passion for her art pulsing just as strong as her heart beating beneath his forearms.

“I can’t wait to see it.”

“It doesn’t look like much yet. Just a bunch of blobs I’m hoping it will actually come together at the end. Cross your fingers for me, will you?”

He could feel her being pulled toward the ocean and said, “Go do it already. I know you’re dying to get your hands into the water.”

She laughed as she pulled him toward the surf. The wind blew her dress against her figure and he was pretty sure he’d embarrass both of them when she finally noticed the effect she was having on him.

“You’re the only one who doesn’t think I’m weird for doing this.”

She hissed as she walked into the cold water, but it didn’t stop her from bending down to put her hands into it.

Ryan had already taken off his shoes in the house, but he didn’t bother rolling up his jeans before moving beside her and doing the same thing.

“I guess that makes both of us weird, then. Because I’ve done it ever since, you know.”

It had been a way to remember her at first, but then he'd realized she was right: The water did feel different every single time.

She shot him a surprised look before looking down at his hands and saying, “Funny, I never really thought about the fact that both of us use our hands for our jobs.”

Under the water, he reached for her and took her hand in his. Her eyes met his in surprise, but she didn’t pull back. Instead, she closed her eyes and he knew she was taking in the way their connection changed how the water moved around both of them.

It was one of the best sunsets he'd ever seen, but Ryan couldn’t tear his eyes away from Vicki. He stroked his thumb across her palm and she shivered.

Too soon, she slid her hand out of his.

“My hands and feet are numb already,” was her excuse as she moved away from him to head for dry land.

He’d dropped the towel onto the sand when they’d arrived, and after she sat down on it, he sat behind her so that she could lean into his legs the way they had so many times before as teenagers, sitting out and watching the stars blink over the wetlands.

It had killed him to keep things platonic back then, but even though he was supposed to have more control as an adult than as a horny teenager, it was just the opposite.

“This is exactly what I needed.” She turned her face to smile at him and he was a breath away from kissing her when she said, “Thank you for still being the one friend I can totally relax with.”

It didn’t take a genius to hear what she was telling him, loud and clear: I need you to be my friend, Ryan. Nothing else.

So despite how badly he wanted her, Ryan knew he would never forgive himself for being like all the other guys who had wanted something from her...and had taken it from her without thinking about anything but their own needs and desires.

She yawned and leaned back into him. “You know, I’ve never been much of a sleeper, but the last few nights were really bad with all those cockroaches at the motel waiting for me to fall asleep so that they could come out to feast on me.”

Her words had grown fuzzier and fuzzier as she spoke and he wasn’t surprised when, a few minutes later, she fell asleep in his arms. It was hugely tempting to stay like that with her, to listen to her soft breathing, to memorize the feel of her beautiful curves against him...and to pretend that she was more than a friend.

Biting back a curse, Ryan easily lifted her up to carry her to the guest bedroom. Her legs were soft and smooth against his arm where her dress hiked up, and the feel of her br**sts against his chest, her hips against his groin, made it difficult for him to think clearly.

Somehow he made it up the two flights of stairs without giving in to the urge to kiss her gorgeous lips, but he barely bit back a needy groan when she turned her face into his neck and he felt her warm breath against him.

He was breathing hard by the time he made it to the guest bedroom. Not because of her weight—he had a good foot in height on her—but because of the fight to control his arousal.

At last, he laid her down on the bed, her beautiful hair falling across the pillows as she immediately moved to curl up on her side.

Knowing he was going to spend the rest of the night wishing he could be there wrapped around her, Ryan barely trusted himself to stay in the bedroom with her for another minute, let alone touch her again to get her under the sheets so she wouldn’t wake up cold.

But even as he was pulling back the covers and getting ready to slide her beneath them, he knew she wouldn’t be comfortable sleeping in her form-fitting dress. It was going to have to come off...which meant he was going to have to stop being a jackass and remember how to be her friend.

One who just happened to want her like crazy.

Ryan was famous for his steady hands, and for the fact that nothing riled him. But tonight, just the thought of undressing Vicki had his hands shaking like a blade of grass in the breeze.

He thanked God that her zipper was on the side of the dress so he could reach it without having to touch her too much. As he slowly pulled it down, he was torn between wanting her to wake up and praying she’d stay asleep.

What would she think if she found him undressing her in the dark bedroom without her consent? Would she slap him and throw him out?

Or would she tell him to finish the job by taking off her underwear, too, and then invite him to press kisses to the skin he’d just uncovered?

By then the zipper was down, but he wasn’t doing his control any favors by letting his mind wander into fantasyland when he still had the dress to slide off her incredible curves.

You can do this, Sullivan.

He’d learned early on, when the game stakes were high and it came down to him on the pitcher’s mound, how to shut down everything but the one thing he needed to focus on: making enough good pitches to strike the batter out.

Tonight, that focus was entirely on getting out of the guest bedroom without kissing Vicki. Or stroking his hand over the curve of her breast. Or waking her up and begging her to let him make love to her.

Her dress was made of smooth fabric and it didn’t take more than a couple of slow tugs on the hem to get it to slide off. His jaw dropped at the sight of her in a strapless bra and lace panties, both of them red. The bold color looked like fire licking across her pale skin.