Emma held his eyes and walked into the apartment, not quite touching him. Cassidy slowly closed the door, perhaps to give her time to change her mind, but Emma didn’t.

She set her clutch on the small console table, and took a deep breath. “I need to take off my shoes. My feet can’t take another second—”

Cassidy kissed her.

No preliminaries, no hesitation—he just stepped closer and dipped his head down to hers, stamping her mouth as though it were his to take.

Seven years.

It had been seven years since she’d kissed this man, but her lips hadn’t forgotten him. The moment she responded, he lifted his hands to her hips, tentatively. And when her hands settled against his chest, his grew bolder, sliding around to her back, pulling her closer until they were touching, chest to chest, hip to hip.

His lips nudged hers open, and Emma responded by reaching for his tongue with hers.

Cassidy groaned and deepened the kiss.

It shouldn’t have felt this good. Not after what they’d been through. But somehow it was better than she remembered. They’d never been lacking for passion, but back then there had been sort of a wide-eyed sense of discovery to their sex life.

Back then, it had been a boy kissing a girl.

This was a man who wanted a woman.

The difference was unmistakably erotic.

He lifted his head when they needed to breathe, brushing a soft kiss against her lips as he pulled back.

“Stay.”

She could only nod.

His hands slid more firmly around Emma’s waist. “For a second there I thought you’d walk into your apartment, and me into mine. I didn’t care for the feeling.”

She smiled and toyed with a button on his shirt. “Such enthusiastic words, Cassidy.”

He dipped his head again, snagging her lower lip between his teeth, scraping it lightly before releasing her. “I’ll show you my enthusiasm in other ways.”

Emma all but purred at the implications behind that.

But first things first. She set her palms on his shoulders and pushed. “I wasn’t kidding about my shoes.”

The corner of his mouth tilted up, and he nodded his head in the direction of the living room. She followed him in, sitting on a chair to free her feet from their stiletto confines as he continued into the kitchen.

“Anything to drink?”

“Water?”

He poured them two glasses from a filtered pitcher in the fridge, and by the time he approached her and handed her a glass, her shoes were discarded.

She wiggled her toes as she raised the glass to her lips, her eyes watching his as she took a sip. He held his own glass of water but didn’t drink. He watched her.

The moment shouldn’t have been sexy. It was water.

And yet they both set their glasses on the table at the same time, his spilling slightly as he yanked her out of her chair toward him.

This time she was ready for his mouth, and the kiss quickly escalated from passionate to carnal. Her fingers made quick work of his bow tie, tugging out the knot and tossing it aside so her fingers could get to the buttons of his shirt.

His hands slid over her back down her hips to her outer thighs, before sliding back up again. He pulled back slightly as she undid the first button.

“Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?” he said roughly. “It’s all I could think about. I—”

Emma cut off whatever else he was going to say with another kiss. She didn’t want to talk. There were too many things they could say to each other that would ruin this.

But doubt managed to trickle in anyway, and this time it was Emma who pulled back from the kiss, breathing hard as she looked up at him.

“This is just about tonight, right?” she asked. “The proverbial getting laid after the wedding?”

His eyes narrowed slightly, but then he nodded. “Just tonight.”

They both looked away then, both knowing that each other’s eyes held truths they weren’t ready to face.

And then Cassidy was kissing her neck, and she was unbuttoning his shirt, and she forgot about everything but how good it felt to have his hands on her. How right this was.

His fingers found the zipper at the back of her dress, pulling it down until the dress fell to her hips. Emma did a little wiggle to let it drop, and then she was standing in front of him in only a strapless bra and thong.

He shook his head, half-dazed as he looked at her.

“Emma.”

Her fingers undid the last of his buttons before sliding the shirt over his sculpted shoulders, revealing the fit, lean perfection that was Cassidy. As a college soccer star, his body had been phenomenal, and it was obvious that he’d held himself to the same high standard of perfection even after his game days were over.

“You know real men aren’t actually supposed to have a six-pack, right?” she said with a smile, running her fingernails lightly over his abs. “It’s supposed to be an unattainable fantasy.”

He kissed her, smiling against her mouth. “Go ahead. You can use me.”

“Oh, I plan to,” she said in a wicked tone. Her fingers found the button and zipper of his pants, her hand dipping inside to slide under his briefs to find the silky steel that was Cassidy.

He gave a harsh breath as she wrapped him in her palm, stroking him as best she could within the confines of his pants and briefs. He let her explore for several moments, his eyes hot on hers, before he roughly wrapped his fingers around her wrist, pulling her hand away from him.

He didn’t release her wrist until they got to the bedroom. Emma pulled back the charcoal bedspread as he removed his socks and pants. Then she sat on the bed, leaning back on her hands in only her bra and panties. He turned, his hungry eyes roaming over her, and Emma felt a surge of pure want so intense it took her breath away.