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Brooks: Yes. Always. I’ll never stop until you’re mine.

That one took my breath away.

Me: Well, don’t.

Brooks: Meet me in the bar, look me in the eye, and tell me you don’t want me.

Every glance his way made my heart flutter, but I never made it to the bar. Denial was the name of the game if I expected to walk back on that ship. And Iwasabsolutely lying to myself if I thought I could attend this wedding and avoid feeling things for him again.

I shut off my phone and sighed, but it turned into an enormous yawn, exhausted from the day. It didn’t help that one week away from the research boat proved jarring to my system. I’d gotten used to the feeling of floating on the vessel, the slight rocking sending me to sleep each night. On solid ground in New York City, I was almost unsteady, and sleep eluded me all week. Shouldn’t be a problem tonight.

But as I stepped off the elevator, I teetered on edge in need of relief after reading our texts. Picturing Brooks so debonair in his tuxedo didn’t help matters, and I imagined hearing his deep voice in my ear saying everything he texted or the way his possessive words struck me to my core the last time we were together. Definitely torturous.

I rounded the corner at the end of the hall and stopped short. No,thiswas torture.

Brooks leaned against my door with smoldering eyes. In one hand, he held a half opened bottle of tequila. In the other, over his shoulder, he held onto his tuxedo jacket. Around his neck, his bow tie hung with a few buttons undone, showing golden skin peeking through. And his forearms…oof.He’d rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, revealing taut muscles and veins.

Dammit. He looked as good to me now as he did on Buchanan Island over spring break—an unforgettable week together—but what a fiasco. I’d offered myself to him, my virginity, but he turned me down, wanting to wait until I returned from my year away. That led to an argument, and we failed to make up and find middle ground.

Then he proposed. I stood there on the precipiceof my new, exciting career after college on a vessel exploring the world, and he asked me to stay and marry him? If he loved me, he wouldn’t have been so selfish like that. He should have respected me, supported me and my opportunity to advance in my career, and for that, I left after graduation and put distance between us and any lingering feelings for him.

Until now.

My bottom lip caught between my teeth, holding in a tiny whimper as he stalked toward me, a lion to his prey.

“I dare you,” he said, dark and sultry. “Look me in the eye, and tell me you don’t want me, Maisy.”

“I-I…” My throat constricted, unable to form the words, because he knew me too well, even after all this time.

“That’s what I thought. Now there’s only one thing I need to know.” The hand holding the bottle came up to my cheek, rubbing it, his eyes dark and intense, boring into mine. “Did you give yourself away to the professor?”

My chest heaved with a shaky breath as I shook my head, although I didn’t feel the need to explain myself. When two people are stuck on a boat in the middle of a vast ocean, working and living so closely together, yes, certain feelings emerged. But it wasn’t love with the professor, my boss. My virginity remained intact.

“Then unlock the door, Maisy, because tonight… you’remine.” His growly commanding voice triggered me to act. I stepped past him and fumbled with the door, my hands shaking, but he took over, confidently reaching around me, taking the key card, standing so close. His aftershave became my oxygen, and his body heat, my cloak.

“Open it. Let me in.” His words feathered across the back of my neck as his lips softly brushed there. My panties soaked and electricity sparked down my spine. Goose bumps flared up everywhere. Not once did the professor’s advances elicit this kind of response from me.

“Only for tonight. And Brooks,” I finally found my voice, barely a whisper. “This time, take all of me. All the way.”

WillMaisy and Brooks finally get their happily ever after?

Read It Happened Again: A Second Chance for the CEO.

Bonus:Read It Happened One Spring Break, a scene about what happens when Chelsea & Rex, Brooks & Maisy go on Rex's yacht together for spring break. The timing of this scene comes after Rex's proposal to Chelsea.

The End