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I stopped in my tracks. “Excuse me? Thewomb room?”

“Yeah, you know, crushing buns. Buttering the biscuit.” He tapped a long finger against his dimpled chin. “Batter-dipping the corn dog.”

The last one seemed to really please him. I made a face.

“Yuck. That’s gross.”

He winked at me. “Only if you’re doing it wrong.”

Aric and I didn’t often talk about our personal lives, but when we did there were very few boundaries. He’d been there to help me through dry spells, calm me down through monsoon seasons, and to support me during my breakup with Wayne. When it came to this one topic however, I wasn’t ready to share just yet.

“Whatever,” I eventually sighed. “I’ll be out of town for two days, three tops. And I certainly won’t be… buttering any biscuits.”

“Getting a visit from old one-eye?” he pressed. “Taking a trip to bone town?”

I shook my head and smirked. “You know I really should fire you.”

“Oh God please, could you?” he pleaded. “Jason’s constantly chewing me out for never being home as it is. We canceled two weekend trips already.” I watched as his face broke into his biggest, whitest smile. “You’re not gonna believe this, but he says I work too much.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Has heseenyou work?”

Aric dismissed me with the wave of one hand. “Look, there’s nothing wrong with glazing the donut from time to time.” He smiled. “You’re an adult, and adults have needs. It’s perfectly okay to enjoy these things, you know.”

“I know I’m an adult!” I declared sharply. “I don’t need you totellme I’m an adult. And for your information—”

“I’m just glad you’re finally letting someone conquer the pink fortress.”

Our eyes locked, and our smirks clashed. Still, we both knew victory was his.

“Goodbye Aric,” I said, gripping the extendable handle of my bag with a white-knuckled fist.

“Call me when you’re done opening the Gates of Mordor,” he shouted after me, on the way out of his office. “I wanna know how it went!”

Seven

JULIANA

The address wasn’t even accessible by standard GPS mapping; a sprawling house at the end of a dirt road way out in the Arizona desert. It had taken me more than two hours to reach this place from Phoenix, and another thirty minutes to figure out where the turnoff was. But now I was here, in the shadow of the mountains. Just south of a place called Queen’s Valley, in the middle of fucking nowhere.

If Ididconceive with this man, it would make one hell of a story to tell my child one day.

I passed through a set of wrought-iron gates then rolled to a dust-choked stop. Co-existing perfectly with the desert landscape, the house was asymmetrically beautiful. Its Italian-style architecture blended with the desert colors and materials, looking as if it were built and added onto for generations.

As old as it looked however, I could see it had been built with cutting edge materials and an exotic, modern flair.

My nerves got the best of me as I exited my rental car and clip-clopped across the flagstone walkway that lead to the massive, square-relief teak doors. They were decorated all over with bolted metal fittings. Two giant iron rings hung from sand-blown hinges, but were well-oiled enough that I could easily use one to knock.

This is it.

I squeezed my hands into fists, trying my best to keep from looking nervous. I’d dressed for the desert so I wouldn’t be sweating, but it turned out the desert was a lot cooler than I thought it would be. Especially with the sun setting.

This is—

The door opened inward with a rush of motion. Standing barefoot on the terra-cotta tile of the home’s massive foyer, a man in a sleeveless T-shirt was spooning cereal into his mouth from a large, blue bowl.

“Well hey,” the man smiled. He used one thick, corded forearm to wipe milk from his lips. “Hello there.”

Whoever he was, he was absolutelygorgeous.Tall and broad and powerful, the man’s bare arms were rippled with acres of beautiful, well-sculpted muscle.