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“Most people seem to have taken an instant dislike to him.” I tried to remember back to my own childhood. “I never really spent a lot of time with my brothers. Probably because I was a girl, I guess, and younger than them.”

We both ate rather quickly, which was a clear indication that we’d both been hungry. Once we finished the pizza, I said, “Oh, I forget to ask if you want something to drink. I have some orange juice in the fridge.”

“Sure. I need something to wash down the pizza.”

I felt very nervous all of a sudden, being with this hot-as-hell man here in my apartment, especially when he wasn’t being infuriating. Because then it was very hard to ignore the way mybody reacted to him. It was even more difficult to deny to myself that I was attracted to him. It was a purely physical impulse because he was a very good-looking man.Andhe’d just been my knight in shining armor. My hormones were wreaking havoc.

A beeping sound filled the apartment. “That was the dryer. Your clothes are ready.”

“Perfect. I’ll be right back.”

Several minutes later, he joined me in the kitchen fully dressed, bringing the plates with him.

“Thank you,” I said, placing them in the dishwasher.

He stacked the two pizza boxes, saying, “I’ll take these with me and throw them away when I go downstairs.”

“No need.” I immediately grabbed them to give myself something to do besides ogle this man. I shoved them by my trash can as I heard him pour some orange juice.

As he gulped it down, I turned around. Oh yeah, even watching the liquid go down his throat, his Adam’s apple bouncing up and down, was enough to make my skin sizzle.

What the ever-loving hell is happening to me?

“Grace?” Zachary said. “Are you okay?” He walked over to me, rounding the kitchen island until he was right in front of me.

“Yeah, sure. Why?”

“Because you’ve gone very quiet, and you seem to be avoiding me.”

I licked my lips, glancing up at him. “No, I’m...”

“Do you have a headache?”

I blinked. “What? No. Why are you asking that?”

“Is your vision blurry?”

“No.”

“I’m checking for signs of shock or concussion.”

“Oh, right.” That was okay as long as he didn’t see the signs that I had the hots for him...

I felt so off-balance. I couldn’t understand how just a few hours ago, I’d lunged at him to give him a piece of my mind, and now I couldn’t focus. Maybe I had hit my head after all.

“I’m fine, Zachary. Really.”

He captured my wrist and put two fingers right over my pulse point. Then he looked up at me, swallowing hard. I sucked in a breath, licking my lower lip before biting it. He zeroed in on my mouth and grinned, and at that precise moment, I realized that he knew exactly how attracted I was to him.

Before I knew what was going on, his lips were on mine. The kiss was as hot as it was surprising.Oh my goodness.His mouth was exquisite. It tasted like orange juice. The way he moved his tongue against mine was driving me crazy. My entire body was burning, and my panties were instantly wet. I pressed my thighs together, completely shocked by my body’s reaction and by the fact that he was kissing me in the first place.

He stepped back with a groan. “Fuck.”

I didn’t say anything, but that one word seemed to sum this up pretty nicely.

“Grace... Fuck, that was out of line. That was... I don’t even know what it was.”

“Neither do I,” I whispered.