Page 68 of Hard Rock Fling

I didn't want to believe it was Ian. I couldn't. He was different. Ian thoughtIwas different. There was a real connection between us. But it wasn't true, was it?

The sweet things Ian said had gotten to me. Made me think maybe we had something more. But they were no doubt the same words he said to every girl to get them into bed.

I thought I could do it. I thought, if I went in with my eyes wide open, I could get involved with Ian without getting attached.

But from the way my heart ached at seeing those pictures, I'd long lost that battle.

My phone buzzed again.

"I know that's not me texting. You got another guy on the side?" Ian's voice came from behind me, light and teasing.

"It's my sister." I skimmed her text.

Guesswho I ran into again? Mr. All-Girls-Drop-Their-Panties-For-Me.

What? Where?

My boss had some meeting at your company. Talking about some launch party, I dunno. I nearly kicked him in the balls.

Lips pressedto the back of my neck. I inhaled a sharp breath.

"Faith sounds feisty," Ian said, continuing to place kissed along my exposed throat.

I held my phone to my chest. "It's not polite to read someone's private text messages."

"But what if it wasn't your sister? What if it was another guy sexting you? I might have to get jealous."

A sharp stabbing pain shot through my chest. I pulled away. "Stop."

"Stop what?" He tugged me back against his chest. "Stop this?" He latched onto my neck, giving me a sucking kiss.

Stop pretending you care.

I didn't voice the words aloud. I didn't want him to think I was falling for him like all his other fangirls and groupies. It would probably give him great satisfaction to know he was starting to get to me. That's what Ian did. Made you fall for him, then left you for the next girl.

"Maybe I need to send you a few more messages to make sure," he continued, lifting his lips from my throat.

"Make sure what?"

"Make sure you remember exactly what I can give you that other men can't."

"And what is that, exactly?"

I felt the wicked curve of his lips against my neck. He slid his hand down my front to the heat between my legs.

Sex. That was it. It certainly wasn't anything else.

It certainly wasn't love.

Ian's fingers caressed the valley of my panties, tracing the folds he'd been buried inside numerous times before. The ache between my legs didn't come close to the ache in my chest.

I couldn't do this anymore.

I removed his arm and stood up, walking a few feet away to give myself space. I kept reminding myself I had known what I was getting into. No commitment. No expectations. Ian and I were just having fun, and that's it. There I'd been, thinking about some sort of romantic evening, when all Ian expected was casual sex.

It was one thing to like Ian, to be attracted to him, to have a fangirl crush on him. It was another thing entirely to start developing real feelings when I knew he would never return them. That was unacceptable.

I wasn't going to let myself fall any further. I wasn't going to wait for him to break my heart.