"Alexa," he warned.

"Don't you 'Alexa' me." My hands flew to my hips. "I was going about my job minding my own business when suddenly I found myself hurtled back into the past where my boss talks to me like I'm garbage under his shoe."

"And I stepped out of my office to find out why my PA wasn't answering my calls to discover it was because she was too busy flirting with my best friend, who had his hands all over her."

I froze at the realization that Caine was still jealous.

Exultation rushed through me and it took all of my self-control not to grin in triumph. Caine was still jealous of Henry and me? Even though there was nothing going on between us. That had to signify something, right? A person wasn't jealous and possessive over someone he didn't care about. Right?

"There's nothing between me and Henry," I assured him. "He flirts. It's meaningless."

Caine glowered. "You don't need to flirt back."

"I wasn't."

"You were. And I don't want you to do it again."

I took a tentative step toward him. "I would never do anything to encourage your best friend, Caine. You must know that."

Regret instantly flashed in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't ..." He shrugged. "It's just ... I just ... Not Henry, okay?"

Sensing how important it was for him to hear the words, I nodded. "I won't flirt with Henry. I promise."

Appearing altogether uncomfortable with the whole thing now, Caine gave me a sharp nod and reached for his phone, avoiding eye contact. "I'd better go meet him."

Catching Caine in a vulnerable moment was surprising, but it gave me that hope about our no-strings messed-up-affair. I also thought it was an opportunity to clear up something. "Caine?"

"Hmm?"

"I know this is just sex ..."

He stiffened at the sudden turn in conversation and glanced over his shoulder at me. "Alexa-"

"But maybe we should discuss if this affair is exclusive or not."

"Exclusive." His voice was terse, like he was pissed I'd even had to ask. And then it seemed to occur to him that he'd answered the question emotionally. "I'll see you after lunch," he muttered, and strode past me.

I jumped at the sound of his office door slamming shut behind him.

How was I supposed to interpret that? On the one hand his seeming possessiveness could be construed as a step forward to him admitting that he had feelings for me. On the other hand, he'd raced out of here like I'd suggested we wear a vial of each other's blood around our necks.

Having an affair with Caine Carraway was not only deliciously physically exhausting, but not so deliciously emotionally exhausting too.

That night my uncertainty won.

Caine didn't come to me after the gala. In fact, I had no word from him at all that night or the next morning.

I did not have a good feeling about that.

"Go get him." Effie nodded at Caine's door.

I grimaced. "He's going to be pissed I just showed up like this."

And by "like this" I meant it was Saturday afternoon and I'd decided I was done playing this Caine's way. We weren't getting anywhere playing the game by his rules, so I'd decided to start acting like a grown woman. If I wanted to see Caine, there was nothing to stop me from going to see him. I didn't have to work around his schedule. No, sirree, I did not.

The whole acting like a grown woman thing deserted me when I got to the building and suddenly feared Caine outright rejecting me by refusing to allow me up to the penthouse.

So I'd called up to Effie instead and explained the situation.

As Caine had warned me, Effie knew we were having an affair. She was also smart enough to know I was angling for more and she also liked me enough to want me for Caine.

Effie was on my side.

It was a small comfort, but one nonetheless.

Effie sighed at my less than inspiring performance of "a woman on a mission to win her man." "You don't know that. Now knock on the goddamn door before I do it for you."

Realizing she would do just that, I pressed the buzzer. As soon as I did, Effie hurried back to her penthouse. She could certainly move for an old lady.

I was still staring after her in amusement when Caine's door opened.

My head jerked forward and my gaze raked over him. He was unshaven, unkempt, and wearing a black Def Leppard T-shirt and well-worn jeans.

Yum.

"Hey." I gave him a small wave.

In return he frowned at me but stepped aside to let me in. "What are you doing here?"

His tone was definitely less than welcoming.

I imagined a dozen metal sheets of armor flying across the room and clipping on around my body like Iron Man. I was going to need all the protection I could get to defend against the sting of Caine's possible rejection. And considering his tone, that rejection was becoming more and more of a possibility.

"I just thought I'd stop by." I shrugged. My gaze moved to his breakfast bar. It was covered in paperwork.

He'd been working.

"And you never thought to call first?" He stood in front of me with his legs braced and his arms folded over his chest.

Yes, there was absolutely nothing about him that said welcome.

I tried not to flinch. "It's okay for you to drop by my place unannounced, but it's not okay for me to do the same thing?"

"Not when you're here looking for something." His eyes narrowed. "What, you didn't hear from me, so you presume the worst? Did you think you'd come over here unannounced and catch me fucking someone else?"

My eyes grew round at the accusation. It seemed to come from nowhere. "Excuse me?" I huffed. "First of all, if that had been my intention I would have come around unannounced in the morning when I would have had a better chance of catching you fucking someone else. And second of all, don't put whatever jealous, stalkerish, creepy shit that other women have done to you on me. I came around for coffee or sex. Possibly both. Now I'm not in the mood for either." I threw him a disgusted look and made to stride past him.

Caine wrapped a hand around my upper arm, halting me.

I looked up at him warily.

"I don't mean to be a bastard, okay? I'm just busy today." He nodded in the direction of his work.

I pulled gently at my arm, but Caine wouldn't release me.

He tugged me closer, his eyes warmer. "I really want to fuck you and make you some coffee afterward, but unfortunately I have to get this work done today. There's tonight, though." Wickedness glinted in his eyes. "I could come to your place."

Although my body instantly liquefied at his suggestion, I found some small satisfaction in being able to turn him down. "I can't tonight. I made plans with an old work colleague." And I wasn't lying just to be peevish. Sofie had lost her internship from Benito and had called me looking for sympathy from someone who understood. I'd offered to take her out on the town to take her mind off it for a few hours. "We're going dancing."

Caine's grip tightened imperceptibly. "To a nightclub?"

I gently extricated myself, not sure why the fact that I was going dancing was a cause for concern. "Possibly several."

Caine stepped back from me. He was shutting down.

I sighed heavily. This visit had not gone at all to plan. "So we'll talk tomorrow?"

"Sure."

He was turning away, about to head back to his paperwork, quite ready to forget my existence already, when the impulse to pull him out from whatever wall he'd just slammed up took over me. I placed a hand on his arm and went up on tiptoes to press a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. As I pulled back I smiled into his now-arrested face. "Bye, Caine."

Before I could move away I found myself tugged against him. I let out a little gasp of surprise seconds before his mouth fell on mine.

He wrapped his arms tight around me and kissed me with a passion that flooded molten heat into my blood. I held on for dear life, returning the deep kiss with my own.

It grew hotter and wetter as he crushed me as tight against him as he could. I could feel his hard-on digging into me. My skin flushed into a greater blaze.

When Caine eventually lifted his lips from mine and gently released me, I was too lost in a lust-filled fog to say anything.

The kiss had come out of nowhere.

"We'll talk later," Caine said, his words thick with arousal.

"Later," I croaked, smoothing my hair with trembling fingers.

Satisfaction gleamed in his eyes.

The waitress placed another mojito in front of me and gave me a knowing grin. "From the cute blond in the navy suit by the bar." She nodded in the bar's direction.

I glanced over and caught sight of a good-looking guy in said navy suit. As soon as my gaze hit him he smiled and raised his glass to me.

"Ooh, he is cute," Sofie said, nudging my elbow with hers.

I pushed the drink toward the waitress. "Sorry. Can you take this back?"

She smiled and removed the mojito from our table. "Gotcha."

"What are you doing?" Sofie narrowed her eyes on me as the waitress walked away. "You just turned that cute guy down. Why? I thought you hadn't gotten laid in, like, a year and a half."

I frowned at that calculation, counting back to when I'd last been in a relationship. To my shock I discovered Sofie was right. Before Caine the last guy I'd slept with had been my boyfriend Pete. We'd only dated for three months and the relationship naturally fizzled out because neither of us was that into it.

But yeah, that was eighteen months ago.

The last time I had sex, however, was of course a totally different story.

I sipped the mojito I'd paid for and avoided Sofie's eyes, pretending to innocently inspect the bar. We were at Brick & Mortar in Cambridge and as always it was packed.

"It was a year and a half ago, right?" Sofie sounded suspicious.

"Mmm-hmm."

She grabbed my arm, forcing me around to look at her. "Oh my God. Who are you sleeping with? You have to tell me! It will totally take my mind off the fact that I just lost my internship. Please, please, pretty please."

"All right, all right," I huffed. "I met someone at work, but I can't tell you his name because there's this whole employee fraternization thing, and plus, you know, we're not serious. It's just sex."

Sofie's eyes were round. "I've never done casual sex before. Is it hot?"

I wouldn't know. There was nothing casual about sex with Caine despite his silent protestations that what was between us was the epitome of casual. "Uh, sure."

"Wow. Getting engaged young is a good thing, but at the same time I feel like I'm missing out on loads." She lifted her hand and stared at her simple but pretty engagement ring.

I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Trust me, you're not."

She smiled. "So you can't even give me a clue who it is?"

"Nope."

Her eyebrows drew together in concentration. "The only person I even know that works there is the man himself, Caine Carraway, but I know it's not him because he kind of hates you."

I flinched on the inside but somehow managed to give a small smile. "Yeah, boy, does he ever."

"So you're really going to turn down hot guys all night? Because you're having a casual fling with someone? I mean ..." Sofie looked around. "I'm getting married but I'd still like to dance with someone. Dancing is okay as long as the guy doesn't get handsy."

I grinned. "Okay, you find us two nonhandsy guys to dance with and you're on."

I hugged Sofie good-bye in the taxi, but she wasn't done.

"I had so much fun!" she cried. "I missed you so much, Lex. We gotta do this like more. Like a lot more. 'Cause I love you, Lexie."

I smiled at her drunken affection. "Love you too, babe."

Relief moved through me when her fiance, Joe, opened the driver's door. Although I was tipsy, Sofie was smashed. I'd forgotten what a lightweight she was. After we'd danced the night away in a few bars in Cambridge, changing dance partners when they got too "handsy," I'd tumbled Sofie into a taxi and had the driver drop her off first even though she lived in Southie. My worry had been that I'd have to carry her into her apartment, but Joe had obviously been keeping an eye out for us.

"Joe!" Sofie cried, her whole face lighting up at the tall, handsome redhead. "I love you, Joe."

"I love you too, Sofie. I'll love you even more if you keep it down." He reached for her, helping her out. He shot me a smile. "Thanks for bringing her home, Alexa. What do I owe you for the cab?"

I shook my head. "It's on me."