"What?"

"We're rivals."

"I hope not. You make me look good on the dance floor."

Nope, did that all by himself. I wondered for a millisecond about Helena. Had she gone home? Could I be so lucky? "I, uh, noticed you dancing with a lovely lady over there."

"With beautiful red hair?"

"That would be the one." I resisted touching my own sandy locks. "Is she, are you two, you know?"

"Helena is a friend of mine who volunteers at the hospital."

"Say no more." I held up my hand. "Been there myself."

He frowned, studying my face. "Been where? The hospital?"

I blushed. "No, I meant you don't need to tell me about your relationship. I understand the need for-" I searched for the appropriate word, "-discretion at work."

He smiled and leaned a little closer. "Helena and I are friends. You had male friends at your last job, right?"

Dry gulp. "Not friends, exactly. More like spiteful, vicious-Ow!"

"What's wrong?"

I rubbed my shoulder. "Something pinched me. Do you have mosquitoes here?"

His face was serious "What happened in your job? Did someone hurt you?"

He seemed determined to make me tell him the gory details. I wasn't going there. Not anymore. I looked into his sensitive eyes. "My life is..." I thought about Maria, "...littered. I'm trying to clean it up. And I will. For now, I'm seizing the day one moment at a time. Starting with this one."

I flattened my palms on the round table and leaned closer. He watched curiously as I moved toward him until we were face to face. Softly, I kissed his lips. Calculating career woman would never dare do such a thing. The newly developing G.o.ddess in me was feeling reckless. Alive.

I meant for it to be a soft peck, a gentle caress. I had absolutely no intensions of flicking the tip of my tongue across his bottom lip, deepening the kiss, sucking his delicious bottom lip into my mouth, and running my fingers through his glorious black hair. None at all. But the best laid plans...

The attraction raged like a storm out of control, snapping and crackling under Santiago's skin. He couldn't help it. The dancing had warmed his blood and the fire roaring inside the woman threatened to consume him.

Erin was beautiful beyond words. She was also smart, sensitive, and courageous. But he saw something else behind those deep honey eyes that scared him. Every now and then he caught a flash of anguish, a twist of her pain, buried deep in her psyche.

It ate at him. He wasn't good at sitting idly by while a beautiful woman was tortured before his eyes. And why she kept looking over her shoulder was beyond him. Hallucinations? Post-traumatic disorder?

d.a.m.n it! What happened to her?

Don't get involved, he warned himself. I can't fix her.

Besides, he had more than enough problems to worry about. No, he had to squelch the firestorm spreading through his veins. For both their sakes.

But when her lips met his...

Dear G.o.d, when she kissed him electricity sparked through his nervous system and lightning struck his heart. It was as if he'd been zapped by the hospital's defibrillator. His mind was five seconds behind, trying to comprehend the situation. And when her tongue ran across his bottom lip, slowly, sensually...mierda, he had to learn how to breathe all over again.

Erin Carter was a force of nature, unlike anything he'd ever seen. Lord help him, he wanted to seize the lightning in his fists and dive headlong into the storm.

end.