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“You don’t need to stick around, Cain. I’ve got this. I’m just doing a few arm reps, a few leg lifts…”

  She lost her train of thought a moment later when he yanked the metal bar from her hand and started moving things around, fiddling with the weights, and adjusting her stance. “Cain.” His hands were everywhere—her back, her legs, her arms. “Cain!”

  “What?”

  “What are you doing? Stop manhandling me! Can you just…I don’t know, verbalize it?”

  “You’re going to get hurt if you do it that way. You’re trying to use too much weight. You’re standing all wrong.”

  Cain peeled his sweaty T-shirt off, used it to wipe his face, and then flung it to the floor. His body was breathtaking, and she nearly forgot to breathe for a moment as she took in all the hard lines and understated strength. He wasn’t bulky like Slade or Tony; he was tall, lean, and muscular. His gym shorts hung so low on his hips she could see the bunching of muscles on his lower stomach that looked like a perfect V pointing straight down. She shook her head. Mind outta the gutter, Violet! She cleared her throat and said, “It’s fine. It’s doesn’t need to be perfect. I’m just trying to do a little exercise. Stay healthy and—”

  “For once just stop talking so much and just listen. You’re going to get hurt.” He adjusted the bar again and the seat.

  She shoved his hands away. “You know, I’m really starting to get annoyed about that. If you don’t like my voice, you don’t have to stick around to hear it.” She huffed as she struggled with the heavy weight.

  He grunted.

  “What? You’re grunting? You can’t even be bothered to talk? You’re a jerk, you know that?” She let the weight go, causing it to clank loudly, and began to march away angrily.

  “Where are you going?” he yelled, but she didn’t bother looking back. “Vi. Come back.”

  “Man, you’re a real dick,” Travis tossed over his shoulder as he jogged after Violet.

  Cain saw Travis say something to her and place a comforting hand on her shoulder before she disappeared alone into the small women’s locker room.

  “Fuck,” Cain whispered as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was angry at himself for losing his temper. Angry at Travis for having a friendship with Violet that now included comforting her. And angry at…Well, he was just angry. He walked back to the punching bags and started hitting one.

  “What’s going on with you?” Tony said.

  Cain hadn’t even noticed Tony come over. He continued to punch the bag.

  “Cain.”

  Nothing.

  “I get you’re not a talker. Lucky for you I am. You’ve been quieter than normal, and meaner too, especially to her. She’s a nice girl. Pretty. If you keep being an ass, you’re going to lose her,” Tony lectured him.

  “She’s not mine. Can’t lose something that’s not yours to begin with.”

  “Gringo estupido,” Tony said. “She’s not yours because you’re a dickhead who keeps pushing her away.” He playfully smacked Cain’s shoulder as Violet left the locker room and walked out of the Academy without so much as a glance at Cain. “By the way,” Tony went on, “I heard my wife yapping to Jessica about Violet going on a date tomorrow night. The girls are all on a mission to find her a date for that high school reunion. She’s going to find someone if you don’t man the fuck up soon, brother.”

  Cain threw one last punch against the bag, knowing Tony was wrong. He’d lost Violet years ago to Jeremy and now it was too late. He needed to walk away.

  —

  John was just as sweet and funny as the last time she’d seen him. “I’m really sorry about our last date,” she apologized for the umpteenth time.

  “Don’t worry about it. JL explained. How can I fault you for being emotional over seeing someone you thought had died in war?” Okay, so maybe JL hadn’t been exactly truthful.

  She smiled, took a bite of her baked potato, then pointed her fork at the tattoos on one of his arms. “Can you tell me what those mean?”

  “Well, this one, for example,” he said, pointing to a word wrapped around a heart, “is my sister’s name, Tawny, and this one…”

  At some point she zoned out. The reunion was coming up soon, and there was no way she would find a guy who’d be willing to go all the way to Texas for a high school reunion. It was looking more and more likely she’d have to go without a date.

  Since Jeremy had died, dating hadn’t been a priority, but for some reason, the thought of going to the reunion alone really bothered her. The thing about losing your fiancé so young was that so many dreams and hopes seemed to die with him. Ten years ago her future had centered on Jeremy: being his wife, being a mother to their children, living the life of a military wife. Truthfully, most of that had been his dream, but she’d been so crazy in love at the time, they had felt like things she wanted too. High school had been tough. The kids were cruel, and the last two years without Cain and Jeremy there as buffers were worse, even with JL and Travis there. With Jeremy gone, Violet never got the opportunity to do the typical high school things like parties, prom, and dances. Most people didn’t even believe she was dating Jeremy—he’d been so popular back in his high school days—and they would often call her a liar. There’d been a lot of teasing and nights spent crying, and she often fantasized that one day she’d come back and show everyone what a wonderful life she had with Jeremy once she graduated and they married. Except Jeremy was gone and her life was stalled.

  It was as if life had sort of passed her by these last six years without him, and even though she’d gone to nursing school, which had been her dream, she felt as if something was missing. And the damn reunion was a reminder of a life she hadn’t been living. But, of course, she’d make the best of it, like she always did. Travis and JL were always great company, and she was grateful for their friendship.

  “…you ever thought about getting inked?”

  Huh? Was John talking to her?

  “Oh, uh…I don’t know. Nothing ever felt important enough to have permanently on my skin.” She lied. No one knew about her tattoo. It was a drunken decision from years ago.

  “I’m boring you to death,” John said.

  “No! Why do you say that?”

  “You keep yawning.”

  She placed her hand on her mouth. “Oh. Really? Sorry. Was a long day. And I worked out longer than I should have. Sorry. You’re not boring me. Not at all.”

  She made an effort to be present for the rest of the date, and they chatted for a little longer. Finally he asked for the bill and paid. She gnawed nervously at her bottom lip as he walked her to her car. Is he going to try to kiss me? Should I let him? Will he ask me out again? So when they got to her car and he leaned in, she had already worked herself into a panic. Quickly she turned her face and his lips met her cheek. She scurried into her car and fumbled to get her seatbelt on. “I’ll call you,” John said before closing her door and watching her smile shyly and awkwardly through the window. When he was out of sight she dropped her head on the steering wheel and groaned. Why are all my dates such disasters? Dating shouldn’t be this difficult, she thought.

  She pulled out her phone and sent a text.

  I suck at dating!

  Cain texted back immediately. Maybe the guy was just a terrible date.

  Nah. It was all me. I was awkward and nervous and overall stupid.

  Doubt that. Where are you now?

  She sighed and texted, Sitting in the car feeling sorry for myself.

  You want to come by? You can tell me why you suck at dating.

  Violet thought about it, then replied, I’m still mad at you.

  You should be. I’m an asshole.

  You are. A big one.

  But you still love me.

  Always, she texted back, a little smile on her face.

  After a few moments she got another message from Cain: I’m sorry.

  Holy shit. Did you just apologize? she thumbed.

  Holy shit, did y
ou just say shit?

  LOL, she texted. I’m coming over.

  —

  Inviting her over was more proof that he was fucking out of his mind. Clearly I’m a masochist, he thought.

  Twenty minutes after she’d texted him to say she was on her way, Violet was sitting comfortably cross-legged on his couch, her shoes off, her hair in a messy knot on top of her head, as she went through the details of her date. “…so the date the other day with the doctor was a disaster and he hasn’t called, so, that’s not going anywhere. And today, I started to freak out toward the end, mostly. Although I tuned him out for the better part of the date. I did mention that, right? Anyway, by the time we were by my car I was having a full-blown mental breakdown. What if he asked me to go home with him? Should I say yes? And if I said yes, what if he’s into…I don’t know, something kinky, like porn? I’ve been out of it for so long I don’t really know what to do.”

  Cain snorted. “Porn’s kinky?”

  She shrugged. “Okay, then, I don’t know…what if he wants to pee on me or something?”

  Cain’s eyes widened and he just stared at her for a moment before bursting out in a fit of laughter. “Who the hell have you been talking to? Peeing? I don’t think that’s something you have to worry about. Anyway, you should feel safe enough with your partner to stop anytime you begin to feel uncomfortable. If you’re that incompatible when it comes to sex, maybe he’s not the right guy for you. But you have to be open to different things.”

  “I will not be open to being peed on.”

  He laughed again. “Okay, no. I would agree with you on that one. Peeing is a hard no. But watching porn? It’s not a big deal.”

  “Uh—”

  “Unless it’s peeing porn.”

  She snorted. “Oh my God, I’m so out of my league. I can’t believe that’s even like a thing.”

  “Watching porn with your significant other could be erotic.”

  “Uh…yeah, no, thank you very much. I can’t watch other people having sex.”

  “Have you tried it? How would you know?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “I just do.”

  “As your dating coach, my job’s to get you to open up and show you the kinds of things men want. I’m not saying men want you to sit and watch porn, but you just can’t cross your arms and say no to something you’ve never tried. So long as it’s a reasonable request, of course.”

  “And watching porn is reasonable?” she huffed.

  “I think so.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Come on, you can’t tell me you’ve never watched porn.”

  “I haven’t. Not ever.” Her cheeks blushed. “I swear.”

  “Okay, so lesson for the day.” He took the laptop from the table, then grabbed her hand, led her to the couch, and sat down next to her with the laptop on his lap.

  “What? You’re just going to pop a DVD from your collection into the drive? What if I don’t like your particular kind of porn?”

  “First, I don’t have a porn collection. I’m a thirty-year-old man, not an eighteen-year-old boy. Second, I don’t think that’s how it works anymore. There are websites. And last, you wouldn’t know what your particular kind is, since you’ve never seen porn, nor would you know what my particular preference is. Just sit back and relax. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, just say so, and I’ll stop it. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Cain fiddled around with a website until he finally pressed play. At first it seemed innocent enough, except for the obviously sexy clichéd nurse. “A nurse. Har. Har.” She nudged him in the ribs.

  “Let’s try this first. We can do a different genre or something else if you don’t like this.”

  Violet didn’t say anything. She just leaned forward and watched as the nurse walked over to the “patient” and began to check him. Obviously, that’s not the way a trained nurse would do an examination on her—oh! Violet tilted her head to the side and then back as the “nurse” removed the man’s clothes and then dropped to her knees. Violet inched closer to the screen. The man was definitely getting a thorough checkup. Cain was quiet, which was no surprise.

  As the woman on the screen went to work on her in-depth checkup…with her tongue, the man’s hands inched between the woman’s legs and disappeared underneath her panties. Violet’s breath hitched. “Oh,” she whispered as she sat back, her eyes glued to the screen. The pulse of desire hit her hard and fast, setting her nerve endings on fire. The moaning on the screen became louder, and so did her pulse.

  She could felt the tension radiating off Cain. She snuck a peek at him and saw that Cain’s blue eyes weren’t looking at the screen, they were looking at her. His Adam’s apple bobbed in and out as if he was trying to swallow. He shifted on the couch, carefully holding the laptop so it wouldn’t fall. She tucked some hair behind her ears and looked at him through her eyelashes, feeling very embarrassed yet very aroused. She cleared her throat. “You’re not watching,” She whispered.

  “I am,” he said, his eyes never wavering from hers. His voice was low and rumbly and all sorts of hot. The woman on the screen moaned louder as the man flipped her over, shoved up her tiny dress, and pulled her panties off. Violet shifted and clenched her thighs together; she was so turned on, she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. The thin sheen of sweat that had formed on her brow and her neck would surely give her away.

  If she moved again, Cain was going to come in his pants like a sixteen-year-old kid. The skin on her arm, brushing against his, was soft and warm against him. Even worse, he knew exactly what she was thinking. It matched his thoughts exactly—thoughts the neither of them should be having.

  If he wanted to, he could slide his aching cock right into her warm pussy right now. Watching her watch the screen had been the stuff fantasies were made of. The reddening of her cheeks went down past her neck and down to her cleavage, where her nipples were pebbled out in two pointy and enticing nubs. Her chest heaved up and down and he could see the vein on her neck pulse. When she had turned and looked at him almost shyly from under those long eyelashes, he’d almost thrown the laptop aside and attacked her lips.

  She probably didn’t know what a turn-on that innocent look she gave him was. She wasn’t doing it on purpose; she really was that innocent. And he was going straight to hell, he had no doubt about it. His dick was so hard at the moment, he was afraid it would jut out and cause the laptop to fall down.

  The small room suddenly felt smaller. The air was thick with sex, lust, and want. And like a moth to a flame, he continued the delicious torture by asking, “What’s turning you on?”

  She took a deep intake of breath. “I’m not—”

  “Do not lie to me.” His tone came out gruffer than he planned, so he reached for her and ran the back of his hand down her cheek in an effort to make her understand he wasn’t trying to be harsh. Her eyes were focused on the screen, where the man now had two fingers inside the woman and his mouth on her nipple. God, how he wanted to be doing that same exact thing to Violet right this second. “This is what you would do with your partner. Watch. Talk. Act.” His hand dropped to her thigh. “Your skin’s burning up. Don’t lie to me. I know you’re turned on,” he said in a softer voice.

  “I guess it’s everything. The noises she makes, what he’s doing. You.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. You looked turned on too.” She looked up at him with those big brown eyes.

  “Lesson one: you don’t need to be shy. If you’re doing something like this, you don’t have to be shy. You look like you have something to say. Say it.”

  She swallowed and began, “Are…” She stopped, looked at the screen, then turned her gaze back at him, this time her spine a little straighter. “Are you as turned on as I am, Cain?”

  Her voice was low, raspy, and seductive as fuck. He wasn’t sure what the boundaries were.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “What are we doing here, Cain? Because honestly, I feel l
ike we’re about to cross some sort of line.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  She closed her eyes.

  “What is it? Tell me.” He looked back to the screen. “How does that make you feel? Do you want that?”

  She opened her eyes and nodded.

  “Say it.”

  She swallowed a lump in her throat. “I want that.” She pointed to the screen. “What he’s doing to her.” Her eyes never left his as she spoke.

  He took the laptop and placed it on the coffee table. He turned to her, their knees touching, and took her hand and placed it on his rock-hard cock. “Does that answer your question? I’m so fucking turned on, if you so much as move, I’ll come.”

  “Oh my,” she said with a gasp. “So what happens next?”

  He leaned forward and brushed his lips against her neck, his cheek feather light against her skin, his lips inches from hers. “I think you like porn, Violet. I think that any guy you date will be a lucky man.” He closed his eyes tightly, then said, “I also think it’s time you went home.” He ran his hand over his face and adjusted his jeans.

  “Yeah. I think you’re right.” She stood up quickly, nervously adjusted her shirt, and tucked her hair behind her ears. Then he walked her to her car.

  “Text me when you get home. Drive safely. It’s late,” he said by her car door.

  She nodded, kissed his cheek, and climbed inside. She looked as shocked as he felt.

  Holy shit. I’m definitely playing with fire.

  He was halfway back to his house when she called through her open window, “Cain?”

  “Yeah?” He jogged back to her car.

  “The other day you asked me if I was over Jeremy. I don’t think I ever answered you.”

  “You don’t need—”

  “Yeah, I do. I want you to know that if you are worried about me being over Jer so that you and I can…I don’t think I’ll ever be over Jeremy the way people are over someone they break up with. He died. It’s different, you know? But I’m not thinking about him or anything when you and I are…you know. Ugh! This is coming out all wrong.”

  “I understand.” He leaned in through the window and kissed her cheek. “Go home, sunshine.”