Jaded by Ember Leigh

at my house, which totally destroyed the rules.”
    Lizzie’s mouth once again fell open in shock and their steps slowed to a crawl. “Ms. Celibate takes a bite from the apple, I see!”
    Isabella grinned. “We didn’t go all the way...I stopped it pretty fast. But, Lizzie, I can’t tell you how sexy this man is. As soon as he was gone, I was hitting myself over the head. He’s unspeakably gorgeous. And I know we don’t usually find the same men attractive but...I think you’ll be inclined to agree on this one.”
    “I have to meet him,” she whispered, watching Isabella with wide eyes, as though she’d just revealed she were having sex with a merman.
    “You will.” She sighed. “I have a feeling he’s not done trying to seduce me. Luckily, he’s so cocky and rude sometimes that it keeps me from falling to his feet whenever he enters the room. I just can’t figure him out. Sometimes he’s sweet and endearing, and the rest of the time he is a total pig.”
    “I suppose this is what happens when you enter my world,” Lizzie said, raising her brows. She was referring to the marked difference in their upbringings. While the two of them enjoyed similar post-graduate lifestyles, Lizzie had not been bred in a fast-paced world of beauty and wealth. She frequently commented on the differences in the men they dated—how Isabella’s type seemed to hail from money and important last names, while Lizzie’s type hailed from football associations and only one important last name, Budweiser. “Unfortunately, I can’t give you any advice; these men are just as obtuse and incomprehensible as the rest.”
    “Well, I’m back on the wagon now,” Isabella said, “so it shouldn’t matter. I need more time away from the whole dating scene. I think that’s obvious.” The two girls were coming back to the parking lot of the gym and digging for keys. “And thanks for the talk. I really needed to hear a voice of reason.”
    The friends embraced and said their goodbyes. On her way home through the humid evening air, top down and hair flying happily behind her, Isabella was unsettled to find that any thoughts of her botched night with Luke still inspired remorse and a raging fire between her legs. The yard was empty when she pulled into her driveway, as Luke and his crew had left hours ago. She hadn’t propositioned him to stay longer, and he hadn’t asked. Maybe the crazy sexual attraction was over, or at least she could pretend it was until the fire died down.
    She breezed into the house, noticing that even after a half-day of being away, things had become slightly unrecognizable. Walls were missing, beams were perpetually being exposed, and it seemed the ladder was the new mainstay in her décor.
    Again her mind wandered to the night before, back to the intense...breathtaking... insanely sexually charged date. The man held a power over her that she’d never experienced with any other lover. And where she’d found the resolve to abandon him on the bed, at that crucial moment between flirty kissing and lusty, mind-blowing lovemaking...well, she might never know.
    And why? Why did you leave in the middle of it? And why did you make up that terrible lie about not liking him?
    In retrospect, she knew she’d said that only to rationalize her guilt, to lessen her attraction and make it seem—to him, and herself on the surface, she supposed—like it didn’t matter to her.
    But it did. It mattered so much. She wanted him with her right now, she wanted to explore that insane sexual energy, and she wanted to stretch it to its limits. What if he felt the same way? Ever since their discussion at the restaurant, she had been dying to know everything about him. Luke was mysterious, and intelligent, and—god, he was everything.
    And he was a terribly great kisser.
    Isabella shivered and headed to her bedroom. She’d get to bed early and then get an early start in the morning. Get up before the crew got there and do laundry,