Her hair, red but not the rich, natural red of Avery’s, trailed over his arm. She was a small woman also, but without the same proud stature as Avery.

And when it came to outlook, the two women were worlds apart.

Had he really imagined a similarity of any kind? Dumb. Maybe even desperate, but he didn’t like that idea, so he snuffed it from his mind.

Holding the woman away, Rowdy stood and then turned from her so he could refasten his jeans. “It’s later than I realized. Time for you to go.”

“Because of her?”

On the nose. “No.”

Snuggling up to his back, she rubbed her br**sts against him. “I had an incredible time.”

Now, after seeing Avery, the purring tone and brush of body on body left him cold. “Glad to hear it.” Though he felt like a bastard, he skirted around his desk and went to the door to wait, his impatience plain.

She pouted before accepting the inevitable. With a slow lick to her lips, she sauntered toward him, tried to kiss him—but he dodged that—and started to head through the bar.

Rowdy caught her arm and redirected her. “Back door is closer.” On the off chance that Avery lingered out front, best not to push his luck.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, sure.” He’d tried to win Avery over last night but as usual, she’d turned him down in her no-nonsense way.

He hadn’t wanted to, but he’d accepted an alternate.

“I need cab fare.”

“Not a problem.” The lady was from out of town and staying with her family, which meant going to her place hadn’t been an option. Rowdy hadn’t wanted her in his new apartment, either...so he’d taken her to his office instead.

Not good. He should have just rented a room for the night. Next time he would.

Because the nightmares never went away for long, he knew there would be a next time, and a time after that.

He was a twenty-nine-year-old man, and he’d been on his own for most of his life. But sometimes the ugliness of long ago closed in around him with the suffocating discomfort of a boy’s desperation.

Damn it, he hated his own weakness.

Disgusted, Rowdy dug out his wallet and retrieved two twenty-dollar bills. Now, with a new day ahead, he craved a few hours’ sleep. “Will that do it?”

“Thanks.” She curled her manicured fingers around the money and said with suggestion, “I get into town every couple of weeks.”

Rowdy unlocked the back door while saying, “Sorry, honey, but I already told you this was a onetime deal.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“Yeah.” His thoughts already moving ahead to what had to be done before he opened the bar, he held the door wide open for her. “It does.”

“If you change your mind...”

As gently as he could, he nudged her along. “I won’t.” She’d been a nice distraction, but nothing more. At the moment, he wanted to concentrate on the bar...and on Avery.

The woman left reluctantly—but she did leave.

Just as they all did.

And that’s the way he wanted it. Usually. But odd as it seemed, even though they hadn’t yet hit the sheets, he enjoyed Avery’s company.

Hell, he liked it so much that he’d made her the bartender as soon as he’d bought the bar. If he wanted her to stick around—and he did—there’d have to be no more sex in the office.

Unless it was sex with Avery.

And wasn’t that one hell of a nice idea?

* * *

IN THE PAST year, Avery had learned all sorts of things about herself. She was stronger than she’d ever realized. More determined. More resilient.

But it took every bit of her confidence to walk back into that bar before her shift. She couldn’t rid her brain of the darkly sensual image of Rowdy involved in such an intimate act. How he’d looked, how he’d sounded. So hot.

Being honest with herself, she knew that jealousy ran hand in hand with curiosity. They didn’t have an agreement, so he hadn’t betrayed her in any way. But she still felt...a lot.

Rowdy lived life by his own rules. How freeing might that be?

He took care of his business and accepted his responsibilities, but when it came to personal relationships, he avoided commitments and instead indulged a healthy sexual appetite. She wasn’t as pathetically naive now as she’d been a year ago, but she knew a badass bad boy like Rowdy was so far out of her realm of experience that it left her dizzy.

She couldn’t play with him without getting burned. She couldn’t indulge him without risking a broken heart.

Sadly, there wasn’t anything she could do with him—except work—so she might as well put anything more intimate from her mind.

But now that she’d seen him during a release...

No, Avery told herself, stop thinking about it!

Not even Rowdy was around when she returned and began rushing through her setup. She had enough to do that for a while, she managed not to stew.

At 3:00 p.m., only half an hour before he needed to open the doors, Rowdy strode in. Wearing faded jeans and a black T-shirt, freshly showered and with his hair still damp, he looked as delicious as ever.

She braced herself for the inevitable awkwardness, what Rowdy would say, what she would say.

It didn’t happen.

Rowdy went right to work setting up. Jones, the newly hired cook, and Ella, one of the three waitresses, also bustled about. The prep work kept them all too busy for chitchat.