“You are such a difficult, stubborn ass!”

“Guys like him…they don’t date women like me.”

“Oh, and just whom do they date?”

“Stick figures with no souls—you know the type, size zeroes with fake tits who make great looking arm candy.”

“Please, lawd in Heaven, tell me you just didn’t turn that guy down because of your damn self-esteem issues? Must you make a stop in negative town, rather than booty town?”

“Dee—”

He wagged his finger in my face. “Uh, uh. Don’t pull that one on me. I know AJ wanted you in all your thick, junk in the trunk glory.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled.

“Mimi, you need something—better yet, someone—to get you out of this funk.”

“You call the aftermath of having your entire world implode around you, leaving you symbolically bloody and barely breathing ‘a funk’?” I demanded.

Dee’s shoulders sagged a bit. “That was six months ago. Dev’s moved on, and it’s time for you to move on, too.”

“It all makes sense up here,” I said, tapping my head. “But it just doesn’t seem to get here.” I then covered my heart, which ached beneath my fingertips.

“Hell, I’m not saying you need to marry the dude and pop out ten children. I’m just saying he could be a good distraction—a way to help you see you’re a beautiful, amazing woman that any man would be thrilled to get to bang.”

Although I tried fighting it, the corners of my lips curved up at Dee’s final words. “Thanks for the compliment that was in there…somewhere.”

“You’re welcome.”

“We should probably get back to work now, don’t you think?”

“Oh, I think you’ve definitely got some work cut out for you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Dee stared past me with a curious expression. “He’s baaaack,” he said, mimicking the little girl from Poltergeist.

I whirled around to see AJ striding down the hall with a giant bouquet of colorful wild flowers and roses in his arms—a determined expression etched across his handsome features. When he ambled up to me, I shook my head in disbelief. “You seriously never get turned down, do you?”

“No, I don’t.” He grinned and shifted the flowers in his arms. “But there’s another reason why I came back.”

“Oh?”

He bobbed his head. “Listen, I figured that we got off on the wrong foot with you drying my junk, and I thought maybe for you to truly consider going out with me, we needed a do-over.”

“Wow,” I murmured. Holy shit, was this guy for real? I fought the urge to glance around to see if there were some hidden cameras, and I was totally being Punked. He wanted me to go out with him enough that he’d not only come back, but he’d brought me flowers. I had a weakness for men bearing flowers.

A beaming smile lit up his face. “So, Mia Martinelli, I’m Alejandro Joaquin Resendiz aka AJ, and it’s a pleasure meeting you.” He then handed me the bouquet.

“Thank you.” I brought the flowers to my nose and inhaled the sweet fragrance. “These are beautiful.” My eye caught the card poking out, so I reached for it.

“Um, wait!” AJ cried, but I had already jerked it out.

“Get Well Soon,” I read aloud. When I glanced from the card with its smiley face beaming loud and proud over to AJ, I couldn’t help laughing. “Nice.”

For the first time ever, AJ’s swagger receded a bit. He ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck furiously. Finally, he peered up at me with a sheepish expression, which made him even hotter than before. “Okay, I’m busted. I bought them downstairs in the gift shop.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Dee beat me to the punch. “I don’t know what Mimi’s problem is if she doesn’t appreciate the fact you went all the way downstairs to get her some flowers.”

“I didn’t say I’m not appreciative,” I countered.

“Then maybe don’t bust my balls so hard by giving me shit about some gift shop flowers?” AJ suggested with a small smile.

“Okay, I won’t.”

“Thanks.”

“And I did mean it when I said they were beautiful. I haven’t had a man bring me flowers in a very long time.”

“It was a nice gesture, huh?”

I smiled. “A very nice one.”

Dee’s neck had been bobbing back and forth between AJ and me like he was watching a tennis match. “I think it’s time I leave you two to talk.” As he started off, he glanced at me over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about your patients. I’ll cover for you.”

“Yeah, make sure the boss lady doesn’t find out.”

Dee snickered and gave me a wink before heading down the hallway. I glanced at AJ, trying desperately not to let the anxiety bubbling within me show through. I knew he was the type of guy who could smell fear and use it to his advantage. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet in the awkward silence. “So, how old are you?”

His brows shot up in surprise. “Wow, that came out of nowhere.”

With a shrug, I replied, “I thought we should get to know each other a little. Age is pretty basic.”

“Fine then. I’m twenty-five. How old are you?”

My nose wrinkled a little. “I’m twenty-eight. I don’t usually date younger men.”

AJ rubbed his palms together. “Then let me take your cougar virginity.”

I laughed. “You’re not letting this go, are you?”

“Nope. I’m going to keep on and on until I wear you down, and you finally go out with me.”

“Seriously?”

“Mia, Mia, Mia, what am I going to do with you?”

“I’m sure you have several NC-17 rated scenarios running through your mind at this moment.”

Throwing his head back, AJ laughed heartily. “Yep, I do actually. But all joking aside, do I really need to continue pleading my case? I just brought you gift shop flowers for Christ sake!”

“That’s true.”

“Can I shoot straight with you?”

Tilting my head thoughtfully, I replied, “I think after I gave your junk a rubdown, we can be pretty honest with each other.”

AJ groaned. “Don’t remind me of that.” When I opened my mouth, he wagged a finger in my face. “And before you can demean it, I did enjoy it.”

“Fabulous.”

“Anyway. Here’s how I see it. We’re both young, single people needing a ‘date’—be it a romantic interlude or hot, sweaty sex.”

I turned a strangled cry into a cough. “That’s certainly not beating around the bush.”

“The time for subtlety has gone, Mia.”

“I see.”

AJ closed the gap between us. I stepped away from him until my back banged against the wall. Looming over me, AJ’s dark eyes twinkled with intensity. “You were totally shit-on by a major dickhead and need to get back in the game. The easiest way to do that is no-holds bar, uncomplicated sex. Don’t you agree?”

That statement got my blood up and thrumming through my veins. “Yes,” I whispered.

“Finally we see eye to eye on something. It’s a win-win situation for both of us. You get to fuck that douchebag of an ex-fiancé out of your system, and I get laid in the process.”

“How generous of you.”

AJ laughed. “I’m a very giving person—of myself, my time…of orgasms.”

“I’m sure you are.”

“Then it’s a date?”

“It’s a maybe right now because I have a few conditions.”

“Such as?”

“Being a famous musician, I would wager you’ve gotten around a lot.”

AJ’s lips curved up into his signature smirk. “Regardless of your comment back in Frank’s room, you don’t have to worry about my stamina, cariño. I’ll give you a night you’ll never forget.”

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. “Yeah, that’s not what I was talking about.”

“Then what?”

Leaning closer to him, I said, “If I were to take you up on your offer, I would want you to get tested before I slept with you.”

AJ’s jaw dropped to his chest. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious. You wanted to know if I was free this weekend, and the major tests only take forty-eight hours to come back.” When he didn’t respond, I replied, “I’ll be happy to do the same.”

A curious expression replaced the scowl on AJ’s face. “Does that mean I’ll be riding bareback if my tests come back clean?”

My brows furrowed in confusion. “Huh?”

“You know, sex without a condom.”

“Um, no, I don’t think so.”

“And why the hell not?”

“Well, if you must know, I can’t take birth control because of the migraines I have. So we would need the protection.”

“Ah, I see. Bummer.”

“Take it or leave it, big boy.”

AJ grinned. “I’ll take it.”

“Good.”

“So we’re on for Friday night?”

My heartbeat accelerated in my chest while I fought to catch my breath. Was I actually going down this road? Sex with a stranger? Well, a man who was basically a stranger to me but well known to everyone else—lots of females included. I thought of Mama Sofia and how dead inside I’d been since her passing. That coupled with Dev’s infidelity had crippled me. I wanted—no I needed—to feel alive again.

“Yes,” I finally replied.

AJ clapped his hands together. “All right then. How about I pick you up for dinner around seven?”

My brows furrowed. “Oh, you actually want to go out?”

He snickered. “You really think I’m a ‘wham, bam, thank you ma’am’ kinda guy, huh?”

I lifted one of my shoulders. “I just figured since this date was about sex—”

“First of all, I’d never take you straight to bed—only assholes with no game do that. Second, for you, this is about experiencing life again.”

“And that includes dinner?”

“Yes, ma’am it does, along with something else thrown in just for kicks.”

I found myself smiling. “Okay, then. That sounds nice.”