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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