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about Gage stealing her away in the middle of the night and ripping her clothes off now seemed less shameful and more and more possible. All of her dirty little daydreams seemed that way now. She just had to convince him.
    “Hey, can I um, get you another coffee, or maybe something to eat?”
    Zoe looked up to see a handsome guy in his early twenties, standing a little closer than she would have liked. He had short, light brown hair, brown eyes and was dressed like almost every guy at college—in worn jeans and a pullover hoodie. He smiled at her as she stared at him, and he got even cuter when a pair of dimples appeared in his cheeks.
    “That’s really sweet of you to offer,” she answered, “but I don’t think my boyfriend would like it.” It was the line she had been using to move boys along since she was sixteen. She had no interest in anyone but Gage, and it only annoyed her when guys tried.
    “Aw, a boyfriend huh?” He gave a shrug and sat down across from her without waiting to be invited. “Did he stand you up or did you have a fight?”
    “What makes you ask that?” she asked, a little intrigued by his forwardness.
    “Well, you’re dressed like you’re ready to party but you’ve been sitting alone since I got here—like an hour ago. It’s Saturday night and he’s nowhere to be found.” He picked up her coffee cup and took a drink out of it before he continued, while her mouth dropped open in shocked amusement. “Now, if you were my girlfriend, I would never leave you all alone on a Saturday. And I’d never let you out of my sight dressed like that.” Then he took another swallow of her drink and waited for her reaction.
    “Well, I’ll say this for you…” She lifted a brow at him in question.
    “Tanner.”
    “Tanner. You got alotta nerve.” She snatched her drink out of his hands, and despite her best efforts, smiled at him.
    “C’mon, tell the truth. Is there really a boyfriend, or are you just trying to blow me off?” He put both hands on the table and Zoe noticed that they were long fingered and wide. Nice hands—manly. She had always loved Gage’s hands—they were as big as the rest of him, and covered in scars and calluses from the work he’d done as a roughneck with his family’s oil company when he was young.
    “Oh, there’s someone, all right. He just hasn’t accepted the inevitable yet and agreed to be my someone.” She looked at this charming and good-looking young man, and wondered if she was brave enough to follow through with the plan tickling in the back of her mind. “My name’s Zoe.”
    “So, is this guy blind or stupid that he’s not out with you right now, Zo?”
    “Hey.” What the heck, Zoe thought, it was worth a shot . “Would you be willing to help me with a little experiment?”
    Tanner proved he was no dummy when he caught on and said, “If it involves me getting to rub up against you to make him jealous, hell yeah.”
    Zoe smiled, and offered him back her coffee. “This is gonna be fun.”

Chapter Nine
    He heard the giggling before they even got to the door. Gage pushed off the couch and stood in the entryway, legs braced and arms crossed over his chest. Zoe spilled into the foyer with a guy wrapped around her; for a moment disbelief froze him in place. The two stumbled in, and with a grunt, the kid kicked the door closed and shoved Zoe— his Zoe—against it and ran his open mouth over her throat, while his hands groped her from ass to breasts and back again.
    Even as he told himself she was getting just what she wanted, Gage stormed forward and grabbed the punk by the back of the neck then yanked him off her.
    “I will not be manipulated, darlin’.” He held the kid in a death grip. Without taking his eyes off his girl, he said, “You are not getting your way. And you won’t be pullin’ a stunt like this again, ya hear?” Then he pulled open the door with his free hand. Before he shoved the kid out, he finally looked at him and