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and looked at her
pensively for a moment. Then he sighed and crossed the room to her.
    “Don’t cancel your interview,” he said wearily. He kissed
her without tongue or urgency—just a lingering touch of his soft, masculine
mouth to hers that had her body stirring to life again. “‘Bye, Rachel.”
    And then he was gone.
    * * * * *
    Ben showered, reluctant to wash Rachel’s smell off his skin
despite the way the night had ended, and dropped into bed, hoping he’d fall
instantly into oblivion.
    No such luck.
    Too much had happened and his mind wasn’t going to shut down
any time soon. Having Rachel show up out of the blue had been a shock. Finding
out Petra knew something about their brief history and never thought to mention
it the entire time he’d known her had been another. He’d met Petra through Jude
years ago, had heard her talk about her friend Rachel from time to time, but
she’d never once mentioned the mutual connection they had to her.
    And Rachel having an interview at the new facility in
Homewood? What were the fucking odds of that?
    He rolled onto his side and clamped a second pillow over his
head, trying to smother the feeling that he’d made a mistake by walking out on
her. He could have stayed. He was a persuasive guy. He could have calmed her
down and talked her back into bed, into sleeping off the amazing night they’d
spent together and worked it out after they were rested and clearheaded again.
    And why, he wondered, would he want to do something like
that? It wasn’t as if she was some kind of long-lost love or anything. They
didn’t have any shared history aside from some failed tutoring and a handful of
silly conversations that hadn’t meant a damn thing. And even if he’d kind of
liked her back then, hadn’t she been the one to walk away without looking back?
    The pillow went flying across the room, landing heavily
against his dresser, making the lamp and a couple of bottles of cologne rattle
as they rocked against each other.
    Ben threw the blankets off his legs and stalked to the
kitchen.
    “Bad night?” Alex asked, his back to Ben as he poured a cup
of coffee.
    “I haven’t slept much yet,” Ben grumbled. He had no idea how
late he and Rachel had been up the night before, how much time he’d spent
watching her after she’d fallen asleep or how long he’d been dozing when he
realized she’d woken up.
    “So it was a good night then.” Alex passed him the mug. “How
was she?”
    Ben slid him a look and Alex raised his hands in a gesture
of surrender.
    “You don’t have to tell me.” He chuckled, getting a second
mug from the cupboard. “I’d’ve thought she’d be better than that. Seriously,
she was smokin’ hot in those heels, braless under that little dress.” He shook
his head appreciatively and whistled low.
    “How do you know who I ended up with last night anyway?” Ben
asked, teeth clenched on the last word. “You went up before me.”
    “Petra told me this morning. And I wasn’t asking about you,
so don’t get all big-headed about it. I wanted to know who she spent the
night with. You know, scope out my competition. For next time.”
    Alex had been his closest friend since they were kids. He
was a great roommate. The urge to punch his lights out was unsettling.
    “Jesus,” Alex snorted. “What the hell is wrong with you?
Getting laid doesn’t usually make you surly.” He went out the kitchen door and
sat on a stool at the counter between the kitchen and living room. “You need to
talk, sunshine?” He propped his elbows on the counter and his chin on his laced
fingers. “Hmm? Anything you need to get off that sexy chest of yours?” He
batted his eyelashes.
    Any other day it would have been funny, but it wasn’t any
other day. Ben took his coffee and headed for his office.
    “Oh, come on, Benny. Don’t leave me hangin’,” Alex called after
him.
    Ben showed him his middle finger without turning back.
    “So does this mean I can get her