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“I don’t do this kind of thing very often, and when I do, it’s for a reason. I’m very attracted to you, Scott.” She buried her shaking hands in her lap. Why in the hell was this so hard? He was a one-nighter, not someone like Brian, whom she’d expected to grow old and grey with. “But I lost my fiancé in the Murrah bombing and that was enough heartache for me, thank you very much. I’ve got my coffee shop and my friends and family, and that’s all I need. It has to be.”
    Surprisingly, for the first time since that fateful day, she didn’t feel the old, familiar ache in her heart when she mentioned Brian.
    Instead of bolting as she’d expected, he settled back into the chair and studied her with a disconcerting expression. “The Murrah building, huh? The world changed that day for a lot of people, including me. My name is Scott Carnes and I’m in the Air Force.”
    His profession didn’t surprise Cassidy, but his name did. She’d heard it on the radio just yesterday, that a war hero had come home, and was being honoured at the Governor’s mansion. How in the hell a bona fide hero had jumped from the ritziest digs in Oklahoma City and into her bed was a mystery.
    “Cassidy Thompson.” After that, she didn’t know quite what to do. She’d been clear about what she expected—nothing—and still he sat there, just looking at her. “What else do you want?”
    “I want you to say yes when I ask if you’ll go out to dinner with me.”
    Cassidy spluttered and forced herself to be brutal. Deep down, in a part she didn’t want to acknowledge, she realised there was only one way to get out of this with her heart intact. “Listen, I thought I’d made myself pretty clear. Last night was it. Done. Finished.”
    Scott stood, and she was mesmerised by the play of muscles beneath his jeans and T-shirt, remembering all too vividly the lean, muscled splendour lying beneath.
    “That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, and friends go to dinner, don’t they? Plus, it was my birthday yesterday and I’d like to celebrate it in a more traditional manner.” He grinned wryly.
    There wasn’t a good answer that wouldn’t make her feel like more of a bitch than she already did.
    She stood on shaky legs. This was not going the way she’d thought it would. Her body’s urges, shunted to the back burner for their conversation, let up a strident cry. She could have him now if she wanted, she was sure, but there was no way she was going to give into traitorous desire after her little speech. No way in hell.
    “I’ll think about it,” she said, far more steadily than she felt. She needed to get him out of here so she could regroup and figure out if she could handle being ‘just friends’ with Scott Carnes. It wasn’t a bet she was taking at this point. Besides, they’d have little in common with the age difference.
    He walked to the outer door and she followed him, prepared to lock up after he left. She wasn’t prepared for the kiss that swooped down and almost floored her.
    After last night’s display, it was chaste, just the brush of his lips over hers, but it set her now-throbbing body on fire.
    He pulled away with a rumble in his throat, like it was paining him to do so. “I’ll call you tomorrow about dinner.” He pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Cassidy Thompson.”
    With that, he stepped out of the door, closing it quietly behind him, and was gone.

Chapter Six
     
     
     
    Scott sat in the cab of his pickup, staring at the exterior door of Cassidy’s building. His shaft throbbed, telling him to walk back inside and sink into her warm, wet, willing body.
    Instead, he forced himself to stay inside the cab, replaying the conversation over in his head, realising he’d done the right thing, even if he did feel like someone had tied his dick in a knot.
    He’d been serious when he’d asked Cassidy out to dinner. The calls he’d made this afternoon, trying