Now that Reed was five feet away from her, desire returned in full force, slamming into her like a sledgehammer. He was in all black again, wearing one of those tight T-shirts that hugged his broad chest, and pants just snug enough to outline his long, muscular legs.

And boy, it was so wrong to even acknowledge how sexy he was with AJ standing right beside her. A pretzel of guilt knotted around her insides as she looked from one man to the other.

“The improv thing sounds fun,” Reed said lightly.

She fidgeted with the strap of her purse. “Yeah. Um. Should be a good time.”

A brief silence fell over the room, broken up after a few seconds by AJ’s exasperated sigh.

“Okay, I’ll admit it—this is wicked awkward,” he announced. “But you guys don’t have to pretend you don’t know each other. We’re all adults here. I’m sure eventually things will go back to normal. Well, a new kind of normal, but normal all the same.”

AJ was…extraordinary. Darcy couldn’t think of another word to describe him at the moment. The man possessed the most uncanny ability to put everyone around him at ease.

Darcy leaned in and brushed a quick kiss on his clean-shaven cheek. “You’re right. I’m sure we’ll reach that normal point again. But I actually should get going. I don’t want to bug you guys at work.”

“I’ll walk you downstairs,” Reed said gruffly. He glanced at his friend. “I’ll be back in a minute. Need to talk to you about that new liquor supplier.”

“Sounds good,” AJ replied as he headed back to his desk.

Darcy and Reed left the office, Reed pausing to close the door behind them. The second they stepped into the corridor, a swell of muffled music from the club below met Darcy’s ears, and the floor beneath her feet vibrated from the rhythmic bass line.

Neither of them spoke as they walked toward the staircase at the very end of the hall. The stairs overlooked a part of the club’s main floor, and the music got even louder as they got closer.

Just before Darcy’s foot hit the top step, Reed grabbed her hand and yanked her toward him.

His mouth crashed down on hers in a blistering kiss. Gasping, she flung her arms around his neck to steady herself and hungrily kissed him back. Their tongues tangled in a greedy duel, the heat of Reed’s lips and his addictive taste snaking its way into her system until he was all she could see, hear, and feel.

Every time he kissed her felt like the first time. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to the visceral burst of lust that erupted inside her whenever their lips met.

God, why couldn’t she have found that level of passion with AJ? She suddenly had to wonder if that kind of relationship was even possible, the kind that combined all the wonderful things she’d had with AJ with the sheer passion she felt with Reed.

Reed’s blue eyes glittered as he pulled back. “I wish you were naked right now.”

Darcy’s heart pounded as loud and fast as the dance beat blasting up at them. “Me, too.”

“You sure I can’t convince you to wait up for me tonight so I can see you after we close?” He slanted his head enticingly.

She shook hers. “There’s no way I’ll be able to stay up until three or four. It’s only eight o’clock now and I’m pretty much ready for bed. Besides, I have some errands to run tomorrow morning.”

He stuck out his chin, glum. “I hate weekends. By the time I leave this place, the whole world is asleep.”

“How about this? Come over tomorrow night,” she suggested. “I’ll drink a ton of coffee during the day. That way I’ll be wired and awake by the time you get there, and then we can sleep in because I have nothing to do on Sunday.”

She realized what she’d done the second she finished talking—she’d invited him to spend the night at her place.

From the way his entire face brightened, he knew it too.

Crap. One day into their fling and she was already breaking one of the cardinal rules.

“Okay, I should get going,” she told him. “I—” A flash of light in the corner of her eye had her turning her head, and when her brain registered what she’d glimpsed, her jaw dropped. She peered at the shadowy space dozens of feet below them, the strobe lighting making it incredibly difficult to see, but she was certain she hadn’t imagined it. “Oh my God, Reed.”

Concern creased his chiseled features. “What’s wrong?”

“I swear I just saw…” She grabbed his hand and started tugging him down the stairs. “I think I know who your dealer is.”

The music drowned out her last words, and Reed looked confused as he raised his voice and shouted, “You want me to feel who?”

“No, I know who the drug dealer is!” she shouted back.

Clearly he hadn’t heard her again, because he still looked bewildered as she dragged his six-foot frame through the sweaty crowd.

Frustration hit her left and right with each body they had to dodge. She jostled one man, who spun around in annoyance and yelled something she couldn’t make out, but his expression told her it had been nasty. With a hasty “sorry,” she kept going, yanking on Reed’s hand and hurrying all the way to the red curtain on the other side of the dance floor.

It was the same alcove where she and Reed had fooled around for the first time, but at the moment she was too tense to relive the naughty memory. She pointed at the curtain, then pinned Reed with an urgent look. “He’s in there!”