“Jasalie.”

Someone is shaking my shoulder. I swat at him.

“Jasalie. Honey.” I force one eye open.

Dylan’s looking at me.

I smile at him, and in my sleepy state, I reach up and run my fingers through his hair. “You’re hot,” I say without thinking.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He leans down and kisses me on the cheek. “I just woke up, too. We should get going.”

“Let me just check my messages.” I grab my cell phone. “Oh, crap.”

“What’s up?”

“Bill’s been trying to reach me for the past hour. I don’t know where Lilla disappeared to, but he couldn’t reach her, either. And she never texted me back, so there’s still one thing left to do.”

This sucks. Getting an earful from Bill isn’t something I want to deal with.

“What does he need you to do?” Dylan asks me.

“I have to check in with the foster home.”

I force the sentence out, trying to make it sound natural. Hopefully, Dylan won’t notice my hot face and the way I can’t look at him when I say it.

“What are you thinking about?” He reaches over and takes my hand.

His touch pulls me out of my past and into the present.

I make eye contact with him and suck in my breath.

When his mouth lands on mine, I lose my breath because I’m not expecting it. The first time, in the elevator, I was expecting it. This time’s almost better, though, and I think it’s the surprise element. I part my lips and let him in. He groans as he tastes me, licks me, and makes me feel like I’m going to lose my damn mind.

And my clothes. I want Dylan to tear my sweater and pants right off me. I want to bare my body and my soul to him, and I want him to take as much of me as he wants.

“I’m crazy for you.” His voice is as ragged as his breath, and he drags his mouth down my neck toward my breast. “So crazy for you, Jasalie.”

I don’t know that I’m going to make it to today’s event after all. I’m not sure I care, either.

Dylan pulls away. “Sorry. I guess this was a bad idea.”

I exhale. “No, it wasn’t.”

“You know,” he says. “Before you work and all. I don’t want to be the reason you don’t get your work done.”

I nod. “Good idea. I’d like to avoid being yelled at by Bill in front of your entire team.”

“If he does that, I’ll say something to him,” Dylan says.

“Don’t you dare! I’ll kick your ass.”

“I know you can take care of yourself. But that guy’s a prick. Don’t you think so?”

Oh, Dylan, you have no idea. What would he say if he knew how Bill hit on us every other day? Although now that I think about it, Bill hasn’t flirted with me at all since the first team event. It must be the woman he’s dating. I wonder if the desert is like some sort of elixir.

“Of course he is,” I say. “But nothing like a little trip to Arizona to make him seem like less of a monster.”

I’m not sure how I’ll make it through work today; I can still taste Dylan in my mouth.

Dylan steps back so I can make my call and echoes what I’m feeling. “I’ll be thinking about this kiss all afternoon you know. Every time you pass me.”

“I’m glad I gave you something to think about, Mr. Wild.”

I smile and reach for my phone to call the foster home to confirm that everything is on track for this afternoon. I manage to get through the call with relative ease. The woman I speak with is pleasant and polite, and she makes it easy for me to pretend like I was never one of the kids we’re discussing. Sort of easy. Inside, I’m fighting emotions I typically bury. But I hang up with her quickly and send the good news over to Bill, who texts me back a hands clapping emoticon.

Bill’s never used emoticons before. I didn’t know he knew the symbol for happy. But I guess there’s always a first time.

I grab my purse, and we leave the room.