I grinned up at the man that was my closest friend in the world, second only to Dallas and now Lana. “I thought I would be productive today since I ate half a cheesecake last night. My ass was begging for some help after all those calories.”

He rolled his eyes. “You have the best ass in the state, girl.”

I rolled my eyes at him, not taking his compliment to heart in the least. Linc was as hot as the surface of the sun, but he was also as gay as they came. “You want to come grab some breakfast with us?”

“I already ate.” He tossed his shake back into his gym bag. “And I have a private training session in ten minutes.”

What he meant was that he had a private session with some cougar that wanted to look at something pretty while they worked off the lettuce leaves they had forced down the day before. It took hard work to maintain what expensive doctors created. Linc got paid really well for just standing around flirting. The extra tips the cougars slipped him were appreciated as well.

“Have fun.” I hugged him before turning back to Lana and Shane, who seemed to be half teasing and half arguing.

“I shouldn’t have gone back to your place last night,” Lana huffed. “Don’t expect it to happen again.”

“Don’t you like me anymore, sis?” He pouted and I had the sudden vision of sucking on that full bottom lip.

That thought completely tossed me sideways. What the hell was the matter with me? I didn’t have random thoughts like that, especially about sex addict rock star playboys. I knew what guys like that were all about, and I didn’t need them complicating my life. So of course I did what I do best.

I ran like the hounds of Hell were behind me!

Pulling out my cellphone, I scrolled through the contact list and pulled up Dallas’ number. If anyone could understand my reasons for not wanting to even admit to having a crazy attraction for the rocker bad boy it would be Dallas. We had grown up together in the world of modeling, her in front of the camera and me on the sidelines watching my stepsister.

I punched in a quick text for her to call me and get me out of the breakfast I had stupidly invited Shane to. 

Chapter 2

Shane

I knew she was running as soon as I saw the look in her eyes.

Something about her told me not to let her get away. Maybe I was so bored I needed the challenge. Or perhaps it was because no chick had ever ran from me, like ever. Not once since I had turned fourteen had a female turned me down.

The hottie with the startling purple eyes attempting to turn me down made me smile. I took a step toward her as she answered her phone…

Lana smacked me on the back of the head hard enough to make me stop. I turned around to find the girl I was sure was going to be my sister one day glowering at me.

“No.”

I couldn’t help raising a brow at her. Lord, she was gorgeous when she was serious. “No?”

“Don’t even think about it Shane Mason Stevenson!” she growled low enough that only I could hear her. “She’s isn’t your type.”

I flinched at the use of my middle name. Not even Emmie pulled that particular card on me. I never should have told her my full name! “I don’t have a type, sweetheart.”

Her brow furrowed even more. “Exactly! So keep your paws off my friend. Or I swear to all those freaking gods that Emmie prays to that I will rip off your man parts.”

Sighing, I pulled out my cellphone. “Let’s see what Drake has to say about it. Maybe he thinks I should go for it.”

I knew I was playing dirty, and the darkening of her amber eyes told me that I had scored one or two this round. “I’ll call Emmie,” she shot back.

“Emmie?” I snickered. “That all you got, sis? You telling Emmie on me?”

She glared at me for a long moment before her lips twitched and a giggle escaped her. “Okay, I guess that sounded about as mature as a six year old.” She poked me in the chest with her finger. It was hard enough to make me grimace. “Be good to Harper, mister.”

Oh, I planned on it. I was going to be very good to that mysteriously beautiful female.

Twenty minutes later found me sitting across from Harper at a diner close to her apartment. I had somehow gotten her to agree to still going to breakfast with me. She hadn’t wanted to; I’d seen the struggle in those hypnotic eyes of hers as she tried to come up with a better excuse to bail than Dallas needed her to pick up some girl products .

It was score one for me when she had finally given in. It was score one for her when she picked a place closer to her apartment than mine. Still, I found myself content to just be in her company as the morning wore on. I wasn’t bored when I was talking to her, which was strange because having a conversation with a female that wasn’t in my family just didn’t happen with me. There was only one thing that I wanted to be doing with a girl that I was attracted to, and sitting down for a chat and a meal wasn’t one of them.

It kind of felt like a date, and I was finding it hard to remember the last time I had actually been on one. It might have been when I was seventeen with some girl that I couldn’t even remember the name of. She had been particularly easy, and I had scored an hour into the date.

But this was different. I knew I was going to have to pull every trick known to man to get into this girl’s panties, and I was actually looking forward to it. For once I wanted the thrill of the chase.

Yeah, I was sure the boredom had fried my brain…

I watched her lick whipped cream off of her thumb and my brain actually shut down for a moment. Note to self: don’t let her eat anything with whipped topping unless I want an aneurysm! I could actually feel myself panting a little as I continued to watch her eat the waffles topped with the sinful cream and fruit.

She made eating look like a sexy art form. The way she cut her food into small little pieces… The way her eyes went all kinds of dreamy as she took the first bite and savored the taste on her tongue. Even the way her jaw moved in an almost seductive up and down motion as she chewed… Ah, damn!

I had to force my eyes away before she took the third bite or I was sure I was going to pull her under the table and have her then and there! I cut into my steak and eggs with jerky movements in an attempt to take my mind off her and her food. I wasn’t even sure if the food I had ordered was actually any good because I was so turned on I couldn’t taste any of it.

“So…” I took a deep swallow of my orange juice and attempted to get my body under some kind of control, half fearing I was going to come in the clothes I borrowed from Linc if I didn’t. “What made you want to become a photographer?”