“Hello,” he said and grinned at me as he reached his hand out to me. “Nice to meet you. My name is Xander.”
“I’m Liv,” I said softly, my face red as I shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Liv.” His eyes teased me as my parents smiled graciously, watching us. Not knowing that this was not the first time that we’d met. They would kill me if they knew how I knew this man. However, I’d die before I ever told them. I’d take this secret to my grave.
“You too.” I swallowed hard. I felt like my face was cherry red, but there was no way I could look in a mirror to check it out.
What was he doing here? The look on his way too handsome face told me that he was very much enjoying my discomfort.
“Oh, you have something on your ear.” He leaned forward and brushed something off of my ear as he whispered quietly, “Now I have a name to put to the face when I think about our night together.”
I felt the tip of his tongue on my earlobe. I pulled back in shock and glanced at him and then at my parents.
“What are you doing here?” I asked softly, needing an answer.
This was too much of a coincidence. Of course, the answer wasn’t the fairy-tale answer that I was secretly hoping for. He hadn’t tracked me down because he couldn’t forget me. He hadn’t come to woo me. No, of course, my journey into the land of one-night stands couldn’t be so perfect. Of course, my journeyinto one-night stands ended up being one complicated mess. I should have known that, for me, it wouldn’t be one night of fun. I should have known that one-night stands never ended after one night and they always turned into a whole bunch of trouble.
“What would you like me to be doing here?” He laughed and ran his firm hand through his jet-black hair. Hair I knew was silky-soft to the touch. Hair that I’d grabbed and pulled.
I bit my lower lip as I stood there in shock.
If I’d known the reason why he was there, I would have run away. If I’d known who he was at the wedding, I would have said no. But of course, I wasn’t privy to that information. So, of course, my one-night stand had changed everything I thought I knew about my life and who I was.
My one-night stand had a name. And that was Xander James. And Xander James was about to make everything in my life a whole lot more complicated. Because Xander James was a lot more man than just being Mr. Tongue. Xander James was a man who took what he wanted, when he wanted it, no questions asked.
And now that he’d seen me again, I was at the top of his list of wants.
CHAPTER ONE
One Week Earlier
“Liv, I will give you one hundred dollars if you hook up with someone at the wedding reception tomorrow.” Alice grinned at me and held up five twenties in her hand. “Five big ones, baby.”
“Five big ones would mean five hundred dollars, not one hundred dollars.” I rolled my eyes. “Twenties aren’t considered big ones.”
“They are to me.”
“Not to me.”
“Liv”—Alice sighed—“stop trying to change the subject. You going to do it or what?” She paused. “I dare you.”
My eyes narrowed as I stared at her. Alice knew that I wasn’t one to back down from a dare. “What do I have to do?”
“Just make out with a guy.” She grinned. “Any guy.”
“Any guy?”
“Well, a guy at the reception. It has to be a wedding hookup.”
“Joanna will kill me.” I shook my head and laughed.
“That’s the point.” She giggled and collapsed onto my bed.
“Oh, Alice.” I sighed and sat down next to her.
Joanna was our roommate from college. The three of us had lived together for the last three years. And we’d been shockedwhen Joanna informed us she was getting married, two months after we graduated. To Alice’s ex-boyfriend.
“If you hook up with Luke, I’ll give you five hundred.”
