“You seem to manage your alcohol well,” I observed as I opened the door, and she walked around the bonnet of the car.

I waited for her to settle into her seat before continuing, “I was just admiring that about you. You say I’m the one with self-control, but really, you’re the one who always seems to be in control of what’s going on around you or with you.”

“Except for when you give me those head-spinning kisses you mean?” she chuckled as she adjusted the side mirrors. I smiled back at her.

“But, yeah. I learned a few things about how to drink properly and how to keep my wits about me at all times when I was in Vegas,” she said turning to look at me a touch more seriously. “Survival instinct — I felt that my life depended on th0se skills, because I was on my own, and I didn’t really have any kind of safety net to catch me if I made a mistake.”

“You don’t have the same anxiety when you’re with me, though. Right?” I asked her, a tad anxiously, after she backed up slowly and started driving us out of our parking slot.

She shook her head, smiling as she trained her eyes forward, focused on driving around the tight corners of the parking building. “No, Aerin, I’m far from anxious with you, of course,” she said softly. “But I knew that, between the two of us, I’d have to watch myself tonight. Particularly after seeing you suppress a yawn or two earlier when we were just halfway through the appetizers.”

I wanted to reach out and hold her hand but we were approaching a busy street and she’d be making her way to the freeway soon. “I’m sorry, Harley. Was I the most boring date you’ve ever had, then?”

She reached out and ran a finger seductively from my knees and up my thigh, catching me off guard. Her hand was back on the steering wheel before I could reach for it.

“Any second I get to spend with you, Ms. Palmer, could never be something I’d describe as boring,” she purred. “On the contrary …”

“Still …” I insisted after sucking a breath. “If I hadn’t been jetlagged, you wouldn’t have felt hemmed in, and maybe enjoyed the dinner more?”