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“Smartass,” I laugh, shoving him, and he quirks a brow in my direction, his smile turning predatory as he lunges at me. I squeal and try to get away but he scoops me up before I even make it off the couch, taking us down to the floor as he lies on top of me.

The air punches out of my lungs as I stare up at him, the warmth of his body blanketing me, and his breath fanning across my face. He holds my gaze, both of us suspended in this ridiculous “will we or won’t we” thing that we keep doing. Slowly, without taking my eyes off him, I lean up and press my lips to his. When he doesn’t pull away, I press my palm to his cheek, and he sighs, kissing me back just as softly.

I fall into him. It’s the kind of kiss that can last all night – slow, sweet, but still hot as he nips at my bottom lip, earning a breathy moan from me. My legs wrap around his waist, and he groans as he slips a hand behind my head, pulling me closer this time instead of pushing me away. His tongue teases mine as he grips my hip and moans.

His phone starts ringing, and he pulls away, breathing heavily as he stares down at me, thunder building in his eyes. The phone stops ringing, and he sighs, climbing off me and sitting on the floor as he pulls it out and checks his messages.

“I’ve got to go,” he says when he pulls the phone away. He stands and holds his hand out to me to help me up. My heart hurts when I look up at him because he’s different than he was just a moment ago, and I have no idea what sparked the change. His fingers slip through my hair, and he presses his lips to my forehead before whispering “good-bye” and walking out of my house.

I stare at the door, my chest aching, and wonder if I made a big mistake here.

* * * *

Walking into my office, I set my bag down on one of the chairs across from my desk and strut over to my chair. I was so pumped walking into work today, and I can’t wait to get started. Once the first article went live yesterday, I went through the box of letters again and found the perfect one to do today. I’ve already got most of the response formulated in my head. I just need to get it down on paper.

Sitting down in the chair, I think about Storm and can’t stop the wide smile from stretching across my face before it falls. I don’t know what happened between us last night, and I absolutely hate the way it hurts right now.

“Ali, come here, please,” Mercedes calls from her office, and I grab my coffee before standing and walking over. When I walk in, her face is buried in her computer. I sit down in one of the chairs and smile at her but she just looks at me with a somber expression on her face. Oh, shit, what happened?

“What’s wrong?” I ask, and she looks down, shaking her head. My stomach knots, and I wonder if it’s something to do with yesterday’s article. What if people hated it and she’s going to fire me? When she looks up again, she’s beaming, and I get whiplash from her sudden mood change. I just stare at her with wide eyes for a second, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

“Seriously, what?” I ask, really starting to freak out.

“You went viral.”

I blink at her in shock and then do it again, unsure of what to say. I went viral… what the hell does that even mean?

“What?”

“Ali, the article. People freaking loved it, and you went viral. Three point five million shares overnight.”

I stand up and walk around behind her, looking at her computer screen. “Shut up,” I whisper, more to myself when I see the number she just quoted staring back at me. I go back to the chair, walking like a zombie as I try to process what’s happening right now.

“They loved it?” I ask, plopping down into the chair again. Mercedes nods enthusiastically, looking a bit like a bobble head, and I take a sip of my coffee.

“Yes, everyone is talking about you this morning. Everyone loved it.” She pauses and makes a face. “Well, not everyone. I’ve gotten two calls from Klein this morning, threatening to sue but that’s just icing on a very tasty cake.”

I laugh. “You like getting sued?”

“No,” she scoffs. “He’s got nothing, and I already called my dad and had him get the lawyer on it. He can’t touch us which is just going to piss him off more.”

She rubs her hands together like an evil villain, and I laugh again, all of this starting to sink in a little bit.

“I can’t believe this,” I tell her, and she scoffs again.

“I can. I knew you would be great. It’s why I jumped on the chance to hire you.”

I nod, my mind working overtime right now as I try to understand what all this means for my life. “Is this going to be bad for the advice column? It wasn’t exactly an advice piece I wrote.”

“I don’t think so but I wanted to talk to you about that.”

I take a deep breath and nod my head, readying myself for whatever she’s going to throw at me. She has a smirk on her face that worries me a little. “Okay, shoot.”

“So, I think we’ve got people’s attention, and that’s great, but now we’ve got to capitalize on it.”

“And how do you want to do that?” I ask, warily, not sure that I like where this is going.

“Hear me out here. I want to set up a photo shoot for some ads and get you some radio interviews. Maybe even some local TV shows.”