To Nellie's surprise, since the cruise had been over a week ago, Abel had come by her place twice already. She hadn't been sure if their fun-and-run agreement on the ship meant he'd be running just as soon as they docked and came back to the real world. Apparently, their agreement extended even into their life off the ship. Still the stipulations stood—no strings attached—no promises, no demands, and no hurt feelings.

With a young stud like Abel—someone Nellie never dreamed would show an interest in her—she most certainly could deal with that, even if her best friend Roni didn't seem to think it was a good idea. She was on the phone with her again as Roni continued to voice her concern about the whole thing.

"You're gonna get hurt," she insisted. "You're not this type of person, Nellie. I know you. You don't do the fuck-buddy thing."

"Need I remind you that I'm no longer the same person I once was?"

Her ex-husband and sister had taken care of that. The old Nellie no longer existed. She'd since discovered taking risks, such as the one she and Abel had taken on the cruise, could be fun—more than fun—absolutely thrilling. She wanted to explore and enjoy this side of herself a little further. She agreed with Roni that, before the hell she'd gone through with her ex, she never would've dreamed of doing what she was now doing with Abel, but she was enjoying it. And since they'd set boundaries, they each understood this was just for fun. What they did when they weren't together and with whom wasn't the other's business. She had no expectations of anything more than a physical relationship.

Besides, it was what she needed right then: to be free to explore this and all the other sides of herself that had been dormant for years while her bastard cheating husband so often neglected her needs. She'd ride Abel literally and figuratively for all he was worth, and when it was over, there'd be no looking back. No regrets. What she didn't want to regret was passing up the opportunity to experience something this tantalizing because of the fear of getting hurt. Nothing could hurt Nellie more than what her ex and her very own sister had done to her.

"You're not gonna stop dating other guys, right?" Roni asked anxiously.

Roni was worried because she knew Abel would be free to fly in and out of Nellie's bed and into others' beds—and he was known for doing plenty of flying around—while Nellie sat around, waiting exclusively for him.

While the offers weren't exactly pouring in, she'd had a few. Nellie assured Roni she wouldn't be turning any down because of Abel. She did leave out the part that, while his visits continued, she wouldn't be sleeping with anyone else until she was ready to cut Abel loose. That is if he didn't cut her loose first. Sleeping around with more than one guy at once was something she wouldn't be exploring. It had nothing to do with being faithful either. She owed Abel as much as he owed her—nothing. It was a morality issue for her. While she wanted to enjoy her newfound freedom, she wanted to feel sexy and reawakened, not dirty. Still, she was sure this would only worry Roni further by confirming that, in fact, she wasn't the fuck-buddy type. So she kept this bit to herself.

Lifting a finger to her assistant, Emily, who peeked in her doorway, she spoke quickly into her cell phone. "Can I call you back?"

"Okay, but you better because I really think you need to think this through a little more. I don't know what makes me more anxious: that even though you won't admit it I think you're still very vulnerable to getting hurt, or the fact that you're doing this with one of Noah's closest friends. I don't wanna hate one of my husband's good friends, Nellie, not to mention business partner, but I will if he hurts you." She stopped to sigh dramatically. "Even though you've been extensively warned that this may very well happen, I'd still hate him."

Nellie smiled. "You won't have to hate anyone. Cross my no-longer-breakable heart, and, yes, I will call you back when I'm on the road, which should be fairly soon." She hung up and looked at her assistant. "Did it come through?"

Emily nodded, smiling big. "They want everything that's left."

"Yes!" Nellie clapped her hands together as she stood. "I'll get on this right away. We have signed docs, right?"

"All of them."

"Fantastic." Nellie did a little dancing walk as she reached Emily and hugged her. "I couldn't have done this without you. Thank you so much!"

"All I did was relay the messages and some faxing." Emily pulled back to look at her. "Which reminds me Logan left a very odd message for you while you were on the phone with Roni." Emily's face contorted. "Slightly Stupid. It's on. He said that you'd know."

Nellie brought her hand to her forehead. She'd forgotten all about that. "Oh my God, he got the tickets. I didn't think he would, and now I have to go to the concert with him."

"What concert?"

"Slightly Stoopid with two o's no u. They're that band I like. I even have one of their songs as my ringtone. They're playing at The House of Blues this month, but it was sold out last time I checked. He asked if I'd go with him if he could get tickets, and like an idiot thinking there was no way he could get them, I agreed."

The corner of Emily's lips rose. "Logan's pretty hot. I don't see what the problem is."

Nellie walked back to her desk, lifting her chin. "Because he started dropping hints about us going out almost immediately after he was contracted. I know technically I'm not his boss, but it still feels inappropriate. Not to mention I think it'd be awkward to go out with someone you work with."

"Well you're not his boss, so it wouldn't be inappropriate, and you don't really work with him. You said it yourself he's contracted and you only see him once in a while."

This was true, but with the mixer turning into something so much bigger than she'd anticipated, she'd be working a lot closer with Logan now. And Nellie didn't know if hot would be a word she'd use to describe Logan. Abel definitely was, but Logan fell more into the handsome-with-a-hint-of-vulnerably-sexy-thrown-in category. Thinking of Abel and the words hot and sexy all at the same time brought back memories of his last visit.

I wanna take you from behind. Just remembering his words and the way he had followed through with what he wanted had her puddling in places she had no business puddling while she was still at work with her assistant in the same room.

"Why are you blushing?" Emily giggled. "Oh my sweet Jesus, don't tell me you and Logan have already . . ." Emily covered her playful smirk with both hands.

"No! I just told you I've never agreed to go out with him much less just . . . you know. I'm not like that." The hell she wasn't, but she wasn't about to tell sweet little Emily the torrid details of the amazing time she'd been spending in Abel's arms—under his professionally chiseled body—on him, below him, on her back, on her knees, against a door . . . She fanned herself now.

"You're doing it again and now you're fanning yourself?" Emily plopped down in the chair across from her. "Okay, what gives? Something has you as red and hot as chili pepper. Spill it."

Emily was right. She was hot as a chili pepper. It wasn't something, it was someone, and, no, she wasn't about to talk about this here, especially not with all the sordid images and details that were flying at her now. But she'd at least relieve Emily's curious mind about Logan. "There is nothing going on between Logan and me, other than my agreeing to go to a concert with him. I was just thinking of someone else. That's all you're getting. Now scoot. I have a lot of coordinating to do."

Emily stood, frowning. "Fine, but if Logan calls again, I'm grilling him."

Nellie laughed. "Grill all you want. You'll be sorely disappointed."

After putting a few things together and making some calls about the cocktail mixer, one of the biggest she'd coordinated to date, she wrapped it up and left. She'd been so excited she'd forgotten to check her phone. Logan often called her office phone when she didn't answer or respond to her texts. He was persistent that way. Sure enough, she'd missed his call and he'd texted her. She read his text.

Slightly Stoopid, baby. You and me in a couple of weeks. No more excuses!

She refrained from groaning as she picked up her laptop bag and purse. It wasn't that she didn't find him attractive. He actually was attractive and witty, but he'd only been contracted as a project accountant a few weeks ago, and he'd been determined he'd get her to agree to go out with him ever since. Something about that was a slight turnoff. Sure what woman didn't enjoy being pursued by a good-looking man, but he was a bit too unrelenting. She didn't want things to get awkward for them when they had to work together.

The Hope for the Youth of ELA charity that she worked for now, in conjunction with the 5th Street Gym, was just getting off the ground, so this mixer that she'd been working on needed all the funding they could get. Now that the Ceja Vineyards had agreed to sponsor what booths were left and were incredibly generous about it, they had the green light to go all out. Nellie would be working even closer with Logan now, making sure all the monies were properly handled and well accounted for. She didn't want anything to mess this up, and that included any awkwardness if things didn't work out.

She hated to admit it even to herself, and she certainly wouldn't to Roni, but as long as Abel was in the picture, she didn't see how anything with Logan or anyone else could work. She just wasn't willing to give up the best sex she'd ever experienced so soon. Her ex-husband, Rick, should be hanged now that she knew how inadequate their sexual life had really been.

This only confirmed that she was so over him. After sex with Abel, it'd be like indulging in a rich strawberry cheesecake dessert with loads of whip cream and the promise of no weight gain then giving it up for a rice cake with a dab of peanut butter. She'd never go back to that again. Abel had even taught her that asking for what she wanted wasn't wrong. It was actually a turn-on to him, and if it was for him, it probably would be for other men as well, unless you were someone like Rick, who would most likely be annoyed because he wouldn't be able to just roll over and snore once he was done.

There were definitely things she'd be keeping to herself and not sharing with Roni because she wasn't about to ruin the best thing that had happened to her in years for the sake of protecting her heart. If anything, this was an eye opener and a learning experience. Unlike what Roni was worried about, once this was over, she wouldn't be sad or hurt. She'd be eternally grateful to Abel for helping awaken a side of her she never even knew she had in her. She even felt years younger and more energetic now.

On her way home, she did as promised and called Roni back. Roni answered on the third ring. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Uh, hello to you too." Nellie laughed. "Nothing, well, working. I got the Palos Verdes cocktail mixer fully funded, more than funded since the Ceja Winery took all the booths left. I have a huge budget to work with now, so I'll have my work cut out for me."

"That's great, Nellie! I'll let Noah know as soon as I'm off the phone." Roni knew how hard Nellie had been working on this, but, still, Nellie felt something was off about Roni's usual very genuine enthusiasm for Nellie and her work.

"Why did you wanna know what I was doing tonight?"

"Because I was hoping you'd say that you had a date with Abel."

"Why? I thought you didn't like me being involved with him?"

"Well, I do if it's going to be an actual relationship. So when Noah mentioned that Abel had a date tonight, I thought either you two had decided to make things a little more serious or it's exactly what I'm worried about. He's going on a date while you go straight home alone."

Nellie pressed her lips together, glad that she was on the phone with Roni and that she wasn't hearing this in person. She didn't think she could pull off acting as if it didn't matter as she'd been insisting to Roni all along. The thought of Abel rocking another woman's world as he'd done to hers only a few nights ago, slammed through her violently. She knew from the very moment she decided to give into her desires—desires that had been mounting for months—that this reaction was a possibility. Since Abel hadn't made a move prior to the cruise, even though he was obviously unable to hide his attraction to her, Nellie figured it was the age difference or that he simply wasn't looking for anything serious.

Her decision hadn't been on a whim either. Abel had confirmed on that deck as she stared at his lips what she'd been thinking all along. He'd made it perfectly clear that he was very attracted to her but that he didn't want to piss Noah off by messing with his wife's best friend. With his career and this fight looming, he didn't really have time for a social life at all, much less anything serious. Nellie had offered what she'd been considering for months: guilt-free sex with no strings attached. She'd made up her mind long before the cruise that if she ever had the opportunity to put it out there that way she would. So when she had it, she took it. Apparently, Abel had more time than he'd insinuated if he was making time for more than just her.

"If I didn't have so much work, I might not be going straight home tonight."

That wasn't entirely a lie. If she didn't have so much work to get to, she might've stopped to buy more wine to drink at home alone. She was getting low, down to less than half a bottle, but she'd let Roni think otherwise.

"Nellie, I'm just going to go on the record and say I hate this. When Noah told me about Abel's date, I was seriously pissed for you." Roni hushed her words to a whisper. "Wasn't he just over at your place a few days ago?"

Nellie clenched her teeth for a second, not wanting to think about it. "Yes, he was, but I told you, Roni, that I'm okay with this." She tightened her grip on the wheel then remembered. "And hey, guess who has a date in a couple of weeks and not with Abel?"

"You do?" Roni wasn't whispering anymore. Nellie wasn't even sure why she had in the first place. It wasn't as if Noah didn't know about her and Abel. "With who?"

"I told you about Logan, right?"

"The new guy you said was kind of pushy?"

Nellie rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I used the word persistent, but, yeah, him. Emily says she thinks he's hot." She hoped that throwing that in would excite Roni, because Nellie in all honesty didn't exactly agree with Emily. Her idea of hot was now synonymous with only one guy. And Logan didn't even come close in her opinion. "We're gonna go see Slightly Stoopid at the House of Blues."

"You are? I thought you said it was sold out."

Nellie knew Roni would be a bit disappointed. They had talked about going together. Everybody knew it was their favorite band lately, but it'd been sold out. "They were. I don't know how, but he got the tickets. I could ask if he can get more if you want."

"No. We'll go see them together another time. I don't want to crash in on your date. This is a date, right? You called it that. So that's different than with Abel." Nellie could almost picture Roni's furrowed brows as she paused. "Please tell me this is different than with Abel."

Nellie attempted to chuckle, though thoughts of Abel on his date tonight made her stomach tighten, and a chuckling mood was the last thing she was in. "It's different, but don't get all excited or anything. I work with the guy. I'm not looking to make things uncomfortable for us. So, yes, I called it a date only because we're going somewhere other than my bed, but don't expect any engagement announcements or anything. I already told you I'm not ready to get into anything serious with anyone."

After filling Roni's inquiring mind a little more about Logan, Nellie was off the phone, and her thoughts were immediately on Abel. Except for small talk and a few questions Abel had asked her about the people in the photos in her home, they rarely spoke of their personal lives. The only times he ever really opened up were to talk about his upcoming fight for the heavyweight title. She'd never dream of asking him about his dates with other women. It was none of her business, and she doubted he'd ever ask her about her dates, but mostly because she now knew she'd rather not know about his.

Deciding ignorance was bliss, Nellie drove into her garage, determined to not think about something that didn't matter anyway. Even this wouldn't ruin the breathtakingly little time Abel gave her. She'd meant it when she told Roni she wasn't ready for anything serious anyway.

Stay tuned for more!