Sitting on the cracked, red pleather booth seat, Pressley lazily stabbed at her eggs, her mind a million miles away from the bustling diner her body was presently stationed in. As much as she hated to admit it, seeing Ryan Morris on Tuesday had shaken her to her core.

Right after catching her, he had blinked his long lashes in her face and carried on as though the past ten years hadn’t happened.

“How you doin’?” he’d asked in his deep timbre.

Her eye had twitched as she fought to restrain herself from spewing the expletives that immediately flooded her mind the moment she had realized that it was indeed him, that was stood erect and palpable in her line of sight. “What are you doing here?” she asked instead, incapable of holding back the sharpness in her voice.

Amused by her obvious irritation, Ryan smiled. “Well,” he said taking a sip from the coffee cup she hadn’t noticed before, “I heard that this was the place to go if I wanted a good cup of coffee,” he finished with a brilliant smile.

Pressley snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well now that you’ve had your coffee, you can go.”

If possible, his smile got even brighter, his eyes seeming to sparkle under the fluorescent lighting.  “Actually, I’m back in town for the rest of the summer.”

Pressley inhaled sharply at the devastating news. “What?!” she all but screeched.

Ryan chuckled sexily as he stuffed a hand into the pocket of his navy blue slacks. A soft dimple appeared on his cheek and Pressley suddenly found herself clenching her thighs together with lust.

Whoa, what the fuck? This was Ryan Morris--the skeeziest, most entitled bastard this side of the moon and certified bane of her existence. He was not sexy, he was evil!

“My company is looking to relocate here,” he said, snapping Pressley out of her reverie.

“What?” she asked stupidly.

He laughed again and Presley internally groaned as she felt her panties dampen. “My company,” he said slowly so as to ensure she could understand him. “Is looking at Avonlea as its new headquarters.”

“I’m not slow in the head Ryan Morris so you don't have to talk to me like I am,” Pressley snapped.

Raising his hands up in a defensive gesture, Ryan smirked. “Hey, I’m just trying to help you out. Seemed like you were havin’ a bit of trouble understanding me.”

Pressley scowled at him. “How considerate of you.”

He shrugged. “Eh, just doing my civic duty.” He then slowly raked his icy blue gaze down her body, pausing appreciatively over her breasts and thighs and causing her body to instantly burn with want. A strangled gasp caught in her throat when he finally lifted his eyes to hers, nailing her to the spot with his cornflower colored gaze. “You look good, Pressley,” he said slowly.

Pressley opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out--her brain fried from what had transpired within the past thirty seconds.

This was wrong. All wrong. Ryan Morris was not supposed to set her lady bits a flame and have her ready to spread her legs wide to accommodate his tapered hips. Nor, was he supposed to be seductively licking his lips at her as he eye fucked her in the middle of her own damn coffee shop.

She needed to get out of there and fast before she did something she would regret.

Before she could make a fast getaway, however, Ryan began moving closer, a soft smirk spread across his lips. When he was close enough to lick--er, touch--he stopped. His warm breath fanned across her lips, making her nipples harden beneath the soft padding of her bra. God bless for padding.

“I’ll be seeing you,” he stated, leaving no room for discussion.

Backing up slightly, he flashed her another panty-dropping smile and made his way out of the coffee shop, leaving one very horny and annoyed Pressley Hamilton behind.

Since then, Pressley had been doing everything her in her power to make sure that Ryan did not stay true to his word. For the past four days, she had been skulking around the coffee shop, refusing to leave her office except for bathroom breaks or to go back to the comfort (and safety) of her apartment.

It wasn’t that she was afraid of him per se, but after having spent the past ten years of her life hating him and then suddenly being unable to think of him without fantasizing about him ripping off her clothes and ravishing her body, Pressley’s newfound attraction to Ryan was certainly troubling to say the least. Besides, she was sure that having such thoughts so soon after her break up with Terrell wasn’t healthy. She had been with the man for five years for Pete's sake--she was supposed to mourn for at least a week or two--yet she genuinely couldn’t give a single fuck about the breakup, Terrell or Melody. Instead, visions of Ryan danced in her head like a raunchy late night porno on Cinemax.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Pressley angrily stabbed at her now cold eggs.

-O-

Seated across from Pressley in the small-town diner, Ruby Hamilton and Leigh Anne Booker watched over the rims of their coffee mugs as Pressley literally attacked her breakfast. Sharing a look of concern with Ruby, Leigh noisely set her mug down on the plastic table in front of them, jarring Pressley from her thoughts.

Startled, Pressley lifted her gaze to meet the young blonde’s wide emerald gaze. “What?” she snapped.

Leigh let a small comforting smile slide across her lips as she leaned in, her voice soft and soothing. “How ya feelin’ hun?”

Pressley furrowed her brow at the question. “I’m fine.” She watched then as Leigh shot another glance over at Ruby, the two of them sharing a meaningful look before Ruby sat up in her seat.

Pushing her plate out of the way, her sister leaned in closer to the table. “Look, I’m just gonna cut right to the chase.” Ignoring the confused and slightly panicked look on Pressley's face, Ruby continued, “We know Ryan is back in town--”

“And,” Leigh said, jumping in “Combined with him dumping you the other day, we know that you’re going through a lot right now.”

Pressley pursed her lips and leaned back in her chair as she gazed at her sister and closest friend. Was this supposed to be some intervention? A pulse-check to make sure she wasn’t so consumed with grief that she didn’t jump off the deep end. Little did they know, she was feeling anything but grief.

“This isn’t an intervention or anything though,” Leigh Anne added after Pressley didn’t say anything.

“The hell it ain’t!” Ruby exclaimed, staring incredulously at the blonde woman seated beside her. “Pressley, this is the first time either one of us has seen you since Terrell broke up with you and Ryan Morris came back.”

Ruby’s words had Pressley flinching while Leigh Anne gasped audibly.

“We said we wouldn’t say his name,” Leigh Anne hissed through clenched teeth, obviously alluding to Terrell.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “He ain’t fuckin’ Voldemort,” she spat. “Pressley Anne, you need to get yourself together and stop hiding out in your apartment like some damn recluse.”

Caught, Pressley scoffed to save face. Even if she was hiding, that didn’t mean they could just call her out on it. Besides, hiding wasn’t the proper word. She was not hiding; she was making calculated decisions about when to leave her home.  When she told her sister as much, Ruby rolled her eyes.

“That’s literally the definition of hiding,” her sister deadpanned.

Sensing that the conversation was going nowhere with Ruby at the helm, Leigh Anne grabbed Pressley’s hand which still laid on the table. “We care about you honey, honest, and we just want to make sure that you are dealing with this in a healthy way.”

Forcing a reassuring smile onto her face, Pressley attempted to assuage her sister and friend’s doubts. “I am processing this in a healthy way. What Terrell and I had truly ended years ago--we were just holding on because it felt normal. I promise you that I am perfectly fine.”

To prove her point, she dipped her fork into the home fries--the only thing on her plate that hadn’t been destroyed due to her mini rage out--before bringing the potatoes to her mouth. She would have actually put the food into her mouth if it weren’t for the fact that Ryan Morris was seated across the other side of Libby’s Diner staring her down and making all her naughty thoughts bubble back up to the surface.

Pressley felt heat rush to her face as she quickly dropped her fork back down to her plate, the clattering sound startling her.

Leigh whipped her head around to see who or what had spooked Pressley so bad.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ruby asked, a frown settling across her face. “You’re making a mess!”

Wide-eyed, Pressley looked down to see bits of egg and potato spattered onto the table in front of her. “S-sorry,” she stuttered grabbing her napkin to clean it up.

“P,” Leigh asked, her head still slightly turned towards the back of the diner. “Why is Ryan Morris comin’ over here?”

Immediately, Pressley’s head shot back up, eyes wide and fearful as she watched him saunter over to their side of the restaurant. Taking the opportunity to look him over, Pressley watched slack-jawed as his lean legs, topped by powerful thighs quickly ate up the linoleum tilling separating them. Clad in a pair of light grey fitted dress pants, black oxfords, and a white button down the man looked delicious. His blonde hair had been styled away from his face in a nice coif, though an errant strand had decided to tangle tantalizingly above one cornflower blue orb. His plush pink lips were spread into a wide smile which only seemed to widen with every step he took.

When he finally arrived at the table, Pressley immediately dropped her head down to her plate and squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe if she prayed hard enough, we would disappear. Ryan waited a beat as he stared at the back of Pressley’s head. Noticing that she had no intentions of opening her eyes nor raising her head, he cleared his throat. Still, the woman remained frozen in her seat, ignoring his presence. Instead, Ruby spoke up.

“How can we help you today, Cocksucker?” Leigh Anne choked while Ruby screwed her face up in contempt.

Instead of being angry, Ryan smiled, his eyes still focused on Pressley. “Welly Ruby, I just came over to check in on your sister. Last time we saw each other, she seemed a bit shaken up.”

Oh she had been shaken alright, Pressley thought to herself, and now she was moist. As much as she hated herself for it, she couldn’t deny how good the man smelled. Because he was standing so damn close, it was impossible to not catch a whiff of the fragrant cologne he was wearing--something sharp and clean with a touch of spice. She could smell him all day.

A sharp kick to her shin--courtesy of Leigh Anne--made Pressley yelp, the pain dragging her back to the present. She shot a quickly gare at her friend, before fixing her gaze on Ryan.

“What do you want,” she bit out.

Ryan shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. The action caused the thick corded muscles in his arm to bulge deliciously.  Pressley gulped and licked her suddenly dry lips. “Like I said, I was just coming over to check in and see how you were doing.”

“She’s fine, thank you very much, so you can go now,” Ruby stated snotily.

Ryan lifted his eyes to look at the younger Hamilton sister and flashed her a smile. Unfazed, Ruby looked back at him unamused. “Are you ladies coming to the town hall Monday night?”

“Hell no!” Ruby shouted just as Leigh Anne offered a, “Maybe.”

Turning his attention to the ever silent Pressley, Ryan softened his voice. “Pressley?”

Rubbing her hands along jean-clad thighs, Pressley shrugged noncommittally. “I dunno. Maybe.”

Setting a hand on the table right in front of her, Ryan leaned in. “Well, I hope to see you there.” Giving her one last heated glance, he turned and left. Once he was gone, Pressley took in a shaky breath before snatching her long forgotten apple juice. She quickly drained the glass before slamming it back onto the table.

She needed something stronger.

Glancing back up at her friends, Pressley caught sight of the curious look settled across Leigh Anne’s face.

“Well I’ll be,” the blonde said softly before taking a sip of her coffee.