You can run but you can’t hide . . .

He all but heard the words conveyed in that determined look of hers, and his body warmed with a familiar lust he’d been fighting since the moment he’d met her, followed closely by annoyance. That she’d ventured into such a public place as Nick’s Sports Bar to fight for her cause was enough to put him on full alert, and it didn’t surprise him that she’d enlisted his hellion cousin, Mia Wilde, to help persuade him into agreeing to be a part of Chayse’s beefcake calendar project.

He thought he’d finally convinced the pint-sized bundle of fortitude that he wasn’t interested in posing half-naked for her Outdoor Men Calendar. Since he knew she had a deadline to meet, he’d assumed she’d found another willing victim and he was off the hook. But having been the recipient of that purposeful gleam in those violet-hued eyes, Adrien knew, without a single doubt, that the delectable Chayse still had her sights set on him.

Christ. While he admired her tenacity to go after what she wanted and found her brazen pursuit too much of a turn on, she was setting herself up for another dose of rejection, because there was no way in hell he was going to change his mind. He was doing her a huge favor by saying no. While she might think he was exactly what she wanted for her calendar, he was far from model material. Frustrated by the entire situation, along his unwanted attraction to Chayse that made everything all the more complicated, he returned his attention to his table mates and eyed them suspiciously. "Who the hell tipped off Mia that we’d be here tonight?" he demanded, because that was the only way Chayse could have found him so easily.

Three pairs of curious eyes glanced toward the bar, where he’d pointed his bottle of beer. His brother Steve sat next to him on the left, then there was Cameron, Steve’s good friend and business partner, and their cousin Scott, older brother to Mia.

Cameron, who’d been fighting his own battle of the sexes with Mia, shook his head adamantly. "Not me, man. The last thing I’d do is invite the wild child to crash our little party and ruin my perfectly good evening."

Adrian believed him, though the fire and challenge in Cameron’s eyes spoke a tale of its own. Cameron wasn’t altogether upset about Mia’s appearance. Not that he’d ever admit to the attraction that sizzled to life whenever the two were in the same room.

Adrian’s gaze shifted to Steve’s, and his older brother held up his hands in defense. "Hey, I haven’t spoken to Mia all week."

Which left Scott, and judging by the sheepish look on his cousin’s face, Adrian rightly assumed the man was responsible for this interesting turn of events. "‘fess up, Scotty-boy," Adrian said.

Scott shrugged. "Okay, so I was leaving the office today and casually mentioned I was coming here for drink with some friends. When Mia asked who with, I wasn’t about to lie."

"Your honesty is a refreshing and noble trait," Adrian drawled wryly, giving his cousin a hard time. "Next time, lie."

Cameron and Steve chuckled in amusement.

Scott leaned back in his chair and absently stroked his finger along his jaw while regarding Adrian speculatively. "Why do I get the feeling that your problem isn’t so much with Mia, but that hot little number she’s with?"

Adrian downed the rest of his beer and motioned to the bar waitress for another one, wondering if he ought to order a chaser to go with it. "Because she’s the photographer who’s been dogging me for the past four months to do that damn beefcake calendar for charity, and she’s having one helluva time taking no for an answer."

His male counterparts offered nods of understanding and grunts of sympathy, and a moment later Mia and Chayse were strolling across the establishment toward their table, one of those fancy, designer martini drinks in hand.

Despite himself, Adrian took in the long sleeved, pink cotton shirt that clung to Chayse’s petite curves and snug jeans that outlined the gentle flare of her hips and the rest of her compact body. He’d noticed more than once that she had small but firm breasts, maybe a handful by his experienced estimation, and that was being generous considering he had large palms and long fingers. Not that he’d ever get the opportunity to test the weight and size of those luscious mounds in his hands, except for in his dreams. Oh, yeah, in those nightly fantasies he’d caressed those soft breasts of hers, and a whole lot more.

"Hello, boys," Mia said cheerfully. "Mind if we join you?"

"Yes," Adrian and Cameron echoed at the same time Scott and Steve said graciously, "Not at all."

The women opted to ignore Adrian and Cameron and accepted Scott and Steve’s invitation. Dragging two nearby chairs up to the table, Chayse flanked Adrian on one side with Mia on the other, which put Mia conveniently right next to Cameron. Mia, with her stylishly cut black hair and exotic silver eyes, slanted Cameron a smug grin full of her brand of sensual torment. He met her gaze unflinchingly, the instantaneous sparks of awareness between the two of them nearly tangible.

As was the feverish heat and undeniable hunger Chayse generated whenever she was near him, Adrian thought as the waitress delivered his second beer. He took a long drink of the cold brew, which did nothing to extinguish the fire that had started in his chest and was gradually spiraling its way lower.

Damn her, anyway.

Setting the bottle on the table, Adrian reclined back in his chair, glanced at the woman sitting next to him, and met that direct, sultry gaze of hers that never failed to unnerve him. It wasn’t so much the rare, extraordinary violet color that disturbed him, but rather the way those eyes seemed to see past the footloose and fancy-free rules he’d lived by the past few years. Rules that kept his real emotions under wraps. Her pursuit felt personal, as if she found him much too intriguing to give up on. And quite frankly, her uncanny ability to unsettle him so effortlessly scared the crap out of him.

Thank God she had no clue how much she affected him. And she never would, he vowed, because he wasn’t about to let down his guard, or allow her to rattle his control.

Then she smiled. A slow, sensual smile that affected him like a blow right to the gut. Just that easily, just that quick, he ached to kiss those pink, glossy lips of hers, wanted to eat her up, inch by delectable inch and taste her in every hot, sweet womanly place. Most of all, he wanted to push her up against the nearest wall and let her feel exactly what she did to him.

Shrugging off his too stimulating thoughts, he lifted a brow her way. "What a coincidence meeting you here," he said, and didn’t bother tempering the edge of sarcasm in his tone.

She laughed off his scorn, the lilting sound full of confidence. "What can I say? I’m a determined woman. When I find something I want, I go after it until I’ve exhausted every possible approach."

And what she wanted was him.