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  Jude stumbled.

  “Whoa!” I cried, grabbing him and trying to stop his fall.

  But he was way bigger than I was. We tumbled sideways off the walk onto the snow-covered ground with a whump, Jude sprawled on top of me.

  The distant streetlights and moonlight cast a faint glow over us. Jude was blinking, squinting, his face scrunched up. But even all scrunched, he was too cute for words. I was really wishing we’d started this encounter totally differently—like without me coming off as a crazed psycho girl.

  “Sorry about that,” Jude said.

  I felt this odd sort of excitement, like waiting for the first burst of fireworks on New Year’s Eve. It was strange. We weren’t doing anything and yet anticipation sparked through me. It was weird. I’d never felt this way with Rick.

  But the snow was beginning to melt through my black pants. So as much as I hated to end this moment of having a hunk so near, I said, “Uh, you know what? We can get inside more quickly if you get off me.”

  “Oh, right, sorry. I can barely think through this hideous pain.”

  “Is it really that bad?” I asked, horrified at the thought. What if I’d sprayed too much? What if I needed to take him to the emergency room?

  “Nah, my eyes are just feeling like they’re on fire now. Before I thought they’d been nuked.” He rolled awkwardly off me, as though he was groping to figure out where he was. “I hope I’m not gonna go blind. Wouldn’t that be a jolly good beginning to a holiday?”

  “It’s not supposed to cause any permanent damage,” I said. At least I didn’t think it was. Why hadn’t I read the instructions more carefully?

  Taking hold of his arm again, I led him up the steps and across the porch to the door. I took the keycard out of my jacket pocket and slipped it into the card reader. The door made a clicking noise. I turned the knob and opened it.

  Thank goodness no one was downstairs. I really wanted to keep this situation on the down-low. For all eternity, if possible.

  I guided the wounded Aussie to the kitchen. The light over the sink was always left on, so people could easily find their way to the kitchen for a late-night snack.

  “Here, sit down.” I pulled out a chair.

  He sat with a thud. “I should have brought in some snow.”

  “I’m going to get you some milk.”

  “No, thanks. I don’t much like milk. Could use a beer, though.” His voice was getting louder with each frustrating minute.

  “No beer, sorry. And we kinda need to keep quiet. After ten, only residents and guests approved by the dorm monitor are allowed inside. At this point I’m not sure you’re approved.”

  I poured milk into a bowl, grabbed a dish towel, and took a seat at the table. I dipped the towel into the milk. Jude pulled off his knit cap. He had brown hair that had streaks of blond and reddish gold running through it. It reminded me of the autumn leaves I enjoyed so much. The skin around his eyes was blotchy. Once again guilt prickled through me. “I read somewhere that milk will ease the sting.”

  He squinted and looked down with disgust. “I really don’t think washing my face with milk is the way to go here.”

  He blinked several times. “They’re feeling better, to be honest. I think the blinking helped.” He nodded. “Yeah, I think it’s gonna be okay.”

  If not having any white in your eyes was okay. They were seriously bloodshot. If not for the redness, Jude’s eyes might have been the most beautiful I’d ever seen. They were an emerald green, deep and velvety looking.

  “You’re prettier than your picture,” Jude said.

  I realized he’d been studying me as closely as I was him. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. “My picture?”

  “Yeah, Rick sent me a picture of you. You know. We exchanged photos, tried to bridge the thousands of miles that separated us. He said you’re the one.”

  I was stunned. I was the one? Then why did Rick suggest we go our separate ways for a while? Was he afraid of what he was feeling? If only we’d discussed what he was feeling! If only he’d told me how important I was to him! “Really? He said I was the one?”

  Jude grinned, and a little dimple appeared in one cheek. It was the sexiest grin I’d ever seen. “Absolutely. I can show you.”

  He tugged off his gloves and put them on the table. He unzipped an outer pocket on his jacket, reached inside, and pulled out a piece of paper. He unfolded it and handed it to me.

  It was an email from Rick.

  Hello, mate! LOL. I’m practicing my Australian. How am I doing? I’ll be crashing on your couch by the time you crash on mine but don’t worry. If you run into any problems, just find Alyssa Manning. She’ll take care of them, whatever they are. She can show you around, find you some cheap eats, make sure you have a good time. Whatever you need, just ask her. She’s super considerate and dependable.

  Your couch-swapping mate,

  Rick

  Oh. Not the one in a romantic sense, and I couldn’t believe the best compliment he could give me was that I’m considerate. But more shocking was the fact that his letter contained more words than Rick usually spoke to me in an entire day. When his fingers were doing the talking, silent Rick apparently wasn’t so silent.

  I lifted my gaze to Jude. He was still grinning, as though everything was going to be okay. Problem-solver Alyssa was on the job. I felt as though I needed a superhero costume with a cape and a big P on the front or something.

  Why had Rick done this? He knew I was planning to take courses. He knew I’d be studying. He knew I didn’t have time for distractions.

  Thanks, Rick. Thanks a lot. Might have been nice to tell me you were volunteering me to be a one-person welcoming committee to a hot Aussie!

  Chapter 2

  Jude had left his duffel bag outside. I held the front door open while he went to retrieve it.

  Splitting up with Rick, cramming for finals, working a busy night at the restaurant, and experiencing an intruder scare—even though it had been a false alarm—was catching up with me. I was suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion. Once I delivered Jude to Chad—Rick’s roommate—I planned to crawl into bed for the duration, or until I needed to get ready for work tomorrow. Or until Mel called with our spa time.

  Jude came back in, stomping his feet, rubbing his hands. Earlier, he’d stuffed his gloves into his pockets. Maybe he thought he wouldn’t need them for the quick trek outside.

  “Gawd! It’s cold out there.”

  I didn’t want to discourage him from talking, because I loved the way every word sounded, but I put my finger to my lips. “We need to be quiet, because of that whole unauthorized-people-in-the-dorm-after-ten thing. Something tells me Rick didn’t notify the dorm monitor of the arrangement he made with you.”

  We didn’t want to wake up Rules-we-must-live-by Susan, our dorm monitor. She was always slipping reminders into our mailboxes explaining that overnight guests weren’t allowed unless she was notified and approved them. And guests of the opposite sex were definitely not allowed in the rooms under any circumstances. Puh-leeze, she had more rules than my parents did.

  “Oh, right. Yeah. I can see where that might be a problem,” Jude whispered.

  “Not one that can’t be overcome. We just need to…not get caught. This way,” I said in a low voice, and escorted him to the stairs.

  At the second floor, I led him down the hallway to Rick’s suite. I knelt down and looked under the door. Lights were still on and I could hear pinging, like the sound effects of a sci-fi movie or a video game. Thank goodness, Chad was still up. I stood, smiled at Jude, and gave him a thumbs-up. He grinned back at me. Everything was going to be just fine. And tomorrow Chad could deal with getting the required approval and any other problems that came up.

  I rapped my knuckles on the door and we waited. I heard some scuffling. I gave Jude another smile and knocked again, a little more loudly.

  Chad opened the door and the overpowering aroma of a thousand dirty socks wafted into the ha