Porter,” she muttered. “Step one. Don’t bother getting to know the other person, just get naked and screw the first available rando you find.”
Rando? “The other night I didn’t hear you asking what I like to do in my spare time.”
She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. Her shoulders stooped. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“I forgive you, Dorothea,” he replied without pause. “Now it’s your turn. Say, I forgive you, Daniel, and I would love to sleep with you. I think you’ll taste better than bacon.”
Her eyes narrowed, and he tried not to smile.
Then her sweet lavender scent intensified, as if she was somehow—purposely—attempting to lure him closer, and his good humor fled.
Want her.
He planted his hands on the wall, caging her in. Lust threatened to engulf him. Well, well. He’d never enjoyed pinning a woman in place—until now. Light streamed over his shoulder to bathe her delicate features. Tonight, she’d nixed the makeup, and he could have shouted with relief.
“I’m not sure I believe your apology.” She chewed on her plump bottom lip, an obvious nervous habit, and he had to swallow a groan. “If you wanted to keep your women a secret from your dad, why stay at the inn, where anyone in town could witness your...rendezvous?”
“His health is fragile. I stay close, especially at night. And I never flaunted the women. I sneaked them in and out.”
She glowered at him. “I told you I wanted one night, nothing more. No one would have found out about our...whatever, especially your dad.”
He glowered right back. “For all I knew, you planned to tell everyone in town the next morning.”
“And you’re certain I’ll keep quiet now?” Her dry tone had edges so rough they could have cut the insides of his ears. “You know me better?”
“Yes.” Jude’s report had come in about an hour ago. The final nail in the coffin for his control.
Dorothea had been married to a weatherman who might or might not have cheated on her with a coworker. She had a grand total of zero social media pages, and no one in town or otherwise had ever posted anything about her love life.
How Daniel interpreted the info: (1) she knew how to keep her relationships private and (2) his dad would never find out if Daniel spent the night with her.
As soon as realization had struck, he’d rushed to the inn, then followed her trail to the Scratching Post. But in a moment of startling clarity, he’d understood just how deeply his rejection had hurt her. He wasn’t adorable to her. He was going to have to work for her.
Game on.
“How do you know me better?” she demanded.
Admit he’d done a background check on her? Yeah, not gonna happen. She would rage. Well, rage more. “Maybe I had a little sense knocked into me.”
“Doubtful. As you previously admitted, you like the chase, that’s all, and I’m suddenly a challenge.” She gestured to the door with a trembling hand. “Leave. Please.”
“Leave...or stay?” He brushed the tip of his nose against hers, and she sucked in a breath. “I know which one gets my vote.”
Her gaze locked on his mouth. He thought—hoped—desire for him was rising inside her, a tide she couldn’t ignore. Then she flattened her chocolate-smeared hands on his chest and fisted his shirt to shake him.
“You’re being nice to me, and I don’t like it,” she grated. “Stop.”
“No, I don’t think I will. My momma told me I could catch more flies with honey.”
“First, you realize you just likened me to a fly, right? Second, why would you ever want to catch one?” Her nose wrinkled at the sides. “FYI, you can also catch flies with a dead, rotting carcass. Your own, to be exact.”
A laugh brewed in the back of his throat, astounding him. Clearly Dorothea had a superpower; the ability to amuse him, even while his body burned for hers.
“I’d rather catch you,” he told her, his voice going low and husky. “Say yes, and I’ll spend the first hour in bed making you come over and over again, doing anything you want. Everything you need. The second hour, I’ll make the first one look like amateur night. By the third, there’s no place on your body I won’t have explored—no place you won’t ache for me.”
“Hours?” She melted against him only to stop, blink up at him and bare her perfect pearly whites. “Look, I’m going to give you a bit of advice, okay? Most guys get lucky after they get to know the girl, but that isn’t a good strategy for you. Your face attracts us, but your personality repels us. Stay quiet, and you’ll stay lucky.”
Ouch, that stung—mostly because it was accurate.
He wrapped his fingers around her wrists and caressed his thumb over her racing pulse, internal wound forgotten as he marveled. Compared to his, her bones were small and delicate. Her skin radiated pure, silken heat.
“Am I going to get lucky tonight?” he asked.
Her gaze remained on their hands, where they touched. “No?”
A question rather than a statement of fact. What sweet progress. “I’ll take your no as a maybe.”
“Don’t. I—”
“Too late. Besides, if I were in the habit of giving up easily, I would have died the time I took five slugs to the chest.”
She gasped. “You almost died?”
“Multiple times. Kiss my scars and make them better?”
Now a strangled sound left her. “I... You—” She drew in a deep breath, slowly released it and visibly calmed. “You know what? Let’s never discuss this again. Next time we see each other, let’s pretend we’re strangers.”
“Counteroffer. Let’s discuss this all night. Next time we see each other, let’s pretend we’re lovers and we’re allergic to our clothing.”
Her lips pursed. “I’m not playing games with you, Daniel.”
“Not yet.” He ghosted his knuckles along the curve of her jaw, relishing her softness and warmth. “But soon, I hope.”
She leaned into him, realized what she’d done and batted his hand away. “Your sudden desire for me—”
“Trust me, it isn’t sudden.”
“—is insulting,” she finished. “Wait.” She shook her head, as if she needed to reset her brain and replay his words. “What?”
Why not tell her about the first time? “I remember driving past your bus stop one morning back in high school. You were watching your feet as you kicked a pebble. The rumble of my truck’s engine drew your attention, and you glanced up, smiled shyly. You even blushed.” Just like now, this moment. “I
