Heat crashes through me, and I step backward instinctively—except there’s a wall there. He follows. Not touching. But close enough I feel every ounce of restraint vibrating off him. My fingers curl into the hem of my wet shirt.
“Don’t do that,” he says.
“Do what?”
“Touch your shirt like that.”
“I didn’t?—”
“Yes, you did.”
I swallow. “It’s wet.”
“I know.”
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“Same.”
The room crackles with tension. His gaze drifts to my mouth. “You should go home.”
“Oh,” I whisper.
“Not because I want you to,” he adds quickly. “Because I don’t want an audience next time you walk in here looking like that.”
My stomach flips violently. “Next time?”
He nods once. “Yeah. Next time.”
Before I can respond, a distant voice yells: “CAP! YOU GOOD IN THERE?”
Saxon closes his eyes for a beat. “I am going to kill Rowan.”
I smile. “No you’re not.”
“I’ll try.”
I laugh, and something in his expression softens—barely.
“You’re freezing,” he murmurs. “Come on.”
He opens the door, shielding me from view as best he can, then escorts me back to the bay.
Junie runs toward us immediately. “Mommy! Did Captain Saxon fix you?”
He groans. “Jesus.”
I grin. “Not exactly.”
Rowan yells, “Looks like he tried!”
Saxon glares so intensely Rowan actually hides behind the engine.
But I see it—the warmth in his eyes, the way he watches me walk like the tension is killing him. And killing me too. We’re both pretending this thing between us is manageable but it’s not. It’s heat. And fire. And friction that wants to burn everything down.
And as I buckle Junie into her car seat and see Saxon watching from the bay with his jaw tight and his hand flexing at his side, I know one thing for certain: This fake engagement is only getting hotter.
Chapter Ten
