“I know.”
“I’m a big boy.I can handle the truth, and you know I’d never hurt you.By now you should trust me enough that fear shouldn’t be able to touch you.”
“I do trust you.”
“No, you don’t,” he snapped.“What do I need to do, Maxie?I’m tired of proving myself to you.”
“You don’t have to.It’s me.I need to prove something to myself.”
“Then do it, damn it.”His expression went steely.“Tell me what you feel for me.Good or bad, I don’t give a shit.Just have the backbone to be upfront with me.I deserve that much.”
He did.He deserved more.
But her throat was choked up, and she was on the verge of crying.She cared more for him than she could put into words.He was the only one who’d gotten close enough that she sometimes forgot herself.
And was finally free.
He’d been with her at the pool, and she’d swum around naked, happy as a little otter.He’d been there when her world had fallen apart, and he’d helped her put it back together again.He’d become her rock.His gaze searched her face, and then he closed off entirely.“I never should have come here.”
He turned and was at the door in three steps.
“Yes, you should.”
He pulled upright in surprise and stopped on a dime.For the first time since he’d stepped inside the house, her voice was strong.Assured.And oozing with just the sensuality her sisters had gushed about.
It was the slither of fabric pooling against the floor that made him turn.Maxie stood in the sexy chemise she and her accomplices had picked out this afternoon.She’d spent the last few hours worrying so much, she’d forgotten about all the time they’d expended getting her ready for this.Roxie had done her hair, and it hung in waves around her shoulders.Lexie had painted her nails, and they glowed a warm pink.Her skin was scented from the lilac bath wash, but her lips were probably bare.She’d chewed off her lipstick long ago.
But she was as confident as she could be standing before him.
The silk chemise hit high on her thighs, and it was cut to cling to her curves.The lilac color matched the scent she was wearing, but the black lace covering the bodice made the whole ensemble more daring than angelic.It was the right combination of sexy and sweet—just like the mixed signals she’d been giving him.
There was nothing mixed about this.
His gaze was hungry as it raked her from head to foot.Both her feet were firmly on the floor.She was nervous about this, but she wasn’t going to let it show.She knew what she was getting into.Her body warmed as his gaze slowly dragged back up, but the butterflies inside her stomach were swirling.
“I like you, Zac,” she said, her voice husky.
His eyes narrowed.“Like?”
“So much, it terrifies me.”
She moved before he made her say any more.It was easier for her to show than tell.Walking straight up to him, she pressed herself against him.His body was hot, solid and immovable.With that uniform on, though, it turned her on more than intimidated her.She wrapped her arms around his neck, went up onto her tiptoes and kissed him.
Open-mouthed…her fingers clenching in his hair…
She might as well have squeezed the trigger on the gun that was holstered at his hip.His response was that fast, that powerful and that explosive.He came at her with a lunge that pushed her back a step.
She nipped at his lower lip.“It was easy for me to make-believe with you,” she whispered, “but when you wanted to make everything real, it scared me.”
He started to pull back, but she tightened the grip she had on his hair and tucked her face against his.“I’ve lost everyone I ever loved, Zac.”
The tension about him drained away—the hard, angry kind.He shuddered once and then wrapped her in a bear hug that lifted her toes off the floor.“Beauty, I’m not going anywhere.”
She closed her eyes and held on tight.When he set her back on her feet again, she pecked soft kisses across his jawline.She hoped he understood.She’dtoldhim she wasn’t good at this.Still unable to meet his gaze, she concentrated on showing him how she felt with her actions.
She’d done everything her sisters had told her, but this had to be all her.
She started undoing his shirt and then his belt.She hesitated when her knuckles bumped against his gun.Changing directions, she stroked a hand down the fly of his pants.“Could you take that off?”
