My chest tightens violently.
“Are you okay?” I ask, smoothing my thumb over her cheek.
She nods. “Yes. I… yes.”
“Good.” My voice scrapes low. “Because I’m close to losing every rule I’ve got.”
Her smile is small and shaky. “Maybe you just need different rules.”
I close my eyes, inhaling her like oxygen.
She makes me want things. Old things. Dangerous things.
I open my eyes again. “If I keep going, I won’t stop.”
Her breath hitches. “Maybe I don’t want you to stop.”
I swear under my breath. “Sally.”
She leans her forehead against mine. “Yes?”
I steal one more slow kiss—for now.
Then I pull back an inch, giving myself space to breathe. “We’re not doing this in a half-finished car surrounded by open wiring. I want… a better first time than that for you.”
Her cheeks flame. “You… know?”
I stroke her hair gently. “Yeah. I know.”
She swallows, the summons a smile, brave and bright. “Does it change anything?”
“Everything,” I say honestly. “Because now I want to go slow.”
Her lips part. “Nolan…”
“When we do it, we do it right,” I promise. “You deserve… everything.”
She melts, giving me a shy smile that wrecks me. “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
I angle her head and press a soft kiss to her temple, her cheek, the corner of her jaw, each one a promise I intend to keep.
She sighs, and her eyes flutter shut.
I force myself to shift back, scraping together the last threads of control.
“We should call it a night,” I murmur. “It’s late.”
Her disappointment flashes, then softens into understanding. “Okay.”
I help her from the seat, hands lingering longer than necessary.
She gathers her camera bag and turns toward the exit.
“Sally?” I call.
She looks back, hopeful.
“You’re trouble.” I let a hint of a smile show. “But the best engines always are.”
