He dragged a rough hand through his hair and she was reminded of how soft those calico-colored strands had felt against her palm when, in her drugged-up state, she’d found the courage to tunnel her fingers through his lion’s mane.
She wanted to tunnel her fingers through it again.
“I can’t give you what you want, Cami.” His words were quiet, but they packed one hell of a punch.
Her chin jerked back. “And what is it you think I want, Doc?”
“Call me Dalton. I like it when you call me Dalton.”
Her momentary frisson of wariness became a frisson of yearning.
She wanted him.
She’d never wanted anyone as much as she wanted him. But it was sounding like he wasn’t going to allow himself to want her. Or maybe, the more accurate way to put it was that he wasn’t going to allow himself tohaveher.
“And what is it you think I want,Dalton?” Her heart pounded so hard she thought for sure if she looked down, she’d see her borrowed T-shirt fluttering.
“You just said you want a husband. You want someone you can build your dreams around.” He grabbed her hand. She thought maybe his grip felt a little desperate. But she couldn’t say for sure because she got distracted by how warm his palm was. How callused his fingers were. “I can’t give that to you because I gave it to someone else a long time ago, and now there’s nothing left,” he finished hoarsely.
What was he saying? That he would never move on from the death of his wife? That he would never remarry?
And even if hewassaying that, did it change anything for her?
Yes, she’d wanted him from the first moment she laid eyes on him. Yes, every time he looked at her, her breath strangled in her lungs. Yes, for months she’d imagined what it would be like to stretch out next to his long, lean body and let him do all the things to her that his flirty smiles and dirty innuendos alluded to.
But her mind had never traveled beyond that.
Or maybe she’d neverallowedit to travel beyond that.
The logistics were a nightmare. Her life and career were in Miami. He had plans to move back to Montana. He hated lawyers and she loved being one. They couldn’t be in the same room together without bickering.
She’d always assumed if they ever acted on their feelings, if they ever gave in to their mutual lust, it would begin and end there.
She’dassumedthat, so why did hearing him say out loud that there was no real future for them have her stomach twisting itself into knots?
The devil in her reared its ornery head. And with the appearance of that little demon, her golden rule lost its sheen.
Her mother had been right when she’d once said, “The quickest way to get you to do something, Camilla, is to tell you that youcan’tdo it.”
“You’re assuming an awful lot,” she told Doc with a haughty sniff. “You think when we met that night on Key West that I was hoping to rope you into a happily ever after?”
“No.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “That night we were both angling for something quick and dirty.”
“So why do you assume I’ve changed my mind?” She cocked a provocative eyebrow.
“Haven’t you?”
She wasn’t sure what possessed her to do what she did next. Maybe it was her self-confidence and self-respect that needed appeasing. Maybe it was the dark imp that’d sprung to life inside her.
Or maybe it was a hint of desperation.
Regardless, one moment she was sitting beside him. The next she was straddling his lap.
Just as she’d wanted to do earlier, she grabbed his stubbled cheeks and leaned forward to take his mouth.
Before her lips could land on his, however, he tunneled his fingers into the hair at her nape and made a fist around the strands. The move effectively stopping her forward momentum.
Her throat made an audibleclickingsound when she swallowed. After lifting her gaze from his beautiful mouth, she instantly got lost in his eyes.
