She’dbeenin love with him since the eighth grade. And neither time nor distance had done anything to squelch that love. On the contrary, it had only grown.
“Hannah.” He shook his head, his expression pained.
“It’s okay.” She ignored the agony that sliced through her heart. “I get it. You’ve never felt about me the way I felt about you. I’m a big girl. I can take rejection. Just…lay off the big brother schtick, okay? It makes me feel small and ineffectual. You might look at me and see a thirteen-year-old girl. But that’s not how I want the rest of the world to see me.”
“That’s the problem, though,” he muttered so lowly that were it not for the oppressive quiet in the tunnel, she might not have heard him at all.
She frowned. “It’s a problem that I don’t want the rest of the world to—”
“No.” He sliced a hand through the air with enough vehemence to have her blinking. “The problem is Idon’tsee a thirteen-year-old girl when I look at you. I’vetried. I’ve told myself that’s how Ishouldsee you.”
She was too scared to hope, so she simply looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to elaborate. To her complete frustration, he remained mute. Just stood there glowering at her like she should be able to read his mind.
Shaking her head, she muttered, “I swear on all that’s holy, trying to figure you out is a million times harder than untangling code and unmasking cyber villains. You are a mystery wrapped in an enigma covered in facial hair.”
“Well, let me clear things up.” He stomped toward her, his biker bootsthumpingagainst the concrete floor with enough force to make each step rumble down into the tunnel like thunder.
“What…?” Instinct had her stumbling back until her spine hit the brick wall and there was nowhere left to run. He looked like he wanted to bend her over his knee and spank her ass. Either that or—
Her thoughts came to a halt at the same time he did. The tips of his biker boots touched her sock-covered toes. He pressed his palms flat against the wall on either side of her head.
“Sam?” she squeaked when he brought his face level with hers. “I didn’t mean to upset you or—”
“You’re playing with fire here, Hannah.” His words were low. A warning. But what was he warning her of?
And then, she knew.
Or, at least, shethoughtshe did.
Was he…?
Did he…?
When his steely gaze tracked down to her mouth, she had her answer.
Holy shit! He’s going to kiss me!
He’d always had the ability to hyper-focus. It’s what made him such a great pitcher in high school. He could drown out the sound of the heckling crowd, ignore the merciless heat of the high-summer sun on his shoulders, and concentrate on one single, solitary action. She assumed it was that same ability that’d turned him into a decorated marksman after he joined the Marines.
Never hadshebeen the center of all that eagle-eyed focus, however. Now that she was, she could say with one-hundred-percent certainty, it was intoxicating.
“Fire doesn’t scare me, Sam.” Her voice was a bare whisper. “Fire can be fun.”
“It also burns, Hannah.” His words were gruff.
For the first time ever, when the urge struck she didn’t stop herself from reaching for him. She framed his jaw, felt the deceptive softness of his beard against her palms, and listened to the shaky breath that leaked out of him at her touch.
Hewantedher.
She barely dared to believe it. But there was no denying the hungry look in his eyes. The way his pulse hammered in his throat. How his gaze stayed glued to her mouth when she spoke.
“True.” She felt breathless and over-oxygenated all at the same time. “But what’s life without a little risk, right?”
He sounded like a bear then. A big, growly grizzly. And all her fantasies didn’t hold a candle to the reality of his kiss.
When he took her mouth, it wasn’t tentative or gentle. It wasn’t reluctant or tame.
Hell, no.It was possessive. Deep and wild and toe-curlinglythorough.
