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“Yeah?”

“I liked kissing you.”

His head turns and that wicked smile slowly returns.

“That’s going to make sleeping next to you considerably harder.”

I pull the blanket up. “Good night.”

“Coward.”

I switch off the lamp and darkness fills the room.

For maybe thirty seconds, everything is quiet.

Then Ryder says, “Clara.”

“What?”

“Your foot is touching my leg.”

I immediately move it.

His hand catches my ankle beneath the blanket. “I didn’t say move it.”

I laugh into my pillow.

A minute later, I feel his fingers lace through mine between us.

Nothing else.

No pressure.

No expectation.

Just his hand holding mine in the dark.

I came on this trip because I wanted to do something reckless.

Lying beside Ryder Hale, I’m beginning to understand something far more dangerous.

I trust him.

Chapter 6

Ryder

Clara’s arms feel different around me today.

That’s a problem.

Yesterday, she held on because she was afraid she’d fall off the motorcycle.

Today, she holds on because she wants to.

Her body stays tucked against mine as we climb the narrow road toward the Hale property. Her thighs hug my hips. Her cheek occasionally brushes my shoulder when we slow into a curve.

Every time it happens, I remember her mouth.