Did the woman know how many times she’d contradicted herself?

Another knock, and Katarina’s heart performed a series of flips. There was no reason to be nervous. If the date failed, the date failed. No harm, no foul.

Chin high, she opened the door. Baden leaned against the frame, and oh, wow, one look at him made her drunk with desire, her veins fizzing as if filled with champagne.

He’s going to be mine.

He’d brushed his red hair from his face and fit his big, muscled body in a black T-shirt and biker leathers.

Sweet...carnal...perfection.

He had a handful of cuts on his brow and jaw, and his knuckles were bruised, but the injuries only added to the bad-boy appeal.

She wanted everything he had to give. His kiss, his touch, his body sliding into hers.

The breathtaking desires...depressed her. She was moving on with her life while her dogs rotted in their graves.

A wave of grief...a hollow ache.

Baden sensed the change in her and drew her against him, his uncompromising strength enveloping her. “I’ve got you, Rina. I’m here.”

She basked in the comfort he gave so easily, and the ache eventually vanished.

Great! My “weakness” is showing. She pulled back, embarrassed, and licked her lips. Let’s get this date on track. “I’m going to be completely honest with you. I look amazing. But I’m already wanting to 127 Hours my feet. These heels are mountains!”

He barked out a laugh, the sound so rusty she knew he hadn’t made it often. “Aren’t you supposed to compliment me?”

“No way. Ladies first.”

His gaze raked over her slowly, heating, his lids growing heavy. “I’m going to be completely honest with you. I don’t deserve a compliment. I’m unworthy of your exquisite beauty.”

What a compliment! The ache returned, but this one was different, hot and glorious...throbbing. Peter had praised her often, but she’d taken every “Looking at you is the reason I exist” for granted. Never again.

“Thank you.” I won’t fall into his arms before dinner. Well, not again. “And Baden...you deserve a thousand compliments. You are a feast for my eyes, and no other man can compare.”

Because he wasn’t a man, she reminded herself. He was immortal, and life and death meant different things to them. And that was okay. They weren’t trying to forge a forever-after bond here. They were temporary.

At this stage in her mortal existence, a little fun was all she wanted, all she needed.

His amusement drained fast and sure.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, unsure where she’d gone wrong.

“You think me beautiful.”

The problem? “I do.”

“The beauty is only on the outside.”

“That’s not true. I see beauty inside you, too.”

He searched her features, as if he couldn’t quite believe her claim but could think of no way to refute her. With a sigh, he held out a gloved hand. She craved skin-to-skin contact more than water or wine to drink, but she kept her disappointment in check and twined her fingers with his.

Contact hurt him, he’d said, but he wasn’t sure if the problem was mental or physical. Her guess? Physical. Sometimes, when a dog spent the bulk of his life chained up outside with very little human contact—see Katarina turn into a momma bear—his fur became overly sensitized.

If she was right, Baden needed contact. It was the only way to desensitize him. But she couldn’t push for too much too fast. They had to take this one step at a time.

As he ushered her down the hall, she said, “What do immortals do on dates?”

“I don’t know, but this immortal is having a candlelit meal with his favorite human.” With a tug, he pressed her against the wall, eating up her personal space, his warm breath fanning over her brow. “Unless you’d rather do something else?” His coppery eyes devoured her...dared her...

A new cascade of shivers had an avalanche effect, growing stronger and hotter as they tumbled through her. The throbbing between her legs returned and amplified, her nipples beading, pressing against her bra, desperate for contact. For him.

Despite her desire to pull him closer, she flattened her palms against his pecs to hold him at a distance. “You really think I’m that easy?”

“If I say I hope so...?”

“Your honesty will impress me...but it won’t sway me. Let’s eat.”

He leaned closer, traced his tongue over the seam of her lips. “What if I want to eat you?”

Oh, sweet heaven. “I’m not on the menu.” More shivers, accompanied by tingles. “Yet.”