Exquisite.

And she has no clue.

“Willow?” I question, hoping I can get her eyes back on me.

I watch as her shoulders straighten and her gaze leaves its study of the busy traffic on I-85. She visibly collects herself before turning and finally giving me those eyes.

“Kane,” I tell her and hold my hand out toward her.

She jumps, looking back and forth between my hand and my face for a few beats before timidly placing her palm against mine with a small laugh.

“Will—” Pausing, she clears her throat before continuing. “Willow. As you obviously already know.” She offers a little sass I wasn’t expecting, betraying her unease.

“Yeah, that I do.” My fingers rub the inside of her wrist and a fire-like whisper burns up my arm just from that small contact. Not unaffected herself, I watch her body shudder slightly.

Nice, Kane.

We don’t speak, and I don’t make any moves to release her hand. It doesn’t take long for her pale cheeks to start turning pink and for those eyes to drift from mine. Embarrassing her again is the last thing I want to do, the very last. I release her hand, feeling the loss of her touch instantly.

“I apologize for not being able to meet you in the airport. It would have been a disaster had I stepped out of the truck.”

I get her eyes quickly before she looks down at her hands now resting in her lap. “I understand. It wouldn’t be good to be seen with me … I mean us,” she softly says.

What was that?

“I’m afraid you have the wrong impression of me, Willow. It’s me not wanting to start a madhouse when I’m recognized. It has nothing to do with being seen with anyone. Have no doubts that being seen with you wouldn’t cause me the least bit of unease. We should probably clear that up right now. You’re going to see a lot of me, Willow,” I tell her. Unwilling to be bereft of her touch, I reach out to pull one of her worrying hands from her lap and grasp it between mine again. I notice the difference as I turn her hand over to study how delicate her tiny hands look between my rough, long fingers. “I can tell you’re nervous, but at the risk of making you more uncomfortable, I’ll just lay it out there. I want you, Willow. And I intend to have you, so you should probably get the thought that I don’t want to be seen with you right out of your head. I will be seen with you.”

She gasps and moves to pull her hand from mine, but I don’t let go.

“I can tell you are either not used to men being so blunt or you are genuinely unaware of the spell you’ve cast on me. I know you feel it too, Willow. A connection that strong can’t be a fluke, nor can it be one-sided.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she evades.

“Your eyes,” I tell her.

“Excuse me?”

“Your eyes. They don’t lie. The last two times we’ve been in the same room, your pupils dilate until they almost completely cover all that deep brown color that’s haunted me since the first time I saw them years ago.” I watch shock color her face at my words. Choosing to ignore the question in her eyes at the mention I’ve seen her before, I continue. “You know that feeling you get that causes your skin to dance with goosebumps? You can’t sit here and tell me that feeling is a lie. The rush of pink to your skin, the way your breathing speeds up—all of it, Willow. I see it all now just as I did then and trust me when I tell you, I felt it too and it’s been on my mind since.”

“Years ago?” she questions.

“Yes.”

“When? I would have remembered that.”

“Perhaps,” I evade.

Her eyes narrow when I don’t answer. “You don’t even know me, Kane.”

“I don’t need to know you for my body to want yours. Getting to know who you are on the inside will just be the added bonus.”

Her expression hardens slightly and that light pink blush turns a shade darker. Anger? At me?

“So you just want sex?”

How did we get here? I decided going into this that honesty would be my best path with her. Well, as honest as I can be.

“I would be lying to you if I said I haven’t thought about it, often, but I’m not after cheap thrills here, Willow. I’m not that guy.”

“According to just about every tabloid and member of the media, that’s exactly the type of guy you are. You don’t do relationships, or at least you haven’t publicly had one during the span of your career, until recently. Or so they say. You aren’t seen with anyone who isn’t the picture of perfection and that includes your girlfriend. So forgive me, Kane, if I don’t buy this for one second. Did someone put you up to this? Some sort of sick job at my expense? Does your girlfriend know? I bet they all got a good laugh.” She trails off, and I watch as a look of horror takes over her features. “Oh God, did you even really have a job for Kirby? Is that part of this prank? There’s no way she knew. She would never do that to me.”

Her breathing starts to pick up and that overwhelming feeling to protect her starts forcing its way out. My mind races to keep up with her rushed words. She’s right about most of it. I haven’t been a relationship man, but that wasn’t a choice made out of playboy ways. She thinks this is some joke at her expense? How could this beautiful woman even think that about herself? Can’t she even see what I see?

And then it hits me. Each second of our prior meetings. The way she would fold into herself, the pulling at her clothing, the way she tried to move past me when I blocked the doorway in Logan’s office.

She really can’t see it.

And if I’m right, she probably really believes that bullshit she just spewed out of her mouth.

“Fuck it,” I growl, cutting off her muttered panic. Her eyes snap to mine just seconds before I push from my side of the bench seat. My hands frame her face, my fingers curl around the soft hair on the nape of her neck, and I crush my lips against hers.

She gasps, and I use that to my advantage, dipping my tongue into her mouth and caressing against hers. Fuck, her taste is just as addictive as the rest of her. Her scent wraps around me, and just like that, I’m a starved man feasting like it’s the first meal I’ve had in years. I move my mouth to take her bottom lip and bite it softly causing her to let out a moan.

That’s right. Pretend all you want, my timid doe. Throw some bullshit lies at me. I’ll make it my mission to prove to you that this feeling is damn sure real and not some sick joke.