“Spit it out. Right.” She took a deep breath. “Okay … so when I told you I had admired you from a distance back in college. That wasn’t exactly the whole truth.”

She realized she was playing with the hem of the shirt and smoothing it back over her thigh. She couldn’t dwell on the fact she caught Falon following the motions of her fingers. Nor could she focus on her body’s reaction to his eyes on her. He needed to hear her story and if afterward …

No. She wouldn’t think about it.

“You were saying?” His body was so tense, like he was bracing for the impact of her words. “You were about to tell me of another lie you told?”

“No, it wasn’t—” Sarah prayed for the calm she would need to get through this. “Just let me finish.”

“By all means.”

She told him everything. About how she had been too shy to approach him in college. How she thought she was half in love with him. About the night she had wandered into his room looking for his roommate and her confidant only to find Falon there. How she had sunk away in the middle of the night afraid in the light of day he wouldn’t feel the same. About how she was obviously right because the very next day he proceeded to sleep his way through most of the university. She told him all about seeing him for the first time at the agency and longing to see the man who used to live behind those chocolate eyes.

“I never set out to do anything more than get you to see beyond that wall of ice you built around yourself.” She sighed. “It seems silly now that I know you. The real you, not that silly boy I built up in my head all those years ago. I didn’t know what love was then.” She met his eyes. “I didn’t know who you were.”

Falon sat motionless on the bed and she feared she said too much. When he didn’t say anything after a long moment, she went back to collecting her scattered belongings. She had given it her all and it just wasn’t enough. Refusing to let him see the tears she was fighting back, she turned her back to him and reached for the hem of the shirt he loaned her. Fully prepared to leave the garment behind she gave in to her first impulse, lowered her nose to her shoulder and inhaled deeply. His spicy scent filled her. Making her long for something she obviously never had. Never would have.

Eyes squeezed tight she began to lift the shirt when a warm hand stopped her. “It looks good on you.” Falon’s soft voice in her ear was the sweetest sound she ever heard. Her eyes flew open wide going to his instantly. There was something different. His features softened, his eyes warmer than she had seen them in days. What was happening?

“I’ll have it washed and returned to you,” she pushed through wooden lips. To her surprise, he just threw his head back and laughed the freest laugh she had ever heard pass his lips.

“That’s not what I meant.” A smile curved his lips. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Wha—I.”

“You can’t just tell me that you are the woman of my dreams and expect me to let you slip out my door into the night again.” Sarah felt her brow crinkle in her confusion. He reached up and smoothed the line with his finger. “Let me tell you a little story.”

***

Falon couldn’t believe it. Everything she just told him. All of it opened his eyes to the pieces he had been missing. The reason he had been dreaming of Sarah wasn’t because he was insane with lust. It was because he remembered her, the feel of her skin. Her kisses. The way she moved beneath him. For some reason the first time he touched her it triggered the scattered events of a drunken night that spurred him on a one-man hunt for the one person who made him feel alive. But she didn’t know that. And the pain in her eyes while she told him he broke her heart, not once but twice, was almost his undoing.

“One night,” he began. “A very drunk young man heard someone enter his room and call out a name that wasn’t his. He recognized the voice as belonging to a woman very recently brought to his attention and who captivated him. Even from afar.”

He fought back a smile at Sarah’s sudden intake of breath. “Somewhere in his inebriated mind he summoned the force of mind to call to her and when she came to him he couldn’t resist touching her. Having her. He had wanted to capture that light burning within her for so long that when her lips met his he thanked every deity he could name and a few he made up.”

He cupped her cheek and forced her to meet his eyes. “This woman. She sparked something in him that he had never felt. When he woke alone the next morning, his cynical mind convinced him he had just dreamed the woman and the feelings she invoked. The optimist the night before had awakened couldn’t leave it at that and set out to find that feeling again.”

Smoothing a thumb over her cheek he wiped away a tear he wasn’t sure she knew she was crying. “After years not finding that feeling I let myself grow cold. Toward everyone. The first time I touched you, Sarah, wasn’t because I was overwhelmed with emotion. It was because I wanted you so badly I nearly lost control. It wasn’t until after spending time with you that I realized it was more than that. So much more.”

He rested his forehead against hers. Pulling her trembling body closer to his own. “What are you saying?” Her voice was so small he wanted to kiss some fight back into her.

Now for the hard part.

“I suppose I was a little rash in jumping to conclusions,” he ground out and felt her stiffen in his arms. She looked up into his eyes. It was when the gleam of mischief danced in their golden depths he let out a bated breath.

“Was that supposed to be an apology?” She stepped out of his arms and he glowered.

“I nearly choked on those words.” He felt his lips twitch.

“Well. I don’t know if that’ll do.” Watching her joke with him while her cheeks were still fresh with tears had to be the most beautiful thing he had seen that night; aside from her writhing beneath him. That thought gave him an idea.

“Want to know how sorry I am?” He let his lips spread into a full grin at the wary look that crossed her face.

Reaching behind her into the bathroom, he removed the belts to the two silk robes hanging by the door. She watched him with wide eyes as he took her hand. Turning it over he let the scraps of silk whisper into her open palm. She studied them for a minute and he worried his meaning would be lost. When her eyes shot to his again, they were filled with a look of love burning so strong it made his chest tight and his knees wobble. He knew he had gotten through to her.

Infusing his grin with his wicked intent and letting his answering feeling flair in his eyes, he held out his wrists to her. He was giving her the one thing he had never given anyone else. Control. He was handing himself to the woman he loved, trusting she wouldn’t abuse his heart. He watched a wicked smile blossom on her lips before she pulled his shirt over her head and sashayed past him to kneel at the end of the bed.

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

Falon grinned. “Absolutely nothing.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Like most, this book wouldn’t have happened without the support of many. First, I’d like to thank my amazing husband for all his child wrangling, meal cooking, back massaging, and putting up with my general craziness during my writing process. The words wouldn’t mean half as much without you.

Second, as always, a giant thank you to my Scribbler Sisters. Without you ladies as a sounding board and make-shift therapists BBW wouldn’t have made it this far.

To Georgia and my GMMG family, thank you for believing in this book. Falon and Sarah are where they are because you took a chance on me and I can’t say thank you enough!

Lastly, the reader. Yes, you. Without you I couldn’t keep the words coming. Thank you so much for wanting to follow Sarah and Falon’s journey.