Bare It All

Unwilling to hear him make excuses for her, she rushed on. “I don’t mean to make things uncomfortable. I wish I was different, but I’m not.”

“Alice.” He reached for her hand, but she pulled away.

Lacing her fingers together in her lap, she stared out the windshield and tried to get it all said. “Even though you seem to have some interest in me now—”

“A lot of interest, actually.”

“I’m not like most women.” And she was glad other women were different, because she wouldn’t wish her ordeals on anyone. “I can’t just—”

“Be quiet, Alice.”

The order got her back up, and pretty much guaranteed she couldn’t go quiet. “I don’t take orders from anyone!” Here she was, doing her best to be clear and up front with him, and he—

“Think of it as a request,” he snarled.

He dared to sound angry! That annoyed her enough that she forgot her disjointed explanations on her possible hang-ups. “Maybe I would if you couched it that way.”

“Please be still a moment, Alice. Let me think.”

She pressed her lips together, but it wasn’t easy to stay silent, especially when more than a full minute passed.

Finally he said, “If we’re laying it all out there, then fine, I want you. You know that. Every damned time I’m near you I get hard, so it’d be impossible for you to miss.”

She was just irked enough to say, “Braggart.” The accusation came out before she could censor herself.

“I wasn’t...” He scowled at her, but the scowl lifted into a crooked smile. “It is noticeable, and you know it.”

More subdued—and on the verge of grinning herself—Alice nodded. “Yes.” Most definitely, very noticeable.

“It’s insane.” This time when he reached for her hand, she accepted the gesture. His hand was big and warm, holding hers securely. “There’s something unique, something very special about you.”

She would have called it odd.

“But I’m not a kid who can’t control himself. And now, knowing you were kidnapped...” His hand tightened. “The last thing I ever want to do is pressure you, or make you uneasy.”

There went her grin. Ice expanded inside her, cramping her stomach. “Please don’t pity me, Reese.” She could take just about anything but that.

He made a rude sound. “Trust me, Alice, pity for a woman doesn’t get me jacked.” He released her to steer around a corner, onto a quieter, more suburban street. “I see you and I react. Can’t help it. I also can’t ignore what you told me.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“That you were kidnapped? The hell it doesn’t. I need to know what happened, if that’s the reason you’re reserved now. If it’s something else—”

“I wasn’t raped.” She startled him with that blurted statement.

He swallowed hard, nodded. “I’m glad.”

“But it was ugly, and awful and...” How much should she tell him? As a cop, he could find out some details on his own, so maybe she could just expand on that. She lifted a hand toward him and realized she was shaking. She tucked it back toward her lap. “It was a while before I managed to get away.”

“Days?” He worked his jaw. “Weeks?”

She shook her head, unable to admit the truth. “The important thing is that I did get freed, and now...I don’t know. If I’m hesitant, it’s because I haven’t felt like a woman for a very long time, and I haven’t been that aware of men except to avoid them.” She studied his strong profile and whispered, “Until you.”

“And my dog.”

Humor wormed its way in past her bleak memories. “Yes, and your dog.”

“Thank God for Cash.”

That sentiment nearly brought tears to her eyes. “I’m sure he feels the same way about you.” After all, Reese had rescued Cash from sure death. But she didn’t want him to rescue her from her self-imposed isolation and uncertainty.

She would rescue herself.

Putting her shoulders back, she faced him. “I might need a little time to adjust, but I want to give you whatever you want from me.”

He accepted that with a nod. “I want everything.”

Her mouth opened twice before she managed to squeak out, “Oh. Okay, then.”

“While we get things back in order, I’m going to stay with you.” He pulled up to a stop sign. “I want to have sex, Alice, that’s a given, but I also want you to want it.”

Never had she imagined this conversation. But then, never had she imagined wanting a man again. Not after everything else that had happened in her life. “Okay.”

“While you’re being so agreeable...” He pulled the car away again. “I don’t want anything to do with Pam or Nikki or, currently, any other woman. So, get that out of your head.” He gave her a hard glance. “And I don’t want you involved with any other guys either.”

That struck her as hilarious, and the laugh bubbled out before she could stop it. When he looked more murderous, she pursed her mouth to hold in the humor.

“Promise me.”

“You have my word.”

“Good.” The car slowed again. “We can work on everything else, take it one step at a time. Starting with that deeper kiss. Sound good?”

Better than good. Her breathing hitched. “I... Yes.”

He stopped the car, turned in the seat to face her. His gaze went all over her, narrowing on her breasts, her belly. Reaching out, he touched her cheek, smoothed back a hank of damp hair.

Breath bated, she waited for the promised kiss.

“Alice?”

“Hmm?”

“It sucks, believe me, but we’re here.”

“Here?” She looked up, and sure enough, he’d pulled into the drive of an impressive house, right up next to an expansive three-car garage. Only a few feet separated her from a nice overhang.

She’d forgotten where they were going!