Officer, Surgeon...Gentleman!

“But I should never have asked her to marry me,” he continued.

La la la. She focused on where the sky met the sea, on the wind whipping at her clothes, her face, her hair, on the scent of the ocean.

“Clara was my closest friend, and I mixed that up with other feelings.”

“It took you long enough to figure that out. You walked away on the night before your wedding,” she pointed out, wincing inside. She hadn’t meant to let him draw her into this conversation. She didn’t want to have this conversation.

“I’m not going to make excuses for myself, Amelia. What I did was wrong.”

“Oh, you’re so sanctimonious. Do you want me to get on my knees and bow to your goodness?”

A tic jumped at his jaw. “Tell me you wanted me to marry your sister,” he challenged, placing his hands on her upper arms, forcing her to face him. “Tell me you think I should have married her when kissing you that night far exceeded anything I’d ever felt.”

“Don’t say that.”

He stared at her so intently she thrust her chin up.

“I couldn’t marry Clara. Marrying Clara would have been the worst thing I could have done to her when I didn’t love her the way she deserved to be loved.”

“Do you want me to say you’re forgiven? That you were a saint to walk away and break her heart?” She glared. “I’m not going to absolve you that way.”

“I don’t need your absolution,” he informed her point-blank, his expression tight. “Clara forgave me years ago.”

“Ha,” she scoffed. “If you believe that you’re a bigger fool than I thought.”

He was close. So close. Despite the breeze she could feel the heat coming off him, could feel its pull, could feel the scorch of his fingers on her arms as if he branded her.

“Has anyone ever told you that you are the most stubborn female?”

She lifted her chin another notch, but focused on the slightly crooked slant of his nose rather than meet his eyes. “I’m not stubborn.”

“And infuriating,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “And beautiful. So damned beautiful you make me breathless. I want you, Amelia. More than I’ve ever wanted anything or anyone, I want you.”

Shocked out of her anger, her gaze met his and she instantly realized she’d made a horrible tactical error.

Because the eyes truly were the windows to the soul and Cole had just seen how his words affected her.

His lips came down on hers. Hard.

Automatically, she bit him. Hard.

He swore against her mouth, but didn’t step back, just kept on kissing her, willing to take whatever punishment she doled out. Only he gentled his lips against hers, swept his tongue into her mouth with slow thrusts, leaving himself vulnerable to any retribution she opted to wield against him.

She should bite him again.

She really should.

But he tasted so good, felt so good. She’d waited two long years to feel this good again. She leaned against him, her palms flattening against the width of his chest, and relaxed, giving free access to her mouth.

He held her, his hands pressing her tightly to him, his body hard against hers. But his kisses remained gentle, exploring, a mating dance meant to seduce her into bowing to his whims.

She hated him. And yet…she didn’t.

He lifted his head, breathed raggedly against her mouth, stared into her eyes with a wildness in his she’d never witnessed. “You make me crazy, Amelia. Certifiably crazy.”

Breathless, she strove for her usual cool. “You don’t exactly do much for my intelligence either, Einstein.”

He laughed softly, resting his forehead against hers. “That shouldn’t have happened.”