A Lot Like Home

At least she thought she did. Her mouth ended up a little busy as he took it in another searing kiss that left the one on the balcony last night in the dust. Every nerve ending in her body sizzled.

So this was Caleb showing her how a real man acted when he liked a woman. It was far more delicious than she would have anticipated, and she’d done a lot of anticipating. She’d have sworn he’d been spouting that nonsense about showing a woman how much he wanted her to throw her off guard. Well, mission accomplished.

When he finally ended that humdinger of a kiss, she regained none of her balance. His gaze was smoky and laced with heat and meaning, and she hardly knew which way was up.

“Um, hi,” she croaked, and for some reason that made him laugh.

“Hi.” He feathered a thumb across her forehead to smooth back a strand of hair that hadn’t been bothering her at all. He bothered her. More than she’d have ever admitted.

And she had no barrier against it. Not anymore since she’d stupidly confessed the truth about the fake engagement. She shouldn’t have kissed him, and she certainly should have been the one to step back this morning. Except he got her brain all twisted up, which was the only excuse she had for allowing any of this.

She wrenched out of his arms and nearly whimpered at how fast his heat vanished from her body. “I wasn’t expecting to pick up where we left off last night. I—”

“Am not in charge today,” he reminded her with a quirked eyebrow. “I asked you to meet me this morning so we could spend the day together with no fiancé between us. That includes you not jumping on the control-freak train. Relax and let me.”

Let him what, exactly? That sounded like a recipe for heartache in her future. This was the part where she should tell him her time in Superstition Springs had an expiration date. She had to find a job since the shopping center was not going to be it. How she’d make it up to Serenity and Aria for sloughing them off like dead weight, she had no clue.

“I thought you were going to take me on a real date,” she said, and holy cow, where had that come from? And in such a throaty, needy voice too. Fix it. “Which I have not agreed to, by the way—”

“Havana.” He said her name with such authority that she instinctively shut up. “We’re going to do something you love today, I promise. Also, I need you to be on board. With everything. If you don’t want to spend the day with me, then why are you here?”

Curiosity. Which was a cop-out. She had to own her decisions. “You said you needed me to make your plan work. Tell me more about that.”

Not that she was considering it, exactly.

He nodded once. “I will. That’s what today is about, which I’ll get to in a minute. We need to address item number one on the agenda first. If you don’t want me to kiss you, say so now.”

Her mouth opened. She tried to speak. Nothing came out. Ugh. Apparently she couldn’t say that. Fine time for an honest streak to show up. She’d had zero problem lying to everyone about Damian being her fiancé, but when it really mattered, she couldn’t squeak out one little phrase that would save her sanity—I don’t want you to kiss me.

The problem was that she did want him to. A lot. So maybe she could let it ride and see how that went.

“I need you to say it, Havana,” he advised her. “Out loud. This is not optional.”

Fine. “Kissing you is not the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

“That’s not consent. Either you told me the truth about Scott and your fake engagement because you wanted to see where things might go between us or you didn’t. Which is it?”

“I explained why I did that,” she spat out in frustration. “Because I don’t know how to let go. Maybe I need you to take control so I don’t have to figure it out.”

He raised his brows. “Sorry. It doesn’t work like that. I’m not the kind of guy who can force a woman to accept my attentions. I thought you wanted me to kiss you, but then I got a distinct back-off vibe. Both times. You’re going to have to do better than that. So I’ll make you a deal. I won’t kiss you again. The next time, you’re going to have to initiate it.”

Oh, he’d like that wouldn’t he? Giving her all the control. That was fighting dirty, plain and simple. “Maybe I will.”

“Fine. I’ll be waiting.”

They eyed each other, sensual tension swirling between them, prickling the hair on her skin until she couldn’t stand it any longer. She reached out and curled her hand around a fistful of his shirt, yanking him forward until their mouths collided.

This kiss unfurled inside her, loosening everything that had grown tight and confused as he forced her to think about what she really wanted. He let her kiss him, eagerly lapping it all up but not taking over.

It was glorious.

Finally she pushed back and shot him a smug smile. “Satisfied?”

“Not even close,” he growled, his meaning rocketing through her instantly—he wanted so much more from her, things she didn’t fully understand but desperately wanted to. “But we can be done for now. To be clear, I will kiss you again.”

“I’m on board, as instructed,” she ground out. What else could she do to please his highness? Honestly the man infuriated her so much more than he turned her on. Sometimes. “Where are you taking me?”

“On a journey called option B,” he said cryptically and hustled her outside to the street.