“Stop shaking your head.” Malichai regarded Amaryllis with a small smile, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of thick silky hair behind her ear. He loved her hair. “You’re an amazing woman, although I can see you don’t think so. And we have a lot more in common than you think.”
“I don’t understand what’s so special about me.” She pulled back slightly.
He held on to her. “You talk about me helping out Marie and Jacy. You give so much every single day and you don’t have to. You could work your eight hours and leave her. Instead, you take as much off her plate as you can manage. That’s extraordinary, Amaryllis. You’re kind and compassionate and you know what kind of mother you want to be.”
Amaryllis started to protest, but he put a finger to her mouth. “Honey, listen to me. I know I live in Louisiana and you probably get hit on every time a single man comes to the B and B, but I’m not talking a two-week fling here. I don’t have flings. I don’t even have one-night stands. I’m going to be honest, and you’re not going to like it much, but if I want sex, I pick up a woman in a bar, we fuck and then we part ways. I don’t go out on dates and I don’t think about the women I pick up ever again. Most of the time, I couldn’t tell you what they look like. I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth.”
“You’re telling me this, why?”
“Because I could close my eyes right now and describe every detail of your face and body. The way you move. The way you laugh. I could tell you what kinds of things you like, what you don’t like.”
“No you can’t.”
He smiled again, because he could see it on her face that she was so certain. “You’re a planner. You love Marie and Jacy and regard them as family. You like to cook but love to bake. You like old movies, mostly romantic ones, but prefer action if they have romance in them. Your favorite thing to do is read—again, romance. See the theme here?” His smile widened to a grin. “You get annoyed by pushy people, but you handle it. Love the beach and swimming in the ocean. You’re fast too in the water. You like to look at the stars and you know all the constellations. Every single thing I like, you like. Mostly, you like me.”
She couldn’t help but laugh, and he wanted her to. He was revealing a lot about his own feelings toward her.
“I pay attention to detail because you count. You matter.”
“How would you know all that so soon after we met?”
She was regarding him with suspicion again, and he didn’t blame her. It was too fast. He was acting out of character, telling her things he’d never tell anyone, skating along the lines of saying too much when he was classified. He’d kept it simple, but she could piece where the rescue had taken place, maybe even when. She was intelligent. Still, he wanted this woman for his own. He questioned whether or not she was a GhostWalker with the ability to shield her energy, but he knew she couldn’t possibly be there to hurt him. Whitney would never put one of his women undercover for over a year on the off chance that he would pick that particular bed-and-breakfast for his vacation.
Did it matter to him if she was enhanced? If she was one of Whitney’s experiments? No. Every team member had married a woman enhanced by Whitney. He liked to pair them, and Malichai knew that every time he inhaled Amaryllis into his lungs, he was a little more lost. Her intoxicating scent wasn’t what had him tied up in knots. That was all Amaryllis’s personality. Her character.
“You can’t know, Malichai. Not this fast. There are things about me you don’t know, things that aren’t so great.”
He gave her a reassuring smile. “Everyone has traits both good and bad. I do. You can’t know that I’m the one, honey, because you’re younger and haven’t been all over the world. You haven’t met what feels like a million women and none intrigued you. Amaryllis, I don’t have reactions to women like I have to you. I look at you and want you with every cell in my body. I think about you every minute. I was having nightmares, now I have erotic dreams.”
“They’ll go away.” Even as she denied it, he could see her neck and face flush with color. Her breathing turned a little ragged. Her breasts rose up and down with each labored breath. Even her nipples were peaked into two tight little buds. The night air wasn’t that cold.
“You have every right to your opinion, and I have another week to change your mind. I’d rather persuade you now, and reap the benefits, but I’m willing to do the necessary work for however long it takes.”