“Bobby’s eyes widened. Then he swallowed like there was an anvil in his throat.“You want me...”She waited for him to continue but he didn’t seem capable. So she shifted and the pain brought him back from wherever his glazed gaze had taken him.“You want me to rip your underwear off?”Given the need to clamp her thighs together, she didn’t care how he worded it. She nodded.“I think I’ve died and gone to Heaven,” he murmured.“You will if you don’t watch it, Wichowski. Just...reach under...”

“Hey, Rhubarb, we may need to rethink our approach.”“No, we don’t.”“I’ve only got one hand here, kiddo. Maybe if I grab the middle-”“If you grab the middle, it’ll be the last thing that hand ever does!”He pondered that as if it explained something. “So I’m guessing then you don’t get a lot of company down here.”“Bobby, so help me, I will rip your arm off and beat you with it, do you hear me?”“Okay, geez. Let me just get a look—” He picked her skirt up and pulled it over his head.“Bobby!” She was actually too mortified to even scream so it came out like a squeak from a dying rat.“Dammit, there’s no light under here, can’t see a thing.”Thank God for small blessings. “Get out of there!”“Tell you what, how about you use your spare hand and I use mine on either side of your hips and we yank together.”

“You know why I’ve always liked your mouth, Rhubarb?” he asked in that whispery voice again, but it was twice as intimate as before. He let go of his prizes and reached up his free hand to rub his thumb over the bottom edge of her lip. Those shivers started again. “Even when you’re calling me names, it’s the perfect shape for kissing.”“There’s no shape for kissing.” She wasn’t quite sure how the words came out. Her brain was completely disconnected and so her mouth had to be on auto-pilot. Which explained why it didn’t do anything when his eyes closed and his lips descended to hers.”

“Delilah cried out, lifting her head. The only truth that mattered right now was how much she needed him. Powerful thighs flexed against her own as he began to move. He reached for her, pulling her up, against his chest, his hands clasping her breasts, mouth open on the back of her neck. He drew hard, pumping up into her relentlessly, meeting her rocking motion back to him. Her head fell back on his shoulder, her own hands latching over his. Their fingers wove together, their bodies moving as if they’d been lovers for years.As if they’d been made for each other.”

“Fine!' she snapped, the desperation to have him growing exponentially now. 'I missed you. Only you. No man could ever make me feel like you do. I'm ruined for all others. I renamed all my vibrators after you and none of them get me off like you can. Happy now?'His eyes glazed for a second. '*All* your vibrators?'-Convicted”

“She eyed him but said nothing. Why did he always have to pull out the truth?“It’s not like I haven’t seen you pee before. Go ahead.”“Eww, you have not!”“Yup, you were six and you had to go and there was no one else to take you.”Oh God...she’d been so humiliated she must have blanked it from her memory.”

“She turned to go back inside the livery stable. The excitement with which she’dentered it less than an hour earlier had been replaced by heavy-hearted dread. She didn’t want to see Jim right now, or even think of him and the ramifications of their impossiblerelationship.He waited for her only a few yards from the door, leaning against Lady’s stall and scratching her forelock. When Catherine approached, he raised his eyebrows.“Nathan won’t tell.” She pressed a finger to her lips. “We’re safe.”Jim stood there a moment, his expression unreadable. He took a tentative step toward her, pointed to her and himself and twined his fingers together with another questioningtilt of his brows.“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if we’re together or not. I simply don’t know. Please don’t ask me this tonight. I need some time to think.”His gaze was riveted on her lips, then her eyes. He seemed calm, but she noticed tension in his jaw and neck, signs she’d learned to read to tell her when he was upset or angry. She wished she could give him a better answer, could tell him what he wanted tohear, but to say “I love you and want to be with you” would be a lie right now. Her conflicting emotions were tearing her apart.Walking over to him, she tilted her face up and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m sorry,”she whispered near his ear so he couldn’t see her words. “I don’t mean to keep hurting you. I want to love you, but I’m afraid. You don’t understand what a huge thing you’reasking of me.”She stepped back, gave him a small smile, and gestured toward the door. “I have to go now. It’s late. But I’ll try to see you soon.”He nodded, but the hopeful light had gone out of his eyes.”