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“We weren’t arguing,” I said with a wink. “I was merely pointing out all the myriad ways in which you were wrong.”

“Did you wink at me again? Shay Honeycutt, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were flirting with me.”

Heat rose to my cheeks at once. “What? No! I⁠—”

He pushed off the jamb and stepped closer. “There it is.” His finger traced the line of my cheekbone, and his words slurred like he’d taken a hit of some potent drug. “I used to live for these blushes.”

The silvery blue nearly disappeared behind his expanding pupils. How did we get so close? The heat from his body radiated toward mine, breaking a sweat under my clothes, and I wanted to strip off my jacket for relief.

My voice dropped to a near whisper. “You did?”

He nodded, and his finger dipped below my chin, angling my face up.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” I asked.

“Fear.”

I almost laughed. This self-contained man had fears? “Of what?”

“My father. Myself. Rejection.”

His father made sense—the man was the scariest person I’d ever met—but rejection? What woman of sound mind would reject him? Yet that was even less confusing than—“What do you mean ‘yourself’?”

We were only inches apart, and his knuckle slid down my throat. “You have no idea, do you?”

I was adrift in this conversation, missing key points that would make sense of the puzzle. I wanted him to come out and say what he was thinking, but perhaps whatever fear held him back in high school also restrained him now. Did he long for something more, like I did?

Perhaps I should take the first step. I melted into him slightly, and my lips stretched into a lazy smile that brought his gaze downward.

Wait …

He’s your boss.

He’s too good for you.

Shepherds don’t date girls like you.

You can’t have him.

I stiffened and put a few inches of space between us. The light in his eyes dimmed as he studied my retreat.

The door swung open. “Did you forget your key—” Maribel’s eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped.

Cam backed away, putting a respectful amount of space between us. The path his finger took on my face burned—but it was the best kind of fire, like the trail of a star as it shot across the sky.

Maribel blinked and stared at Cam. “What⁠—?”

“Hello, Miss Sanchez.” Cam smiled politely. “How’s your mama?”

“Oh, she’s fine. I’m fine. We’re all fine. Did I interrupt…something?”

“Mari!” I hissed.

“Not at all,” Cam said. “I was just dropping Shay off. I best get going.”

“Oh, are you sure?” I asked, then immediately hated myself.

Don’t be needy, Shay!