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“Why do you feel anything for me?” he whispered as he stared at her back. “After all I’ve done, why?”
When they were teens he figured she’d developed a crush on him because he was Chelsea’s brother, but Sophie hadn’t looked at Braxton or Liam in such a manner. Then he’d wondered if she wanted someone opposite of her posh upbringing and stiff lifestyle. Being seen with the town bad boy would surely stick it to her snotty parents.
But the more he’d been around her, the more he’d seen she was
with him because she liked him. He’d never questioned it until now. Perhaps he’d been too afraid of her answer.
With her back straight, she replied softly, “I’m not talking about this.”
Zach closed the space between them and stepped up behind her, not touching her, though he’d give anything to have that right.
“I need to know.” He inhaled her sweet, floral scent, closed his eyes for a brief second and savored the moment. “Help me understand what you see, Sophie.”
She whirled around, her eyes blazing. “You know what I see? I see a broken man who won’t let anyone in. I see a man who has so many people who care for him, but he continues to push them away. I see a man who took in stray puppies because deep in his heart he cares, though he doesn’t want to admit it.”
Zach listened to her, watched her lips move, and each time she moved her hands to emphasize the words, that robe slipped open a little more.
“I see a man who looks at me with desire and holds himself back,” she murmured. “A man who deserves to be happy, but won’t afford himself the chance.”
Reaching out, Zach slid his rough fingertips over the silky edge of her robe and slowly pulled it back up over her exposed shoulder. When the material was back in place, Zach couldn’t remove his hand. He kept telling himself to, but the message wasn’t fully computing.
Sophie trembled beneath his touch, her eyes locked onto his. “Go, Zach. I can’t take any more of this back-and-forth. Please—”
He cut her off with a kiss.
Zach wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her lush body in against his. Cupping her cheek with his other hand, he had no control over his actions. She’d begged him to go, not because she really wanted him to but because there was so much angst between them.
And kissing the hell out of her wouldn’t solve anything, but it sure felt perfect right at this moment.
Sophie sighed and leaned further into him. Her delicate hands slid up his shoulders and around his neck. Her fingers slid through the hair on the nape of his neck and sent tingles down his spine. Tingles. He’d never experienced tingles with any other woman in his life.
Slowly easing her back against the wall, he placed a hand on either side of her head as he held her body up with his own. She fit against him perfectly . . . as if he needed any further confirmation of how amazing they’d be together.
But that didn’t make it right.
Zach lifted his mouth, resting his forehead against hers.
“Don’t say you’re sorry,” she muttered. “Don’t regret this.”
“I don’t regret kissing you, Sophie. I regret knowing this can’t go anywhere.”
Sliding her hands around, she framed his face and lifted his head to look him straight in the eyes. “I’m not asking you for anything, Zach. All I want is for you to be honest with yourself, with me.”
“You don’t want my honesty,” he groaned.
“Maybe it’s you who doesn’t want to own up to the truth.”
How could this one woman reach inside his heart and squeeze it? How was it that anyone could have pegged him so perfectly?
Damn it, his hands were shaking.
“I want you,” he confessed. “More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. But there’s so much about my past, so much darkness that I can’t subject you to. And beyond sex, I have nothing to offer.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not shying away from sex. And as for your past, I’m not afraid,” she told him with a soft smile. “You think I don’t know you had a rough childhood? I may not know the details, but nothing you tell me would change how I feel.”
There were only a handful of people who knew the truth: the social workers and his parents. Chelsea had known some of what he’d been through because they’d shared stories on occasion.
But having that ugly truth enter Sophie’s life, having her look at him with pity—or worse, disgust—would kill him.
