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“There is no weirdness.”
“Sure there is. You can barely look at me.”
“Barely look at you? Amelia, for fuck’s sake. I just mauled you in public. After everything you’ve been through, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Umm, newsflash. That second kiss was all me.”
He sighed. “Be that as it may, you wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for me.”
“How do you know?”
His nostrils flared. “I— I don’t know. But if you’ve never kissed anyone, I shouldn’t be… I should…”
“Are you going to finish any of those sentences?”
He made a growling sound in the back of his throat. If she didn’t know he was a wolf, it might have intimidated her. It didn’t. “Woman, must you press this issue?”
“Yes. Because I have spent the last five years in silence with a man I hate. You are not a man I hate. I actually really enjoy your company.”
“You don’t know me.”
“Sure I do.”
“No,” he insisted. “I’m a grumpy bastard. Even my own family dislikes me. They barely answer the phone when I call.”
“Well, maybe I get a different version of you.” He tensed, but she wasn’t done. “You found me outside your building in the middle of the night, terrified and scared. You took me in and agreed to help. That makes you a good person.”
“You don’t know that.”
Amelia shook her head. “I don’t know what got into you. When I mentioned I hadn’t had sweets and carbs in years, you took me to a bakery and didn’t blink when I ate my weight in sugar and flour and cream. You’ve done nothing but sweet things for me since we met. That makes you a good person in my book. A good and attentive man. That is what I see when I look at you.”
Wilder leaned back in his seat on the couch, crossing his arms. His handsome face was set in a hard line.
“And if I want to kiss you, then I should be allowed to do just that. Especially,” she said forcefully. “Especially if you want to kiss me too.”
Before she could think better of it, she sat on his lap, straddling him on the couch. He kept his arms crossed, tightening the hold. His jaw clenched so hard it made the muscles of his cheeks twitch.
“Unless I’ve read you wrong, and youdon’twant to kiss me.”
“Amelia,” he warned.
“I am making my own decisions for the first time in my adult life. Can you please not ask me to question them? This is what I want.”
She waited for a second to let her words sink in. Slowly, his eyes softened.
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” he said.
“I’m asking you to kiss me. If you want to.”
Wilder kept his arms crossed, but his hold loosened ever so slightly.
“Is it because I’m inexperience?”
“I’m the first man you meet outside of your forced marriage.”
“And?” she pressed. “Are you telling me you think I am confusing real feeling with proximity?”
Wilder winced. It felt like a burn. She scooted back to leave but stilled when he reached out to cup her cheek in the palm of his big strong hand. “You’re so beautiful, Amelia. You’re every man’s dream.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead before easing her off him and to the side. He stood and went into the cockpit, where he remained for the rest of the flight.
