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She chuckled.
“What about you?”
She scrunched her nose. “Country music? No way.”
He laughed. “What’s your preference?”
“This is nice. I listen to a mix of things.”
“So, we seem to have music in common. What’s your favorite food?”
“Italian. What’s next? You want to know my favorite color?” She giggled and fuck if it wasn’t the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
“I already know your favorite color.”
She swiveled her head to look at him as he turned down the road towards the state line separating New Hampshire and Maine.
“You do?”
He nodded as he stopped at the stoplight. Swiveling his head to face her, he said, “Red.”
She sucked the tiniest amount of her bottom lip into her mouth, and a shot of lust burned his veins. He wanted to be the one to do that.
Someone honked behind them and he focused his attention back on the road, pressing the gas and continuing on to their destination.
“How did you know?” she asked, a little quieter.
“You wear a lot of it. It’s one of the first things that drew my attention to you. Those red lips.”
“Oh.”
The sexual tension in the car was stifling. He cracked his window, letting cool October air into the cab, but it offered no relief.
“Your family and friends seem like good people. They look up to you.”
They do, but should they? “They’re special.”
“Jasmine said you basically raised her,” she pressed.
He cleared his throat. “TJ said the same about you.”
“I did. I guess that’s something else we have in common. Both having to protect and care for others long before we were meant to.”
He wanted to ask about her life, but that would leave him open for her return questions. And there was no way he was going there.
“What made you become a nurse?” he asked instead.
She waited a beat before she answered. The road they traveled turned into gravel as they wound through the forest, up the mountain path. “I like helping people. Where are you taking me? Is this where you murder me and leave my body for the bears? I have to warn you, I know self-defense,” she joked, though her voice was tinged with uncertainty.
He laughed. “I thought it might be fun to hike to our lunch spot.”
“Hike? Here in the woods? Aren’t there like bears and other wild animals?”
He pulled into the lot and parked the truck. Turning to face her, he tried to hide his grin. He patted her knee, need and want blistering from the touch. “Don’t worry, city girl. I’ll keep you safe.”
She looked down at his palm and back to him. The lure of her dark brown eyes wavered his defenses. Bently jerked his hand away like it was on fire. He was too exposed and vulnerable with her. He needed to get himself under control. Bently opened his door and walked around to her side. He held out his hands and she gripped his shoulders before sliding herself slowly to the ground. Her soft curves pressed against him, sending white-hot flames splintering through him. He set her on her feet and stepped away before she could feel what she did to him.
He’d promised her friendship, and anything more would scare her off for good, he was sure of it. The problem was, there was no way he could just be platonic with this woman. He craved her, desired her with every cell in his damaged body. But she needed slow. She’d only offered him friendship and he’d take what he could get. Someone like her would never want him long-term—not after she found out what a failure he truly was.
