I don’t reply; I don’t need to. She couldn’t have kept me away if she’d tried.

It’s almost midnight by the time the police leave. Sophie is a mess after learning that the person who tried to break into her house had gotten away without anyone having a clue about who he was. I close the door behind the cops and turn to see Sophie biting her lip and looking around her living room.

“You should pack a bag.”

“Pack a bag for what?” she asks, taking off her hoodie, leaving her in nothing but a light-blue tank top. My eyes drop to her breasts, seeing her ni**les through the thin material.

“You’re going to stay with me for the night,” I say, watching as she paces around the living room. My eyes and dick follow her every move.

“Yeah, that’s not happening. I appreciate you being here for me, but I’ll be okay,” she says, and I can tell she’s still worried, even though she’s trying to cover it up.

“If you’re not staying at my house with me, then I’m staying here with you,” I tell her firmly.

“Um…no,” she replies, turning a little pink.

“Sophie, I don’t have time to argue with you about this shit. I’m f**king tired. I just got off the road, dealt with family shit, and then showed up here to talk to you, only to have to deal with some crazy-ass motherfucker trying to break into your house,” I growl, losing patience.

She looks at me and her eyes go soft, and she takes a breath before looking around her small living space. “What are we doing, Nico? We don’t even know each other.”

“That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing. This is part of dating. We’re going to get to know each other.”

“Nico, this is just…” She pauses, lifting her hands. “It’s just… I’ve never done this before.”

“What part of it haven’t you done, baby?” I question while taking a step towards her.

“I have never done any of this.” She motions between us with a flick of her wrist.

“I have never done this before either,” I say softly, approaching my skittish kitten.

“I’m sure.” She lets out a long breath.

“Have I f**ked women before? Yes, I have. I’m not going to lie and say I’ve saved myself, but this—me pursuing you, wanting to spend time with you in and out of bed, getting to know you and your likes and dislikes? All of this shit is new to me, sweet Sophie.”

“You might regret trying to get to know me,” she mumbles, looking down at her feet.

“I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that the only thing I would regret is not trying,” I tell her with a finger under her chin as I force her eyes up to meet mine. “Now, are we staying here, or at my house?”

“Nico—”

“Sophie, if we stay here, I need to go get Daisy. I’ve been gone. She doesn’t like to be alone all the time, and I told my neighbor she didn’t need to go over there tonight because I would be home.”

“Fine, but I’m sleeping on the couch.” She breathes out a whoosh of air, blowing some hair out of her face. I smile, and her eyes narrow. “Why do I feel like I just got screwed?”

“Baby, when you get screwed, you’ll know it,” I smirk.

“Nico.” She glares as she says my name, sounding like a warning. I smile, making her growl.

“Sophie, relax,” I say soothingly.

“How can I relax when you say things like that?”

I walk over to the couch, sit down, and then grab her hand, forcing her into my lap.

“What are you doing?!” she cries, trying to get up.

“We’re going to talk,” I say, squeezing her hips.

“I don’t need to sit on your lap in order for us to talk,” she complains, squirming and trying to get away.

“I want you here. Stop wiggling your hot little ass around on my lap or we’re going to end up doing something else.”

Her body stills immediately and she crosses her arms over her chest. “Fine. Talk.”

“Look at me,” I tell her. She doesn’t, so I turn her face with my fingers. “You said you haven’t done this before, right?”

“Yes,” she growls, and I catch myself before I laugh.

“All right, baby. I want you to be honest with me. Are you a virgin?” I ask gently.

“That is none of your business!” she snaps as she tries to get up again.

“I plan on being well-acquainted with your body, so yes, it is my business.”

“See? That’s what I’m talking about! Why do you say things like that?” She wiggles on my lap again, causing my already-hard c**k to turn steel under her.

“Because it’s the truth. I want to know you, Sophie, but I need to know what I’m dealing with so I don’t go too fast for you,” I say, looking into her eyes.

“This is too fast,” she mumbles, making me smile again.

“I will never force you to do something you don’t want to do, but I will always encourage you when I know you’re just afraid to try. You can’t let your fears hold you back.”

“What are you talking about?” she whispers, her eyes getting big, making me feel like I just hit the nail on the head.

“I don’t know what happened to you that made you lock yourself away, but I know that’s what you’ve done. I hope you can open up to me about it someday, but until you can talk to me about whatever it was, I need you to be open with me about other things. I don’t want you to be afraid of me, and I’m not going to know if it’s just nerves or something else unless you’re honest.”

“Yes, I’m a virgin.” She pulls her face away from my hand. “Are you happy now?”

“There is nothing wrong with that, baby.”

“Oh, please. What other twenty-three-year-old woman do you know who is a virgin?”

“None, but I’m not going to complain that you are. The thought of another man touching you makes me wanna f**k something up.” My grip around her h*ps tightens slightly.

“You’re scaring me.”

“Don’t be scared.” I pull her face towards me and then tilt it down so I can kiss her forehead. “Now go pack a bag.”

“Geez, you’re bossy,” she grumbles, getting off my lap.

I sit in the living room, waiting on her for a while. I’m not really sure how long it’s been, because I start to doze, and my eyes are closed when I hear her enter. I open one eye to see her standing across the room, watching me.

“You ready?”

“Yeah,” she says, walking into the kitchen to grab her keys and purse off the counter. We head out the front door. “I’m going to follow you in my car so I’ll have it there in the morning when I go to work.”

“That’s fine. Now let’s go. I’m ready for bed.”

“I’m not sleeping with you,” she says from beside me as I tug her keys out of her hand and lock the door.

“Not yet, sweet Sophie,” I tell her, leading her to her car and not saying anything else about it. I make sure she’s in before I make my way across the street to my own.

Once we pull up to my house, I pull into the right side of my driveway so she can fit her car next to mine. I hop out, meeting her at the front of her car, where I take her bag from her and then put my hand on her lower back to guide her up to the front porch.

“This is your house?” she asks in awe.

“Yeah,” I tell her, trying to see what she sees.

I live in a 2,2,000-square-foot two-story brick townhouse with a two-car garage at the end of a cul-de-sac. My brothers hate where I live, preferring to have lots of land, but for me, I don’t need all that. I like having neighbors and a sense of community.

“It’s really nice.”

“Thanks,” I say, opening the door, and immediately, Daisy starts jumping around at our feet.

“Oh my God!” Sophie squeals as she bends down, plucking Daisy, who is all too happy to have someone to lick and pay attention to her, off the floor.

I set Sophie’s bag down on the couch before walking into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge. “You want something to drink?” I ask, watching her as her eyes move around the house to take everything in.

“No, thanks. I’m just ready for bed.” She yawns, and Daisy takes the opportunity to lick into her mouth. “Ewww.” She laughs, kissing Daisy’s head before setting her on the ground.

“You finally see me, huh?” I ask, scooping up my dog. I pet her for a minute before grabbing her a treat and setting her down again. “I’ll show you to your room if you’re ready to sleep.”

“Yes, please. I’m exhausted.” She yawns again, covering her mouth.

I walk to the couch, getting her bag before heading to one of my spare bedrooms. I want her to sleep in my room, but I know without even trying that it would be pushing it. “I’m right across the hall if you need me.”

“Thanks,” she says, looking around, seeming a little unsure of herself.

“This is the bathroom,” I tell her, tapping my knuckles on one of the doors. I go to the closet to get down an extra blanket and set it on the bed. Daisy runs in excitedly and jumps up on the bed, looking between us for a second before curling up and lying down. “I don’t think so, girl.” I pick her up, bringing her to my chest.

“She can stay in here with me if she wants,” Sophie says, looking at Daisy with a small smile.

I unconsciously give the pup a peck on top of her head, eliciting wet licks under my chin when I look up and ask, “You sure?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind,” she says, looking at me with soft eyes.

I set Daisy back on the bed, and then pull Sophie into me. “Remember, I’m across the hall if you need me.”

“I remember,” she whispers.

“All right, baby. Get some sleep.” I bend down, kissing her forehead and then her mouth before heading out of the room.

I walk across the hall, take off my clothes, and get into bed. I lie there, hands under my pillow, looking at the ceiling, thinking about my life and what I do for a living, and wondering how that could affect the girl across the hall. It takes a while for sleep to take me even though I am completely exhausted, but when it does, I dream about a brown-eyed girl.

What I didn’t know was that, for the first time ever, the girl across the hall felt something other than fear when she went to sleep.

Chapter 5

Sophie

“Hey, you need to wake up.”

The voice close to my ear makes me scream out, and I roll away and sit up, looking around and not recognizing where I am. Then my eyes land on Nico, and last night comes back to me. I flop back down on the bed and cover my face with my hands while trying to get my heart back under control.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, but your alarm has been going off for the last twenty minutes.”

I uncover my face, look over at Nico, and inhale deeply. He’s only wearing a pair of loose basketball shorts. His whole body is perfect—from his defined arms, the expanse of his wide chest, his abs, and the deep V leading into his shorts.

“You were working out?” I ask like an idiot, seeing sweat covering his entire torso.

He smirks, running a hand over his head. “Yeah. I needed to burn off some pent-up energy,” he says, and I see his eyes drop to my breasts, watching as they heat before meeting mine again. “Looks like I’m going to be working out a lot,” he mumbles.

I bite my lip to keep from laughing. Daisy decides then to crawl out from under the covers, where she slept the whole night. When she finally wiggles free, she runs back and forth between the two of us before deciding that she wants Nico. I watch as he lifts her to his face just far enough away that she can’t reach him with her tongue, and then he flips her to her back and holds her against his chest like a baby so he can rub her belly. I swear I can hear music playing and see little hearts dancing around my head with how swoon-worthy he is standing there with his tiny dog who, I can tell without a doubt, he adores. I never thought I would be jealous of a dog, but what I wouldn’t give to have him pet me like that.

“You hungry?”

“A little. What time is it?” I mumble, distracted by his abs.

“Just after seven.”

“Oh, shit!” I yell, throwing back the covers and hopping out of bed. “I have to get ready for work or I’m going to be late.” I run to the end of the bed to grab my bag and make a run for the bathroom when I’m tugged backwards. I look back and see Nico with his hand around the strap of my bag.

“You can get ready as soon as you tell me good morning.”

“Oh, sorry. Morning,” I say in a rush, trying to tug free.

“Tell me good morning with your mouth, Sophie.” The command in his voice has a tingle building between my legs, and I watch nervously as he puts Daisy down on the ground.

“What?” I breathe, and he laughs, pulling me closer with his hand on my bag.

“Kiss me, Sophie.”

“Oh. I need to brush my teeth,” I say, looking at his lips.

“No, you need to kiss me,” he says, tugging until I’m standing in front of him.

I fidget there for a second, just looking at him, not really sure how to do this but surprisingly wanting to. Then I remember that movie with Will Smith, when he tells the guy that, if he’s going to kiss someone, he should only lean in halfway and make the other person close the distance. I drop my bag, stand on my tiptoes, lean in my half, and close my eyes. When nothing happens, I open one eye and then the other.