His green eyes gave her a look that said he was on to her but that he’d play. “You want to take me to bed and mother me?”

“Well, mothering you isn’t the first thing that comes to mind . . .”

He smiled. His arm slid around her waist, and he brought her up against his hard body. “That’s good to hear,” he said, “but I’ve never told a woman that story before.”

“Why not?”

“You really do ask a lot of questions.”

This was true. “It’s the writer in me,” she said. “Even if I’m just a jingle writer.”

He laughed. “It’s not the writer in you. It’s the nosy in you.”

“Maybe,” she admitted.

“Once a peeper . . .,” he said, and kissed her neck.

She shivered. “It’s hereditary,” she claimed. “My parents, they’re nosy about everything. Where’s Jase’s itinerary, what’s Jase doing right now, why isn’t he answering his cell, who’s he seeing? Blah blah.” She caught the look on his face and shut up.

“Does everything they’re nosy about have to do with Jase?” he asked.

From day one . . .“They don’t really have to be nosy about me,” she said. “I’m usually the together one. Terrifying as that is to imagine.” She flashed a smile.

He didn’t return it. Instead, he was looking at her like she was starting to make sense for him, and she didn’t like the way that felt. “Jase has some . . . issues,” she said. “He was born premature and almost died a bunch of times. He was small and weak, and played the piano like an angel. He wasn’t exactly a popular kid. It didn’t matter when we were traveling and playing together, but after I stopped, it was hard for him. I still protected him the best I could, but as it turns out, out I wasn’t all that good at it.” She paused. “He says he’s been sober for a few months now, and I have high hopes he’s being honest about it.” Hope, but not a lot of faith.

“He’s an addict?”

“Yes, but he’s not a bad guy.” And damn it, there she went defending him again. That was a hard habit to break.

“If he’s a good guy, then why weren’t you honest with him on the phone at the Love Shack?” Sam asked.

“Wow.” She gave a little laugh, uncomfortable at the direction the conversation had taken. Clearly, he believed Jase was a threat to her, but that wasn’t the case. At all. “You have a long memory. I just don’t want him worrying about me, that’s all,” she said. “He’s got a lot on his plate with his upcoming tour. There’s so much pressure there. He’s got this huge musical gift, but he’s not good at concentrating.”

Sam looked into her eyes. Something intense there made her feel both good and just a little bit off her axis. “And what about you?” he asked quietly.

“What about me? I walked away from that life.”

“Why?”

“I screwed it up. And now who’s asking too many questions?” she asked. “Anyway, I went into jingle writing, and that’s that.”

“Everyone screws up, Becca,” he said. “Some more than others.” He raised his own hand in the air and waved it.

She laughed despite herself. “I’m not cut out of the same cloth as my family,” she said. “I’m not nearly as talented. Jase is amazing. He’s just not all that good about harnessing it. We’re a dysfunctional family, I know, but I’m pretty sure that’s the definition of family.”

He nodded, clearly knowing all about dysfunction. “It’s time.”

“Time?”

“For lesson number three,” he said.

The quick subject change threw her. As did how fast her body tightened at the thought of what that lesson might entail. At what she wanted it to entail.

“Boating,” he said.

She sighed.

He laughed.

She gave him a little shove, or she went to, but he caught her up and surprised her by pulling her in for a hug that made her blow out another breath. “You know what you are, Sam Brody?” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck. “A big, fat tease.”

They both knew there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. They also both knew exactly what she meant. She wanted him again. Still. And she knew she wasn’t alone in that wanting. But she found she was alone in the falling. And she was falling, for him. She was falling for a guy who didn’t intend to fall back. She got it, she really did. In Sam’s head, love meant people relying heavily on you, and you couldn’t necessarily rely on them back.

If she pursued a relationship with him, it’d be an uphill battle all the way, but that wasn’t what held her back from saying When. It was far simpler than that.

Just the one night with him had nearly ruined her for all other men. Another night would do her in for sure. “Boating sounds good,” she said.

Chapter 16

Much later that night, Becca was sitting on her bed with her keyboard, staring down at her notebook where she’d scrawled some lyrics. She was playing her fingers over the keys, looking for a melody, when a knock came at the door.

She knew Olivia was working in her shop late tonight, so it couldn’t be her. The third apartment was still vacant. Becca hadn’t ordered a pizza, and she knew Sam was avoiding her at night because he was smarter than she was. Especially after he’d taught her how to operate their boat today, a venture that had ended up being more a lesson on self-control and restraint.