“I—” he started.

“Is your—”

He motioned for me to go on as his jaw worked silently.

“How is your sister?” I was thankful that my voice didn’t shake.

“She’s better. They took her riding this afternoon and are trying to explain things to her.” He took my hand and led me back to an area on the porch where no one would be able to see us. “I was going to call you, but I had to decide what I was going to do.”

“I understand.” I looked down at the steps. “If we stop seeing each other now, this should blow over for your family.”

“What?” He frowned.

“Your decision.” I shrugged. “I figured that would be the easiest thing for you. Dating me is difficult. I understand that.”

“Cathy.” His sigh held a hint of frustration. “Not seeing you wouldn’t be easy. Not seeing you would be the most difficult thing I could do.” He reached up and touched my face. “And I’m not that strong.”

I covered his hand with mine. “Then what are you going to do?”

“I was trying to decide if I should go back home for a quick trip or if that would make it worse.” He let his hand fall from my cheek, but kept our fingers threaded together. “I spent some time talking to her on the phone today.”

“Is she—did she understand?”

“She did. She was pretty excited that my girlfriend is a princess.” He smiled at me.

My heart did a flip in my chest and I leaned forward to gently kiss him. “I’m so sorry for all of this.”

“I knew it could happen.” He frowned. “That’s one of the things I was thinking about today.”

“I don’t want to see your family hurt or afraid to do their shopping.” I shook my head. “I know what that’s like.”

“I’m not calling us quits because of some jackass reporters.” He looked at me with a fierce expression. “I won’t let someone else dictate my life.”

I nodded in understanding. Relief lightened my heart.

“Besides, I had Chadwick call the producers of the news program.” His teeth gleamed white in the moonlight. “I don’t think my family will have to worry.”

“Chadwick can be scary. Awesome but scary.”

“It was brutal.” He laughed and I felt the last of my nerves melt away. “We had a beer afterward.”

“Now I know it was bad. Chadwick hates beer.”

“Well, I had a beer. He had wine.” He lifted my hand to his lips. “So, you’re not going to dump me because I’m a quiet introvert who needed some time to think?”

“Nah.” I shrugged. “You can balance out my need to be involved in everything.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He pressed his lips to mine again, slowly, tenderly coaxing my mouth open. When his tongue darted across my bottom lip I sighed and he deepened the kiss. His arms wrapped around my waist and in one quick move he had me sitting in his lap. I snuggled close, letting the heat of his body warm me up in the cool summer evening air.

I ran my hands through his hair and tilted his head back to take the advantage of our kiss. He melted under me, letting me kiss him with abandon. Gently I nipped his bottom lip and he moaned softly. His hands slid under the back of my shirt, playing with my bra clasp, but never undoing it. I knew that he wanted to, knew that he was straining against the material of his pants, but he had more self-control than I did.

When I finally broke our kiss, he pressed his face to my neck and inhaled deeply. “You smell like an angel.”

“It’s just soap. I didn’t take the time to do anything special.” I sighed as he trailed his lips down my neck.

“I like you like this. No makeup, a pair of jeans, and need in your eyes.” He shifted me on his lap so that I could feel his hard-on against my thigh. “Need for me.”

I didn’t have words, just kissed him again. It was short, because I knew that if it went on too much longer I’d never be able to leave him and I had meetings the next morning.

“I have to go.” I whispered the words against his mouth.

“I know.” He kissed my forehead. “I’m glad you came to see me.”

“Next time, just text me back.” I winked at him to let him know I was mostly kidding.

“There won’t be a next time to worry about.” He stood up slowly, holding me in his arms and easing me to the ground.

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Angel, you can hold me anyway you want to.” He raised an eyebrow and flashed a devilish grin.

“Oh, I plan on it.” I winked at him before sashaying back to my car.

SEVENTEEN

I COULDN’T HELP MY yawn. I had stayed up all night watching movies while talking to David on the phone. It was like a long-distance date, even though we were only a couple of hours from each other.

We had watched a horror movie marathon that started with one of my favorite zombie movies. It had been more fun than I would have thought.

“You’re sure it’s safe for her to leave?” I looked over the papers the doctor handed me.

“She’s doing excellent.” He offered me a reassuring smile. “Make sure she takes it easy, does her physical therapy, and takes her medicine.”

“I’m right here,” Selene grumped from her wheelchair. “You could talk to me.”