Zach could feel the cold metal of the handcuffs around his wrists again.

“I can’t win with you, can I?”

Nora laughed.

“Of course not. The only way to win in this game is to surrender. Come on, Zach,” she said, seeming to drop out of character for a moment. “You and I both know I could have had you weeks ago. In the cab, remember?”

Zach recalled the night of the release party. He’d convinced himself it was his own restraint that had prevented him from asking Nora up. But he knew it was only because Nora had closed the door before he could invite her inside.

“Why didn’t you?”

“You weren’t ready then.”

“And I’m ready now?”

“Well… You did show up again, didn’t you? You should know by now,” Nora said, and Zach made himself look in her eyes, “I wouldn’t chase you so hard if I didn’t know you wanted to be caught.”

“Just because you want something doesn’t mean you should have it.”

“Really?” Nora asked with a raised eyebrow. “And what did you want that you shouldn’t have had?”

Zach looked away and pointed at something in her bag. “What’s that?”

“Ah…” Nora sighed. “He’s lost in the fog yet again.” Still, she reached into the bag and pulled out a black silk scarf. She twined it through her fingers and over her wrists, letting it cascade into her palms like black water.

“Blindfold?” Zach made an educated guess.

“Or gag. Or wrist restraint. The blindfold seems tame, but I’m very fond of them. Do you have any idea how much trust it takes to let someone take you blind? Want to find out?”

“Nora…”

“Okay, Zach. I promise I’ll keep my hands off…more or less. No sex until the book is done. Well, you won’t have any sex. Knowing me, I will,” she said over her shoulder.

Zach laughed until he saw she wasn’t smiling.

“Come on.” Nora threw on her coat and belted it. She strode toward the door. “Time to go.”

“Need your bag?” he joked.

“Not where we’re going.”

Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER 18

Zach followed Nora outside. He started to walk toward her car parked in front of the house. But she beckoned him instead to her garage.

“This way, handsome. I’ve got a little surprise for you.”

Nora pulled her key ring out of her coat pocket and hit a small black button. The garage door slowly yawned open. Zach never dreamed she kept an actual car in her garage. Her black Lexus and Wesley’s beat-up VW always sat in the driveway or on the street. But inside the garage he saw some kind of vehicle covered in a suede car cover.

“You Yanks.” Zach shook his head. “You think you need a whole army of cars.”