It’s the same question he asked me that night all those months ago, and just like then, a blast of heat rushes through me—both at the memory and the implication burning in his gaze.

My chest tightens. As much as I want to pull him into the back seat of my car and answer that question with my mouth and hands rather than with words, I know it can’t happen.

“It’s not going to be like that,” I say after a beat.

His expression falls a little. “Why not?”

I huff a quiet laugh. “Well, for one thing, my dad has forbidden me from dating hockey players in general—and especially not his players.”

A rueful smile plays across his lips. “Ah.” He steps closer, not invading my space but close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating from him. “Well, he can make whatever rules he wants, hummingbird. But we’re not kids. We’re adults who have an incredible connection. Besides, something tells me you don’t do everything your father tells you to. Does he know about your wild side? The one you showed me that night?”

My stomach tumbles like it’s in a washing machine, heat surging up my cheeks. I shush him quickly and glance around, hoping no one heard what he just said. But it’s just us out here, at least for now.

After the way Declan and I met and the night we spent together, he knows damn well that the answer to both of those questions is no, and it blows my mind that he’s acting like none of this is a big deal. If my dad found out we were even out here talking like this, he’d make Declan’s life a living hell on and off the ice. And if he found out what happened between us out in California? Declan’s career with the Aces would be over, no questions asked.

“Be careful. You don’t know my father. And you don’t know me,” I say, and he raises his eyebrows.

“Oh, really? Then why do I know exactly how to touch you?” he asks, reaching out to trail a finger up my forearm and making my breath catch.

While I’m still trying to collect myself, he steps closer and lowers his voice.

“And how do I know the spot behind your ear makes you shiver when I scrape my teeth over it?” He reaches up to run his fingers across that exact spot, pulling a gasp out of me, then lowers his mouth to hover by my ear. “How do I know what you sound like when you’re about to fall apart? I know you better than you think, hummingbird.”