It’s okay, Diesel thought. She could back off if she needed to. Because he’d seen the longing in her eyes, the need. She might not want to want him, but she did.

He smiled at Michael. “You settling in okay?”

Michael’s smile was shy. He held up a copy of The Hobbit. “I started this one.”

“A classic. I liked that one.” Diesel sat down and patted the seat next to him. “Why don’t you read while I work?” He opened his laptop and briskly typed in his password. Which was Dani’s birthday—the numbers and letters scrambled for security purposes, of course. Not that he was admitting that to anyone.

Michael sat. “Why is Dr. Dani staring into the freezer?” he signed without any sound. “Is she okay?”

Noting the white-knuckled grip Dani had on the freezer door handle, Diesel bit back a frown, his lips still tingling from their first kiss. Their first, because there would be a second. Please, God, let there be a second. “Don’t worry,” he signed, also without sound, certain that Dani wouldn’t appreciate them discussing her. “She’ll be fine.” I’ll make sure of it.

Cincinnati, Ohio
Saturday, March 16, 9:30 p.m.

Just once, Dani mocked herself. She’d known one kiss would never be enough. Not with a man like Diesel Kennedy.

Diesel.

There hadn’t been anyone else since Adrian. Not a single man who’d caught her eye, who’d made her look once, much less twice. Not until Diesel Kennedy had entered her clinic eighteen months ago.

She’d known then. Known he’d be a problem, with his chocolate-brown eyes, his tall, broad frame. His ink. She shivered. God, his ink.

He pressed every button she possessed. That day and today.

I can’t promise you anything.

I didn’t ask you to.

And he hadn’t. That was the problem. If he asked, she could say no. Resolutely, emphatically no. But the man never asked for anything.

He should. He should demand it. He should demand to know for sure. He should demand to know if she’d ever be ready.

She’d thought he would ask, all through these months, but he hadn’t. He’d stayed cautiously on the periphery of their circle of friends. Watching her. Wanting her.

At least he wasn’t watching her now. She’d felt his eyes on her as she’d hung out in the freezer for so long that even Michael had looked worried when she’d finally emerged, a frozen macaroni and cheese casserole in her hands.

Michael had been reassured with a smile and busied himself with the book he’d chosen. But Diesel had silently watched as she’d prepped dinner, preheating the oven and making a salad. But he’d finally returned his attention to his laptop.