“I doubt it,” Chase said. “But we’ll never know until we try. There’s a very nice private little motel about five miles up the road. I thought we might go there after dinner.”

Lily swallowed and shook her head. “I didn’t bring a toothbrush.”

Chase nodded. “Let’s enjoy dinner, then.”

Dinner came and went, and Lily enjoyed it as much as she could while struggling not to second-guess herself. Not to let her rational, reasonable self be overshadowed by the instincts clamoring for her to just let go.

When they’d finished their meal and walked back to the Jeep, Chase took her hand again. “It doesn’t have to be complicated, Lily.”

“I never was the most spontaneous person in the world,” Lily said slowly. “Maybe I never had a chance to be, but I pretty much always knew my direction and didn’t give a lot of thought to anything else.”

Chase held the door of the Jeep open for her and regarded her steadily. “A no will do it, Lily. You don’t owe me an explanation.”

Lily braced an arm on the door. “Oh, but I do. I know what’s been going back and forth between us, unsaid, since the first time I saw you climb out of that Jeep, all tall and lean, and dark and mysterious with the sun behind you. I couldn’t see your face clearly and I didn’t know a single thing about you, but I was intrigued even then.”

“This might be the nicest no I’ve ever heard,” Chase said, softly running the backs of her fingers along the edge of Lily’s jaw. Before Lily could lean into the caress the way she wanted to, Chase drew her hand away and slid it into her pocket. “And you make it really hard for me not to push a little bit.”

“I know, and that’s on me, and I apologize.”

Chase laughed. “Really, you’ve got no game, Lily.”

Lily took a breath and drew herself up straight. “I beg your pardon?” Chase grinned, that devilish grin that Lily was coming to adore, not only because it made Chase even more handsome, but because it stirred that excitement in her middle that was so pleasant. Maybe that’s what she didn’t want to lose. “That is not the way to win my heart.”

“Then don’t apologize for making someone, who you know wants you, crazy. If that’s what you were intending.”

“Not in so many words,” Lily said softly. “I’m not a tease.”

“No, you’re not, or you wouldn’t be talking about it. And I don’t for a second think you’re playing with me—at least not in any way I don’t enjoy.”

“This is not helping,” Lily said.

“I never said I was gonna help.”