She shot a smile over her shoulder and then led me into her bedroom and straight to her bath. I stood compliant and silent as she slowly stripped the wet clothes from my body. No one in my adult life had ever taken care of me. I hadn’t realized I craved her care until she stood there, easing the shirt from my head with a tender expression. My heart contracted, and I sucked in a sharp breath.

“Sit.” She pointed to a small stool by the dressing table. When I did, she dried my hair with a towel, then tossed it aside and straddled me. She had on too many clothes. I needed her naked, to feel her silky skin moving against mine.

Her expression was serious as she held my cheeks in her slim, cool hands. “Forgive me for living in my own head? I don’t have a lot of experience with feeling this way about someone and I got scared.”

I cupped her pert ass and pulled her closer. “Do you forgive me for thinking you were still in love with Theo?”

There. I could say his name without flinching. In truth, I couldn’t even hate him. Parker had given him her love, which meant he couldn’t have been half bad.

Her smile was tremulous. “He’ll always be in my heart. But I’m kind of crazy about someone else now.”

“Yeah?” I asked, dipping my head to nuzzle the curve of her neck where I knew she was extra sensitive. “Is he worthy of you?”

“Oh, yes,” she said with a sigh of pleasure, arching into my touch. “He’s the best man I know.”

I’d been kissing my way along her neck but stopped and lifted my head at that. She had no idea what those words did to me, how they tore me apart and put me back together. With her, I felt like something new, something better. “I’m so fucking crazy about you, Parker Brown. You have no idea.”

Her smile was the sun.

“I might have some idea.” She touched my jaw. “Kiss me.”

So I did, putting everything into it, every emotion I couldn’t say but wanted her to feel. I licked into her mouth, reveling in her taste. Then I stood and carried her to bed to strip each item of clothing from her with care.

She was warmth and soft curves, tender caresses and breathy sighs. I explored her body as though it were new to me, taking my time, kissing every inch. And when I finally entered her slick heat, we both stopped and fought for breath. I stared down at those brown eyes I wanted to see every damn day of my life, and my chest hitched.