“Come on, be a good sport,” she cooed. “If you tell me what you call them, I’ll let you know how I refer to my lady lumps.”

He stopped midstep and paled, the smile wiped from his lips. “You named your tits?”

Even though Sophie considered herself an open-minded sort of woman when it came to sex, the way he said tits—all harsh and guttural—caused her to blush. She couldn’t help it. There weren’t many men in the world who looked at her and found themselves reduced to their baser urges.

“Yes,” she said. Her cheeks were aflame, but she kept her eyes locked on his. “And I refuse to disclose that information until you give me something to work with in return.”

“Jesus, Sophie.” His curse was more like a caress. “Do you always have to be so—”

“Yes, I do,” she said, perfectly serious. “How am I supposed to get you to kiss me otherwise?”

His eyes flashed. “You could always ask.”

A simple answer from a simple man. She liked it.

With more bravado than she’d ever thought it possible for her to muster, she said, “Harrison Parks, you are one strapping beast of a man, and I can’t stop thinking about you. Would you please kiss me already?”

There was no need for her to finish the question. By the time she got past that strapping beast part, he’d already closed the distance between them, already grabbed her around the waist and pulled her flush against him. She’d barely gotten the last word out when his mouth pressed down on hers hungrily, his lips tasting and testing to see how much she would give.

The answer, as he would soon come to learn, was everything.

She’d never wanted anything as much as she wanted Harrison Parks exactly like this—powerful and insistent yet still the same sweet man who could fall head-over-heels in love with a puppy overnight.

Each touch of his mouth against hers demanded that she return his kiss, but the way his hand cupped her face and the way he held her body against his spoke of a hesitant affection. It was as if he knew he was holding something precious but not breakable, someone willing but not compliant.

Determined not to let him go this time, Sophie wrapped her arms around his waist. She took a moment to slide her hands underneath the back of his vest, bypassing the insulin pump hitched to his belt to skim her touch between warm flannel and even warmer skin. Although she would have gladly stood there and let him keep nibbling at her lips with the urgency of one who could never be sated, she pulled away enough to catch her breath and speak.