He halted. “I’m not desperate.”

“Alone?”

“I am alone most of the time, but I’ve always been that way.”

“Human, then,” she said, refusing to let him close back up. “Human and fallible and in need of a little comfort from time to time. Just like the rest of us.”

It took him a long time to answer. Too long, making her fear that she’d made yet another misstep, forcing him to withdraw once more into his hard shell. But he drew a deep, shuddering breath and said the words she’d been waiting her whole life to hear.

Well, almost.

“No one is like you, Sophie,” he said. “Thank God for us all.”

Instead of backing away, he lifted his wide palm to her cheek. She readied herself for another kiss. Half of her hoped it would be one of those hard, fierce ones. The other half yearned for something tender and slow. But as they stood there together, Sophie’s head cradled in Harrison’s hand, all she got was a long, lingering stare.

Strangely enough, it was as powerful as the feel of Harrison’s tongue sliding along hers. There was magnetism in those stony eyes of his, the lure of a powerful man drawing her in.

“How’s the heart rate now?” she asked.

The question was mostly an excuse to place her hand against the hard swell of his chest, but it also served as a reminder that she had an actual job to do out here. As much fun as it would have been to have Harrison lift her against the rough side of this barn and ravish her until both of them were shaking and weak, she doubted even Dawn would approve of that methodology.

He remained silent.

“We should probably get running again,” she continued with real reluctance. His heart was steady and strong, just like the rest of him, but it wouldn’t remain that way indefinitely. Nothing could. “If we don’t pop out of the forest soon, your dad’s going to wonder what happened to us.”

“I’m pretty sure he already knows,” Harrison said, but he released his grip on her and stepped back. The physical separation was disquieting, like someone yanked a pile of warm blankets away. “He’s the one who warned me in the first place.”

“Warned you?” Sophie echoed. “About what?”

Harrison shook his head and turned to take off running once again. “I told you already. Tablecloths.”

Chapter 9

“Wool is going to be your warmest option, obviously, and it’s good for beginners because it’s so forgiving.” Sophie took a few steps forward and started jabbing her finger at the colorful bundles lining the wall.

The whole wall. As in, a hundred feet of storefront, all of it lined with shelves and so tightly packed with yarn you could probably knit a scarf from here to the moon. Harrison couldn’t decide if he was impressed or alarmed.