He didn’t look away, his gaze tracing the way her hair had dried, wavy under the kiss of the moon. Her profile in the night, that cute nose, the lips that always seemed to have an expression, pulling him in . . .

Oh brother. Yes, there was something wrong with him because he couldn’t not think about her. Even if he was trouble, even if he was doomed to walk away.

She looked at him, finally. Swallowed. Took a breath and met his eyes. “Fine. I wish you weren’t going back, okay?”

Really. Everything inside him stilled, the echo of her words ranging about dangerously inside until they landed, starting a smolder deep inside. He might even call it hope.

But he kept any hooah to himself and simply raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Stop it. You know I didn’t mean what I said earlier.”

“What you said earlier?” And for the life of him, he couldn’t think of what she meant. Maybe his brain had taken a dunking in the lake too. “When?”

“Oh wow.”

“Really, Tae—”

“When I said the kiss was for show!” She took a breath. “I think I’m just going to head in.”

She made to stand up, but he grabbed her wrist. And that felt desperate, but so did his soft, “Stay.”

And probably he was going to hate himself later, but he tugged her down onto the dock, in front of him. Not quite in his lap, but within reach.

Her eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

“What I should have done a couple hours ago,” he said as his hand slid around the back of her neck.

More sirens, but he moved in anyway until—

“No.” Her hand pressed his chest.

He stopped, a full-out screech that turned him cold. “Oh, Tae. I’m sorry. I totally—” Wow, he read that wrong.

“It’s not you.” She looked away. “I . . . want to kiss you, Colt. I do. But in my head, there are voices calling me foolish and how can I want to kiss you after . . .” She swallowed. “After . . .”

Oh, Tae. Because right then he got it, and the realization burned through him, made him want to hit someone. “Sergei.”

She still wasn’t looking at him, but she nodded.

He blew out a breath. Wanted to ease away, but at the same time, he didn’t want her to feel somehow sodden or ashamed or whatever might be going through her head at the moment. “I’m not Sergei.”

“I know that.”