He reached out and touched her face. Moved her gaze to his. “Listen. What I mean is that not only would I never kidnap you or strangle you or even try to use you—of course not. But I also would never lie to you, scare you, make you feel helpless or trap you into something you don’t want.” The very thought of that knotted his gut. He blew out a breath, then softened his voice. “I’m not going to hurt you, Tae.”

She looked at him, those beautiful eyes searching his. “But you’re going to leave me.”

He drew in a breath. “I’m not going anywhere. At least, not right now.”

A muscle pulled in her jaw.

“Listen, yes, someday I’m probably going back to Jones, Inc. But we have a lot of miles between now and then and . . . who’s to say what will happen? All I know is that . . .” He swallowed. Oh well, what did it hurt? “You’re just about the most amazing woman I’ve met, Tae. Brave and pretty and . . .”

“You’re just impressed that I saved your life.”

A beat. And in it his heart just about exploded all over again.

This woman . . .

“Yes. Yes, I am.” Then he tucked a drying curl of hair behind her ear. “You keep saving my life, Flo, and I’ll keep saving yours, because, like I said, we’re in this together. But”—he held his hand up—“I’ll follow your lead. If we’re just friends, then . . . I’m cool with that. I can just be here to protect you.”

Her smile came slowly, lit with something in her eyes that he didn’t want to guess.

Okay, he wanted to, but he shouldn’t. “Tae?”

“I thought you said you couldn’t protect me when you wanted to kiss me.”

“I’m willing to give it my best shot.”

She laughed. “There’s the tough guy I know.”

He looked out at the water, just starting to streak with light. “I think we’re safe, for now.”

“Are we? Good.”

And then, just as he looked back at her, she leaned in and kissed him.

Her lips were cool, soft, and she wound her hand around his neck to hold him there, and—

Maybe he’d already died, long ago, in that water, because just like before, the world dropped away. The pain and fear of the fight, the dunking in the lake, the what-ifs before them, the chill in his body. Just the perfect sense of the night stirring around them and Tae in his arms, surrendering to his nudge to deepen their kiss. Her other hand touched his chest, as if testing his heart—okay, yes, still alive, honey—as he drew his arm around her and pulled her close.

Very, very much alive. In fact, as she kissed him, something woke, deep inside.

That part of him that said . . . what if?