“I looked forward to your responses. I wanted to come over so you weren’t grieving alone, but you were so adamant about wanting to be by yourself.”

Although she hadn’t admitted it to Angela, part of her had wished she hadn’t been too nervous to let him come over. “Sorry. Other than Gram, Angela, and to some extent Elisa, I’ve never had anyone to rely on. I don’t know how to do that.”

“I think we have that in common. But I’ve learned that it’s okay to trust people, to let them in and rely on them. If I can learn to do it, maybe you can, too.”

Their eyes held for a long silent moment, heat and something deeper filling the space between them. His face was so close, she could see thin white scars above his left eyebrow and along his cheek. She wondered how he’d gotten them but was too distracted by the desires simmering inside her to hold on to the thought. She felt his fingers twitch on her hand, and he licked his lips, his eyes drilling into hers. She wondered if he was going to kiss her—and was surprised by how desperately she wanted him to. His fingers tightened around her hand, and her pulse quickened.

Kiss me…

QUINCY’S FINGERS ACHED to tangle in her hair, to cup her jaw and feel her beauty and her passion as he devoured the mouth he’d been fantasizing about for all these months. Damn, he loved her full lips. Angelina Jolie had nothing on her. But he’d promised himself he would take it slow so as not to scare her off. The problem was, Quincy had no idea how to do this. He knew how to fuck, and he knew how to be a friend, but he had no experience with the deeper emotions consuming him every time he saw Roni or texted with her. He had the urge to protect her, and at the same time, he felt a visceral need to be closer to her—and he wanted to explore all of it, to learn everything about her, to touch her, to hold her naked body while they lost themselves in each other.

What. The. Hell?

He’d never picked apart anything like this, much less a physical connection. But he had a feeling that sex with Roni wouldn’t be sex as he knew it, just like this date was different from anything he’d ever experienced or imagined. He and Penny had spent plenty of nights talking, but in all the time he’d known her, he’d never once felt anything even close to this. If he didn’t put on the brakes, he was going to take that kiss, and whatever this was would be over before they even got started.

He reluctantly moved his hand, instantly wanting to reclaim the connection. Instead, he took a swig of his water and cleared his throat in an attempt to calm his desires.