“Why did you insist you be the one to walk in there? You were so vulnerable. A pure target since Evan hated you so much. Even more than he hated me.” She dropped her feet to the floor but didn’t stand up. “Ben told me you didn’t give him much of a choice about the plan.”

“It felt like time was running out. If Evan was willing to grab you during the day like that, risk having us all track you down, I knew he’d lost perspective and feared he thought he had nothing left to lose.”

She stood up and hovered by the couch. “You didn’t answer my question. Why you? There were law enforcement people on the island, even more than usual. You went in. Why?”

“Could we do this another time?” Preferably when he was on his game.

She wanted him to unload. He got it. But he was the wrong guy for that. That sort of emotional response was burned out of him when Alexis died. He thought all of his feelings died that day, but knowing Maddie taught him differently. There were pieces and fragments left. For her, he’d try to pull them together and be as close to whole as possible.

She tilted her head as she stared at him. “What do you see when you look at me?”

This felt like a trap. Any answer could lead them down a dangerous path.

He didn’t know what she was digging for, so he went with the truth. “A beautiful survivor. Someone who cares about others even though she is desperate not to.”

She smiled but didn’t say anything.

That reminded him of his favorite part of her. “You have this smile, which you hide most of the time. But when you show it, it’s blinding.” She didn’t move, so he didn’t stop. “Your oversized coats make me laugh and your body makes me weak.”

“Sweet talker.”

“I can be whatever you want me to be.” He would turn himself inside out to please her. Step in front of a bullet to save her.

Other than for family, he’d never really felt this level of connection before. He hadn’t made time for deep relationships and before Alexis died didn’t think he was ready.

She frowned at him. “How about honest?”

“What does that mean?” He searched his mind for a single time when he’d lied to her and came up empty.

“Saving me—”

“You saved yourself, Maddie.” He knew because he’d relived the scene in slow motion every time he closed his eyes last night. “You shot Evan and made sure I wasn’t in the firing line.”

“Do you feel anything for me?”

What the fuck was this about? “Everything.”

“What?”