“You know?”

His expressive eyes narrowed. “You know what else I know?”

No. I don’t. She shook her head. And I’m not sure I want to know. Her handling of his newfound focus left her quivering like a waif of a woman. Actually, drinking like a wino-sailor. The push-pull of their flirtation had never allowed for him to make a move. It was their unspoken rule, and apparently, she’d grown more than confident he’d never make a move. Tonight, she was unprepared.

“Guess, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart? She shook her head again. No way am I guessing anything.

He smiled in that trusting, all-knowing way he had about him. “Here’s what I know. First, someone threatened you girls. I’d walk away from everything I have to make sure justice is done. But second”—he took her wine glass out of her hand—“I needed to find you, Jenny. I need to put a stop to the one lie between us that has been as consistent as it has been irrational.”

“That’s the line of a politician.” Taking a deep breath was out of the question. The wine made her head swim. He made her head spin. She tried again to fill her lungs and felt them refuse. There wasn’t enough oxygen in her ever-shrinking living room. “You could mean anything.”

“But I don’t.” He took a piece of hair hanging over her eye and tucked it behind her ear. Her pulse screamed in her neck, but his focused stare never wavered. “You know what I’m talking about. You’ve always known. Now it’s your turn: What do you want?”

Her eyelashes fluttered; her stomach dropped. His voice was always low, but its vibrations washed over her, making her throb.

“I want…” You. That was the answer. It had always been the answer up until the opportunity presented itself. But she didn’t trust her feelings or his motivation. “Not to be confused.”

He shifted closer, evaporating their distance. His broad palms covered her cheeks, and his thumbs stroked slowly. Her bottom lip drifted open, and her eyelids sank. The quietest sigh fell from her mouth, and she hated how easy she was to manipulate.

“You are gorgeous.” His tone was deep and hungry, and he was close enough for her to register the rich aroma of his faded cologne. “And it shouldn’t have taken me this long to tell you that.”

Asher brushed his lips over hers. Like the intense roll of a summer storm, crackling lightning and thundering pulses ran their course, uncontrolled and unstoppable.

“Ash…” Her lips tickled against his, and her mind drew blank, focusing on the sparks that spread from her lips into the softest of kisses.