An infusion of heat took over her face, reminding her of past humiliations. “No, that’s not it.”

“Then what? It’s okay to just say it. I swear I’m not judging you. Not at all.”

Encouraged by his kindness, she swallowed hard and looked up at him, forcing herself to look directly into his eyes. “It’s like my muscles there seize up and can’t relax enough to allow entry.”

“I see.”

“You do?”

“Uh-huh. All that means is we have to make sure you’re as relaxed as we can possibly get you before we try that.”

“That’s often easier said than done.” Cal, in particular, had become frustrated by her inability to accept him, which had put further strain on an already strained relationship. But Abby didn’t want to think about him now. Not when she was lying nearly naked in the arms of sexy, thoughtful Adam McCarthy.

He brushed the hair back from her face, his thumbs caressing her cheekbones. “We need to find the off switch for that overactive brain of yours. We need to make it so you’re not thinking about anything other than how good it feels when we’re together this way.”

“I wish I could do that. You don’t know how badly I wish I could.”

“It’s not up to you to do that, honey. It’s up to me. If I do my part the way I should, you won’t be thinking about anything other than how good it feels.”

She had to look away again because she simply couldn’t believe how tuned in to her he was after only spending a few days together.

“You’re thinking again,” he said, kissing her neck and nibbling her ear. “Tell me. Let me in.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll have me falling for you when we said we weren’t going to do that. Because you’re already making me wonder how I spent so many years with the wrong men when the right one might’ve been so close. So very close.”

“Abby…”

“Forget I said that. You’ve got me all discombobulated and saying things I shouldn’t be saying.”

“I want to hear what you’re thinking. Do you want to know why?”

She nodded. God help her, but she wanted to know everything about him.

“Because you’ve got me thinking the same sort of things. How could we have spent so much time in each other’s orbit but never known this was possible?”

Tears filled her eyes, the emotional response infuriating her. “We said we weren’t going to do this,” she reminded him again.

He peppered her face with kisses, putting particular emphasis on her eyelids, licking the salty moisture from under her eyes.

“We both just got out of big entanglements,” she continued, even as his tenderness destroyed her defenses. “We’ve got no business doing this.”