“We still are. Now kiss me.”

Exasperated by him—as usual—she leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

“I know you can do better than that.” He swept her hair off her neck and set off a riot of sensation with his lips. “But I suppose I haven’t exactly earned better in the last week.”

“Don’t say that. You’ve been in a lot of pain.”

“That doesn’t mean I should neglect you.”

“You haven’t neglected me.” Now she felt guilty for thinking about herself in the midst of what he was going through.

“Yes, I have. I’ve taken advantage of your good nature.”

“That’s not true. I’ve been happy to help you.”

“That day when I left your place… I was really upset.”

Kara cringed, hating that she’d done that to him. When she started to say so, he stopped her with a kiss.

“The thought of never having the chance to be with you that way again was killing me. It was all I was thinking about on the boat. Grant even asked me what the hell was wrong with me. I told him I was hungover, only I was heartsick rather than booze sick.”

“I’m sorry. I never meant… I don’t know what I meant. I was overwhelmed after spending the night with you. I handled it badly.”

“I figured that out about an hour after we left the dock. It occurred to me that it’d been a big deal for you to be with me after what you went through with what’s-his-name and your sister. I thought maybe you were dumping me before I could get around to dumping you.”

If she wasn’t trying so hard to remain still, she might’ve squirmed because of how accurately he’d pegged feelings she had yet to acknowledge.

“Am I warm?” he asked, gazing up at her.

She nodded.

“The last thing I remember before we got hit was reaching for my phone to call you. I was going to tell you that no matter what you were thinking or feeling after the night we spent together, it was all going to be fine. I was going to tell you that I’d be over after I got in to talk to you. And I would’ve said that our night together was the best I’d ever spent with anyone.”

Kara’s mind raced as she tried to process everything he’d said.

“I sure do wish I’d gotten to make that call. Maybe then you wouldn’t have spent the last week wondering where you stood with me, and I wouldn’t have been tiptoeing on eggshells, worrying about driving you away when all I wanted was to keep you close.”

Kara moved very carefully to put an arm around him, leaning her head against his. “Well, this is a fine mess we’ve made of things.”