He never called her Azelie. Never. Right from the first meeting he had called her Zelie. He wasn’t happy with her. She fought to overcome the rush of fear that she’d displeased him. She kept her chin tilted.

“You want me to tell you the truth, don’t you?” she challenged. “That’s what I’m doing. I don’t have to like it and neither do you, but nevertheless it’s the truth.”

His thumb slid along her chin, featherlight. Sensual. A hint of power. Azelie had no idea how he could convey so much in a simple touch.

“You haven’t explained, and I have no idea what you mean.”

She lowered her lashes, unable to meet the building desire in his eyes. “You’re gorgeous. You walk into a room and women throw themselves at you. Clearly, you have a lot of experience. You’re dominant, overwhelming and you know how to use your voice to get what you want.”

A faint smile came and went so quickly she wasn’t certain she really saw it, but for that brief second, her heart stammered.

“That’s a beautiful thing to say about me, Solnyshkuh. Thank you.”

He would steal her heart easily if she wasn’t careful. That was the one thing she couldn’t afford. She knew herself very well. She was doing her best to get a tough exterior, but since the deaths of her sister and the children, she felt disoriented, alone, and far too fragile emotionally. She didn’t have anyone to lean on, although the merry widows treated her like a long-lost relative.

“I mean it too, Andrii. Everything about you is appealing. I can’t imagine any woman not being drawn to you. But you’re way out of my league.” There was regret in her voice. She couldn’t keep that out, regardless of how hard she tried to sound indifferent.

His thumb slid over her bottom lip, his silver gaze holding hers captive. “What do you mean by that? I don’t understand why you think I’m out of your league.”

Her heart was stuttering just being under his blazing, sensual gaze. How could he not see the difference in them? He looked at her with such puzzlement she was certain he really didn’t know what she was saying, although he seemed to see inside her. He appeared to know things about her natural instincts and character no one else saw.

“Look at me. I’m nothing special. I’m not in your league because men as gorgeous as you might go slumming and find someone like me to be with, but you don’t stay.”

His face darkened and the color of his eyes lightened even more. She powered on, determined to get it over with so he’d leave.

“You’d get bored and move on. I’d be left with a shattered heart because I don’t know how to cope with that.”

He was silent for a long time. Too long. The disappointment in his eyes gutted her. She despised the displeasure and unhappiness he conveyed.

“That’s how you see me, Azelie? As a man who would break your heart? Not treat you with the care and consideration a treasure like you deserves? Because I know what a treasure you are.”

She shook her head, not believing him despite him sounding perfectly sincere. Did he honestly believe he would stay?

“Do you see me this way because of my temper? Because I hurt you when I left so abruptly? That wasn’t treating you with tenderness and care. You have no idea what I’d do to fix what I broke between us. I know I was in the wrong, and worse, I also know that there will be times when I lose my temper. I would never hurt you physically, but I can’t promise I won’t inadvertently say or do something that hurts you emotionally. If that happens, Zelie, call me on it. Don’t let my temper, which I promise I will do my best to overcome, keep us from a relationship.”

He still wasn’t seeing the whole picture. She was going to have to spell it out for him and really embarrass herself. Again, she tilted her chin at him, trying to give herself courage. “My reluctance isn’t about your temper, which is atrocious by the way. It’s about your looks versus mine. Your experience versus mine. My personality, which will wear on you after a while, right along with the differences I just stated.”

Andrii’s eyes went that slashing silver color. He was seriously displeased. “Right there, what you just said to me, would earn you a punishment. I’d put you over my knees so fast your head would spin.”

She gasped and found herself gripping the tee stretched tightly across the heavy muscles of his chest.

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“First, baby, you don’t ever talk about yourself that way. If you feel insecure, we can work on that. You’re beautiful, inside and out—you’re beautiful. If anyone is getting a poor bargain here, it’s you, not me. The likelihood of you wanting to leave me is far higher than the other way around.”

She heard the sincerity in his voice and saw it in his eyes. He was either the world’s best actor or he believed what he was saying. To hear him calling her beautiful with such true admiration made her glow inside. There was no way to squash the blossoming joy—or hope. Still, she had to be careful. He wanted a commitment, and she wasn’t sure of him. It was probable she would never be certain of him. That was more on her than him.

“There are no guarantees in life, Zelie. None. No one knows what’s going to happen years from now, but I believe in commitment and loyalty. I’m not a man who would be unfaithful. Loyalty is everything to me. To betray you in that way goes against every code I have.”

He sighed and gently slid his palm from her cheek to her neck, then along her shoulder and down her arm, never losing contact with her skin. Her sex fluttered again. The bottom went out of her stomach as a thousand little sparks danced over her entire body. His long fingers settled around her wrist like a handcuff, but very gently.

She couldn’t help reacting to his gentleness. It was so at odds with his strength and dominant personality. The way he touched her with such reverence and care was the opposite of the dark lust and sensuality carved deep into his features and moving in his eyes. The combination was both exhilarating and intimidating.

Azelie didn’t try to hide the shiver of awareness or the way his touch could turn her into a puddle of desire or the way his voice affected her.

He tugged on her wrist, leading her across the room to the two chairs she had. She’d found them at a garage sale. The forest-green leather chairs went perfectly with her little coffee table. They were also in great condition and extremely comfortable. She’d been lucky to get them for a steal because it seemed like no one else wanted to take a chance on the color.

Andrii seated himself in that casual way he had, not relinquishing his hold on her, but exerting pressure on her wrist until she tumbled onto his lap. He scooped her legs up to drape them across one of the arms of the chair while his arm supported her back.

“I gave a lot of bad advice to a couple of my brothers on relationships. My heart might have been in the right place, but I didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about and shouldn’t have said anything. It wasn’t until I laid eyes on you that I began to realize what a dick I’d been.”

That was the last thing she’d expected him to admit. She liked that Andrii had no problem confessing his screwups to her. She couldn’t help but admire him for it. When he made mistakes, he owned them and seemed to readily apologize.

“Since I’m confessing my sins, Solnyshkuh, you may as was well know that I stalked you for a few weeks before I made my approach.”

That admission sent her pulse racing. If she relaxed, she would melt into his body. As it was, she was aware of his reaction to her. He didn’t try to hide the fact that he was aroused. His scent surrounded her so that every breath she took, she inhaled him. She took him inside, where he wound himself around her organs and branded his name into her bones.

“You did?” She squeaked her question.

“I did.” There didn’t seem to be an ounce of shame in his confession. “I spotted you one morning when I was crossing through the park to get to the coffee shop a friend had told me about. The sun shone on your hair, and I’d never seen that particular shade of auburn. I’d never seen hair so thick and wild. You have no idea what that did for me. To me. I’m not a man who has reactions to women the way I’ve had to you.”

She had to admit she liked that.

“You were wearing a pair of jeans, old and faded. The denim clung to your body like a glove, accenting your hips and ass. I will admit I’ve had quite a few fantasies about what I would do with you if you were mine. But just being physically attracted doesn’t mean we’d suit.”

She knew that probably better than he did. She didn’t point it out because he didn’t like her saying—or thinking—anything derogatory about herself.

“You were pushing a child on a swing, and at first, I thought she was your little girl, but then a woman came over and the two of you talked for a minute before she picked up the child and walked off, looking back to wave at you. The little girl blew you kisses, and you blew one back to her.”

“That was Betsy and her mom, Abigail. Abigail is going to school to become a hairdresser. I met her in the park. She was sitting on a bench watching her daughter play, but tears were running down her face. I couldn’t help myself; I went over to her to see if I could help. We struck up a friendship, and I watch Betsy when Abigail’s mother can’t and I’m not in class myself.”

Andrii’s arms tightened around her. “I watched you taking care of that woman and her daughter. There was also a man with two sons you sat with in the park for a little while. He left, and you took over watching the boys until he came back. He didn’t return for nearly two hours.”

“That was Bradley. His wife died in childbirth and left him with twins, Luke and Teddy. They’re five now and a bit of a handful. He’s trying to date again, but he works two jobs. Sometimes his sitter falls through, and he can’t get home to be with the boys when they get out of school. I fill in for him too.”

“I noticed Bradley looking at you like he’d prefer to date you.”

She didn’t respond.

“Zelie? Has he asked you out?”

His voice was low and compelling. Insistent on an answer. Azelie nodded. “Several times. I didn’t want it to be weird between us because I kept turning him down, so in the end I lied to him.” She knew she sounded mortified because she was. “I really hate lying, but he needed help, and if I kept turning him down, it would get awkward.”

“Your lie?”

She should have known he would insist on knowing what she’d told Bradley. She twisted her fingers together. “I told him I was in a relationship already and very much in love with my partner.”

Azelie turned her head so she could look straight into his eyes. “I really don’t lie, Andrii. It just seemed kinder.” She knew lying would be a huge problem for him. She shouldn’t be apologizing. She should be happy he would think she was a liar, but she couldn’t bear for him to think that of her. She also didn’t want to see his disappointment in her, but she wasn’t a coward. She believed, in this instance, she’d done the right thing. “Bradley’s children need someone to be with them in the interim if their regular sitter is ill or has something she can’t get out of, like a medical appointment. It doesn’t happen that often, but it’s important that the boys have someone they trust to look after them. I don’t go to his home, and I made that clear. I watch them in the park, or if it’s bad weather, we go to the rec center.”