“I don’t want to argue with you.” He took a bite.

I recognized my urge to do just that as the self-defense mechanism it was and

struggled past it. I took a breath, or two, while I stirred my chili. I didn’t dare take a bite because my stomach was too tied in knots to choke anything down.

During the last few days, he had been the one to re-open doors to our shared past

that I considered sealed shut. This time he wasn’t shutting me out, he was just refusing to be the one to hold it open. I couldn’t blame him, not after all the times I refused to step up. Gathering my courage, I kept my head down, focusing

on my food as if it, not his answer, was the most important thing in the world. “If

Ellery hadn’t come after me, would you have tried calling me again?”

“Once he was gone, yeah.” He paused, but before I could react to the

shimmer of joy his response brought, he asked an even tougher question of me.

“If I had, would you have answered?”

Thanks to the conversation with Kelsey before I headed up north, my answer

was all too obvious. “Yeah. I’d have answered, eventually.” I took a deep breath

and lifted my head, determined to go for broke. “Are we going somewhere, Kayden?”

His poker face was firmly in place, but the intensity of his gaze made me squirm in my seat. “That depends.”

My fingers tightened on my spoon. “On what?” What would he ask of me?

Would it be something I could give? Relationships and me, we didn’t get along

too well. As much as I wanted him, part of me worried I’d screw it all up before

it even got off the ground, if I hadn’t already.

“Are you going to run the first chance you get?”

I cringed inwardly at his valid question. “I’m still here, aren’t I?”

His hand on the table curled into a fist. “For now.”

Words weren’t going to cut it this time. What was that old saying? Actions speak louder than words? I rose from chair, my heart racing, as a strange quivering weakness ran through my legs.

He watched me, tense and waiting.

If he was waiting for me to bolt, he was doomed to disappointment. Second

chances rarely came along. I wasn’t missing this one. Step by step, I closed the

distance between us, refusing to look away. He pushed back his chair, angling it

away from the table. I stopped only when I stood between his legs.

I reached out to run my fingers through the sunlit amber of his hair, my hand

visibly shaking. That incredible heat, the one I would always associate with him,

curled around me. I let my fingers drift down the side of his face, thrilling at the soft rasp against my touch. I cupped his chin, and he let me tilt his head up. I bent down, ignoring the protest from my bruised ribs. This moment was too important. I brushed my lips over his, offering him one of the few remaining unscarred pieces of my heart. Once. Twice. I pulled back, not far, just enough to

whisper, “I’m done running.”

Fierce satisfaction filled his steel blue eyes turning them navy. His

undisguised desire stole my breath and arrowed deep into my heart, anchoring itself and changing me in some undefinable way. “About damn time.”

Then there was nothing left to do but hold on, as he pulled me down into his

lap. Cradled in his arms, I curled my hands around his jaw and deepened the kiss. Restless, yearning, I coaxed and teased, leading him where I wanted to go. I

parted my lips, offering him access. My blood heated as he took full advantage

of my invitation.

He was so gentle, so careful, one hand cupping the back of my head, holding

me in place while he subtly took control. Our tongues dueled in a seductive combat of advance and retreat. His taste was addicting, leaving me yearning for

more. I slid my palm against his chest, pressing it against his heart so I could feel the rapid pulse. Mine picked up the beat and followed suit.

I curled closer, threading my hand into his hair until my fingers could

clenched the thick strands. I used my grip to keep him where I wanted him. Not that he tried to escape. When the need to breathe became imperative, my head fell back, and I sucked in cool air with a fleeting thought it might combat the rising heat between us.

Kayden groaned. Then he took advantage of my exposed neck, and left a

stinging trail of small, heated bites along my skin. My body trembled as desire

roared through me, wiping out any remaining pieces of sanity. He took his time,

tracing the lacework of scars that covered my neck and shoulder with his mouth.

Small kisses, as if soothing any lingering ache.

Never comfortable with being touched there, tension began to override my

desire. His name emerged on a breathless protest. “Kayden.”

“Shhh…” he whispered, dropping another gentle kiss to my neck. “Just let