The grass was like velvet beneath their feet, cushy and smooth. Larkin synced his pace with hers comfortably. He was playing with fire. A smart man would say good-night as he had the night before. In his life, he walked alone. Without apology. He needed the personal space, the isolation. So there was no place for Winnie. But memories of an abandoned kiss taunted him, bringing his erection to life with an ache that made him want to pull her down into the soft grass and lift her skirt to her waist.
The image and the urge were so strong, he had to drag air into his lungs in a great gulp.
Winnie didn’t seem to notice his agitation. She hummed snatches of songs as they walked, her husky alto slightly off-key. It struck him with dark humor that their innocent stroll was as circumspect as if they were Elizabeth and her Mr. Darcy. Once, when Annalise was fourteen and desperately ill with the flu, she had made Larkin sit with her and watch that wretched movie twice through.
It was the only thing that distracted her from her misery, so Larkin had consented. Even Devlyn had lingered one afternoon to watch it with them. The two brothers had kept careful vigil as their beautiful sister grew to adulthood. Now she was married and had a baby of her own. The knowledge gave Larkin an ache in his chest.
Life never stayed the same. His family was moving on without him. But he didn’t want what they had. He didn’t want to ever face that pain again. The regret over failing a loved one. The Wolffs were mating for life…one by one. But not him. Never him.
Six
As they neared the end of the quarter-mile driveway, Winnie stepped away from him. He felt the loss keenly. Something about her comforted the turmoil inside him. Calmed him. Gave him a sense of peace.
She linked her hands behind her back and looked up at the stars. “This is why I don’t live in the city,” she said. “I love the space, the sky, the solitude.”
“Do you like being alone?”
She whirled to face him, her face a pale oval. “What does that mean?”
“Maybe you use your dedication to your charges as a way to hide out from real life.”
Tension arced between them. His accusation was perhaps unpardonable, though he stood by it.
“You have no right,” she said, the words ragged, her hands fisted at her sides.
He grabbed her wrist, feeling the frantic race of her pulse. “Did I hit a nerve?”
“I won’t discuss this with you.” She yanked free of his hold.
His hunger and frustration rode him hard. To hell with what was smart. He had to know what she was thinking…what she was feeling. The uncertainty was eating at him, winnowing away the foundations of all his good intentions. “Did you kiss me because you’re so damned lonely, or was it something more?” He took her upper arms in his hands and shook her gently. “Tell me the truth.” Where was a moon when you needed one? He wanted to see her eyes.
Winnie stood motionless in his grasp, her rapid breathing the only evidence that she was upset. Gentling his hold, he ran his hands up and down her arms from shoulder to wrist and back. “Answer me, Winnie.”
She stepped backward a second time, deliberately out of reach. “I’m alone because I choose to be.” The words were barely audible. “I kissed you because you’re gorgeous and appealing. That’s all.”