The Texas Tycoon's Baby(48)

He managed to knock, even with two fistfuls of plate.

When Mina opened the door, the dim illumination shone from behind her, creating an aura that kissed every strand of gold in her red hair. She’d already kicked off her shoes, revealing scarlet-tipped toenails, and already taken off the wrap that had draped over her shoulders and arms. But she still wore that dress, and it fell nearly to her feet like a shower of bronze.

“I thought you’d never get here with my sugar fix,” she said, taking the plates from him. “I’ve been craving cake all day.”

As he came inside, he thought that she might’ve had a slight tremor in her voice, even though she was smiling.

Nerves?

He wasn’t sure why she would be anxious around him, unless it was just the anticipation of what this night might bring.

But what was that exactly?

What was he expecting—for them to make love again? Or did he want much, much more this soon?

Again, his pulse raced.

If she didn’t have nerves, he definitely did.

He shut the door behind him while she headed for the small kitchen, with its square wooden table smack in the middle of the tiled flooring. Coffee was brewing in a machine on the counter, and she’d lit a couple of candles. That plus a lantern hanging over the stove provided the only light in the area.

She set the plates on the table, then laughed.

“What?” he asked.

“I just realized…I think I’ve recreated that scene from Sixteen Candles. You know—the ending, where Molly Ringwald is celebrating her birthday with her dream guy?”

Dream guy.

There was a lot of pressure in that description, if Mina was indeed comparing him to the hero of the movie.

Adrenaline spun through him, but he told himself that they’d been heading to this point the entire time they’d known each other. And it wasn’t too soon.

“Sorry,” he said. “That kind of movie really isn’t my thing. I haven’t seen it.”

“It’s a great one.” Was she talking faster than usual? “Everyone around Molly has forgotten her sixteenth birthday. They’re rushing all over the place, paying attention to other matters, like her sister’s wedding. But she finally gets what she wants in the end.”

Okay. He understood why the movie might’ve been significant to Mina, with how she’d felt about being an accidental baby, forgotten herself sometimes.

But she’d chosen him to make her feel special, just like the heroine in that movie had been with her dream man.

Mina had already put forks and napkins by the plates, and now she was pouring water into tall glasses. Putting down the pitcher, she blew out a breath, smoothed out her dress.

Everything was feeling real innocent right about now, as if it was the first time he’d been alone with her, boy with girl.

Man with woman.

Coming up behind her, he rested his hands on her arms. He felt her shiver.

But the same was happening to him—washes of desire traveling his skin, cool and warm at the same time.

He leaned down, his face against her hair. The scent of her—cucumber, green tea… Heady and clean.

“I can’t tell you how it feels to finally be away from everyone else,” he said. “Everything else.”

“Why don’t you try to tell me, anyway?”

He ran his hands down her bare arms, and she crossed them over her chest until he was embracing her from the back.

“Freedom,” he said. “It was like I was locked up and then let out. That’s how it felt with all those lies—like they were pushing me back and keeping me from going anywhere. But they’ve all been cleared up now with Eli.”

“Everything’s in the clear?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He tightened his hold on her, releasing a little when he realized he might be overdoing it. “I swear, if I’d had to deal with one more lie…”

She stiffened beneath him.

He thought he could feel the beat of her pulse under his own skin, a skittering rhythm. Or maybe it was just her breathing, faster now.

Was she afraid that he would never fully pull himself out of his family drama? That the fallout from the scandal was going to linger and affect them?

“There won’t be anything else coming between us,” he said. “Don’t worry about that.”

“At least you’ve learned how to handle it when someone hasn’t been entirely truthful with you,” she said, her words seeming…careful. Very careful. “Did you get any perspective on why other people might’ve had to pull back on telling you the truth? I know what your mom and Eli did wasn’t right, but…” She turned her head just a tad, still not looking at him. “Can you understand, even a shred, why they might’ve kept you in the dark?”