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  Instead, she watched Colin toss his suit jacket over his shoulder and toy with his keyset.

  “What the hell have I gotten myself into?”

  His door opened, and Colin slid in. “Where to?”

  The automatic answer should have been the Perky Cup, but she wasn’t sure this morning’s appearance in her bridesmaid dress with a guest was the best suggestion. It would bring a slew of curiosity from her best friend, and Adelia could hear it now. Holy shit this and holy shit that.

  “You are doing an awful lot of thinking to give a simple answer.” Colin chuckled as he turned the car over. “I’m going to start driving, and if you don’t pipe up, the navigation will. And then you’re just leaving it to chance.”

  “Leaving what to chance?”

  A playful half-grin teased across his lips. “That we end up wherever you don’t want me to go.”

  “That wasn’t what I was doing!”

  He gave her a sideways glance that screamed bullshit, and he was right, so Adelia kept her protests to a minimum. “There’s a diner where everybody goes. I don’t care who sees us. Let’s go there. It has the best food and decent coffee.”

  “Just decent, huh?”

  “Yup.”

  He backed out of his spot. “Which means no Perky Cup.”

  “Well…” Hell. She’d outed herself. Of course, he knew Seven owned the world’s best coffee shop. “It’s just, I rather not while I’m dressed like this.”

  He put his car in park and let his gaze linger before staring ahead and drove ahead to maneuver out of the lot. “I like the dress.”

  “You know what I mean.” Though she appreciated his sentiment. It was one thing to have him say that and quite another to go have breakfast when she was clearly wearing last night’s clothing. This wasn’t a college campus where she would blend in.

  “Change of plans: we get the food to go and eat in the car,” he volunteered.

  Gratitude warmed her heart. “How about we get food and dine at my awesome, not-expecting-guests apartment.”

  He nodded, chuckling. “That would work.”

  “Plus,” she added. “I have coffee from the Perky Cup. It should be almost good enough that you may be able to ignore dishes in the sink and any laundry piled on the bathroom floor.”

  He reached across to hold her hand. “Am I driving the right direction?”

  Ah, so Colin expected her to navigate to her house when her insides were busy turning gooey. Good to know the level of expectations… “Yep.”

  “Can we call in an order ahead?”

  Adelia squeezed his hand. “You have no idea how you’re testing me.”

  His eyebrow raised, but she waved away her mumbles. How could she explain that he made her float with just by holding her hand?

  After giving him an idea of what was on the menu, she called an order into the diner and let him know that it would be ready for pickup by the time they drove by. Adelia filled the few minutes with funny Ryder-and-Victoria and Jax-and-Seven stories and listened to Colin’s take on her girlfriends, and she loved learning more about her brother.

  “What’s that look for?” He ran a thumb over her knuckles.

  “I am completely oblivious to your world sometimes.” She pointed to the diner.

  “Yeah, I could say the same thing about yours.”

  “Mine feels so normal,” she explained.

  Colin parked. “The whole Tex thing is…” He blew out a long breath. “I don’t get it but—”

  “You haven’t said one word about what I said in the parking lot, but that’s what you’re stuck on?”

  He pursed his lips and finally said, “It has to be related. If he’s making an okay list, and you’ve never…”

  She tucked her legs under her skirt on her seat. “I’m a little older than a typical virgin.”

  “I don’t think there’s any such thing as a typical person, to be honest.” He lifted his shoulder.

  “You’re acting super chill.”

  His brow furrowed. “What is it that you think I should be doing?”

  “Calling me out? Telling me I’m a liar?” She bit her lip. “Asking what’s wrong with me.”

  “If that’s what you think, I know why you haven’t had sex with anyone.” He curled two fingers, beckoning her to lean closer as he did the same. “I’ll tell you a secret.”

  “You’re a virgin,” she joked quietly, looking away.

  He chuckled. “No, but still. C ‘mere.”

  Adelia pitched forward so that they were close enough to whisper. “I didn’t think you were.”

  “You do you and tell anyone who says a word different to screw off.”

  She loved what he said, but still she worried and pulled back. Maybe he had her reasoning all wrong. “It’s not like I’ve been saving myself.”

  He crooked his finger, curling for her to come toward him again.

  “Colin, really.” She inched back instead. “I’m not this untouched flower who hasn’t enjoyed myself. I’ve just—”

  “Adelia.” He beckoned again.

  “What?”

  “Closer, babe.”

  “I am.”

  “Closer,” he whispered.

  She closed much of the distance. “I am.”

  “I respect the hell out of strong women.”

  Her pulse fluttered.

  “I like spending time with you, not because of tit for tat or because I need sex. The only thing I want right now is breakfast.” Colin kissed her gently, holding her cheeks for an innocent lingering peck that left her dazed as he eased back. “I’m gonna go inside and get the food. Need anything while I’m in there?”

  “What was that for?” She didn’t see people kiss for no reason, except Seven and Jax and Ryder and Victoria. Those couples were exceptions to her normal, and they’d girl talked about it a few times over the years. Seven insisted that if Adelia had grown up with a television or a house where the father wasn’t a pimp and her mother wasn’t a drug whore, she might see PDA, but Adelia wasn’t convinced it was normal. It didn’t happen at Mayhem. Tex and Lenora didn’t snuggle so much as they leaned on each other, and their kisses generally came after a night playing pool and drinking.

  “I wasn’t aware that I had to have a reason every time I wanted to kiss you.” He tilted his head as though waiting for her to disagree.

  Instead, she pressed her fingers against her lips. “I wasn’t aware that many people like you even existed.”

  Colin nodded, and her heart soared, and that was why she’d always do what it took to keep saving people from the hell of trafficking. She was a grown woman still learning about the experiences and emotions that the lucky ones had when they were just kids. “Everyone deserves a chance to meet a Colin.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  New experiences had taught Adelia that change could be a good thing. They just hadn’t taught her that new experiences could come in the form of muscular military men holding breakfast that smelled like maple-syrup-scented heaven. Her mouth watered, and she wasn’t sure if it was for the man, the food, or both.

  “Got it?” he asked.

  It was her second attempt to jam the key in the lock. It normally unlocked as easily, but Adelia had never had Colin standing behind her. “It’s tricky sometimes.” Or never. “Here we go. Welcome to my messy apartment. No judging.”

  “Wouldn’t think of it.” He ambled in with the grease-stained bags. The hash browns were a diner staple, but their artery-clogging properties left something to be desired. “This isn’t messy.”

  “I’ll make coffee.” She shut the door. “You find plates and keep ignoring the mess.”

  He walked past her like he’d been there before and knew the layout of her apartment while she kicked off her high heels and threw her purse on the ground.

  “Do you have a phone charger I can use?”

  “Sure.” After she retrieved the charger from her desk, she saw that Colin had found plates, dished out the
French toast, bacon, hash browns, and eggs, and had silverware in hand. “You’re quick.”

  “Hungry.”

  “Good to know you motivate well.” She plugged in the charger for him and started a pot of coffee, watching as he plugged in a dead phone. “How do the other caped crusaders call you if your phone’s off?”

  Colin lifted a shoulder. “Guess they don’t.”

  “Uh-oh.” Adelia grinned as she reached for two mugs.

  He came behind her, resting his hands on her hips and his chin on her shoulder. “Worried for me?”

  “Nope.” She set them on the counter. “Just for the poor souls waiting for you to save the day.”

  His amusement rumbled in his chest, and Colin moved her hair from her neck. “What do you think I do?”

  She twisted in his arms. “Rescue damsels in distress. Obviously.”

  “Obviously.” He peppered her neck with kisses. “I’m not sure I’ve met a damsel, though. How would I know?”

  “She sounds something like, ‘Oh, Colin, help me. Oh, Colin, over here. Save me.’” Adelia pushed onto her toes and kissed him. “You don’t recognize that? ‘Oh, Colin’?”

  He smirked good-humoredly. “That last part, maybe. I think I might’ve heard it earlier today.”

  Adelia blushed, jaw dropping, and playfully pushed him away. “Colin!”

  “But that other part.” He nuzzled her neck and tickled her sides as she failed to slip past him. She tickled back. “Ha, oh, nope.” His laughter was contagious. “No, I can’t recall the ‘help me.’”

  “Your damsel voice needs serious work.” The coffee pot beeped.

  “Saved by the bell,” he said. “Lucky this time.”

  They made their coffees and sat down. All her nerves were gone, and how couldn’t they be? Colin ate his breakfast like a linebacker before a big game—but with manners. Either way, he inhaled his food before she had a couple bites. He stood as she sipped the coffee.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Snooping.”

  At least he was honest. “See anything interesting?”

  “Yeah, all this is good stuff.” He held up a small, framed picture of her, Seven, and Victoria at the Perky Cup covered in scone batter. “First day on the job?”

  “Not quite, but baking isn’t my thing.”

  “What do you do?” He walked his fingers along her bookshelf.

  “A little of this and that.”

  “Like?”

  “Mayhem stuff. Mostly logistics. I travel some.” And lied. Her life involved a lot of lying to those she cared about—or could care about, like right now.

  “That’s not what I thought you did.”

  She smiled into her coffee. “What did you think I did?”

  Colin studied another set of pictures on the wall then turned. “Rescue damsels in distress?”

  She choked on the coffee, nearly sputtering it everywhere. “Shoot!”

  “Oh, man.” He rushed back to the table. “You okay?”

  “Yes.” She grabbed a napkin, dabbing at her face. “More embarrassed to choke than anything else.”

  “But I’m a super hero. You wouldn’t have died.”

  God, he was cute. “Fair enough.”

  They stood awkwardly together, as though they didn’t know what to do or say next. He had to fly home, and she needed to not choke again. But all she wanted to do was curl in his arms and hug him. It didn’t make sense.

  “Don’t go yet.”

  “I don’t have to.” He leaned back on the edge of his chair, nursing his coffee. “Maybe in an hour or two.”

  Adelia needed his arms around her. She stood and moved in front of him. “Can you just wrap around me? Like a hug.”

  “Sure.” His thick arms engulfed her into the kind of hug she’d never known existed. She barely breathed, and there wasn’t another sound but the promise from his heart that the next thump of his pulse would come.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “You don’t have to thank me.” Colin nuzzled her cheek, brushing her ear. “This works for me too, beautiful.”

  Her eyes floated shut, and butterflies swarmed. “You make me feel like life could go anywhere.”

  “Lie down with me.” He inched them toward the couch.

  She wanted to stay in his arms but not on the couch. They’d spent all night on the roof and then in the car. Now, with his arms around her, they held each other almost how they’d started their evening yesterday, and she wanted to end their time together the same way. “Could we just stand here?”

  “You don’t want to lie down with me?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Not after we spent the night on a roof. I’m only laying on a mattress for the foreseeable future.”

  “Come on now.” He moved close enough to let his lips tease hers. “It builds character.”

  “I have character in spades.”

  Colin’s lips drifted across hers, and the simple touch felt like an act of passion. She wanted to lose control, to be possessed, to feel him, be taken. She wanted something she couldn’t describe and didn’t understand.

  She gripped his hands, walking him backward. He gripped her waist. Her fingers tangled with his, digging into her own flesh. Colin backed her against the wall with a thud hard enough that the pictures hanging on either side shook.

  Her eyes went wide, and her mouth watered. Need exploded deep in her—desperate, wanton. And in that flash, pressed between the wall and his rock-hard body with the thick stalk of his erection between them, she couldn’t breathe.

  “Be careful of what you’re asking, beautiful.” Colin’s forehead pinned hers. His deep blue eyes sent a shiver of heat rocketing to every limb. “I’ll give you all the orgasms you want.”

  His voice had texture, timber. Its vibrations ran over her, skimming across her dress as though the lightest breath would make it disintegrate. “I need you.”

  But not in any way that she’d known before. Colin had tapped into a part of her mind that needed him. She knew what her body could feel like—not necessarily what she wanted, but that she could come alive and climax. But this craziness he talked about, her desires, her orgasms, what she wanted and liked… Had there ever been a man who cared this much about her within a fifty-foot radius of her? Not that she’d known about.

  “Yeah.” He nuzzled his lips to her cheek and bit the soft skin sharply enough to make her jump, but nothing more than a nibble. “I know the feeling.”

  His hands tightened, and she moaned, freeing her grip from his capture. Instinctively, her arms wrapped around his powerful neck while Colin’s lips buried hers, licking and laving, scraping her with his teeth and kissing softly right when she might pull away.

  He yanked her dress lower, and she hadn’t realized how tight his grip had been. Adelia flexed her hips forward, grinding against his pants, and crying out when Colin’s tongue slid down her neck and along her shoulder.

  Her hair spilled like a curtain over his face, and he brushed it back kissing her, letting his hands roam across her stomach and back until he found the sweet spot that made every nerve scream at the base of her neck.

  “God, Colin,” she moaned. Her panties were damp. Her nipples hardened. His hands hadn’t been near either, and if she had enough oxygen in her lungs, she might start begging that he strip her naked and tease orgasms until she melted in a climaxing fury.

  The zipper at the back of her dress inched down, and Adelia forced Colin’s mouth to hers. Their needy breaths battled, and their tongues danced. Her hands clawed, and Colin ripped down the zipper, its teeth making a noise she might never forget as he shed her dress.

  She pressed against him and froze—then laughed. “Wait!”

  “What?” He pinned her back to the wall.

  “Band-Aids.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “I forgot.”

  “What?”

  Adelia spun toward the wall, and rushing to remove the Band-Aids she’d used as nipple covers,
shuddered at the pinch of skin with each quick rip.

  “What the hell?” He choked on laughter when she squeaked.

  “Give me a little room,” Adelia begged, wanting to ease her sore nips. “They were to make sure I didn’t have pointy boobies.”

  He snorted. “Hate to break it to you, beautiful, but I could tell when you were turned on, and your nipples pushed in your dress.”

  She turned back around. “Not-uh!”

  His laughter died a fierce death when his gaze turned molten hot. “Yeah.”

  Adelia might never forget how he stared at her breasts, transfixed, but not for a second did she feel demeaned. He didn’t ogle just… stared until his eyes lifted to hers. The laughter was gone, and her falling stomach seemed like it might never hit the bottom floor.

  She ran her hands to his shirt buttons, and the first one eased open under her manicured nails and then the next. Her mind raced as his chest expanded with his deepening breaths, and finally, Adelia pushed his shirt off his shoulders.

  Colin pressed forward. Their skin-on-skin warmth made her moan almost as much as his hungry stare.

  “I didn’t know that feeling existed,” she whispered.

  Scratchy hairs on his chin scratched her cheek as their embrace melded. The thump of their hearts rocketed back and forth, and she knew there wasn’t a way to define this moment when they needed to lock together, but he knew it too.

  Colin tightened his hold around her. “A long time ago, someone, I can’t remember who, once told me that some touches will be inscribed in a memory, that you’ll always be able to recall the moment.”

  His hushed wisdom nearly brought tears to her eyes. “That’s too good to have come from a fast-food fortune.”

  Colin kissed her instead of answering. His need poured through the intensity of his lips, his searching hands. He gave her more life than she could remember feeling, and their deep moment quickened to a frenzy. She needed him, skin against skin, while his lips were on hers, and nothing else mattered.

  Colin dipped his head to her breasts. The hot, searing lick made her buck, arching out of control and crying for more.