close to exhausting my patience.” He looked big and broad in the doorway, and if he wanted to keep her from leaving, he could easily.
She put both hands on her hips. “Why should I care if you run out of patience?” Yeah, she was challenging him.
His smile held a predatory gleam. “That’s a stupid question.”
She took a step back. Stupid? The hair prickled at the nape of her neck, and she noticed, for the first time, a sense of danger around him. From him. “It is not.” Lame. Totally lame response.
He moved then, coming right at her.
She froze.
He was a powerful man, and he moved fast when he wanted. He reached her, lifting her chin with one finger.
Her knees trembled, partly from fear. Partly from something else she didn’t want to examine too closely. “Um—”
“No. No more lies.” Then he lowered his head, and his mouth took hers.
* * *
Trent had never tasted anything sweeter in his entire life. He kissed her, trying to go gentle. Then she opened her mouth, accepting him, and he was lost. He dove in fast, taking more, his thumb sweeping along her delicate jawline. He’d kissed plenty of women in his life, probably more than he could count.
Nobody came close to this one.
She murmured and stepped closer into him, her hands sliding up his chest to tangle in his hair. Her body pressed against his, all of that softness against him. He growled and clasped her hip, moving her into the wall, sliding his knee between her legs.
Her gasp into his mouth only spurred him on.
Then she gave a soft sound of need, and he paused, his hand tangled in her thick hair. He gentled the kiss, releasing her with definite reluctance.
She looked up at him, her blue eyes dazed and her pretty pink lips swollen.
Never, in his entire life, had he felt something so right as Hallie against him. “Would it completely freak you out if I admitted that you’re tempting me to actually keep you?” he rumbled.
Need and want and humor rippled through her eyes. “Like an ‘I want you’ keeping, or a serial killer keeping?” she asked, her body relaxing in his hold.
“I told you not to be cute,” he whispered.
She smiled, arousal splashing crimson across her high cheekbones. “I’m afraid it’s my default setting.”
The woman was killing him. Without question. He released her hip and untangled his fingers from her hair, acutely aware that the bed was right behind him. Her default setting was cute? Yeah, it definitely was, and she was quick on her feet with that cute and a whole boatload of spunk.
He stepped away from her before he could toss her on the bed. Keeping her was out of the question, and it was shocking how much he wanted to, all of a sudden.
She looked at him, her eyes glowing. “How did you get the scar above your heart?”
The question caught at him, and he paused. “I’ll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours.” Although he wouldn’t share that part of himself—his heart—with anybody. He’d left it behind years ago, and whoever wanted in his life had to be okay with that fact.
“Will you?” she murmured, seeing too far inside him. “Somehow, I don’t think so.”
Smart and insightful. It figured he’d be intrigued by a woman who’d try to look inside him, even though it was mainly dark in there.
The walls started to close in on him, and he turned to stare out the slider. He could reach the door, open it, and be outside in fresh air within 0.7 seconds, and that thought calmed him. There was a reason the ranch and clubhouse had multiple exits.
“Trent?” Hallie asked, bringing him back to the present.
He turned, quickly banking his emotions. “I believe you promised me breakfast. Go ahead and get settled. Then we can eat, and I’ll show you the rest of the house before I head out to take care of the fences.” He could just secure her purse and license, but that wouldn’t foster trust between them. For that matter, getting her prints for Austin was probably in the gray area, too.
She faltered, obviously catching on to his mood. Her fingers went to her bottom lip. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He turned and strode out of the room, heading for the living room with its floor-to-ceiling windows and double sliding-glass doors. Opening one, he walked out across the glossy and fancy stained-cement porch to the end near the lawn. Cool wind whipped at