My heart knew well the lessons I’d learned from my parents. Men weren’t to be trusted. They were flaky and irresponsible, and you couldn’t count on them. Ever.
Of course, ever since the first night Gabriel and I gave in to the flames flickering between us, he hadn’t been with anybody else. That was why I’d been so foolish and thought maybe there was something to what I felt between us. Matters were made decisively more complicated by how insanely good it was with us. That man played my body like a fiddle, and the music was gorgeous. No one could make me forget myself as thoroughly as Gabriel could. I craved his touch.
“Nora?” he prompted.
See? That was how bad it was with him. I lost track of everything. I was just staring down at the silver washer. I lifted my eyes to his, bracing myself to take the hit that would come from looking into his gaze. Good thing I was prepared.
The jolt hit me hard when my gaze locked onto his mossy green eyes. My cells spun like tops, excited to see him. I felt as if the air around us contained sparks, sizzling in a fiery mist around us.
“I’m stuck,” I repeated through the muddle of need clamoring in my body.
Gabriel glanced between the washer and the wall. “Your foot?”
“Yeah. I left a gap in the flooring for the plumbing, and my foot slid into it when I pulled this a little too hard. I can’t get leverage to lift it.”
Gabriel was gracious enough not to laugh at my predicament. His hands curled over the edges of the washer. In one smooth motion, he tilted it, and when the pressure eased off my foot, I couldn’t hold back my sigh of relief.
Glancing at him, I asked, “Can you move it back a little now?”
Of course, he took care of it immediately with little effort. I shimmied out from the gap between the wall and the washer, and he put the washer back in place. He moved so quickly, I didn’t even realize he was hooking it up as I shook my foot to relieve the pain from being cramped under the corner of the washer.
“Thank you,” I said when he straightened.
“No problem. Your foot okay?”
“My toes will be sore, but I’ll be fine,” I said with a sheepish shrug.
Staying in the small room with him was dangerous. His presence filled it, potent and strong.
I practically ran out of the room, annoyed that I couldn’t move that fast with my toe still throbbing. He followed me out. The laundry room was just off the kitchen. I rested my hips against the counter, and he stopped maybe a foot away. I wanted him to leave quickly, but that felt ungrateful, considering he’d run over here to help me.
“Have you thought about what I said?” His eyes held mine, so earnest that my heart gave another tricky twist.
Butterflies amassed in my belly, and my breath got short as my pulse took off like a rocket into space. Being in actual space might create enough distance between Gabriel and me so I could get a hold of my anger again. That, and my sanity.
Unfortunately, my emotions were their own mess, and I felt tears hot in my eyes and had to close them. I was afraid I was going to cry right in front of him.
My fear was proven true when he said, “Please don’t cry, Nora.”
Oh, God. I felt him stepping closer and wrapping his strong arms around me. Just like I wanted. So, so much. I couldn’t even bring myself to shove him away.
I tucked my head into the warm curve of his neck, and my traitorous arms slipped around his waist. I didn’t burst into tears, although that was about the only thing I managed to keep under control. I breathed in his scent, a little crisp with a hint of evergreen clinging to him.
One of his hands cupped the back of my head, and the other slid up and down my back in what I thought he intended to be a soothing pass. I was so unsettled, so frantic that his touch stirred up desire, and sparks flew, catching fire inside me. I willed my pulse to slow, tried to scramble for some kind of control, but my control slipped, and I savored the feel of him.
It was quiet, save for the resounding beat of my heart. It drummed out recklessly, overjoyed at being close to Gabriel once