I do.”
Joseph led me past at least half a dozen sports cars, telling me details about make, model, horsepower, zero-to-sixty, and a lot of other jargon I didn’t really understand. He was basically speaking a different language, but I didn’t mind one bit. Just seeing him light up with enthusiasm as he gushed about his treasured possessions was brilliant enough to ensnare my full attention.
After several minutes, he paused and shot me a wry grin. “Sorry, I got carried away. Do you know much about cars? I can get pretty geeky about this stuff, and I don’t want to bore you.”
A giddy laugh bubbled from my chest, his effervescent energy catching. I never would’ve associated the term geeky with gorgeous, self-assured Joseph. But there was something absolutely adorable and achingly endearing about his boyish excitement. This garage was like his own personal playground, and I could listen to him talk about engine types and specs all day, even if I didn’t really understand what any of it meant.
“I’m not bored,” I promised. “Not at all. I’m happy that you’re sharing this with me. It obviously means a lot to you.” I went up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, his rough stubble stimulating my sensitive lips. “And that means a lot to me,” I added on a murmur.
I love you. I couldn’t say it. Not now. Not yet.
When Marco had kidnapped me and told me that Joseph was a mobster, I’d realized that I didn’t really know Joseph at all. But the more time I spent with him on this estate, the more I was coming to understand that maybe I’d known the truth of his soul from the very beginning: Joseph was a good man, and he practically worshipped me.
I locked my deeper feelings for him behind a bright smile, barely managing to contain the confession of love. There was so much I still didn’t know about this beautiful, powerful man who’d stormed into my life and swept me off my feet.
But he was sharing with me now. He was showing me not only his deeper nature, but aspects of his personality that made me even more enamored with him. Suddenly, I was greedy to learn everything that Joseph cared about, everything that made him glow like my own personal sun.
“Will you tell me more about what the terminology means?” I asked. “I don’t know much about cars, but I’d like to learn.”
He lifted our interlocked hands and brushed a kiss over my knuckles. Despite the chaste gesture of affection, his flame-blue eyes blazed with hunger. “We’ll start your education in the finer points of auto mechanics some other time. We haven’t even gotten to what I really wanted to show you.”
He tugged me toward a shiny silver car at the front of the garage. Based on the overall shape of the vehicle, even my untrained eye could tell it was an older model. The lines were slightly blockier than Joseph’s other cars, the body crafted in bold planes rather than sensual curves.
His long fingers trailed lovingly over the chrome wing mirror, an echo of the reverent way he caressed my skin when we were in bed together. “This is a ’69 Chevy Camaro ZL1. I managed to buy it at auction last year. I’ve wanted one of these babies since I was sixteen, and now, she’s all mine.”
“What’s so special about this one?” I asked. “What does it do?”
One corner of his sinful mouth ticked up. “This beast has more than five-hundred horsepower, and it’s a drag racing legend. Chevy wasn’t supposed to put its biggest engine in this model, but a few were manufactured at special request.”
His hands suddenly bracketed my hips, and he lifted me to sit on the hood. He stepped in close, forcing my thighs to part. I gasped at the thick, hard bulge pressing against my core. If it weren’t for the barriers of his rough jeans and my thin yoga pants, nothing would’ve prevented him from driving into my slick heat.
My hands clutched at his shoulders, anchoring me to him. His big palm spanned the small of my back and pinned me tighter. His free hand tangled in my hair, fisting the silky locks at my nape. My head tipped back, and I parted my lips in anticipation of his fierce kiss.
But he held me locked in place, restraining me exactly where he wanted me. His gemstone eyes glittered, and his heated words teased across my mouth. “There