After Trey swung his long legs out of the car, then shut the door softly, he moved toward the hood. Anxious to enjoy the peaceful, beautiful starry night, and even more anxious to be near Trey, she quickly joined him.

With a grin, he leaned against the hood, his legs outstretched, crossed at the ankles. “The first time I saw the stars up here, I was blown away. There are more points of light than black space, and they seem so close you could reach out and touch them. I’ve never seen anything like it, even in the desert.”

Their heads tilted back simultaneously.

She stared at the sky, absorbing a renewed sense of wonder. “Out here, it really is incredible.” She inhaled and exhaled a calming breath. “It reminds me of Presto.”

“As in ‘magic presto chango?’”

She elbowed him. “No, it’s a Rush song, on the Presto album.”

A laugh caught in his throat. “You really are a die-hard Rush fan.”

“Shame on you for doubting my fan girl status.”

“I’ll never doubt again,” he vowed, holding his hand over his heart. “Why does it remind you of that song?”

“The song compares being in an airplane looking down on houses to constellations. Like when I flew to visit my dad for the first time. When the plane descended into Tampa, Florida, I marveled at the effect. Rather novel to a ten-year-old.”

He glanced at her sideways. “You took a plane ride by yourself at ten?”

She waved off his observation. “No big deal. I was pretty independent. They say only children are adults by the age of eight, and I agree. I was already getting myself ready for school, doing my own laundry and cooking dinners. Riding on a plane was just a fun adventure.”

Then she lost herself to the memory of visiting her father. “I’ll never forget that image, so many tiny yellow lights spreading out below the plane like a map of the stars on the ground. My dad was late picking me up from the airport. A stewardess waited with me and taught me how to use a yo-yo. Dad eventually came and got me. The stewardess handed me off, and my dad took me home. If you could call it that.”

Trey leaned back on his elbows against the hood of his car. “Not the castle you were expecting?”

“Hardly. He lived in a trailer park, in a single-wide, stuffed to the gills with electronics equipment. He fixed TVs and VCRs as a side job. At the time, you could make reasonable money doing that.”

“What was his regular job?”

“He didn’t have one.” Sad acceptance welled up inside her. “His hobby was his passion, and he never bothered to develop people-skills to make him hirable to anyplace that would pay him.”

Trey looked slightly stunned. “What did you do there?”

“It was awesome, actually.” She brightened, recalling how a whole new world had opened up to her that week. “He taught me how to fix tube televisions, rewire a stereo, and create a computer from component parts alone.”

Awareness sparked in Trey’s eyes. “He gave you the foundation that led you to the path you’ve walked ever since.”

“Exactly.” She nodded. “I’m definitely my father’s daughter. I kept in touch with him afterward through letters we sent each other every week. I invited him to my fourth grade science fair, where I was a finalist.”

“Not surprising.” Trey glanced at her with admiration. “Did he show?”

She shook her head. “Six months after that I received a batch of letters from the post office, letters marked Return to Sender. My mom helped me call around until we learned the trailer park where he lived had been sold to a condominium developer.” A prick of sadness nicked her. “I never heard from him again.”

He pulled her close to him, resting her back against his hard chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he said, “That’s insane. You’re his daughter, his family. How could he hang you out to dry like that?”

“Family comes in all shapes and sizes, Trey.” She tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and rested her head against his shoulder. “Some are better than others. We don’t get to choose.”

His fingers covered hers. “I guess. That still sucks. To me, family is everything.”

“I know.” A sigh lifted her chest, and a distant yearning squeezed her heart. “That’s one of my favorite things about you.”

Silence descended. They remained pressed together, side by side, staring up at the night sky.

Then his biceps stiffened against her arms. “Did you see that?”

She lifted her head. “What?”

“A shooting star. Look, there’s another.”

“Where?” She looked toward his pointed finger but saw nothing. Then a flash caught the corner of her eye. She glanced in the opposite direction. “I see one, too, over there!”

Within two minutes, they counted eleven shooting stars between them.

“You know what this means,” he said.

“I give up.”

“You have to make a wish, on a shooting star.”

She decided not to mention it was likely a small, random meteor shower, not a wondrous event worthy of hanging hopes upon.

Because, in this moment, she absolutely adored him. There was something boyishly appealing about this big, sexy, former bounty hunter telling her she needed to wish on a star. “Um, okay…”

Closing tighter around her, his arms stacked like two-by-fours across her stomach. “What would you wish for, if you could have anything in the world?”

“Right this very second?” She turned in his arms to face him. “He’s already here.”

Capturing her in his low-lidded gaze, he whispered, “Wish granted.”

His lips sealed against hers. His tongue swept inside her mouth, slick and inviting. She answered his searching probes, swirling her tongue around his. He demanded surrender, and she gave in to him willingly. She wanted him, needed him. Despite her plan to leave Denver, despite that she had a crazy hacker after her, this moment with Trey blurred her boundaries, driving her to distraction. She willingly went along for the ride.

He angled his mouth over hers and clutched the back of her head, pressing deeper, consuming her in fiery lust. He unleashed his passion, and she took what he gave. Looping her arms around his neck, she released her own desires. Met each thrust of his tongue. Arched her body against his.

Without warning, he lifted her easily and, with a quick flip, her back met the hood of his car. He ground against her, his tongue thrusting deeply, promising what the hard ridge in his pants would deliver.