“Are you mocking me?”

“If you’re dumping me, I’m mocking you, yes. Cassie, darlin’, I knew you were hiding something that first night you came to town. I knew you had something that was eating at you. But I pursued you anyway. You know why?”

“My sparkling wit?”

He grinned. “Yeah. And your smile. And your intelligence and beauty and damned if you don’t have the nicest tits I’ve ever seen on a woman and I would very much like to see them naked and in a bed very soon.” He held up a hand to continue. “I know it won’t happen tonight, we’re both a bit ragged. I’m just saying.”

His arms encircled her waist and he held her to him. “Are you interested in me? In a relationship? For me, this is getting serious. You said you knew my history, well, it’s true. Not that I’ve been a womanizer, but I’ve played around a lot. I had one serious relationship but I never should have moved in with her much less asked her to marry me. Looking back, I thank my lucky stars that she cheated on me and got caught.

“I want you to know you mean something to me. I’m going to try to be totally up front here because I want this to work. I want us to be together. Let’s work through your panic attacks. I’ll try to curtail my need to take care of the people I…uh…care about. I can’t promise to stop, it’s who I am, but you can yell at me and I’ll never, ever, raise my hand to you in anger. I might be an ass**le from time to time but I’m not a thug or a bully. Let me in. Let’s see where this can go.”

Her forehead rested against the hard muscle of his chest as she thought. Thought about what a relationship with Shane would be like after the morass of messed up she’d been married to. He made her smile. He cared about her and wasn’t afraid to say so. That touched her deeply. And without a doubt, he was the sexiest, handsomest and downright wonderful man she’d ever met.

“Are you sure? I’m a mess, Shane.”

“I’m totally sure, Cassie.” The bass of his voice vibrated through his chest.

Taking a deep breath, she leaned out and looked into his face. “Okay. But don’t manage me, Shane, or I will chew you up and spit you out. I mean it.”

He grinned. “Promise?”

Startled laughter bubbled from her gut and she rolled her eyes.

“Cassie, do you trust me to touch you? I know we won’t sleep together tonight but I’d very much like to touch you.”

To demonstrate, his hands slid down the curve of her back and down to cup her ass.

“Oh, that kind of touching.” Cassie couldn’t help but smile.

The tips of his fingers brushed against the satin of the exposed skin just below the frayed hem of her shorts. Shane felt the gooseflesh erupt there as he stroked that sweet spot where the curve of her ass met her inner thigh.

He watched her eyes, waiting for her to refuse before moving his hands anywhere else. He needed her terribly but he also knew he’d have to take it slow with her at first. She had some wounds and he intended to heal them. Okay, to help her heal them.

Step by step he moved her back to the door behind them. He stopped when her back met it. The eyes locked with his showed trust and no small amount of desire and curiosity.

His mouth moved down and took hers. Her lips called to him, her taste tantalized and seduced. Unable to resist, his teeth caught her bottom lip, giving it a sharp nip before sweeping his tongue along the sensual curve there, laving the sting.

She sighed and his mouth caught the sound, swallowing it, taking it into himself greedily. Her palms slid up the muscles of his forearms and biceps, up his neck and into his hair as he feasted on her lips.

Their tongues slid together, sinuous and sex laden. He knew that once they got into bed together it would be incredibly powerful. Their chemistry was off the charts. That knowledge helped him stay in control. As much as he wanted to be inside her, he wanted to be inside her heart first. Wanted her to be totally sure she could trust him not to hurt her.

He brought a hand up to free her hair and it tumbled down, the scent of her shampoo filled his senses. “Everything about you smells good,” he murmured as his lips moved to the column of her throat and ever-so-slowly, one palm slid up her stomach, beneath the hem of her T-shirt and found her breast.

Emboldened when she arched into his touch, he moved his other hand, slipping down into the front of her shorts. The skin of her belly was soft and warm. Fingertips traced over the front of her panties, against the silky fabric. He felt her heat, her wetness through the material.

A soft moan slid from her lips, vibrating against his mouth on her throat. The hand on her breast moved out of the way and he caught her nipple between his teeth through the cotton of her shirt. She cried out, rolling her hips forward.

Clever fingers moved the panties out of the way and slid through the heat of her pu**y. Shane groaned at the same time Cassie did, finding her so wet, knowing she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

She tried to reach down to his c**k but he held himself out of reach. “No, not right now. Let me love you, Cassie.” She made a sound of disapproval until his fingertips found her clit and her head knocked on the door behind them. He only barely resisted chuckling, instead, he moved to the other nipple, his hand replacing his mouth on the one he’d just left behind.

Cassie hadn’t had an orgasm given to her by another person in several years. Since the second year she and Terry were married. She’d wanted Shane for weeks now and her body was primed to his touch. There was no fear, only the roar of desire in her ears and the burn of want in her muscles.