“So, we’ve reached the end of our meal,” he said to her smoothly. “Am I too bold to ask for another one?”

She smiled and laughed.

“Not at all. I had a good time. Although I fear I did most of the talking. You’ve hardly divulged any information about yourself.”

“Untrue. I have told you more about myself than I have told any one person in a very long time. Let me give you my number. That way you can call me to schedule our next date. If you do not call, I will just have to assume you did not have as good a time as I had hoped.”

He took out a business card and laid it on the table before her. It was a simple card, almost barren. It was ivory with an embossed frame around the edges. In the center was a number and beneath that was his name. It said nothing about who he was or what he did, which was unusual but not unheard of. She took the card and tucked it into a pocket of her jeans, taking care so she didn’t lose it. She really had had a nice time. And, she realized, she would be happy to repeat it.

They finished their dessert, and Rafe paid the bill even though she tried to insist on paying her part.

“What kind of man allows a woman to pay for herself when he takes her out?” he said. She eased off when she realized it might insult him to insist further. She smiled to herself when a pleased part of her realized that wasn’t such a bad thing. Renee thought of all the dates she had been on where she had paid her half and the male involved had thought nothing of it. Sure, she was supposed to be an independent woman who could make her own way in the world, but still it was nice to be treated so well.

They stood up and, in another display of manners and charm, he was there to pull out her chair and help her into her coat. He turned her to himself and engaged her zipper, zipping her up snugly, all the way to her chin. It was a strangely intimate act but she didn’t even protest as he closed the jacket over her gun.

“Would you like my number?” she blurted out. She realized she should have offered when she had been given his card.

“I will get your number when you call me,” he said pointedly.

“And will you answer a strange number?”

“I do it all of the time. I do not have the luxury of ignoring calls.”

“There’s always voicemail.”

“True. And I access my voicemail quite frequently. I will answer your call. If I am in a meeting leave me a message and I will get back to you.”

“All right.”

He guided her outside where it had begun to snow in earnest. During their time in the café almost half an inch had accumulated on the ground.

“It promises to be an intense storm,” he remarked as they walked toward her home.

“Yes. They say it’ll last days. I’m glad we decided to do this now. I might have lost my nerve otherwise.”

“Do I seem that much of a creep?”

“I am not in the habit of picking up strange men in the supermarket. I merely would have come to my senses.”

“Well then, I am also glad we did this now. Now you know there’s nothing to be cautious of. I am not so overwhelming, am I?”

“It takes a great deal to overwhelm me. I simply…I don’t go out much. Not many people can cope with what it means to be a cop.”

“This does not concern me. Of course your safety is paramount, but I see you to be more than capable of taking care of yourself.”

“Yes. Yes, I am,” she said with a sunny smile.

Before she realized it, they were standing in front of her building. He followed her up the outside stairs and she searched her pocket for her keys. She made a concentrated effort of it, trying to avoid the perils of the moment. Would he try to kiss her? Would he ask to come inside?

No, she realized with some relief. He wouldn’t ask to come inside. His manners were such that he would not press his luck.

But a kiss? She had only met him a couple of hours ago. Should she be expected to kiss him? Did she even want to? Maybe he didn’t want to. Maybe he had not enjoyed his time with her as much as he had said he had and he was just being polite.

Suddenly his gloved hand came out and closed over hers where it was inserting her key into the top lock of her door. She went still and looked up to meet his eyes.

“Renee, I have one other appetite that needs to be satisfied tonight,” he said as he stepped closer to her. He reached out with his free hand and caressed her neck beneath her hair.

“I-I’m not certain—”

“That’s all right. You do not have to be certain. Just…let me kiss you,” he said softly.

She felt her heart kick into overdrive as she turned her back against the door, avoiding his descending mouth for as long as she could before finally giving in to the base need building inside of her. She sighed at the last minute and tipped her chin up to meet him. His firm mouth covered hers and she felt the warm, moist kiss on a soulful level.

What began with reluctance quickly morphed into heat. The long length of his body leaned into her, pressing her back against the door. His hands came into play, sliding around to her back and acting as a buffer between her and the hard door. Then he pulled her forward off it, deeper into the bend of his body.

He edged her mouth open, slipping his tongue into play. He tasted so good. Like butter and masculine warmth. The kiss grew deeper and deeper and she forgot all about caution and what she should or should not be doing. His hand left her back and went for the zipper of her coat. He slowly unzipped it. When the zipper disengaged at the bottom he parted both sides of the heavy coat and drew her close again so now their bodies were touching more intimately. His hand slipped inside the coat and she felt her nerves jangle with anticipation.

Rafe lifted from her mouth with a savage-sounding growl.

“This is only making it harder,” he said roughly.

“Making what harder?” she asked. Then she pinked up as she thought about what he might be talking about. But it seemed a strange way to put it.

He didn’t answer her. Instead he ravaged her mouth again, drinking deeply from her lips and tongue. He jerked open his own coat and brought her flush to his body, her breasts crushing to his chest and her abdomen connecting with his. She felt heat radiating from all points of contact and swelling from deep within her.

Rafe growled softly in his throat as he demanded more of the feel of her. She was on the tips of her toes as he pulled her hips into contact with his. He was hard and unyielding, strong and nearly violent as his hands roamed over her waist and down to her hips to hold her to himself. She felt his fingers digging into her bottom and his stellar erection through the soft material of his pants and hers. It sparked an equal reaction in her, her panties growing damp and her body growing expectant. It was a fierce reaction to get from simply kissing. It was like lighting a match to tinder…dry, dry tinder that was begging for a purpose. Begging to become fire.