But I had people in my life. People who loved me. Cared for me.

I was one of the lucky ones.

There were people out there, people like Jess and Dahlia and Emery, who didn’t have anyone. So I gave them me because I didn’t know any other way to face the world. I made wounded strangers my family in the hopes that it would make it easier for them to deal with their pain. And yes, it wasn’t entirely altruistic. I missed my own family. In reaching out to those who needed it I was making another family closer to home.

I was still working on Emery.

I guess in a way I was still working on Dahlia, too.

I should not turn Vaughn into family.

I shouldn’t.

“Stu will pay for tonight.” Vaughn’s hard words cut through my musings.

He looked fierce. Determined. Like a protector. An unexpected protector.

And that’s when it hit me.

Maybe I didn’t want to rescue Vaughn.

Maybe . . . holy hell . . .

Did I want Vaughn to save me?

I felt winded by the prospect that I could feel something emotional for Vaughn Tremaine. Was I willing to throw out all my fears and insecurities that only he brought out in me, because for one night he’d shown me the softer side of him? The kind side. The passionate side.

Did I want him? Really, truly?

I imagined myself naked beneath him, his hands pinning my wrists to the bed as I allowed him to take sexual control of me.

“Yes,” I whispered.

Oh, holy hell, was I in trouble.

“What?” Vaughn frowned.

I realized then I’d spoken out loud.

My heart hammered in my chest. “I better get back to the inn . . . Will you . . . will you walk with me?”

If he was surprised by my question, by the vulnerability I allowed him to see, Vaughn didn’t show it.

Instead, like the gentleman I’m sure his father raised him to be, he got to his feet and held out a hand to me.

I took it, acknowledging the rush of sparks I felt tingle through me at his touch.

Awareness.

Those sparks had existed between us since the beginning, but I’d refused to admit I could be that attracted to someone I didn’t like, especially while I was supposed to be in love with Tom.

I could admit now that there was more to Vaughn Tremaine than met the eye, and yes he could be an asshole, but there was a reason for that, too. I hadn’t missed the fact that he’d avoided my question about being in love. And I was Bailey Hartwell. There was no one who enjoyed a mystery more than I did. He was a mystery I very much wanted to work out.

As Vaughn’s grip on me tightened as he pulled me up, as our eyes met and his flared at the brush of our bodies as I stood, that power I’d felt earlier surged through me.

Vaughn wanted me.

Thrill soared through me.

It was hard to puzzle out a mystery when you had no aces up your sleeve.

I had an ace in this situation, though.

I’d never used sex as an ace before. It was something we both wanted but could never admit to. Until now. And for me, it was the stepping stone I needed to get close enough to a man who I finally could admit intrigued me like no other.

TEN

Bailey

There were no more words between us as Vaughn walked me back to the inn.

“Do a walk-through with me?” I unlocked the front door as I spoke.

If he was surprised that I, Bailey Hartwell, needed a man to be at my side while I checked the inn was safe, he didn’t say anything.

Instead we walked through the rooms, making sure it was all clear, leaving the empty wine bottle, glasses, and soaked dish towel in the kitchen, before I led him to my office.

It was still a mess from earlier.

“Do you want me to help you clean it up?” Vaughn frowned down at the spot where Stu had pinned me down.

“No. I’ll get it tomorrow.” I walked out, hoping he’d follow, and he did, a flicker of wariness crossing his expression when he realized we were standing outside a bedroom. “I sleep here when I work too late.”

I read the moment he was going to walk away.

“I know you want me.” Typical me to simply put it out there.

I just never thought I’d put it out there with Vaughn.

He cursed under his breath and moved to leave, but I stepped into him and placed my hands on his strong chest, pressed my legs against his.

He gripped my biceps as if to push me away, but as soon as he touched me, he froze, undecided.

My heart hammered against my chest at the feel of him against me, at the smell of his expensive cologne, at the thought of waking up with my sheets smelling of that expensive cologne. My nipples tightened beneath my sweater and I wished I were still wearing my camisole so he could see my body’s blatant reaction to his proximity.

“I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

His grip on me loosened, and I feared that self-control of his was about to rear its ugly head. “Then I’ll stay with you but we don’t have to have sex.”

“What did I just say about pulling that stick out of your ass?” I teased, pressing closer to him, enjoying the hard tension in his body. “I’m so tired of always being in control, Vaughn. I look after myself. I look after my inn. I look after this town. With Tom I looked after him in every way. I took control in our lives and in our bed. For once I don’t want to.” I reached up on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his. The touch caused a rush of tingles between my legs and I gasped.

I felt him tremble.

Satisfaction roared through me. “Take me into my room, Vaughn. Take control so I don’t have to. I want you to. I want you to lay me down on that bed and take what you want. You want to, right?” I looked deep into his hard eyes and shivered at the heat I found in them. “I bet you’ve thought about it. Fucking the hostile Princess of the Boardwalk into submission.”