“I already told you.”

She threw the roll of tape down in frustration. “You told me you were going to take her dancing, and then you used her name for my disguise in front of Mr. Trotter. Probably half of what you tell me is a lie—how am I supposed to separate fact from fiction when it comes to you?”

His hand grabbed hers. She jumped and tried to pull away, but his grip was like steel. “Let go! You’re hurting me.” He wasn’t, really, but panic had a way of scrambling things in her head.

“Goddammit! Stop struggling and listen to me for one second.”

The exasperation in his voice startled her. She stilled, her breath coming fast and hard.

“You’re right,” he said, lessening the intensity of his grip. “I’m a liar, and we both know it. But even if I weren’t, I’d never be an upstanding man. My family are immigrants. I grew up poor. I’m not part of your circle of society and never will be, no matter how much money and power we have.”

“Money and power don’t make a man trustworthy.”

“And not everything I say is a lie. Let’s make a deal, you and me, ja?” His voice softened. “Remember when we stood in the courtyard by the gazing pool? I told you the truth about my injury. No one else—only you. And I said I was worried that women would find this hand repellent, and you told me the right woman wouldn’t care. Do you remember?”

“Yes.”

He pulled her closer. “See, I’ve got this funny idea in my head that you might be that right woman. Someone who won’t reject me when I touch her.”

Raw emotion tightened her throat.

“See this hand?” He gently squeezed her fingers, drawing her attention to the scarred skin where his missing finger once was. “Just like I told you the truth that night about my injury, from now on, whenever I hold your hand with this one, you can trust what I’m telling you is the truth. I promise to give you that. Do you believe me?”

Hadley’s heart drummed inside her breast. She lifted her gaze to his. “I can try. I want to.”

“That’s all I’m asking.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, sending a chill up her arm. Blue eyes squinted up at her with disarming intensity. “Now, let me prove it. I’m holding your hand, so tell me what truths you need from me right now. You need to know that I won’t tell anyone about your secrets? I won’t tell a soul. But you already knew that, or you wouldn’t have confessed.”

“You aren’t afraid of me, now that you know?”

“Afraid of whatever it is you call up? Abso-goddamn-lute-ly. Every man’s afraid of the unknown. But I’m not afraid of you, and that’s the difference. What else, Hadley?” He pulled her closer, until her legs brushed against his. “You brought up Ruby. You want to know about her? Because there’s nothing to tell. I’m not interested in renewing anything with Ruby, which is partly why I haven’t answered her calls. But mostly, I haven’t had time. Seems lately I’ve spent most of my days with you, and I’ve spent most of my nights thinking about the days.”

“Lowe.” She tried to say something more, but nothing came out.

A second later, he let go of her hand, only to wrangle her around the waist, pulling her down to sit sideways on his lap. His chest was a warm brick wall against her shoulder. So much bare skin. A little shiver of panic raced through her as one hand slid around her back and settled on her hip. The other tilted her chin toward his face.

His voice was low and firm. “I understand why you’re uncomfortable with other people touching you, but you can’t be that way with me, and that’s all there is to it. Because when I told you in the car that it didn’t matter if you weren’t interested in me, I lied. It does matter. It matters a lot.” He slowly released her chin. “Did you lie to me when you said you never wanted to kiss me again?”

Her gaze dropped to his chest as she whispered, “Yes. I lied.”

The muffled noise from the yawning city outside her windows sounded far away as she listened to his breath. Movement stirred against her thigh. But with her nerves stretched tight, it took her several moments to comprehend what was happening—plenty of time for him to gentlemanly move away or shift positions. He clearly had no intention of doing so.

Good God.

Her face heated in embarrassment, but that quickly changed into something else when her nipples stiffened into hard points. Her hands lay in her lap. She clenched them, fingernails biting into her palms, as she pressed her thighs together, praying he wouldn’t touch her.

Praying he would.

He brushed a slow touch along the curve of her shoulder and spoke in a deep, rough voice. “You’ve made yourself a fine little island, not getting close to people, haven’t you? But you can’t survive like that forever. I think I’m going to have to send out a rescue boat and haul you back onto the mainland.”

“Lowe.”

He nuzzled his nose into her hair and inhaled. “This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to kiss me. And I’m going to touch you.”

“I—”

“Nuh-uh-uh,” he warned. “I’m in charge now, Miss Bacall. Here, hold my hand again so you can be sure I’m not lying . . .” He forced open one of her fists and threaded three long fingers between hers. “This hand only, that’s all I’ll use. We won’t move from this chair, and I promise not to touch any skin. I’ll only touch you over your clothes. That’s all. Nothing more. Agreed?”