“You do know. Say it,” he demands.

“Safe,” I whisper, still looking at my hands. I feel his fingers at my chin as he lifts my face so our eyes meet.

“You are safe with me, Sophie.” His fingers run along my jaw. “We are going to explore this thing between us. We are going to take it as slowly as you need, but you are not going to push me away. It’s not going to work. You push me, and I will push back.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” I tell him, looking over his shoulder before meeting his eyes again.

“Yeah.” He nods, his thumb running over my bottom lip. “But we have time. Tonight, I’ll make dinner here and we can work on getting to know each other.”

“Sure.” I sigh, starting to understand something about him—he is relentless.

“Finish your toast,” he says, picking his coffee back up and turning slightly away from me, his legs still boxing me in.

I start eating again, trying not to think about the way it feels every time his hand rubs along my arm or back like he can’t stop touching me. I finish my toast then stick my finger into my mouth to suck the honey off. I start to put my thumb in my mouth when he grabs my wrist, bringing my hand to his mouth, and his eyes meet mine as his lips close around my thumb.

I’m paralyzed. The space between my thighs starts to tingle. I bite my lip to avoid the moan I feel in my throat. I watch in fascination as he pulls my thumb out of his mouth, placing a light kiss on the tip, and I swear I feel it on my clit.

“Sweet.” He leans in, placing a kiss on my lips before picking up my plate and walking into the kitchen, leaving me in a gooey mess sitting on the barstool.

I stand on shaky legs, taking a breath before walking over to my bag to pick it up off the couch.

“Do you have everything?”

I nod; I can’t seem to talk anymore.

“I’ll walk you out.” He places his hand on the small of my back, leading me to the front door.

He opens it, and I stop to look up at him. “Thank you for…you know…last night…and this morning,” I say, my cheeks heating up, making me feel like a dork.

“You’re welcome.” He smiles before lowering his head to kiss me.

I lean into him, loving the way it feels when he is so close to me. He pulls his mouth away after just a small touch of his lips, leaving me feeling disappointed. “Baby, as much as I want to really kiss you, I can’t. I’m hanging on by a very short thread and know that, if I kiss you like I want, you won’t be going to work, and we will be doing a whole lot of stuff you’re not ready for.”

“Oh,” I whisper, reading his face.

“Now, come on before all my good intentions go out the window,” he says with one more small kiss.

“Okay.” I bite my lip to keep from grinning, liking that I affect him so deeply. I turn and walk out the door and down the steps, and make my way to my car. I start to turn around to give him a wave, but I’m startled when I bump into his solid, still-naked chest. “You don’t have a shirt on,” I tell him shakily, looking around and wondering how many women are peeking through their blinds trying to get a glimpse of him.

“And?” he prompts, sliding my car key from my hand and opening my door.

“People can see you.”

“Babe?” His eyebrows draw together in confusion.

“Nico?” I hear a feminine voice call, and I turn my head and watch as a woman with black hair pulled up into a high ponytail, pink shorts, and a pink hoodie unzipped to show off her tits runs across the lawn to Nico’s driveway. “Oh God, I’m so glad I caught you!” she cries, her long, fake nails digging into his arm. “Henry left this morning and the darn sink in our bathroom won’t shut off. Can you come over and look at it?”

I can’t help but glare at her. Is she serious? I watch as her eyes travel over his body and she licks her lips. That’s when I’ve had enough.

“I’m sorry, but can you give us a second please?” I ask with my sweetest smile before grabbing Nico’s hand so I can drag him back into the house without giving him a choice.

“What are you doing?” he asks as I open the front door.

Daisy starts going crazy like she’s been alone for a year instead of just a few minutes. I don’t even stop to explain myself. I go to the room across from the one I slept in last night, knowing that it’s Nico’s. Then I open the door and look around. Spotting his dresser, I walk to it and start opening drawers.

“Sophie?”

“Just a second,” I say, finally finding a drawer with shirts and pulling out the first one my hand lands on. “Here. Put this on,” I demand, shoving the shirt at him. When I hear his laugh, I turn around to see him smiling, and it’s not a normal smile. That’s when I realize what I just did.

“You done?” he asks, his fingers running along the underside of my jaw. I can’t speak; I can’t even look at him. It’s official—I’m crazy.

“Um…” I mumble, looking over his shoulder. His hand on my cheek brings my eyes back to him.

“You’re really f**king beautiful when you get all territorial.”

I can’t believe I just dragged him inside to get a shirt. I didn’t even think—I just hated that that woman was looking at him like he was her next meal. “Um…” I mumble again.

“You’re making it really f**king hard for me to not kiss you,” he groans before taking a step back and pulling the shirt over his head. “All right, let’s try this again,” he says, taking my hand and leading me back outside to my car.

The woman, Deb, is still here; her eyes go to our hands and narrow before she lifts them and plasters a smile on her face.

“Deb, this is my girlfriend, Sophie.” My stomach flips over at the word ‘girlfriend.’ I’m not going to correct him in front of Deb though. “Sophie, this is Deb. She lives next door and watches Daisy when I’m out of town.”

“Oh, that’s so nice of you, Deb,” I say, my smile matching hers in fakeness.

“I didn’t know you have a girlfriend.” She takes her eyes off me, looking at Nico.

“I don’t have time to look at your sink today, Deb,” he says, ignoring her comment.

“Sophie’s going to work and I have some stuff to do. You should call George and see if he can come by.” He opens my car door, waiting while I get in. It’s already eighty degrees out, so I start my car and flip the switch for my top to roll back.