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But the more that I got to know Reese, the more attractive she became to me.

I was trying to avoid getting close to her physically because she smelled like citrus and vanilla. It was a pleasant scent, and it definitely shouldn’t be seductive, but it was for me.

Thatwas a problem, and something I needed to get a grip on right now.

I just wished that my body and mind were in agreement.

I watched as her tongue darted out to delicately lick her lips after a sip of her wine.

Christ!I wanted nothing more than to conquer those lips myself, and a guy could have fantastic fantasies about that tongue and where he wanted it on his body.

Right. Fucking. Now.

Put a lid on it, Remington. Not going to happen!

I tried to remember why I was really here with Reese, but over the course of the last two hours, the lines were starting to get a little blurry for me.

“Are you okay?” Reese asked softly. “You got quiet. Was the food too spicy? I could get you an antacid if you need it.”

I held up a hand. “I’m good. I was just thinking about that great food and savoring a good glass of wine.”

And I was a major liar, which I hated.

In reality, I was fantasizing about all of the things I could do to her curvy body if I could just get her naked.

I also wanted to knowallof her secrets now, and not just to protect my family.

For some damn reason, I wanted to protect Reese, too.

I sensed a vulnerability in her that concerned me, and my instinctwasto protect her.

She was being a little more forthcoming, but that quick glint of fear in her eyes I saw occasionally was very real.

She hid it well, and it was probably something most people would never notice, but I could sense it as well.

If I hit on a topic she didn’t want to talk about, I could literally feel her hesitation, even though she covered it up almost immediately.

What in the hell was going on with Reese Martin, and why in the hell did I give a shit about the possibility of hitting on a topic that scared her?

How had she gone from a possible threat to someone I wanted to protect in a matter of hours?

She very well could be lying to all of us, but instead of that pissing me off like it used to, I found myself asking why she’d do something like that.

Everyone had a past.

Past heartache.

Past mistakes.

Things that had happened in the past that we regretted.

No one who liked her was going to judge her for that.

Had some asshole broken her heart and she was here in Montana to escape that heartache?

That theory just didn’t ring true to me unless he was still a threat to her in some way.

My gut told me that Reese wasn’t the type to dump her entire life in the city to escape heartache in rural Montana.