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It covered everything while promising so much. I could’ve fallen to my knees and worshipped her then and there—not only for being the most exciting, most arousing creature I’d ever set eyes on, but because she understood what so many women didn’t: leaving things to the imagination was far sexier than the alternative.

She shook her head, unaware of how I wanted her. “No. I just really hope you understand. Things were… pretty terrible for a little while, and it’s better for me to have him around. Not just for my physical safety, either. He makes me feel better here.” She tapped the side of her head.

My heart softened. “I feel like a jackass. I should’ve thought before I reacted. It’s just that I saw him and thought you didn’t want us to be alone.”

“I want that. I want it very much.” She swayed a little, closing the distance between us.

I picked up the scent of her hair, and her skin and desire reared its head again.

She awoke a part of me I hadn’t given thought to since the disaster at the club.

It had been weeks since I’d even looked at a woman, much less thought about one the way I was thinking about her.

Then again, she was special.

We took our seats and wiped our hands with the hot towels a smiling server offered.

I couldn’t stop glancing at Vanessa, studying her. She couldn’t possibly know what was going through my head…could she?

I wouldn’t have imagined it if she hadn’t kept glancing at me, too.

Her cheeks went pink when our eyes met. “You probably think I’m rude,” she murmured.

“For looking at me? I was looking at you, too.”

“It’s just that…” She heaved a sigh. “This is going to sound ridiculous.”

I snorted. “Try me. You might be surprised.”

“I don’t know. This is pretty crazy.”

“Please, go on.”

She sighed again. “I feel like I know you from somewhere. I told you it was crazy.”

“It’s not. I feel the same way.”

“You do?” Her face lit up.

“I don’t normally sit down with a woman after she spills coffee all over me,” I grinned. “Even if she is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.”

She took the compliment with ease, like a woman who’s used to being called gorgeous and didn't bother pretending she doesn’t know it. “I didn’t think things like this could happen. You know. Meeting a person and feeling that instant connection. This sounds stupid. I should stop talking.”

“Don’t.” I could’ve listened to her all night. All week.

Her voice was like music. Every movement was as graceful as water cascading over rocks or a bird taking wing.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “I’m not used to meeting men who don’t want something from me.”

“Is that who your brother is protecting you from?”

She chuckled, but looked away. “Something like that.”

There was deep fragility in her, something broken.

I wished my protective instincts didn’t react as strongly as they did when I noticed the flash of pain that twisted her mouth into a grimace. I wanted to promise to protect her. She didn’t need her thick-necked brother to do it for her.

I would keep her from the filthy, nasty world. It wasn’t good enough for someone like her, someone so perfect. Maybe that was what my dream meant. I was supposed to hold her away from the rest of it, to carry her away to something better.