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Could she become someone brave too?

Married now, who could stop her? The notion was heady. Addictive. Nearly as tempting as obsessing—on the inside—over his every enticing movement.

“I am thinking.” She felt heat flooding her face. “Can’t stop thinking.”

His eyebrows knitted, casting shadows over his eyes. “About who’s waiting at the Inn?”

“No.” She stood up. She was an adult. A woman who knew her mind despite her fears. Rhett wasn’t forcing her hand tossing out ultimatums. He’d given her choices. She could do this. She would state her desires and hopes. She would have this important conversationwith her husband.

“About us.” Too late, she realized she had him backed into a corner right here in the kitchen. “About tonight.”

“I’m listening.”

At least he wasn’t trying to get away. Yet.

“My track record with intimate relationships isn’t great.”What an understatement. “You’ve noticed I’m skittish and you’ve been wonderful about making me more comfortable.” Her heart was racing now and she had to pause to catch her breath. “Do you think, um, I know this will be a wild request.” She forced her eyes to meet his. He had called her gorgeous. Said he was attracted. Kissed her like she mattered. She lifted her chin. He couldn’t say yes or no if she didn’task.

“Would you have sex with me tonight?” It came out in a rush. “Please. Just this one time can be enough.”

Assuming she could see it through. With Rhett, staring into his eyes, she trusted both of them. She truly believed he would help her over any struggles. She believed in him more than she did in herself.

His eyebrows lifted and he stared at her. “Trina.” He reached for her left hand, gently cradling it in his bigger palm. Already she felt treasured. Valued instead of merely convenient. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone who isn’t into you.”

The low rumble of his voice stirred her senses. “So you’d be okay with, um, doing this tonight?”

He lifted her hand to his lips and the featherlight kiss seemed to seal a deep, abiding promise. “If once is all you want, I’m in. If every day for the rest of our lives is what you want…” His voice trailed off as he traced the curve of her jaw with his thumb and his hot gaze held her captive. “I’m in.”

Her heart, racing moments ago, tripped and stuttered in her chest. He meant it. He wasn’t giving her a line or saying what she wanted to hear to get his way. Breathless, it was all she could do to reply. “L-let’s start with tonight.”

His grip on her hand tightened for a heartbeat, the only sign of nerves she could find in him. “One condition,” he said, a smile teasing the corner of his mouth.

She swallowed, braced for rejection. “Which is?”

He tipped up her chin, his blue eyes intent. “You’ll tell me if anything I do troubles you or makes you uneasy.”

She bobbed her chin in the affirmative, wishing he’d kiss her so she could stop thinking. “I promise. Right now, I’m one giant bundle of uneasy,” she admitted. “But I want this.You.”

Flustered, she lifted a shaky hand to run her fingertip over the soft petals of the boutonniere on his vest. “I don’t know what to do next,” she whispered.

“Let me kiss you.”

It was a suggestion. Not a demand. Not even a question. “Yes,” slipped past her lips without a thought or worry.

His hand glided over the back of her neck, up into her hair. And a good thing too. Because the moment his lips touched hers, she melted. She clutched at his shoulders as hedrew her in close to his body. Close enough to feel that she wasn’t the only one affected.

Aroused.

That was the only word for it. Every nerve in her body reached for him, for the sensual promises arcing between them. His spicy masculine scent wound around her, underscored by the sweet flower on his vest and the hint of clean soap bubbles from their send off.

And still a small, shy part of her waited for the groping to start.

He pulled back. “Talk to me.”

But she couldn’t ruin the present with the shadows of her past. “I’m good. You are—this is amazing. Please, don’t stop.”

His brow flexed. “We don’t have to rush any of this.”

She did. She needed to rush headlong into her new self as Mrs. Rhett Ellington. Not because she was afraid. Or not just that. Because she longed to be his wife in every sense, even if the marriage wasn’t destined for forever. For years, she’d believed positive, mutual intimacy was beyond her. To have this moment tonight, with Rhett—a handsome blend of integrity and raw sex appeal—was a miracle all on its own.