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“So you went to the wine expo to ask Calvin for help?”

She nodded, and the knots inside me unknotted. “Do you think he’ll help you?”

“I don’t know. He seemed sincere, but I have to try. He’s my only connection to The Triad.” She looked at me. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know you well enough.”

“We can catch up now.” I took her hand in mine again. “Time to charge up.”

Vivian stared at me, but I could see a small smile emerging. “Are you always like this?”

“No.” The question brought me to a pause too. She brought out a lighter and happier side of me. I didn’t enjoy holding hands with any other women. I had to think about this further—this change I didn’t even realize was happening to me. “I guess I just like holding your hands.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“Youshouldbelieve me.” I shifted so I could look her in the eye. “Most times, I’m not like this.”

“I know. You have this intense demeanor, like a powerful magnet that pulls people to you.”

She’d been observing me. “But I failed at attracting you.”

“You didn’t fail,” she admitted, and her cheeks flushed. “I’m just . . . careful.”

I brushed my fingers across her cheeks. “What are you afraid of? I won’t hurt you.”

“It’s hard for me to trust people, Arrow.”

There was so much to her, and I wanted to unravel every secret she was hiding. But I didn’t want to bombard her with questions when she was dealing with so much.

“You can trust me.” I squeezed her hand.

She considered me with her brown eyes, and I loved that I could see she was slowly welcoming me into her world.

“You have a face that makes it hard for me to trust.”

“What does that mean?”

She traced my jawline with her fingers, tantalizing my skin with her seductive movement. My cock hardened in my active pants. She noticed, smirked, but said nothing.

Did she know she had power over me? No woman had made mewantthe way she did.

“It means you’re a stunning man.” Her eyes gleamed. “In my experience, stunning people get bored and stray.” Her face was so close to mine, and her perfume hypnotized me.

Was she testing me?

“Let me show you that your analysis is wrong.” I crushed my lips to hers, loving the way her soft lips molded to mine.

She whimpered, and my tongue slid in to meet hers. She tasted as perfect as I’d imagined. A mystery flavor that was uniquely hers.

Heat pulsed between us, and she broke the kiss, bracing a hand on my chest.

She looked at me and licked her swollen lips. God, she was fucking beautiful.

“I don’t get bored easily.” I traced her bottom lip with my index finger. “Especially not with something I’ve wanted for a long time. You just gave me a wicked taste of you.” My lips hovered over her ear. “And I wantmore.”

When she shivered, I smiled.