Page 18 of Drive Me Wild (Owl Creek #2)

Especially this woman.

Zoe is trying to put down roots in Owl Creek. She wants to stay here, and I don’t know if I could handle seeing her with someone else. And that’s the thing I have to reconcile.

If she’s the inspiration for all these changes— helping the teenager find a future for himself with a solid mechanics background, volunteering at the high school for the robotics team, no more flings with tourists or random women, no more racing cars and partying at the track— then maybe I can let myself believe I’m enough for her because I realize that I want to be with her.

No other woman has made me want to be a different man.

To question why I am the way I am, and change what I don’t like about myself.

As I finish my morning coffee, I hear her coming up the stairs to the apartment and notice my heart rate starting to speed up.

Ridiculous .

I open the door and see her wearing a white and yellow cotton dress that hugs her small frame and makes her look like spring. She’s like a new day, and my mouth goes dry.

I let her in and she drops her backpack on the couch, then pulls out a binder and her computer and sets it up on the kitchen table.

“What are you doing?”

“You said you’d help me with my business plan.”

“Right. Of course. I didn’t know you’d want to get started first thing.”

“Caleb, what is going on?”

“What are you talking about?”

“When I told you I was trying to buy the bookstore yesterday, you got weird.”

“Yeah. Sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”

Liar .

“Do you want me to stop coming here to work?”

“No!” I step close enough that I can smell her shampoo.

Vanilla. Fresh.

“Do you want to stop helping me with my sex problem?”

“Zoe.”

No matter how her name comes out of my mouth, it feels like fear and longing, all wrapped up in one word.

“I want you to stay. I want you to want to stay.”

“Why?”

My mouth is a desert, and I wonder what made her bolder today. It’s turning me on and making me question why I’ve ever enjoyed the feeling of control.

“Because it feels good. Having you here and knowing I’m becoming the man I want to be as a result feels good.”

“How is my being here making you the man you want to be?”

She steps closer, and my cock twitches in my pants.

“You inspire me to want more for myself. More than what I’m good at.” I look into the green pools of her eyes, and I want to fall into them. I want to wash myself clean of everything I don’t want to be anymore.

“The note. It was for me and for you, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

She’s so close now I can feel the buttons on her dress scrape the fabric of my work shirt.

I want to taste her skin again, just like I did yesterday.

I want to take her into my room and spend the day showing her that she’s more than a sex kitten could ever be.

She’s a goddess, and I want to worship at her feet, but instead, I stare tongue-tied at those deep pools of green.

“I want more, Caleb. And I’m going to do what it takes to get it. Are you with me on this?”

I nod, placing my hands on her waist. She’s so close, and I want to make her mine. Even though I know there will be consequences.

“Then take me to your room and show me how you like it.”