He was always touching her—a hand at her back as she climbed the stairs, fingers at her elbow as he helped her into the car—his touch making her crazy inside.
Looking out the passenger window gave her an excuse to draw away, far enough to breathe without his scent filling her head. The road paralleled the highway, with lush greenery flashing by on the other side. He was right; the cars up there were traveling considerably faster.
“It’s the convertible. It makes everything feel like it’s rushing past.” He downshifted around a turn, and trees rose up between them and the freeway. “I’m not going to promise never to drive you faster than you want to go, Harper, but I can promise that I’ll never let you get hurt.”
Her fingers dug into the door’s armrest. But it wasn’t fear. Far from it.
The wind in her hair, the shush of tires on the road, the feel of speed—it was all so exhilarating. She found herself wanting Will to take her faster than she’d ever dared. And she wanted to believe he’d never allow her to be hurt.
He made her feel things, made her want things she shouldn’t. Like the moment he’d taken the toasted bread and caviar from her fingers, when she’d wanted to feel the warmth of his mouth and know the taste of his skin. When she’d wanted to bask forever beneath the sensual heat in his eyes.
He was as dangerous as her desire for speed and just as addictive. He had her saying yes when she should say no.
Heck, he even had her asking herself why she needed to say no!
As the headlights slashed through the darkness, she couldn’t tell how fast they were going. And, at least for the moment, as the moon and the stars shone above and the crisp air moved over her heated skin, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
She caught his gaze, and in the moonlight, she swore she could see in him the same wildness that was brimming in her.
He was so far beyond any man she’d dated. Her most serious relationship had been with a middle manager for a company she’d done business with. Kevin owned his own home and was amassing his 401(k), and she’d thought he was a prize until he’d suggested that Harper should send Jeremy to a care facility to live with strangers. But Kevin was like a fly on the wall compared to Will, who wore his power and magnetism as though he’d been born to them. Even though, from what she’d read about him, there was no indication he’d come from any money at all, especially since he was always referred to as a self-made man. She hadn’t been sure about much of his past before meeting him and was no clearer after their dinner.
Still, even though he was a mystery—or maybe because of that—she wanted to put her palm over his on the stick shift, mold her fingers around his on the steering wheel. She wanted to touch him, feel the power of the car with him, sense the speed.
Sense him.
It was wild. It was crazy. It wasn’t like her.
And yet...tonight, it felt right.
More right than anything had in a very long time.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The car rocked through a few ruts until Will stopped beside a chain-link fence. Harper tried to smooth her hair down after the wild ride, even though it had to be a lost cause by now.
“Where are we?” She heard the breathlessness in her voice, a sensual sound no one had ever brought out in her before.
“An old fountain I found while I was out exploring the area after I first moved to California.”
Despite the fact that he was a businessman at the very top of his game, she could easily imagine him screaming through the countryside in one of his fancy cars, taking roads no one else would dare try, finding places no one else would go. “How long have you lived here?”
“A little over a decade.” Once they’d climbed from the car, he extended his hand to her. “It’s locked, but I know a way in.”
Of course he did. Something told her Will Franconi knew exactly how to get into anything he wanted, whether it was off limits or not.
Even, possibly, a heart like hers that had been shut down for far too long.
She put her hand in his, the contact doing nothing to calm the racing of her heart. He’d touched her way too much already. And she’d not only let him, she’d wanted him to touch even more of her, if she were being completely honest with herself.
She’d been worried about Jeremy getting too attached—but wasn’t she in just as much danger?
They prowled along the fence for several yards, then Will kicked at a bottom piece until it pushed loose. He let go of her hand to slide through the opening. On the other side, he tangled his fingers in the chain link and pulled it higher, widening the gap for her. “You’ll have to bend down a bit.”