The muscles in his thighs strained in his jeans.
“When our tongues touched”—I swallowed air—“tingles exploded in my belly. And…” I nipped at the scar on his chin.
He made a low noise in the back of his throat.
“…the goosebumps stayed with me for a week after that day. Did I pass?”
The pained expression on his face was priceless. It was as though he was trying not to tear off the rest of my clothes.
He fed me a piece of pie.
After my belly erupted with glee, I asked, “Aside from the meringue, did you really make this pie? And don’t lie just so you can take off your clothes.”
Gone was the pain on his handsome face. In its place was a sexy smile. “I did. And if you don’t believe me, we can call Kody. He taught me. He’s the baker in the house.” He scooped out a large piece and held it while he eyed me.
“Go ahead. I believe you for now. If I find you lied, then we can duke it out.”
He shoved the helping in his mouth. “At the art gala you said I had flaws. Name one. If I agree, you get your reward.”
We might be here all night. I tapped my lip. Kelton was cocky and stubborn. He always had been. Fast forward seven years and his cocksure attitude had multiplied. I wasn’t a shrink, but my Spidey sense was telling me that he used those attributes as a cover so no one saw the real him. “Your bravado is a shield so others don’t see the real you.”
He chuckled even though his eyes expressed something else, maybe surprise that I was right. “And you know this how?”
Coolly, I lifted a shoulder. “Woman’s intuition. Isn’t that why you model?” The Kelton I knew wouldn’t show the world all of him. The Maxwells had always been private people. The brothers were picky about who they let into their circle and who they showed their softer sides to. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Is it that obvious?” He scooped another forkful of pie and inserted it into my mouth.
The sweet concoction melted on my tongue. “What scares you?” Somewhere beneath all the layers of Kelton, he was hiding behind something.
He lowered his gaze to my breasts, his chest rising. Then he jumped off the barstool and went over to the sink. He snagged a glass off the counter and filled it with water. His back muscles tightened as he gulped the clear liquid. When he finished, he turned, piercing me with a pained look.
I couldn’t tell what he was wrestling with—keeping his hands off me or something else. “If you don’t want to answer, take off your jeans,” I teased. He’d made the rules—wrong answer or no answer and an article of clothing came off.
He glared at me as he crossed one arm over his chest and gripped his other arm.
Whoa! “Hey, I didn’t ask you to marry me.” I got up and made my way to him. I waved a hand to break his trance. “Kelton Maxwell, you’re not going to hell if you don’t answer the question.” My tone was light.
“I’m in hell.” His tone was hard.
Way to drive a knife through my heart. “So you consider me hell?” A knot formed in my stomach. If I caused him that much pain, then I didn’t need to be there. “This is your game, not mine,” I snapped. If I stayed any longer, my own heart was going to stop beating.
He homed in on my breasts.
I covered myself with my arm as much as I could as I grabbed my necklace.
“Why are you still wearing that charm?” His jaw clenched.
I held it up. “Is this what you’re scared of?” My voice hitched.
He clutched his hair, his eyebrows knitting tighter than a well-made sweater. Then he grunted. “You want to know what scares the fuck out of me?” He scrubbed a hand down his face as he popped off the counter and drew closer to me so that we were an arm’s length apart. “I’m afraid of falling and hitting the ground so fucking hard my heart will explode. I’m afraid of you. I’m afraid of what your touch does to me. Of what your kisses promise me. Most of all”—he moved two steps nearer to me—“I’m afraid when you get on that plane back to Miami, my life will be over. I can’t handle that kind of pain again. When you moved away I was a fucking mess. Granted, we were kids. Your mom said it was infatuation. My parents said it was first love. Whatever. It still fucked me up. Over the years, I saw how my old man hurt when my mom went into a mental health facility. I saw how Kody brooded and hurt when his girlfriend died in a motorcycle accident. And I witnessed how Kade went through hell in his relationship with Lacey. My brother almost lost her to a crazy murderer.” He sighed heavily, almost grunting.