She might never get that image out of her head. “I’m trying to imagine you with a naughty side.”
“Oh, I can still be naughty. I just get my thrills in other ways now.”
Her heart did this weird bouncing thing. She was pretty sure in any other situation she’d need a surgeon and a hospital, but this bounce hit her with a rush that she didn’t want to end. “I think you’re flirting with me.”
He put their joined hands on his lap. Right there on his upper thighs. “Is it working?”
She could feel the outline of his muscles through the material. That was just impressive. No other way around it. So much so that she almost got lost in the feel of him. Only the thought of all her fruitless investigative searching today and the very real sense she still didn’t know his actual name stopped her.
“Yes.” She squeezed his hand but didn’t let go. “But . . .”
He made a humming sound. “I had a feeling there would be a ‘but.’ ”
“Let’s say I wanted you to keep stripping those clothes off.” She shook her head. That is not at all what she meant to say.
She had a little speech prepared about them needing to be honest with each other and how he could trust her. Forget all that. She leapt over logic right to the naked issue that kept running through her mind.
“Do you still?” he asked.
His voice sounded deeper, but she decided that was all in her head. “Am I too forward for you?”
“I like a woman who knows what she wants.”
From another man that might come off as a line. Not him. He sounded genuine, maybe even a little excited. That didn’t surprise her. He was different from other guys in so many respects, why not this one. “Some men don’t.”
He rolled his eyes. “Some men are fucking idiots.”
“No argument there.” The amusement in his voice, his smile—the combination sent a bolt of happiness shooting through her. It took every ounce of control she possessed to stay on track. To not waver and drag him into the bedroom with her. “Well, before one stitch more comes off of either of us—”
“Wait, are you talking in hypotheticals or are you serious about the undressing thing?”
He still held her hand. The heat radiated off him contrasted with the cool air blasting through the room from the air conditioner. “I got the impression you were attracted to me.”
“I’ll rein it in and say simply, yes.”
Her finger pressed into his wrist and his wild heartbeat thumped against her skin. She took that as a very good sign. “And if you didn’t rein it in this time?”
“The need to strip you naked and spread you out on that mattress is kicking my ass.”
What was she even saying before that? “Subtle.”
“There’s nothing subtle about how much I want you.”
She thought back to the first time they met and the warnings he’d issued while pretending to be someone else. “You hid it well.”
“I really didn’t.”
“Well . . .” She’d lost the ability to form intelligent sentences. “The feeling is mutual.”
“That sounds like a ‘go’ signal.” He leaned in. Looked ready to finally kiss her.
She longed for the moment but still forced her hand to come up and press against his chest. To hold him off. Not with a lot of strength. More like she rested it against him. Even that had her heartbeat thundering in her ears.
“Except that I need to know a man before I get naked.” He could tell her just about anything and she’d consider it good enough. “Something real, and I mean that. Tell me something few people know about you. Like your name.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Levi. Levi Wren.”
She’d expected something else, but she wasn’t sure what. “Really?”
“That’s it. You’re one of about ten people in the world who know it.”
Finding out felt almost anti-climactic. “Huh.”
“You don’t think it fits?”
“I do.” The more she thought about it, the more it worked for her. It was a good name. Solid and a bit sexy. “Levi. May I call you that?”
“Only when we’re alone. I mean it. Just the two of us and very private, then it’s okay.”
He made that sound sexy. “That’s your real name?”
“It’s my legal name.”
Even on the verge of sex he proved to be exhausting. “Are we saying the same thing? I did ask for something real.”
“I gave you my name.”
She sighed at him. Drew it out and made it loud to let him know she wasn’t impressed. “Wow, really?”
“That’s bigger than you think.”
“What if I told you that I didn’t believe Levi Wren was your birth name?”
He didn’t even flinch. “I barely know Levi anymore. I’ve been just Wren and now Brian for years now. Before that I went by other names. The distance between me and Levi is very long.”
She had to give him credit for being honest. He didn’t even try to trick her. But still . . . “Why?”