Zane walked up behind her and grabbed the box. His body brushed up against her, his hips against her ass, his chest to her back, his chin brushing over her floral-scented hair.
Walk away. Walk away. Walk the hell away.
He slid his free hand around her waist and pulled her against his body. So perfect. So right.
“Zane.” Her voice came out in a choked whisper.
“You’re not with Mark?” He leaned down and pressed his lips to her ear, inhaling her scent of jasmine as the adrenaline streamed through his veins, straight down to his groin.
“No.”
His hand splayed over her stomach, pulling her close, and he nuzzled the hair away from her neck. “You got a man, Evie?”
“No.” Her voice wavered. “But … I kinda…”
He shoved the box onto a lower shelf and reached around to catch her jaw in his hand, pulling her head back against his shoulder, exposing her neck to the heated slide of his lips. Somewhere, in the foggy recesses of his mind, he knew he was being too rough, but he was barely in control and rough was as gentle as he could be. “So no one’s gonna shoot me between the eyes if I do this?” With his thumb he gently stroked the underside of her breast.
Evie sucked in a sharp breath, trembled. “No.”
His hand slid higher, tracing over her ribs until he held the full weight of her breast in his palm. “You gonna stop me from touching you, sweetheart?” He feathered kisses along the column of her neck, praying she didn’t deny him because he was already so far gone he didn’t know if he would be able to stop.
“Zane.” She shuddered, her nipples peaking beneath her thin cotton tank top. He circled one taut nipple with his thumb and she groaned and wiggled her ass against his erection, nestled tight in the crack of her cheeks.
“Stop me, Evie,” he whispered. “Because I can’t stop myself.”
She melted against him with a sigh, her body softening. For the briefest of moments he soared, higher and higher, soaking in her light, her warmth, her essence …
He should have known what would happen if he flew too close to the sun.
* * *
“I can’t do this.” Evie pulled away, her cheeks burning with a flush of heat. She knew Zane, the dark, passionate, slightly awkward high-school senior who made her stomach flutter when he smiled; the boy with a good heart who’d been dealt a bad hand in life; her protector and one-time friend. But this man … this biker—broad and heavily muscled, tatted and pierced, ruthless and dominant, who walked and talked with confidence and swagger, and so easily manipulated her body, awakening long dormant passion and desire—was a stranger to her.
A stranger who made her body respond with a single touch. A stranger who ignited a blazing hot chemistry that made her feel alive. A stranger who had disappeared when her father’s body was still warm on the ground.
Zane released a tortured breath and turned her to face him. “Things didn’t go right between us when we met the other day. We had things we needed to say, and we didn’t get to say them.” His corded throat tightened when he swallowed. “Ask me, Evie.”
Emotion welled up in her chest, pushing the words to the tip of her tongue. Although she knew the question was a betrayal in itself, she needed to hear the truth. For Ty. And for her own peace of mind. “Did you kill my dad?”
“No, sweetheart. It wasn’t me.”
Her breath left her in a rush, her knees giving way. If not for his arms around her, she would have fallen to the ground.
“In my heart I knew, but I needed to hear it,” she whispered.
“And I needed to say it.” He brushed a rough finger over her cheek. “After I saw you again, and we had words, I thought we were done. I thought I wouldn’t be able to get over the fact you didn’t wait for me. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you. When I was at your place, and T-Rex had his hands on you…” He drew in a ragged breath. “We’re not done, Evie. I don’t expect you to forgive me for leaving the way I did, and maybe one day I will understand why you didn’t wait and forgive you, too, but I will never be done with you.” He cupped her face between his hands and kissed her.
At first, his lips were soft, hesitant, as if he thought she might slap him again, but when a low moan escaped her lips, he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer as he ravaged her mouth. Evie wrapped her arms around him and molded her body against his as she met every desperate stroke of his tongue with one of her own. His grip tightened and when she tried to pull away, gasping for breath, he nipped her bottom lip, demanding more.
Shocked by the intensity of her reaction, she wrenched herself away, the rapid rise and fall of her chest matching his, but when she took a step back, he followed, one hand curled behind her neck, the other gentle on her hip as he pressed his lips to her temple. “I got shit to do tonight, but I need to see you again. I’ll swing by your place tomorrow night.”
Her blood chilled, and not just because she wasn’t ready for him to meet Ty. “You can’t. I … I have plans.”
“Cancel them.”
God, those two words, demanding and confident, laced with expectation and desire, did strange things to her stomach. If it had been anyone else she had agreed to meet for dinner, she would have done as he asked. But she had no way of contacting Viper other than making a trip to his clubhouse, which she wasn’t prepared to do, and as Connie said, he wasn’t the kind of man to blow off in such a casual manner. Plus, she needed some distance. Kissing Zane had never been in the program.
“I can’t.”
“Then I’ll find you.” He didn’t wait for a response. Instead he reached over her for the paint box, then took her hand and led her out of the closet, as if he could keep her from running with only his touch.
It would be so easy to give in, pick up where they left off, introduce him to Ty and play happy families, if outlaw bikers had happy families. He seemed so sure of himself and what he wanted, but he had broken her heart, and it had taken her far too long to get over him. Giving him a second chance wasn’t just stupid, it was dangerous, especially since he hadn’t changed. Deep, dark, and emotionally intense, he still took what he wanted with a total disregard for rules and authority. As a boy, he did what he had to do to survive, but as a man, he had made lawlessness a way of life.
Not the kind of life she wanted … for her or for Ty.
“I don’t want to rush into anything. We’re not the same people anymore.” She gestured to the door, although the last thing she wanted was another ride on his motorcycle, with the motor vibrating between her legs and his hard body tucked up against her breasts. “I don’t know Zane the biker, just like you don’t know Evie the mom and painter. It’s like meeting someone new, but with all our past baggage tacked on. I’ve moved on and I’m just not looking for anything or anyone. I have a nice, normal, quiet life now. I’m happy as I am.”
He studied her, as if he could see into her soul and pluck out the lies. “Don’t tell me you didn’t feel something, because I know you did. After all the time we spent together, I know what it means when you bite your lip, and when your cheeks flush pink. I could feel your heart pounding in your chest, same as mine. And yeah, I don’t want to remember the past either, and especially not the day I saw you with Mark and your son. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing between us, Evie.”
“Evangeline.”
“You’ll always be Evie to me.” He shoved the door aside and let her pass before yanking it closed. “Doesn’t matter how many times you tell me, I can’t call you something else, especially after I had to listen to nine years of you moanin’ about how much you hated that name.”
Zane checked out the parking lot while she locked up, and then they joined Shooter at the bikes. But before she could climb on the seat, Zane put out a warning hand.
“Prospect. What instructions did I just give you?”