LITMIR.BIZ

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sit in a hotel room for two straight weeks, hours on end.” Allie crossed her arms.

      “Andy Griffith.” My throat went dry. God, she was gorgeous when she was enraged.

      “Andy Griffith? What are you talking about?” Allie frowned.

      “I watched every rerun at least three times. Now I hear that damned whistle in my head. Constantly. It’s annoying. Oh, and I can tell you every facet of the town Mayberry, how many jars of pickles are in Aunt Bea’s cupboards, and how old Opie was when he got his first black eye. Need I go further?”

      “Why would you watch that show? Not that it isn’t a great classic, but…” Allie shifted her weight to her other foot and stared at the screens.

      “It’s the only thing on the television that didn’t have some sort of present day temptation, either spoken or implied.” I leaned on the desk.

      She crossed her arms and looked back to me. “How could you leave me like that?”

      I took her hands, but she pulled them back.

      She fidgeted, but finally slipped her hands behind her.

      Needing the closeness, I caressed her cheek. “You have no idea how many times I asked myself that question over the last two weeks. But I had to. It was hard as hell, but very necessary, so that we could move on. Trust me, you don’t remember how it hurts to miss someone the way I do. I thought you’d be strong enough to wait just a little longer if I could find the strength to stay away.”

      Her chest swelled with anger. “My body may have only known you for a few weeks, but my soul sure as hell knew you were gone. I’ve been a wreck. After all we’d been through over the last month and all the fear I had, I needed you. But you were off vacationing.”

      “Trust me. It was far from a vacation.” The smell of the dilapidated motel room and the dirty memory of the naked woman’s skin touching mine somehow found its way into the security room to plague me.

      “You must have been miserable.” Allie turned her head away.

      “You have no idea.” Revealing the truth was inevitable, but I didn’t want her to kick me off the property. As upset as she was about my absence, I’d need to wait a day or so to let her cool down before I hit her with blow number two.

      Allie stared at one of the computer screens where Shelby and Kaitlyn scurried through the crowd. Her jaw worked, wiggling her dangly earring. “Don’t ever do that again.”

      I took her delicate hand and placed it on my cheek.

      She still wouldn’t look at me, but she didn’t pull away. She gave away the tiniest flinch of a smile.

      I leaned into her hand, the contact sending icy hot chills into my joints. Why couldn’t I be normal? Have the normal male reactions? Oh, they accompanied the animalistic responses, but they weren’t dominant. “Listen, I know you deserve an epic apology from me for leaving like that, but I believed I had no other choice. It was stay and be in animal form the whole time, or get miles between us.”

      She finally graced me with her full attention. Her gaze traveled over my face and my clothes. “You’re different.”

      “Yeah, I shaved. Showered too.” I nudged a little closer to her.

      I can’t be mad when he smiles at me like that. But I still might kick his ass. Her thoughts came through to me. Finally.

      “That’s probably a good thing. You don’t need to stink up your tuxedo with two weeks of sweat. You’re going to need it tomorrow when we get married.”

      I coughed and choked at the same time. Tomorrow. Married tomorrow. Getting married was fine, what I’d always planned, but so soon? I had to tell her what happened at the hotel and then I’d need at least two weeks to a month for her to get over being mad at me. After she threw something at me. Probably something heavy. And probably something glass. She had a history of doing that when she was pissed.

      She withdrew her arms and hugged herself. “I thought you’d be happy. This is a disaster.”

      I stepped closer, careful with my words. “No. My hesitation at speaking doesn’t mean I’m not happy, but—”

      “There’s always a but.”

      “And lately it’s been me. I’ve been an ass. I never get things right. I mean well. I swear, I do.”

      Renewed hope shined in her eyes and her voice shook. “So, you’re not mad?”

      “No. God, no.” Folding her into my embrace, I rested my cheek on her head. “I just wanted a little more time to talk with you about some things, about life.” The life she’d have with me, the guy who always f—

      “We’ll have plenty of time. I just wanted you to get back the day you lost.”

      I cupped her face. “The day we lost.”

      “I’m not trying to force you into, well, you know, the after stuff, the honeymoon—”

      I interrupted her worries with the kiss I had dreamed about since my first seconds in that godforsaken hotel room. Our lips tangled in mixed gasps. When the trembling started, I pulled back but handled myself very well. For the first time, I didn’t have to run.

      Looking into her eyes as she caught her breath, I rested my forehead against hers. “I can barely wait, Allie. If you only knew how excruciating it’s been to wait all these years, and then here you are right in front of me, and I can’t touch you.”

      “You could.” Her voice was soft, quiet, sensual.

      “I’m going to strike that from the conversation and change the subject.”

      “I don’t have a mind reading gift to know you’re still thinking about it.”

      “Stop teasing me. I might be dangerous.” Stepping back, I pulled at my tie, loosening my collar.

      “I’m used to danger by now,” Allie said.

      “I don’t think my nerves will be able to handle it through another wedding.” I grabbed her hands and held them together. “I’ve been worried sick about something happening to you.”

      She leaned closer and dropped a light kiss on my neck, then my earlobe. We collided with the shelf behind me. Something toppled over and crashed onto the floor.

      “You have to stop that.” My brain said pull away. I leaned into her kisses. “We need to talk.”

      “No talking.” Her lips continued an excruciating descent to my collarbone. Beside us was more shelving. Had this room gotten smaller? Damn. Fear of the unknown becoming more real by the second, I slithered sideways, but she wouldn’t let me go without a struggle.

      “No. Stop.” I grabbed her shoulders and held her at bay. My breathing became more labored. Trembling, I fought away the itching under my cheekbones where large cat whiskers normally stabbed through. Leaning on the desk behind me, I deposited her out of arms’ reach. “This is torture at its worst.”

      She drooped, pouty lips puckered into little hearts. “I would never knowingly torture you.”

      “You torture me by existing.” I allowed myself one brief kiss, but stayed a safe distance from her embrace.

      “We’ll just not touch till tomorrow. Maybe that will help?” she suggested.

      Just as I was about to protest by slamming our entangled bodies against the door, it opened.

      “Where is Cole Kinsley? I hear him, but I can’t find him.” Shelby Renee Moss, a sweet but irritating half of a set of life-saving twins who worked at the manor, jerked the door the rest of the way opened and propped a finely manicured hand on her hip. With the other, she pointed at me and drew me out with her finger. “Me and you. Outside.”

      “Somehow I think you’ve forgotten I have seniority

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