Janie froze, every muscle locked solid and her breath stifled. The only thing actively working was her heart, which after its initial stumble, had taken off at a gallop.

So tempting. So terribly tempting.

The shadows around him accented the sharp angles of his jaw and nose, and his voice dropped to a grumble. “Talk to me, Janie.”

And tell him what? That she wanted what he wanted as bad as he did, but she was terrified to give the green light? That she wasn’t sure she could take the disappointment in his eyes if things got serious and he saw what a quality sundress could hide? “What do you want to know?”

“Tell me what you want.”

Touch. Passion. Contact. Skin. It all rushed in at once and seized her thoughts.

“One word. One thing at a time.” His posture was lose, those powerful hands of his relaxed against the wide gold armrests, but the air around him seemed super-charged. So much, she could almost scent a summer thunderstorm.

She swallowed and tried to catch her breath. Her answer leapt to her tongue, ready for launch, then stalled.

Damn it to hell, she was a living, breathing human, not some freakish deviant. Why couldn’t she say what she wanted? Own it. It was one night. One chance she may never get again. “A kiss.”

His fingers dug into the plush upholstery.

Through the open door, the surf’s constant crash and pull amplified the tense moment, as bold and passionate as the man watching her.

He stood and padded to her side of the bed.

With every step, her heartbeat surged a notch, and a deep, needy pulse built at her core.

He unhooked his watch. One of those chunky ones her son had begged her for two Christmas’ ago. Somehow the silver looked right on Zade. Manly. Effortless and stylish without being overblown.

It clunked against the nightstand as he sat it aside.

She fisted the cool, crisp sheets and fought the urge to trace the prominent veins that peeked from beneath the crisp blue rolled sleeves. To pulled him closer and nuzzle where the top two buttons of his shirt parted. To surround herself with his powerful scent.

What had she gotten herself into? Forget about age, trifling with a man like this was tantamount to dancing in the middle of a giant bonfire bathed in gasoline. Her conscience knew it. Kept tapping at the corner of her oxygen-starved thought processes, but every other part of her thrummed and begged to writhe in the flames.

His gaze devoured her, bright blue and bold as a spring sky, framed by loose blond bangs. He straddled her thighs and caged her with his arms, holding himself above her, not touching. “A kiss.” Slowly, he dipped closer, and inhaled deep. “Want to point out, you didn’t put any restrictions on your request.”

He’d taken a breath. Nothing more. And yet she felt it like a physical stroke. A simple brush of sensation from behind each ear and down her neck.

He traced the line of her lips with his own, close enough to tickle and tease, but not nearly enough to give her what she craved. “You didn’t say how…” His warm breath fluttered against her face. “…or where.” He licked her lower lip and lifted his gaze to hers. “I’ll take that to mean I get to taste all of you.”