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My breath catches at his earnestness. ‘That doesn’t seem very rock and roll.’

‘Fuck rock and roll. After three stepdaddies, I know how easy it is for some people to walk away from commitments andpromises. And I know what it’s like to be at the shitty end of that. I’ve never made any woman I’ve slept with any promises because I knew when I did, I was going to keep them.’

He is deadly serious, and I believe him, the conviction in his eyes holds me in the palm of his hand. Dear God, I want this man so freaking hard right now I can barely see straight. And not just his body. But his whole, big, beautiful, righteous soul. I’m actually a little breathy from the force of his sincerity.

Breaking eye contact like he hasn’t just permanently realigned my chakras, he returns his attention to his bowl of pasta and I sit and watch as he forks food into his mouth and swallows. I watch until it’s all gone, my body humming, my brain cells buzzing.

Uttering a satisfied sigh, he lifts his eyes and meets mine. ‘I’ll clean up and get out of your hair.’

He stands, whisks up my bowl and strides to the sink. I don’t argue with him or offer to help, I just let him get on with it as I open my laptop, sort through the pages, find my place in the textbooks. But I’m as aware of him as I am of my own heartbeat. Danny at my sink. Danny with sudsy hands. Danny dividing up leftovers into containers.

Danny in my life like he’s always been there.

When he’s done, he crosses back to me and I am excruciatingly aware of every footfall as his bulk lumbers closer and closer, his crotch at my eye level as he pulls to a halt. My pulse fires erratically as he looms over me and I look up as his mouth touches down where my hairline meets my forehead.

‘Don’t forget to take regular breaks to stretch,’ he murmurs as he pulls away.

Before I can say anything, he turns and strides to the door and opens it before I even register his intent. ‘Thanks for lunch,’ I call after him as the door clicks shut.

I am once again alone but, with my heart glowing warm and soft, I am not lonely. I am a strong, independent woman, but I cannot deny, Danny taking care of me just now?

That’s not nothing.

8

DANNY

I bide my time for another five days because I don’t want to rush Holly or come on too hard, too fast. I learned a lot about her the other day. About why she’s so driven and why she doesn’t see herself with someone whose future isn’t mapped out for the next few decades.

A quick fuck in a closet at her work, sure. Something long term? Not so much.

I know I’m different. Not in her wheelhouse. But I also know, in that way I just seem to know this woman, that I tempt her to want something outside her wheelhouse. Maybe for the first time in her life.

And I don’t want to screw that up by crowding her.

Because, and I know it’s crazy after knowing her such a short period of time, I’m 100 per cent gone for her. Bob told me years ago when I’d visited him as a kid that he’d fallen for Linda the first time he’d laid eyes on her, and there was something in the way he’d said it that left me in no doubt.

And, despite the rather chaotic ups and downs of my mother’s love life and the sex-in-bathroom-stalls groupie hook-ups that are a part of band life, I truly believe that for some people there is one special person.

I just never believed I was one of those people. Until now.

Which is why I gotta play this smart. Holly’s not a groupie who just wants to brag to her friends she blew a Neon Dick in a restroom in a bar – doesn’t really matter which one of us; we’re kinda interchangeable to a lot of women. Which is fine. I have been the very happy recipient of such slavish devotion to the band and it’s not like I’m taking names and numbers after, either.

Holly has a life plan and I’m good with that, too. I don’t want to derail the course of her life, but I’m thinking I’d kinda like to sit in the seat beside her and share the ride. And, if I have any hope of convincing Holly of that, I need to play it cool.

So, she needs to miss me. A little. Enough that she can’t understand why she can’t stop thinking about me. And there has to be absolutely zero sex. I was serious when I told her that this was the getting-to-know-you part of our relationship. I want Holly to know that I’m not knocking on her door to get my end away because she’s convenient.

Do I want to bang the ever-loving fuck out of Holly Vincent? Hell yes. Knowing she’s so close and how good we are together has been pure torment. God knows, I’ve jacked off to the image of her stethoscope against her tits so much I’m surprised my cock hasn’t fallen off.

But I don’t want just sex from her. I want,tell me all about your childhood. And,what’s your deepest darkest secret? And,what’s your zombie apocalypse plan? I want to know everything. I want to spend the rest of my life knowing Holly Vincent.

And nobody ever died of blue balls.

But it’s been five days and I can’t go any longer without seeing her. Even if she slams the door in my face, at least I’ll haveseen her. I saw her this morning at quarter to six, but it was at a distance so it doesn’t count. And no, I wasn’t stalking her, I just happened to be coming in from walking Mrs Cameron’s poodle as she drove out of the parking garage.

She didn’t see me because it wasn’t quite daylight yet and she was concentrating on the road, but with her hair in that neat ponytail and her hospital ID around her neck, she was definitely off to work. Which means, at eight-thirty, she should be home by now, right?

I’m not quite sure what time her shift finishes, but I know from TV shows they pull long ones in the ER. So… I guess there’s only one way to find out.