“No. That’s my family name, and you could call my brother the same thing. My name is Zep, and you don’t call anyone else that. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. I’m not going to let you distance yourself from me. Not if you want me to give you what you need.”
“What do I need?”
“Me. This.” He pressed closer and her hands fell away. “Tell me what you need, Roxanne. You don’t have to tell me the whys. You don’t have to talk to me at all, but you have to look me in the eyes and tell me you need me.”
Heat flashed through her system, and she was so aware of him. Aware of how close he was and how warm his skin was. Aware of how he smelled like her soap, and how all it would take to press her lips to his would be to go up on her toes. Still, she shook her head. “No. I promised I wouldn’t use you.”
His hands gripped her wrists, and he brought them up and over her head, pinning them to the wall. “It’s not using if you ask me. Something set you off. Something got you all wound up, and you need to relax. This isn’t the same as before.”
“How?”
“Because you’re not trying to get me out of your system. I don’t think you are.”
She had to be honest with him. “But I don’t know if I can keep you.”
“I’m willing to take that chance. I’m willing to do everything I need to take care of you as long as you’re willing to let me be your man while you’re here.”
Tears . . . freaking tears . . . pulsed behind her eyes. “And if I won’t be here for long?”
Things were happening so fast. It felt like she’d spent almost two years with nothing changing at all, like she’d been in limbo, and now that she’d finally started to find her way out of the weeds, her life had sped up again. All she wanted to do now was slow it down, spend this time with him, freeze a moment, and stay there. No future. No past. Just him. Just her.
His gaze softened and then he released her. “Then we should make whatever time we have count. You just gave me a gift and I want to show you how much I appreciate it, how much I appreciate you. I am definitely taking the job.”
“Even though it’s not your dream job?”
“Dreams change. They don’t have to stay the same all our lives,” Zep replied. “Sometimes we don’t know what our real dreams are until they walk into our lives.”
She felt the loss of his touch but only for a moment because he leaned over and picked her up, his arm going under her legs and hauling her close. “Zep, what are you doing?”
“Taking care of you,” he vowed as he strode down the hall like she didn’t weigh a thing. “Taking care of me.”
She thought he would take her out the door and put her in the truck. Instead, he turned at the door to a conference room and managed to get it open. “I thought we were going home.”
“Where you would get distracted by an overly excited puppy and a cat who wants to pretend she doesn’t need your attention?” He set her on her feet, found the light switches, and turned one set of lights on, flooding the room with a dim glow that showed off a very utilitarian conference table. She’d been in this room before. They used it when they updated city hall on the budgetary needs of the sheriff’s office. “No. You’re wound up and I don’t understand why because you seemed fine before.”
She shook her head. “I’m good at shoving things down.”
“Be good at taking things off.” He pressed the button that locked the door.
He wanted to do that here? “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Anyone could try to come in. There were people all over this building because of the meeting. That little lock wouldn’t keep anyone out. Not really.
“Don’t think.” He moved in, advancing until she felt the edge of the table. “Just feel. Let me take over. No one’s coming in here. They’ll mill around the hall for a bit and then everyone will head to Guidry’s or home. And it wouldn’t matter if they did. I would tell them to get out and I’d go right back to loving you. Nothing would keep me from that.”
Because he would make her the center of his world. Because he wanted her more than any man had ever wanted her before, and that did something for her. The feeling wasn’t merely sexual. Zep’s want went beyond the physical. It was what she hadn’t understood before. He needed her for far more than sex. He needed her to ground him, to help him find purpose, to teach him how worthy he was.