Her brows scrunched together, and she looked down at her barely touched meal. She was full, but she’d been prepared to eat all of it. God, even now her father had her obeying his every command. It was ridiculous. She was a grown woman, for Lord’s sake.
“Shay?”
She glanced up to find Vance staring at her with sympathy and understanding. Too late she realized she’d been sitting there staring at her plate, not speaking. “Sorry, I got lost there for a second.”
He reached out and took her hand in his. When he twined their fingers together, Shayla knew that nothing had ever felt more right. “When you’re with me, you eat what you want. Dessert first, if that’s your preference. Got it?”
His words thrust Shayla back to the first time they’d met, and she smiled. “Do you remember that time you came up to me at lunch? You asked to sit with me.”
“How could I forget?” Vance bobbed his eyebrows. “I’d been looking for an excuse to talk to you ever since I first saw you in Biology.”
Even now Shayla’s cheeks heated as she recalled how shy she’d been around Vance. “I’d been secretly crushing on you, you know.”
He cocked his head to one side. “You were, huh?”
Shayla nodded “Yeah, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually talk to you. I kept losing my voice whenever you came within ten feet of me.”
He squeezed her hand. “If I recall, I offered you my dessert.”
“Apple crisp,” she said, as if it were yesterday. “I ate every bite too.”
“Hmm, yeah,” he murmured. “I liked watching you eat. It kind of turned me on.”
Shayla’s entire body warmed at Vance’s admission, but as she thought again about her father and his strict rules, she cringed. “Sometimes it’s like I can hear my dad’s condemning voice in my head. I forget that I don’t have to do what he says any longer.” She paused and added, “Thanks for not thinking I’m certifiable.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and caressed the back of it with his lips. “You’re beautiful and delicious, and I can’t stop thinking about you, but I don’t think you’re crazy.”
Her heart stuttered. “Do you have to be back at the diner right away?”
His grin was pure wickedness. “Nope.”
Shayla couldn’t think straight when Vance looked at her like that. “Oh, uh, that’s good. Would you like dessert, then? I-I made some chocolate chip cookies.”
“Definitely dessert,” he replied in a deeper tone, “but I’m not really in the mood for cookies.”
She watched him stand, and her body revved to life. “You aren’t?”
He shook his head as he tugged her out of the chair. “The only thing I want to taste is you, honey.”
“Oh, God,” she moaned, her legs turning to rubber as he brought her up against his body. The solid wall of his chest snagged all her attention, and she was loath to look away. No one would blame her if she stared, though, considering Vance had a body that would surely make women of all ages pant. Why should she be an exception?
“Take off your clothes for me,” he murmured. “I need to see you.”
Shayla’s face heated. “Here?” In the bright light of day?
“Yes, here.” He paused, then, a little softer, he added, “You aren’t bashful, are you?”
She clenched her eyes closed tight. “It’s been so long. A lot has changed. I’ve changed.”
She felt a fist beneath her chin, and she opened her eyes to see Vance staring down at her with such a gentle expression it made her heart ache. “You think I won’t like what I see,” he murmured. “Is that it?”
“I might have been brave enough to seek you out after twelve years apart, and I won’t deny I’ve gained a great deal of confidence in myself in recent years, but stripping in my kitchen in the middle of the afternoon is a bit much. I…I just can’t.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “You have a soft inner core that makes me feel fiercely protective of you, do you know that? It’s always been that way with you.”
That surprised her. “I do? It has?”
“Mm, and it’s just me, honey. There isn’t a single inch of you that could possibly disappoint me.”