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slide up my back, his forehead resting against mine.
    “Well. In our case, on the other side of the door. Don’t ever be
    embarrassed with me.”
    My fingers curl on his cheek, the soft rasp of his newly formed
    whispers teasing my skin, the tension of moments before fading into the
    seduction promise of his words. “I’m trying. This is…” My voice trails off,
    and I am uncertain what I was going to say, uncertain what I really feel.
    “I’ll help you.” He drags a finger down my cheek. “The only reason I
    wanted to go next door was that I want this to be good for you. And I think
    you need to be pampered tonight.”
    “I can’t,” I whisper, and the two words, so telling, so honest, are out
    before I can stop them.
    He leans back and I am naked beyond my blouse, exposed beneath
    his too-keen inspection. And I think he can see what I heard in my voice. My
    desire to escape into his world and run from mine, if only for a little while.
    My fear for him if I were to do so. My fear now that I have let him see too
    much.
    Steeling myself for whatever questions he will ask, I wait for him to
    break the silence, hating that my passionate escape with this man will now
    be washed in the lies the rest of my life is drowning in. But there is only
    silence, and in that silence, understanding. He seems to know where he can
    push me and where he cannot, and I do not understand how a man who
    was a complete stranger yesterday knows me this well today.
    Holding my stare, he reaches behind him and tugs his shirt over his
    head, and the anticipation of seeing him naked, of being naked with him,
    drums wildly through my body, but that moment doesn’t come.
    Immediately, he puts his shirt over my head, the spicy scent of his cologne
    teasing my nostrils, mingling with my confusion. “What are you doing?” I
    ask, reluctantly shoving my arms through the sleeves.
    “Making sure you know I’m here to stay. I’ll be here with you tonight.
    I’ll be here with you in the morning. And you’ll still be wearing my shirt
    because we both know you have no clothes in your suitcase.”

Chapter Six

    I shove away from Liam and push to my feet. “I told you, my things
    are being delivered.”
    He’s already standing in front of me, towering over me, distractingly
    bare-chested except for the perfect sprinkle of dark hair over his pecs. “I’m
    not asking for answers,” he assures me.
    “Explain it to me when you’re ready.”
    It? Explain it ? “When I’m ready?” Does he not understand I will never
    be ready?
    “When you’re ready,” he repeats, removing his cell phone from his
    pocket. “I’m going to have the hotel deliver sheets and pillows.”
    “No. I didn’t invite you to stay. You were only helping me in the
    door.”
    “Are you saying you don’t want me to stay?”
    “You were supposed to help me in the door,” I repeat.
    “As I remember it, I did.”
    “Liam—”
    “You want me to stay.”
    “That’s arrogant.”
    “It’s honest.”
    Honest. I wish he would stop using that word. “You can’t stay.”
    “Do you want me to stay?”
    Now it’s a question. And yes. Yes. I want him to stay. I should say
    “no”. The word won’t leave my mouth. “It’s not that simple.”
    He reaches for my hand and pulls me close, and I tell myself to push
    away but I don’t even try. “Let me make it simple, Amy. You want me to
    stay. I want to stay. I’m staying.” He strokes my hair. “And you need help.
    I’m going to help you, baby. You aren’t alone.”
    A tornado of emotions rolls through me, and the debris of my past is
    like glass cutting me inside out. Becoming his charity case is so far from
    being Cinderella it’s like a horror show, not a fairy tale. I’ll take alone any
    day. “No.” I hiss out the word, and this time it comes from my mouth. “I
    don’t want your help.”
    “You need my help.”
    I’m emboldened in my mix of anger and mortification. “How did we
    go from you