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pulled her ever so slightly closer. “Surprisingly, no.” He studied her delicate features and surprised himself by saying, “You could have been hurt.”
    “I’m fine,” she said huskily, staring up at him as she had the night before. Tempting him.
    He gave in to the temptation and kissed her parted lips. She met his kiss eagerly. He’d been half hoping that he’d built their attraction up in his mind. She wasn’t his type. He didn’t like complications, and she was definitely complicated.
    And distracting. Here he was, kissing her on the side of the road instead of working in his restaurant, as he should have been. The sparks that flew between them burned away his reservations. He wanted her with a desperation that made everything else irrelevant. He pulled her closer, enjoying the feel of her against him, and wishing they were somewhere more private so he could strip away the layers that separated them.
    She opened her mouth for him, and he lost what was left of his coherence as his tongue met hers in an intimate and passionate dance. What she lacked in experience, she made up for in sweet enthusiasm.
    A car drove by and honked, reminding Richard of their very public location. He pulled back, tracing her still-parted lips with his thumb, loving that she looked as dazed by their kiss as he felt. “Let’s go back to my house,” he said huskily. He’d told himself he would give her time. The last hour hadn’t changed the fact that she was an innocent, and a troubled one at that. Doing anything but sending her packing was a mistake, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted her, and by the way her eyes darkened with desire, he knew the feeling was mutual.
    She nodded wordlessly.
    He opened the passenger door, helped her in, and—unable to stop himself—stole one final kiss when she looked up after buckling herself in. He reluctantly broke off their connection and rushed around to the driver’s seat. He almost backed into the stone wall across the street in his haste to turn his vehicle around.
    He was going to take Maddy to his bed, and, although it was something he never did, he was going to skip work to stay with her in the morning. Some experiences were not meant to be rushed.
    He took her hand in his during the short drive back to his house, kissing the back of it, then turning it over to taste the inside of her wrist. It was both a torture and a delight to have access to so little of her. He met her eyes for a potent moment and, in as close to an apology as he could come, said, “I can drive you to a hotel if you’d like, but I want to be with you, Madison. You’re all I’ve thought about today, to the point where I didn’t care about anything else but coming back to you and tasting your sweet kiss again. I want to take you to my bed and spend the whole night savoring you. Tell me now if this is not what you also want.” He laid her hand high on his thigh.
    Her hand moved, cupping him in an exploratory fashion, and she gave him a shy smile. “Didn’t you say you don’t sleep with virgins?”
    A slow smile spread across his face.
    “I changed my mind.”
    Me, too. I do not want to be rescued from this. Madison took out her phone and texted Gino, momentarily breaking off her connection with Richard. “Need one more day. Please don’t come now.”
    Gino didn’t respond, which was either a good sign or a very bad one. There was a slim chance—like, win-the-lottery slim—that he hadn’t noticed she’d turned her phone on. If that was the case, turning it off was a good idea.
    Of course, if she turned her phone off, she wouldn’t know if he was on his way. And since there wasn’t a locked door that could keep a man like Gino out, his barging in had the potential to bring her night with Richard to an abrupt halt.
    I’m not experienced enough to know for sure, but I’m going to guess that a bodyguard breaking down his front door is not one of Richard’s erotic fantasies.
    “Who are you