She put the tube back into the kit and snapped it shut. “What else do you know about me?”
He pushed strands of hair off his forehead. “You’re too smart to hang around with your family, but you’ll stay with them anyway because you’re also ridiculously loyal.”
“And I thought you were going to try flattery.”
“Thatisflattery. I don’t think you’re crazy, just your parents are. Probably Milo too.”
“You’re really bad at flattery. Just saying.”
His eyes went to hers, lingered there. “You’re also beautiful.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “That’s a little better as far as flattery goes.”
She turned to take the first aid kit back. He put his hand on her arm to stop her. “Don’t go yet. I’m only getting started.”
She tilted her head. “You have a long list, do you?”
“Very long.” He took the kit from her hand and put it back on the counter.
She narrowed her eyes, considering him. “You may have a concussion after all.”
He laughed and stepped closer. “And you’re modest. That’s another one on your list. You’re not nearly as used to hearing compliments as you should be.”
He was flirting. Why? She took a step backward. “What are you up to, Enzo? What do you want?”
He took another step toward her, nearly pressing her against the counter. He took hold of her hand, brought it to his lips, and dropped a light kiss on her knuckles. “You’ve been playing with my shirt buttons all morning. What do you think I want?”
Oh. She didn’t know how to react. She’d already resigned herself to Enzo’s disinterest and had decided not to lie back and think of England. And now… Her mind searched for an ulterior reason he was acting this way. What did he have to gain? “You’ve changed your mind about us?”
He put his hands on her waist. “I’m not the one who changed my mind earlier. That was you. I told you to untie me so we could have a baby and save the world.”
“I thought you only wanted me to untie you so you could escape.”
“You underestimate your charms.” He slipped a hand behind the nape of her neck and kissed her. A soft kiss, an eager one. His lips moved to her ear. “I’m dedicated to saving the world.”
He didn’t give her time to respond before his lips returned to hers. Which was fine because she didn’t know what to say. Critical thought was dwindling. She had set out to seduce him, and he was seducing her.
Enzo had promised not to hurt her family. Perhaps she just needed to show him the reasons he should stay with her.
His hands roamed over her back, then one returned to tangle in her hair. His kisses were no longer soft, they were urgent, deep, and impatient. Enzo put her hand on his shirt buttons, and the message was clear. He wanted her to undo them.
All of this was beginning to feel very real. It was no longer just an abstract idea of whether she should become a mother. And okay, the guy looked amazing shirtless, but he was a police officer, a man who’d spent the last three weeks pretending to be someone else.
This was happening too fast. She came up for air. “Should we really be doing this … I mean…”
He interrupted her sentence by dropping a light kiss on her lips. “You don’t need to worry.”
“But I…”
“You’re worrying.” Another kiss. He was back to the soft ones. “I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. If you only want to kiss, that’s all we’ll do.” More soft kisses, soft hands as well, feather-light touches, lulling her, making reason fade away.
“Just kissing,” she agreed. That would be okay. They were married. And melting into him was easy. Her whole body tingled.
She hadn’t been fast enough with his buttons. He undid the last few and tossed his shirt on the floor. Her hands had nowhere to go but his bare chest. “Are we still just kissing?” she asked.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“It seems like we’re doing more than that.”