He said that with so much heat, it stole her breath. “The thing is...I’m not sure I’m ready for more than that. Not yet, anyway.”

He shook his head. “No, I meant... The way I kissed you was hardly a kiss at all.” Again he glanced at her, then down over her body before giving his attention back to the slick road. “I want to really taste you, Alice. I want to feel your tongue...” He inhaled, shifted. “I want more of a kiss.”

“Oh.” The damp dress suddenly felt restrictive, especially over her br**sts. She had the awful suspicion that Reese could see the outline of her stiffened ni**les. “Yes, I’d like that.” A lot.

“Good to know.”

Thinking about it now, she wondered why steam didn’t rise in the car. She plucked at the material of her dress, trying to rearrange it a little, but it was a futile effort, so she gave up. “I need you to understand, though. If you want to sleep with me—”

“No way can you have a doubt about that.”

Her heart swelled. No, she didn’t really have any doubts. “Thank you.” Her eyes rounded after she uttered those absurd words. Had she really thanked him for wanting her? Oh, God, yes, she had.

Reese grinned. “You’re welcome.”

She had to clear her throat twice before speaking again. “The thing is, I’ll need some time. I’ve already made it clear that I’m interested—”

“You are? Great. I thought so, but I appreciate the confirmation all the same.”

Worse and worse. Get to the point,  Alice. “I didn’t want to confuse things, or lead you on.”

“Okay.”

His easy compliance only rattled her more. “I’d understand if you’d rather not wait for me. For me...to be ready, I mean.” With every word, she sounded more ridiculous. “I don’t know how long it’ll take me, if it’ll be tomorrow, or next week, or maybe even a month from now—”

All humor fled his expression. “Alice.”

“—and I know you have other options. Pam and Nikki made that clear enough. You’re obviously a very...sexual man.”

“Like all men, sure. But that doesn’t mean—”

Unwilling to hear him make excuses for her, she rushed on. “I don’t mean to make things uncomfortable. I wish I was different, but I’m not.”

“Alice.” He reached for her hand, but she pulled away.

Lacing her fingers together in her lap, she stared out the windshield and tried to get it all said. “Even though you seem to have some interest in me now—”

“A lot of interest, actually.”

“I’m not like most women.” And she was glad other women were different, because she wouldn’t wish her ordeals on anyone. “I can’t just—”

“Be quiet, Alice.”

The order got her back up, and pretty much guaranteed she couldn’t go quiet. “I don’t take orders from anyone!” Here she was, doing her best to be clear and up front with him, and he—

“Think of it as a request,” he snarled.

He dared to sound angry! That annoyed her enough that she forgot her disjointed explanations on her possible hang-ups. “Maybe I would if you couched it that way.”

“Please be still a moment, Alice. Let me think.”

She pressed her lips together, but it wasn’t easy to stay silent, especially when more than a full minute passed.

Finally he said, “If we’re laying it all out there, then fine, I want you. You know that. Every damned time I’m near you I get hard, so it’d be impossible for you to miss.”

She was just irked enough to say, “Braggart.” The accusation came out before she could censor herself.

“I wasn’t...” He scowled at her, but the scowl lifted into a crooked smile. “It is noticeable, and you know it.”

More subdued—and on the verge of grinning herself—Alice nodded. “Yes.” Most definitely, very noticeable.

“It’s insane.” This time when he reached for her hand, she accepted the gesture. His hand was big and warm, holding hers securely. “There’s something unique, something very special about you.”

She would have called it odd.

“But I’m not a kid who can’t control himself. And now, knowing you were kidnapped...” His hand tightened. “The last thing I ever want to do is pressure you, or make you uneasy.”

There went her grin. Ice expanded inside her, cramping her stomach. “Please don’t pity me, Reese.” She could take just about anything but that.

He made a rude sound. “Trust me, Alice, pity for a woman doesn’t get me jacked.” He released her to steer around a corner, onto a quieter, more suburban street. “I see you and I react. Can’t help it. I also can’t ignore what you told me.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“That you were kidnapped? The hell it doesn’t. I need to know what happened, if that’s the reason you’re reserved now. If it’s something else—”

“I wasn’t raped.” She startled him with that blurted statement.

He swallowed hard, nodded. “I’m glad.”

“But it was ugly, and awful and...” How much should she tell him? As a cop, he could find out some details on his own, so maybe she could just expand on that. She lifted a hand toward him and realized she was shaking. She tucked it back toward her lap. “It was a while before I managed to get away.”