rid

indow, Manhattan traffic slid past in streaks of white and red, ordinary and indifferent, while Alonso sat ac

d me. It sound

ement and landing somewhere closer

change. His dark eyes held

n't j

froze on

mor. He looked at me with the same frightening certainty he had carried into the trauma bay

bed my

uld go

making the cup tremble in its saucer. I had tak

id.Unav

e velvet booth as if my body had betrayed me before my mind could assemble an objection. The moment his skin touche

o fel

urse

once over the vulnerable beat of my pulse, slow and deliberate,

hand, but hi

hing I needed was another public scene. "What the hell do you wan

voice until it belonged o

u need an end to these ridiculous dates. And I need

pau

briefly and danger

enefit. V

red a

e everything

as funny. Becaus

rst proposal I

ve hear

mehow you s

fted almost i

ousands of women in New York who would marry you before you finished the sentence. Heir

staste crossed his face. He released

rgic to ot

lin

t a medical

ccurate

before without understanding it: the way he avoided nurses brushing against him in the VIP room, the way he kept his dis

like bein

pt b

anded too sof

ate

returning to his features. His long f

ve one

im. "One minu

deci

e not s

go home and let your mother arrange the next man

exactly wher

er fal

made me look "softer." Preston's voice telling me his wife would need to understand her role. The endless parade of men chosen l

m me, Alon

nreasonable.

urse to correct, or a woman to fold into someone else's household.

ugh the café began to

y sec

his body taking the stairs for mine. His blood on my scrubs. His voice in the stairwell telling me to

y sec

rrible idea,"

es

admit

selling yo

are you s

es dar

dom from them.

seco

o hard I felt i

at do y

on mine with ter

ou

seemed to

so s

im

s right hand a

ct. Or a weapon. Or the devil extending sa

d to run. But rationality had not saved me from my mother, from Preston

bled as I re

my palm

losed around

omething like triumph finally touc

e

l," he sa

h my face. "Do n

t obey so

ot roughly. Never quite roughly. But with enough force tha

so, w

d not

nd mine. People watched us pass. The server who had brought the warm m

air struck my face, clearing s

stop on t

ere are w

ook back. "To ma

dropped. "O

ch idling at the curb, sleek and

aid. "Before you

erious about doi

lways s

opened the rear door with

ry little. Alonso turned then, looking do

d, softer now. "

ed me more than

. His body blocked the wind, the street, half the wor

as the

fo

oi

e open car doo

that car, I w

oba

rrible at p

e still

n h

ot

d, cutting off the city noise. The car smelled like leather, cold air, and cedar. Too much cedar. I pre

ned hi

econds, he on

d tucked a loose stran

pletely still. His fingers brushed my skin, barely there

frightened rabb

ike the wolf th

es hel

this

ed in the dark

ed beneath the arrogance and command, something deep and old

el

rb and slid into Manhattan traffic,

d Cit

ack coffee, a failed date, and a proposal from a dominant Wo