If you haven't guessed it already," I said, something fervent and resonating slipping into my tone, "I need you, too.""Is that a yes?" he asked, pushing his fingers through my hair, fanning it out around my sholders and searching my face intently. "Please let it be yes," he said with a gravelly edge. "Stay with me tonight. Let me hold you, even if that's all it is. Let me keep you safe.

I don't have the body for this," I quipped, lifting my chin to a voluptous woman nearby who shook her hips zealously to the beat. "No curves."Jev's eyes held mine. "Are you asking my opinion?

I don't have a car."His eyes sliced into mine. "I walked here," I explained. "I'm on foot.""Angel," he said in a way that sounded like he sincerely hoped I was joking.

Do you think they're going to buy that a guy in tacky leather chaps dances like this?" I scoffed when he twirled me back into his emb

If I asked you to do something for me, I don't suppose you'd listen?" When he had my attention, he continued, "I'm going to take you home. Try to forget tonight happened. Try to act normal, especially around Hank. Don't mention my name."By way of an answer, I shot him a black look and swung out of the Tahoe. He followed suit, coming around to my side. "What kind of answer is that?" He asked, but his voice wasn't nearly so gruff.

I have a free couple of hours," I told him, walking toward my car, which was parked on the next block. "There's a very private, very secluded barn in Lookout Hill Park behind the carousel. I could be there in fifteen minutes." I heard the smile in his voice. "You want me bad.

My mom's coming home soon," I said. "We should go to your place."Patch ran a hand across the shadow of stubble along his jaw. "I have rules about who I take there." I was getting really tired of that answer. "If you showed me, you'd have to kill me?" I guessed, fighting the urge to feel irritated. "Once I'm inside, I can never leave?"Patch studied me a moment. Then he reached into his pocket, twisted a key off his key chain, and slipped it into the front pocket of my pajama top. "Once you've gone inside, you have to keep coming back.

And here I thought they were called Peeping Toms." I didn't need to see him to know he wore a smile. "Stop laughing," I said, my cheeks hot with humiliation. "Get me down.""Jump.""What?""I'll catch you.""Are you crazy? Go inside and open the window. Or get a ladder.""I don't need a ladder. Jump. I'm not going to drop you.

Patch leaned back against the booth and arched his eyebrows at me. The gesture said it all: Pay up."You got lucky," I

I tilted my chin up a fraction. "You can't f-force me to stay here." I'd only agreed to come this far because I didn't want to stand out in the downpour, for one, and I had high hopes of finding a phone, for two. "That sounded more like a question than a statement," said Patch. "Then ans-s-swer it."His rogue smile crept out. "It's hard to concentrate on answers with you looking like that."I glanced down at Patch's black shirt, wet and clinging to my body. I brushed past him and shut the bathroom door between us.