Regan stared across the table, her thoughts a jumble. She was having a hard time accepting everything that had happened. Everything from the past year—every betrayal, every feeling she’d pushed aside—threatened to come tumbling out. And what a mess that would make, she thought with a soft snort. Searching for an anchor, she focused on the fact that she was sitting across from Gavin McCabe, his face awash in the glow of the flashlight standing upright in the middle of the table while they finished eating.

She was going to ignore the fact that her car—her precious Mini, purchased only a couple weeks ago—was buried under a tree. Crushed beyond recognition.

Ignore, too, the fact that she ached from head to foot. Because, well, that same tree had damn near taken her out along with her car, so it was normal to feel a bit beaten up. The thought of the various bruises developing in colorful splashes made her wince.

The entire day had been a roller coaster of emotions she hadn’t been prepared for.

“Now what?” she asked, taking a sip of the wine. “The storm sounds like it’s getting worse.”

“It does,” Gavin agreed, taking another bite of his food, making a satisfied sound deep in his throat that had her mouth watering in response. Just one more thing she was going to ignore for now.

Gavin continued talking, oblivious to her roiling thoughts. “I’ll get the generator going as soon as we finish dinner. Then we can make sure you’re not hurt any worse and decide from there.”

“I’m fine,” she assured him. He didn’t say anything, just tilted his head. Compelled to fill the silence, she continued. “A little overwhelmed.”

“It’s been a full day,” he said, nodding.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“So tell me,” he ordered in a soft tone she found hypnotic.

Regan shrugged slightly and took another sip. The wine was crisp and fruity, its flavor exploding across her tongue. Shadows stood in stark contrast to the illumination from the flashlight, the wind and branches striking a violent beat against the house.

Yes, it had been quite an eventful day. Hell, an eventful year, but Gavin didn’t know that.

“Regan.” His voice was soft, drawing her from her thoughts. “Talk to me.”

“A lot has happened lately. Not just…” she paused, trying to come up with the appropriate word, but nothing came. “This.” She waved her arm, indicating the dark room, Gavin, and everything that had happened in the past couple of hours.

Placing what was left of his kabob back on the plate, he shot Regan a look. “Are you okay?”

She knew he wasn’t talking about her bumps and bruises this time. “I will be,” she said, completely serious. There was no doubt she’d come out ahead. She wouldn’t settle for anything less. No matter how overwhelming things felt right now.

Gavin held her gaze for a long second before nodding and returning to his meal. Regan blew out a breath, not wanting to think about why her heartbeat ratcheted up around him. It was like she was fifteen again and catching a glimpse of him without his shirt on.

Regan smiled at the memory. It had been right before Gavin had left for the Army. She’d gone to Gwen’s house—she couldn’t even remember why. She’d never paid much attention to Gwen’s brothers, but that day she hadn’t been able to tear her gaze away from Gavin. He’d been everything her adolescent dreams had been able to think up.

And he hadn’t even noticed her.

Shoving the memory away, she started to slide the meat and veggies off the skewer and onto her plate. Her aching jaw and her split lip made chewing difficult, but the flavor soon hit her tongue and she couldn’t hold back the small moan of pleasure. “This is so good.”

Gavin’s eyes flew up to hers. “I thought you made this.”

“I did,” she said, nodding, stuffing another bite in her mouth. “But it’s been a while since I had it.”

“You didn’t try any while you and the kids were cooking it?”

“No. We’d only just finished cleaning up when you got home.”

He put his fork down and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands across his flat belly. “Were you planning on eating some before I got home?”

“Sure. I didn’t know how long you’d be and I was getting hungry.”

Silence fell between them while they both ate. Initially, it was the comfortable silence, but after a couple heartbeats it changed. The silence became heavy, like another person had entered the room and changed the dynamic somehow. “Do I make you nervous, Regan?”

Regan inhaled the pepper she’d been nibbling on. She started to cough. There was no way she could maintain her dignity while tears spilled down her cheeks. Once she stopped sputtering, she realized he was no longer in his chair. He was rubbing her back in gentle circles.

His voice was soothing. Steady. Without looking, she knew his eyes were a warm chocolate brown she could melt into, promising untold delights. Knowing he could deliver on them sent chills that didn’t have anything to do with the howling wind outside.

She shifted in her seat again, wincing. She’d forgotten about being hurt for a second, forgotten about everything except sitting here in this lovely little cocoon Gavin had created. “What makes you think I’m nervous?”

He continued to study her. “Maybe because you tried to leave like you had bees in your pants earlier. Maybe because you keep shifting your weight onto your bad hip, then cussing under your breath when it hurts.”

She flushed. “Maybe you’re reading too much into things,” she countered. “Why did you tell your ex-wife I was your girlfriend?” It was time to go on the offense in their little chess match.

Gavin shook his head, a small grin on his lips. “I did it because it pissed her off,” he admitted. “She was thinking it and wanted to believe it, so I just let her.”

Regan blinked at the admission, unable to comprehend why he wouldn’t just set his ex straight. Seeming to sense her confusion, he shrugged and helped himself to another skewer. “It was easier than trying to explain everything to her.”

“What was there to explain? Becca got sick, so I took over.”

“It’s never that easy with Kathy.” Gavin shook his head again, cutting off all the questions she was dying to ask. Why was it easier? Where had they met? What happened after she left?

It was clear he didn’t want to talk about his ex-wife any more than she wanted to delve into her past. The silence stretched for several seconds and Regan realized that she wanted those answers. “Here’s an idea,” she said when she couldn’t stand it any longer. “How about we start over?”

Gavin’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he looked at her. “Start over, how?”

“Start over. We don’t know each other, not really. And let’s face it, we didn’t really get to know each other before…” she paused.

Luckily, he took pity on her this time, his amusement evident that she couldn’t seem to find the words to describe their heated encounter. “When I came home from the Army and then you left for college, you mean?”

“Yes. Then.”

He regarded her quietly for a moment before giving a brief nod. “Okay. We can start over.”

Regan’s breath whooshed out. “Great.”

“You know what that makes this, if we’re starting over, right?” Gavin had a twinkle in his eye that had warmth spreading through Regan. She shook her head, not trusting her voice not to give her away. “Our first date.”

“Our first… How do you figure that?”

He leaned toward her and the light washed over the lean planes of his face, highlighting the laughter in his eyes. “Well, if we’re starting over, that means we get to do all the getting-to-know-you stuff, right?” At her nod, he continued. “We’re having a not-quite-candlelight dinner.”

“Only because you insisted,” she interrupted.

“Candlelight, if I’d had candles. Dinner. Sounds like a perfect first date to me.”

Regan laughed at how pleased with himself Gavin sounded. “Okay, fine. It’s an official first date.”

Gavin leaned back and stretched his legs out in front of him. He did that a lot, she realized, reclining and stretching out to fill all the space around him. Good lord, he was sexy. His sleeves were shoved up his muscular forearms, his legs crossed at the ankles. Her fingers itched to touch his hair, to see if it was as soft as she remembered. He didn’t say anything to her head-to-toe observation, just smiled that sinful smile that made her gut clench again.

Squirming in her seat, she couldn’t help but wonder how she’d ever thought to resist him when she came back to town.

Well, she’d thought he was married. That would do it.

But now? Knowing he wasn’t? Warmth pooled in her lap and her limbs felt heavy. Why had she been running away from him? Again. Running away again, she reminded herself. That had been her one regret and here she’d been about to do the same thing all over again. No more. Whatever it was that sparked to life around him was bringing her back as well.

She’d promised herself to start living the life she wanted to live, which meant facing her fears. No more running. She just hadn’t thought it would happen so soon.

Once she’d given herself that little lecture, the emotions of her old crush came flooding back. She felt awkward and unsure, something she hadn’t felt in years. If she was honest with herself, she hadn’t been feeling much of anything this past year. The rush of emotion swept over her. She didn’t like it. “So.” She winced when her voice sounded unusually loud after the quiet of the previous few minutes. “What happens on first dates now? It’s been a while since I’ve been on one.”

“Yeah?” His eyes skimmed over her, lingering on her lips, which had that damn heat climbing her cheeks again. She hoped the shadows from their not-candlelit dinner hid her blush. “I find that hard to believe.”

If he could play it easy, so could she, she decided. She pushed her plate away and leaned back, only shifting a little when she eased weight on her hurt hip. There had to be a heck of a bruise back there, but she didn’t want to put the ice pack on it right now. She had her pride, after all.

“How do you suggest we start over?”

Regan tilted her head and thought about it for a second, searching for something to say other than what she was really thinking. “We could play twenty questions.”

“Twenty questions? Seriously?”

“Why not? I could just ask Gwen everything I want to know. But the point of getting to know each other is to hear about you from you, not your sister.”

The ghost of a smile was still dancing around his mouth. “What do you want to know?”

Excitement flooded Regan at the possibilities. “I can ask you anything? Nothing’s off limits?”

His eyes smoldered and caught her gaze, holding it for a heartbeat before he finally answered, his voice that rough caress again. “Only if the same applies to you. Anything goes in terms of questions.”

Regan shivered, but it wasn’t with longing. Could she answer anything he asked? Open herself up to his judgment? Squaring her shoulders, she nodded. “Fair enough. But I go first.”

She started to ask her question when something caught her attention outside the window. With the wind still pounding against the house, the tiny movement shouldn’t have drawn her attention, but…she couldn’t help feeling as though there was something—or someone—out there.

She’d almost convinced herself that her mind must have been playing tricks on her when she saw it again out of the corner of her eye.

“Gavin,” she whispered, trying not to let her fear leak through her voice, which was stupid, really. There was no way the peeping tom could hear her over the howling wind.

“Don’t tell me you’re chickening out before we even get started.” His voice was playful. A stark contrast to the fear icing Regan’s veins.

She shook her head. “Gavin, there’s someone outside. Looking in the window.”