Her beautiful voice continued to replay in his head all the way home. Her eyes pierced his soul as if she sang the words to him. A song about what she wanted and needed.

“Wow.” He reached over and held her hand. “That was … that was amazing. You have quite a voice.”

“Thank you.”

He couldn't believe that voice inside her tiny body could be so big. “You should be a singer.”

She giggled. “I sing. I am a singer. I sang to you.”

Knowing that song was for him filled him with warmth. Though she didn’t choose it, she sang it like she meant every word. He got all choked up when she looked at him like he was special. It felt so real that a lump the size of Wyoming lodged in his throat.

It was too soon to think about love, but he knew if there was ever a chance of falling in love with anyone, it would be easy to fall in love with Samantha. Hell, he was halfway there already. Bowie and Cannon were right. Dalton was whipped, and he hadn’t even been inside her yet.

He pulled up in front of his cabin and killed the engine. “I thought we could stay at my place tonight.” He held his breath. It was a forgone conclusion that they’d be together tonight. He wanted it. He thought she wanted it.

“Are you inviting me for a sleepover, Dalton?” She looked at him beneath long onyx lashes.

He wasn’t the blushing type, but he swore there was heat on his cheeks. “I’ll make you breakfast in the morning.”

Everything about Samantha was near perfect. She was by far too skinny, but he could solve that with home-cooked meals. Most perfect was her ability to take him out at the knees with a smile.

“Pancakes?”

“Are you negotiating?”

“I’d be silly not to.”

“Anything. You can have anything.” He jumped out of his truck and rushed around to her side to open her door.

“I need a few things from my place.”

He stood in front of her while she slid from the truck into his body. They walked hand-in-hand to her door. On the porch was a single daisy. She bent over to pick it up. “Must have fallen from my bouquet.” She twirled it around and brought it to her nose.

Dalton knew for a fact the flower didn’t come from her bouquet. He looked around and wondered whose ass he’d have to kick.

Once inside, she pressed the flower into the glass with the others and walked back to her room. The only thing she came out with was a toothbrush.

“Low-maintenance. My kind of girl.” In the silence of the cabin he heard her stomach growl. She’d only had a bite of poison lasagna. “And you’re hungry. I can fix that too.”

“Are you going to solve all my problems tonight?”

“I’m going to try.” He squatted down and wrapped his arms around her bottom before he stood. She lifted her hand so she wouldn’t hit the ceiling, but she knew he’d let nothing happen to her. When he loosened his hold, she slid down his body until they were face to face. One quick kiss in the middle of her entryway would not satisfy the hunger he had for her. A kiss wouldn’t fill her belly, but it was a kiss that spoke of their need for each other. When she ran her hands through his hair and pulled him deeper into the kiss, he knew he had to get her out of here or they’d never leave her cabin.

He loosened his hold until her boots hit the scarred wooden floor.

“Ready?”

She licked her lips like she was savoring the taste of him. “So ready. You have no idea.”

Every time she was near him, he got hard. That alone gave him plenty of ideas. Before he changed his mind and stayed, he led her to the doorway. He glanced back at the flowers on the table. Could there have been a daisy in the mix?

He held his breath when he opened the door to his world. He’d never had a woman in his house or his bed. This was his safe haven. A place where the outside world wasn’t invited in. And yet … here he was opening it up to her.

She walked past him into the entryway. He closed the door behind them. He’d never felt so right about something or someone.

“Wow. This place is amazing.”

He looked at his home through her eyes. It was pretty amazing. More so because while he sat in prison, the work on his house continued. His mom oversaw the laborers as they turned his run-down shack into a home. “That’s what moms do,” she told him when he tried to argue with her about the time and expense.

They were partners at Maisey’s, and during the tourist season they made a killing. The building was paid off. Other than utilities and taxes, the place was pure profit. He wasn’t rich by any means, but he didn’t need much to keep him happy.

“You like it?”

She held up her toothbrush. “I should have packed all my stuff and moved over here. Your house is a five-star hotel. Mine is more like a bunk house at summer camp.”

“You went to camp?”

Her head shook. “No, we couldn’t afford it, but I looked at brochures. Dreaming costs nothing.” That statement reminded her of Marina.

“Our lives weren’t much different. Abusive fathers and determined mothers. No camp for me either.”

She nodded. “And we survived.” She thumbed the scar above his eye.

“Yes, we did.” He lowered her hand and wrapped it in his. “Want the tour?”

“Absolutely.”

They walked across his shiny oak floors into the living room, where his leather couch took up most of the space. A wall of glass looked over the lake. He lowered the blinds to give them privacy. He had a big screen television on his wall hanging above the fireplace.

“Yours is so big.” She teased him, and he loved it.

“Size matters.”

“I’ve heard that.”

He squeezed her hand and led her into the galley kitchen. Only his was filled with top-of-the-line appliances.

“You have a microwave.” She never thought she’d ever get excited over something as simple as an appliance, but the stainless steel box sitting over his stove made her giddy.

“I’ve got it all.” He stood tall as he bantered with her.

“We’ll see.” She brushed past him, running her fingers over the granite counter.

“I’ll show you after I feed you.” He placed his hands on her hips and lifted her onto the countertop next to the stove. “Sit here. Watch and be amazed.”

“Is the tour finished already? I thought maybe …” She bit her lip. “Maybe I’d see your bedroom.”

“Sweetheart, if we got to the bedroom, we’d never leave it. Let me be chivalrous and feed you so I can keep you in bed until I have to go to work on Tuesday.”

“You’re making promises you better be able to keep.”

He drew an imaginary X across his chest. “Cross my heart. I’m a man of my word.”

She squirmed on the counter while he pulled the ingredients for chicken piccata from the refrigerator. After he put a pot of water to boil on the stovetop, he went about mixing the ingredients for the sauce.

He slid past her and pounded the chicken breasts thin.

“You’re killing that chicken.”

He hit it a few more times. “That’s what I do. I kill things.” He was referring to food, but the irony wasn’t lost on him.

Each time he had to pass her, he stopped for a kiss. Each kiss became more than the one before it. She tasted like fine wine. It could be because he had poured her a glass while he cooked or maybe because she was a fine vintage all on her own.

“How is it that you’re not with someone?” He drained the pasta he’d cooked and plated up their dinner.

“I’m far too busy. My job takes me around the world, but I’m making some changes. It would be so nice to make a living and have a life.”

After the final sprinkle of fresh herbs, he lowered her to her feet and walked her over to his small dining table by the window that overlooked the lake like hers. Everything beautiful about the cabins could be found in their back halves, on the lakeside. The front door led to nothing more exciting than a hallway.

He pulled out her chair and served her dinner. Watching her eat was an orgasmic experience. She hummed and moaned, and each bite made him harder.

“I take it you like it?”

“Oh my God, can I keep you? You want to go on tour with me?” She swallowed a sip of wine. “I mean go on my business trips. You can be my personal chef.”

“Does the job pay in kisses?”

“Are you negotiating?”

Dalton chuckled. “I’d be silly not to.”

“Then I’d ask for more than kisses.”

He poured her another glass of wine and cleared her empty plate.

“I’ll interview you tonight before I decide what goes on my list of demands. A comprehensive benefit package can make a difference.”

She offered him her hand. “Shall we begin?”