As Ryan led Emily to her hotel room, he could feel the tension between them.

Her hands were visibly shaking as he took the keycard from her without a word and opened the door. He held it while she passed under his arm. It swung shut loudly at her back.

The room was fine, a regular hotel room. The view out the window was of a field. Nothing interesting, but not horrible. There was a king-sized bed, a desk, chair, dresser. The usual.

Ryan headed for the window, glanced outside, and then turned around and leaned against it, setting his hands on the sill at his sides. He was irrationally nervous. There was no reason for either of them to be nervous. After all, they’d spent a lot of hours alone together in her suite or his at the bunker.

But this was different. He had traveled a long way to get to her. Even without defining their relationship out loud, there was no way to designate their status as “just friends” either.

Emily rounded the bed and perched on the edge, facing him. “Have you even slept?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah. On the plane. Some.”

She fidgeted awkwardly.

He needed to touch her. It was time to say something. This ridiculous unspoken bond between them had gone on too long. Shoving off the windowsill, he sauntered toward her and then sat beside her.

For long moments, Ryan stared at her. She held his gaze, not moving. And then she reached up with one hand to touch his face. Her thumb landed on his bottom lip and stroked ever so slightly.

He twisted his body around to more fully face her and cupped her cheek with his free hand. “I’m going to kiss you.”

She nodded. “God, I hope so.”

He closed the distance. The moment their lips touched, he knew he’d made the right decision. So soft. So right.

He didn’t deepen the kiss beyond a few moments of gentle nibbling, but it was enough. Enough to know.

When he pulled back a few inches, still cupping her cheek, she was flushed.

He leaned back farther, mostly because he was going to lose his restraint fast if he didn’t. It wasn’t like she was the first woman he’d ever kissed, but she was the first one who so totally brought him to his knees at the touch of her lips. The scent of her. Her taste. She was a drug.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“Yeah.” He was breathing heavily.

“If I wasn’t practically in hiding and my world wasn’t upside down, I’d suggest we go on a date.”

He couldn’t keep from smiling broader. Sweet. Sexy. And funny. “Excuses, excuses.”

She shrugged in a goofy way. “Also if the media wasn’t hunting me and you didn’t have twenty-one other people to reanimate. Or if we both didn’t have parents to reacquaint with.” She shrugged. “I’m sure you’ve heard all those excuses dozens of times from women all over the world.”

He rolled his eyes sarcastically. “You have no idea. It’s impossible to get anyone to say yes to me.”

Her fingers were shaking against his cheek. He affected her. Good or bad, he affected her. “Yes,” she stated, turning to face him again. “Yes. As soon as we knock off at least the top five on the list of impossibles, I’ll say yes.”

He’d never been a churchgoing guy. Never had time. But right then, he knew for certain there was a god. His timing sucked because now was not a convenient time to start a relationship with anyone, but God still seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

Emily was right. They had a pile of issues to deal with. But underneath the mess was a green-eyed, dark-haired, pale-skinned beauty whom he’d only seen in ill-fitting scrubs and a ponytail until today. She didn’t need anything else. Makeup and fancy clothes wouldn’t change how he felt about her.

There was no denying he was falling for her. It was right in his face. His lips had touched hers. And found heaven. The question was, what was he going to do about it?

He slid his free hand up her back until he threaded his fingers in her hair. “Okay then, that’s out of the way. I know both our worlds are upside down and we have no idea what the future will look like for either one of us, but I also know it’s futile to pretend I’m not interested in you.”

“It would be inconvenient if you weren’t,” she joked.

He smiled. “Okay, so we have today. We have tonight. Then I need to get back to Falling Rock in the morning.”

“I need to get back to my family.”

He furrowed his brow. “Promise me you won’t stay if the media starts hounding you or your relatives.”

“I would never do that. I don’t have to promise you. It’s my greatest fear. You know that.”

He suspected there would be trouble. It wasn’t a long shot. After all, even if he ignored his gut, the military was concerned enough to whisk her to this base in Nebraska in the early morning hours for a reason. There were military and government officials alike who suspected trouble was around the corner. He was bright enough to realize dozens of people had done the same research he had. The internet was both a curse and a blessing.

“Ryan, you’re freaking me out.”

He schooled his face and inhaled slowly. “I don’t like the kinds of things I’m reading on social media. Makes me nervous.”

“About me?” She stiffened in his arms.

“Not you specifically yet, but about the mystery woman who was brought back from the dead.”

She patted his chest. “Relax. I’m a big girl. I can handle it. I won’t give anyone the time of day.”

He nodded slightly. “It’s not you I’m worried about. It’s the other guys.”

“How about if I promise not to leave my parents’ home?”

“I can’t expect you to do that. Nor do I want you to feel like a prisoner. I’m just…concerned.”

He hadn’t mentioned the specifics of any particular threat, and she didn’t ask. Instead, she set her forehead on his chest and sighed.

“You must be exhausted.” He rubbed her arms. “Why don’t you lie down? Sleep a while.”

She lifted her face. “You’ll stay?”

“Of course.” He grabbed her waist and pulled her farther onto the bed and then settled on his back next to her.

She immediately curled into his side. Her breathing soon evened out as she rested.

Ryan didn’t even close his eyes. He loved watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful curled on her side against him, her hand resting on his waist, her head in the crook of his arm. He absently stroked the soft skin of her biceps while she breathed easily.

He should be exhausted too. The sum total of his sleep last night had taken place during a short airplane flight. But he didn’t want to miss a moment of their time together. Even watching her sleep was worth every second.

His phone had been vibrating off and on since they headed for the room. It continued to do so while she slept. Every time he glanced at it, he found another incoming text from Temple or one of the members of his team at the bunker.

Two entirely unrelated things were about to send his world into renewed turbulence. He was used to chaos and deadlines and racing against the clock. He’d been under one deadline or another nearly constantly for half his life. But he’d never had a woman he cared about.

This was the first time he’d held her this close for this long. The first time he’d kissed her. He didn’t want it to end. And yet, he could only stretch this brief encounter until the early morning hours. He needed to get back before they started the revival process of his father.

That alone would weigh heavily on his shoulders. The event he’d waited ten years for. Do or die. Just because things went smoothly for Emily didn’t mean his parents wouldn’t experience a catastrophic reanimation. There were no guarantees.

But the majority of the incoming messages filling his phone were about Emily. Word of her existence was spreading fast. It was only a matter of time before the press found out who she was and where she was. The buzz on social media was horrifying.

He was actually glad she didn’t have any social media accounts activated yet. If he was lucky, she would be shielded from many of the death threats for as long as possible. Thousands of horrifying comments about her being an abomination that shouldn’t have occurred.

Some of the posts he’d read had suggested that Emily was now either a zombie or a vampire. It was insane. And it made him nervous.

She stirred against him, blinking her eyes as a smile spread. “You’re watching me.” Her voice was gravelly from sleep. Sexy.

“Best view in the room.”

She glanced around. “Compared with what?”

He laughed. “Good point.” The room was boring. There was no comparison. He kissed her forehead. “We need food.”

“Let’s order something. There must be restaurants nearby.”

His stomach growled. “On it.”

* * *

An hour later they sat on the room’s small couch together, stuffing their faces with delivery from a local Italian restaurant.

Emily was turned, facing him, her back against the arm of the sofa, her feet tangled in his lap. She held a container of manicotti with one hand and shoveled it into her mouth with the other. She moaned around every bite, making him want to toss all the food on the floor and kiss the life out of her, especially with her sweet feet rubbing against him.

Honestly, as hungry as he was, it was hard to swallow a single bite with her sitting there looking good enough to eat instead of his plate of pasta.

She smiled several times, undaunted by the fact that she wasn’t exhibiting a single ladylike quality at the moment. He loved it. Loved that she could be relaxed with him. Laid-back. Stuffing her face because she was hungry. Licking her lips. Moaning around every other bite.

He wished he had a video of this moment. Emily so free and pure and sexy. So…Emily. Some of the shyness she’d exhibited since he first met her had faded.

When she was finished, she sighed her contentment, setting her container on the floor next to the couch. “That was delicious. Or maybe it was mediocre and I was simply starving.”

He chuckled, taking another bite. “I should have fed you a bit earlier, it would seem.”

She leaned forward, pulling herself up by his forearm until she sat closer to him.

Suddenly his food held no more appeal to him. He set it on the coffee table and spun to face her more fully again. He ran his hands up and down her arms.

He hated that he needed to break this perfect spell they were under, but it had to be done. “We need to talk.”

Her eyes shot wide, and her body stiffened.

“Not that kind of talk.” He kissed her lips briefly and then ran his hands through her hair. “We need to talk about what happens next. There were some developments while you were sleeping.”

She lifted a brow. “How do you know?”

“I got about a dozen incoming messages.”

“Problems with protesters? Or problems at the bunker?”

“Protesters. Although I do have to get back first thing tomorrow to start the revival of my father.”

She winced. “I should be with you.”

He shook his head. “No. You shouldn’t. I’ve thought about it a lot. You need to spend more time with your family. Even though it’s been months since you’ve seen them, they haven’t seen you in over a decade. There’s nothing you could do at the bunker except pace and hope and wring your hands. That’s what I’ll be doing.”

“It’s called moral support, Ryan. It’s what people do when someone they care about is going through something scary.”

“Yeah, they do, when they’ve known each other for a long time and they haven’t just gone through a similar ordeal themselves. I’ll be fine. I need you to be with your family. It would stress me out more if I had to worry about you cutting your reunion short to hold my hand.”

Her eyebrows drew together as she considered his words. “I’ll spend a few more days with them and then come back to Colorado. The process of reanimation takes weeks anyway.”

He smiled. “We’ll talk every day. We don’t have to make any decisions right now.”

She cocked her head to one side. “But the situation with your father isn’t what has you worried,” she pointed out, obviously remembering this conversation had taken a detour.

“No. It isn’t. There’ve been a lot of threats. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to return to Iowa. I think you should meet your family somewhere else and lie low for a while. Under the radar.”

“You’re that concerned?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t spend my life hiding.”

He shook his head. “I’m not suggesting you do. Just for now. Just until this passes. For me. Please do it for me.” The truth was Temple was already working on a few options. Emily wasn’t going to be able to stroll back to her parents’ home tomorrow and carry on as if nothing were happening.

But she was a warrior, his Emily. Not one to let people get in her way. He was banking on the fact that she would take this opportunity because he asked her to.

“For me,” he repeated. “So I don’t have to worry constantly about your safety while I should be focused on my dad.” He leaned forward, kissing her nose. “Please.” Was it fair to play with her emotions like that? He wasn’t lying. He was nervous as hell. But he needed her to take this seriously to ease his concerns.

“Okay.” She shuddered against him.

He wrapped his arm around her and set his chin on her head. They were alone in this hotel room until tomorrow morning. Unless that made her uncomfortable. He needed to broach the subject. Carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was rush their relationship. Somehow he needed to communicate that to her. He wouldn’t take advantage of this arrangement, but he didn’t want to leave her alone. Nor did he relish the idea of being without her either.

She spoke before he could gather his thoughts. “What shall we do this evening? If I spend one more moment thinking about stupid reporters, I’ll lose my mind. Maybe we could watch movies? I bet you could recommend some good ones I’ve missed.” She was grinning when she lifted her face.

“You’re about a decade behind. We could watch fifty of them, and you’d still be missing out.” He hugged her close.

“I bet some actors have aged to the point I won’t recognize them.”

“Except for the ones who don’t appear to age at all. You’ll be surprised.” He reached for the remote, but before turning on the television, he cleared his throat. “You want me to get my own room later?”

She flinched. “No. I mean, unless you want to.”

Yeah. Awkward. “I have no intention of rushing things between us, but I would rather be with you all night if it doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”

She smiled huge. “I’d like that.”

He slowly released a long breath as he turned on the TV. He couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do than sit here all evening holding Emily against him and watching her expression as she took in several movies she’d missed out on.

Except that wasn’t true. He could think of several things he’d rather do, but it was too soon. So he forced his body to behave and enjoyed every second of his time with Emily.