Panic had me sailing out from the back of the kitchen and rushing through the dining room of Pepper’s Pies.

But this was a different kind of panic.

Not the kind incited by Timothy Roth.

This was a huge banging on the other side of the wall, the floors shaking and the fixtures trembling, so fierce I was terrified my grandmother’s restaurant was about to come crumbling down.

Confusion jolting me back, I skidded to a stop at the end of the hall that led to the restrooms.

My eyes narrowed as I attempted to make sense of the scene.

“What in the world are you doing?” I finally managed. Dust billowed in the enclosed area, and three strange men were in the midst of it, tearing out the plasterboard of the wall that blocked off the restrooms.

One stocky guy barely grunted an answer. “It’s demo day.”

Demo day?

“What are you talking about?” Exasperated, it tumbled out as I took a lurching step forward.

Another guy, dressed in a paint-stained tee, jeans, and work boots, tossed the piece of plywood he’d pried free into a small pile, which was growing quickly. “Boss sent us over. Told us this needed to get done and fast.”

“Boss?”

“Gunner,” the other guy huffed as he ripped free a huge piece of plywood that sent another plume of white dust billowing in the air.

Gunner.

Gunner. Gunner. Gunner.

The name spun through that haze before realization broke through the fog.

Oh God, what did he do?

I stepped back, trembling, the emotions tumbling through me too convoluted they were too much to fully understand. So, I latched on to one. That one that was frustrated and shocked, unable to process the actions of this unexpected man.

I rushed back into the kitchen and grabbed my purse and keys before flying out the door and hitting the road, my destination clear.

RG Construction.

I haphazardly parked and then flew through the entrance of the building. The interior space small enough that I didn’t need to do anything but round the secretary, who jumped to his feet.

“Excuse me, ma’am.”

I didn’t slow, I just thrust open Rex’s office door. I barged right in, the door banging against the inner wall when I did. I was flustered and angered and awed all at the same time. “You’d better have a good explanation.”

Surprised, his attention jerked up from the papers he was pouring over. “Rynna.”

God. He knocked the breath right out of me. I stood in the doorway, trying to brace myself, to remember why I was upset in the first place. Oh, yeah. “Why are there three men at my restaurant tearing it apart?”

Slowly, he stood, stealing a little more of the air. The man so powerful . . . so beautiful that I couldn’t think.

“You needed a job done, and I had the resources to do it,” he said.

Shaking myself out of the stupor, my eyes narrowed. “So, you just . . . sent them over? Without consulting with me? I . . . I . . . I . . .”

I had absolutely no idea what to say to him. When I finally figured it out, it came rushing on a screech of frustration. “I don’t have any money to pay you.”

“You don’t need to pay me.”

“What?” Another screech. This time with a foot stomp. He was insane. We’d spent one night together. Okay. The most extraordinary kind of night. One that had altered my world. That and about two magical hours making out on his porch like teenagers in the middle of the night last night—but that was totally beside the point.

“I care about this community, Rynna.” There was almost a smirk hiding behind the staunch somberness of his expression and ridiculousness of his words.

“Are you kidding me?”

“Gingham Lakes is flourishing, and re-opening Pepper’s Pies is only going to be an asset to it.” I saw him rubbing his thumb and forefinger together. As if he’d been practicing the speech and he was making sure he was keeping time.

“You can’t just—” I threw my hands in the air. “You can’t just go into my restaurant and have your way with it. I have plans. I want . . . I need to do this. To figure it out myself. Not have some guy come in and do the job for me because I’m not capable.”

Pricks of tears burned at my eyes. Maybe I was revealing too much. Getting to the heart of the matter that came flooding out without my permission. The fear I didn’t have what it took to make it. That I was going to fail before I even had the chance to get started.

But shock dammed them when Rex flew around his desk and backed me against the wall. “Some guy?” he demanded.

All the aloofness he’d attempted to wear was gone. In its place was the same compelling, confusing man who’d pushed and pulled and taunted me since the day I’d met him. “That’s all I am to you? Some guy?”

I stared up at him, trying to decipher what was in his eyes.

Hurt.

It was hurt and fear and there was so much of it that it made my heart wobble. Thrown off. The man always managed to catch me off guard. “You know what I meant,” I said softly.

He blinked at me, his words nothing but honest. “No, I don’t.”

I reached up and touched the thunder at his chest. With trembling fingers, I let them tap across the vibrating strength. “What I meant is it’s not fair for you to come in and take over for me. Not when you didn’t even ask me. That’s my grandmother’s restaurant. She gave it to me. Trusted me with it. And for you to go in and take over without consulting me? It makes me feel as if you think I can’t do this. As if you think you need to rescue me. You’re not just some guy, Rex. You mean so much to me. More than you know.”

My voice dipped at the confession, and he sighed this strained sound, both hands planting above my head. He inched closer, pinning me to the wall. It spun my mind, the heat of him trembling all the way to my soul. God. He was too much. Devastating and overwhelming and irresistible.

When he spoke, his voice was raw. “And what if you’re doing a little of that rescuing yourself? You think I don’t believe in you? Fuck, Rynna . . . I’m doing it because I believe in you so much, I want to be a part of making it happen. I just . . . wanted to surprise you.”

Shivers tumbled down my spine, landing in a pool of emotion that just kept getting deeper and deeper. Pretty soon, this man was going to drown me. Take me all the way under.

Emotion clotted my throat, and I forced the shaky words out around it, fiddling with his shirt and barely peeking up at him when I spoke. “Rex, I am so grateful. So grateful. But this is one of those things you should have asked me about. It’s a big deal, and it’s a lot of money, and if you do believe in me? Then you need to respect me enough to talk to me about something that is going to affect my life this much. I can’t take that kind of money from you. I can’t because it’s not right. I want to work for this. Earn it. Breathe life back into Pepper’s Pies because I can.”

“I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

I laughed softly, letting my touch glide up against the hot flesh of his neck. “Nice? Your idea of nice is a little extravagant, don’t you think?”

A light chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Maybe. I warned you I’m not so good at this.”

He edged back and set a hand on my cheek, stark sincerity climbing into his expression, that sincerity a revelation of his fear. “I told you I didn’t have anything left to give you. And now, I want to give you everything.”

Every part of me softened. “Rex . . .”

And, God, I wanted it, everything he was willing to give.

“Too much, too fast?” he asked, a self-deprecating grin rimming his mouth, so sexy and sweet.

“I’m not sure there’s ever going to be too much when it comes to you. I’m just asking you to talk to me.”

His thumb brushed the angle of my cheekbone, and my mouth dropped open a fraction, relishing in the feel of his simple touch. “Warned you I have no goddamned clue what I’m doing. That I always manage to fuck up.”

“You’re not fucking up. We’re just . . . learning each other.”

He pressed against me, his voice growing rough. “Like all the ways I’m learning you.”

I clung to his shirt, flooded by warmth.

He edged back. “How about I make you a deal?”

“What kind of deal?” Cautious. Careful.

“You need a loan.”

“Rex,” I warned, already knowing what he was getting ready to say.

“Just hear me out.” He paused, waiting for me to give him a tiny nod before he continued. “You figure out how to get all the equipment for the restaurant, but we do all the installation and renovation.”

“Rex—”

He pushed a finger against my lips. “And you pay me back. Consider it a loan for something I believe in.”

My heart thundered, and my breaths became shallow. He pressed the gentlest kiss to my forehead, the word a vibration against my skin. “Please.”

Setting my hands on his waist, I chewed at my bottom lip as I shifted to look up at him. “What does this mean?”

What do we mean?

I wanted to ask him, but the tensing of his body cut me off. As if he didn’t want me to say it. To bring it out into the open. The fact that neither of us seemed to truly know where we stood. If we were coming or if we were going.

He pulled me against him. “I need to figure out some shit in my life, Rynna. I warned you, it’s a mess. But I’m going to fucking try. There’s a lot I can’t make sense of, but it’s time I do. Figure out who I am and who I’m supposed to be. Take care of some shit I should have a long time ago. But the one thing I do know? The one thing I know is I want you in my life. And if I can at least give you this? Then please . . . let me. Let me take this chance.”