Caleb dodged the foot aimed at his family jewels, instead taking Sadie’s deceptively hard kick to his right upper thigh. “Damn, woman,” he said, fascinated as he rubbed the spot where he most definitely was going to bruise. “You’ve got moves.”

She didn’t seem impressed by his opinion. Or by him. And he knew he’d set them back more than a few steps with whatever that had been downstairs. She was pale, her eyes hollow. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, allowing her to keep the distance she’d put between them.

Without responding, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned away, going back to staring out at the setting sun. She was wearing a long black knit skirt that had a slit up the back and clung to her hips and legs. Her top was sheer black and gauzy, fitting loose over a soft gray camisole that hugged her like a second skin. She wore kickass boots, which matched the kickass expression on her face. If she was trying to intimidate the world, the fuck-off-and-die ‘tude was a nice touch.

An icy breeze blew over them and he saw her shiver. He came up behind her, making sure to let his footsteps make enough noise that she knew he was coming. Stopping a few inches back, he shrugged out of his jacket and said, “You’re chilled. I’m going to put my jacket on your shoulders.” He waited a beat, but she didn’t respond so he covered her shoulders.

She immediately slid her arms into the sleeves and hugged the material close to her. “Thanks,” she said quietly. Begrudgingly.

“She speaks,” he said lightly, when he was feeling anything but light. “Sadie. Look at me?”

She hesitated but turned to face him. Her face was closed off. She was always so tough and impenetrable, and yet in that moment also heartbreakingly vulnerable. And damn if that didn’t get him right in the gut because if anyone understood having to be tough on the outside to protect yourself, it was him. “I upset you. I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeated. “Because we’re friends and—”

She laughed mirthlessly. “Seriously? Friends? Because five minutes ago you believed I was having sex with a client. You actually thought I’d do that, on a job—” Breaking off, she shook her head and closed her mouth.

“Listen,” he said quietly. “I didn’t start this conversation by saying I was very smart as it pertains to women.”

She snorted her opinion of that.

“And whatever I thought when I first walked up to your workstation,” he said. “It was a knee-jerk reaction and a bad one. In my defense, the sounds coming from behind the curtain . . . They really sounded like—”

“A woman eating cheesecake?” she asked.

He smiled. “No one sounds like that eating cheesecake.”

“I do.” She gave him a look, an indecipherable look. “Good cheesecake is better than sex.”

He realized she was testing him, and that was fine. One, he wasn’t going anywhere. And two, he was going to always be himself—honest, if not brutally so. “If that’s true, then the people you’ve been with are idiots.”

“It was a recording,” she said. “My client’s a detective and he was just messing around through the pain of getting a tattoo, playing a tape of potential evidence that he never should’ve played for me.”

“Okay,” he said. “So that explains that.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t explain your reaction, or why you’d believe it of me.”

Good point. He met her gaze and gave her that honesty he wasn’t sure she was ready for. Guess he had some testing of his own to do. “I told you once that I have a bad habit of assuming the worst,” he said. “I wasn’t making that up. I assume the worst and go to a dark place.”

“To mull things over,” she said.

So she did remember. “And often, I’ll sabotage a good thing when I have it.”

She stared at him for a beat. “Why?”

He shrugged. “I guess because I don’t like being vulnerable.”

“Me either. And I guarantee you, my dark place is darker than yours, so I get that too.” She paused. “We were a good thing?”

His heart took a good hard kick at the past tense. “Yes. Sadie—”

“I’m sorry I kicked you.”

He was surprised and relieved at the words, but he shook his head. “No. Don’t be. I like knowing you can defend yourself.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“You’ve got a good hard kick, but I’ll live,” he said. “Next time you use a mawashi geri, extend your hip and hit with your straightened instep. And then pull your foot back faster so your opponent can’t grab your leg.”

She took this in for a moment. “Mawashi geri?”

“A roundhouse kick. It’s a Japanese martial arts move.”

She cocked her head. “Do you know a lot about martial arts?”

“Some. It’s a good workout,” he said.

She nodded and then hesitated, like she had something to say and wasn’t sure how to say it. Employing a tactic he’d learned at the knees of too many females in his life from a young age, he held his tongue and waited her out.

“I sabotage a good thing too,” she admitted. “Always have. I don’t trust them, I don’t believe them. So I mess with them until they go away.”

Their gazes met and held. Slowly, giving her plenty of time to kick him again if she wanted, he reached for her hand. Nothing with her was ever going to come easy, he knew this and was okay with that. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I hate that I let you think I’d believe you were having sex with a client on the job. That was shitty, really shitty. I don’t blame you for getting mad. You should’ve kicked my ass.”

She looked down at her hand in his. “I think I got mad because what you thought was happening is so far from my reality that it isn’t funny. I haven’t had sex with anyone for three years.”

He waited until she met his gaze. “That’s a long time,” he murmured, wanting to know more. What had happened three years ago to so thoroughly put her off being intimate with someone?

“It didn’t feel all that long.” She paused and slid him an ironic glance. “Not until . . .”

He went brows up.

“We kissed.” She looked at his mouth like maybe she wanted it back on hers.

“It was a pretty great kiss,” he said.

“Was it?” She shrugged. “I can’t remember.”

His laugh was low and rough as he pulled her into him. She always went toe-to-toe with him, challenged him in a way no one else ever did. It was sexy as hell. “Liar,” he whispered and cupped the back of her head, bringing her mouth to his. “But let me remind you . . .”

He kissed her, a sensuous, delicious kiss with a lot of tongue that had heat exploding in his chest and radiating out to every part of his body. It rushed north to get his heart kicking hard and south to rev up the rest of him, melting everything else along the way. Her mouth was every bit as eager as his, trailing up his jaw, teeth nipping at his ear, and then down his throat and he just about lost consciousness. By the time they surfaced, he was more than half gone.

And given her heavy breathing, she felt the same.

Then she shivered and he ran his hands up and down her arms, feeling like an asshole for keeping her outside in this temperature. “You’re icy cold. I want to get you back inside. How much longer are you working?”

She touched her fingers to her mouth, still looking dazed.

“Sadie?”

“Right.” She looked at her phone and shook her head. “Rocco just texted me that Cal’s rescheduled. I’m done.”

Relieved, he nodded. “Then let’s get you home. You parked nearby?”

“I took the bus today.”

“What happened to your car?” he asked.

“It’s still out for repairs. I’m picking it up later this week.”

“Okay, then let’s go get Lollipop from Rocco and I’ll drive you home.”

She shocked him by nodding and keeping her hand in his as they took the stairs. At the Canvas Shop, Rocco handed Sadie a container. “Lasagna leftovers. Take it,” he said. “I’m going out tonight and don’t want it to go to waste.”

“You’re going out?” Sadie asked, sounding surprised.

Rocco grinned. It was the first time Caleb had ever seen it and it was a good look on the guy.

“Got a call from an old friend. An apologetic old friend,” Rocco said cryptically. “We’re having dinner.”

Sadie narrowed her eyes. “Tell Tyler if he hurts you again, I’m coming for him and it won’t be pretty.”

Rocco laughed. Laughed. And then nodded. “I’ll pass along the message, but he said he already kicked his own ass.”

Sadie hugged Rocco, kissed him on the cheek, and whispered, “Keep your guard up.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Rocco asked.

Sadie was quiet as Caleb walked her out to his car, which he’d started remotely, heater cranked. When he opened the passenger door, both woman and dog sighed in pleasure at the vents blasting warm air at them.

As Caleb slid behind the wheel, Sadie’s phone rang and she grimaced. “It’s my mom.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “Take it if you want.”

She sighed again and answered. “Hey, Mom. Yeah. Okay.” Pause. “Okay. Uh-huh. Yeah, okay.” Another pause. “Okay.” Still another pause. “Okay. Okay. Bye. Okay . Okay . . .” She pulled the phone from her ear and disconnected. “Bad connection,” she murmured. “Must be the tunnel we just went through.”

There’d been no tunnel. He smiled. “Tough call?”

“It was my mother,” she repeated, like that explained it all.

“Where am I taking you?”

She rattled off her address, though he didn’t have to plug it into his GPS. He knew the city inside and out. She lived in a neighborhood called the Tenderloin, one of San Francisco’s most notorious areas. The funky colorful streets were a mix of dangerous and trendy, featuring a mixed bag of hole-in-the-wall places to eat. Nightlife ranged from dark, dark dives slinging beer and shots to speakeasy-style bars serving craft cocktails. Residential buildings coexisted with underground indie live theater and packs of homeless people living in tents right on the sidewalks. He managed to find a spot a block down from Sadie’s building, across from the police station where a guy in handcuffs was being marched inside.

“I know it’s a nutty place,” Sadie said, peering out the windshield, “but the Korean barbecue on the corner is delicious and my neighbors are all really nice.” She unhooked her seatbelt and faced him. “Thanks for the ride.” She turned to the back, leaning in to kiss and hug Lollipop goodbye. “See you tomorrow, baby.” She went to exit the car and gasped in surprise to find Caleb already outside, holding the door open for her.

She slowly rose to her feet, their bodies extremely close between the car and the opened door. “Bet that move of opening the door works on women all day long,” she murmured.

“That ‘move’ is meant to be good manners and nothing more,” he said. “It’s not a pickup tool.” He smiled. “I don’t need it.”

She laughed. “You’re right. You don’t. You don’t have to walk me up.”

“I know I don’t have to,” he said. “I want to.” He opened the back door and let Lollipop out, holding her leash. “Lead the way.”

“Look, Suits—”

“We’re back to that?” he asked. “Seriously? You just had your tongue halfway down my throat. It’s time to use my name. Say it.”

“You’re right,” she said. “I did that to irritate you, so you’d get back in your car and leave.”

It didn’t escape him that she still didn’t say his name. “If you want me to leave, all you have to do is say so. It’s your choice, Sadie. It’s always your choice.”

She stared at him for a beat, and then another. Then she gestured with her chin and they walked to her building. She lived on the third floor and it was a walkup. At her door, she pulled out her key but didn’t use it. Instead, she lifted her face to his. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Open up,” he said. “You should never loiter in this hallway.”

She unlocked the door but then blocked his way in, bending to give Lollipop another proper goodbye. This took like five minutes. Finally rising, she met Caleb’s eyes. “Goodnight to you too.”

And her goodbye to him had taken a second. But he’d told her it was her choice and he’d meant it. “Goodnight.”

Lollipop tried to get inside. Sadie paused, looked behind her into the apartment and then bit her lower lip. “Fine. You can come in. For a minute.”

The dog was all in.

So was Caleb. He shut and locked the door behind him, taking a sweeping gaze across her place. It was small, with comfortable-looking and very lived-in furniture and colorful throw rugs scattered throughout.

Cute. Cozy. But not warm. In fact, it was freezing in here. “Something wrong with your heat?”

“No.” She moved into the kitchen and put fresh water into Lollipop’s bowl. She put the container Rocco had handed her into her fridge, which was looking pretty bare.

“Just haven’t had a chance to go to the grocery store,” she said to his unasked question, turning away to scoop some food for Lollipop, who pounced on it and happily dug in.

Caleb kept his eyes on Sadie. He knew she wanted to think she was an island, that she was unreadable and not easily figured out, but she was wrong.

He already knew she was struggling financially. He wasn’t going to be able to ignore that. He wouldn’t have been able to ignore it for a perfect stranger, so he certainly couldn’t for a woman he suspected he was falling for big-time. “You’re pretty new at the day spa,” he said.

“Yes.”

“And you’re still building your clientele at the Canvas Shop.”

“Yes.” She narrowed her eyes. “Your point?”

“I could help—”

“Wow, would you look at the time?” She strode to the door and opened it for him. “Okay, you got your little peek into my world. Time to go.” She added a little chin jerk to the opened door.

Thinking the new energy in the room meant playtime, Lollipop loped a circle around them with an excited bark.

Caleb moved to the door, stopping very close to Sadie. So close that their bodies brushed up against each other. She could’ve stepped back, but she didn’t. He decided to take that as a good sign. “Everyone struggles sometimes, you know that, right?”

“Do you offer to help everyone then?” she asked in a deceptively serene voice. Deceptive because her eyes were flashing temper.

“I help who I can.” He paused. “Sadie . . .”

She closed her eyes. Reaching out, he gently shut and locked the door again, staying on the inside with her. And when he stepped even closer, she put her hands on his chest, her fingers curling into his shirt, whether to pull him closer or keep him at bay, he wasn’t sure.

“You drive me crazy,” she murmured. “You know that, right?”

“Yeah. And ditto.” Liking her hands on him, he decided to go with optimism and wrapped his arms around her.

She pressed her face into the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply, like she craved the scent of him and he felt his body react. “Sadie. About your heater—”

“You aren’t going to be nosy and bossy about this, are you?”

“Nosy and bossy are the female Parkers, not me.”

She snorted. “Okay.”

Wrapping her hair around his fist, he used it to lift her face so he could look into her eyes. “So you’re saying I’m nosy and bossy.”

She laughed but pressed herself a little closer to him so he forgave her.

“Hello,” she said, still smiling. “Have you met yourself?”

“So I like to be aware of what’s going on around me, and—”

“B-O-S-S-Y ,” she said, spelling out the word. “And you also always need things to go your way.”

“Okay, so that might be true. And you’re changing the subject.”

“I’m not a charity case, remember? So thank you for caring and offering, but I’m fine.” She said all this without taking her hands off him. A good sign, right?

An even better one was when she nudged him up against the door at his back and pinned him there.

His hands went to her waist, slid up her arms, and cupped her face. “Sadie.”

She stared at his mouth. “Yeah?”

“I’m going to kiss you now. If you’ve got a problem with that, tell me, okay? Don’t put that lethal knee of yours into action and ruin my chances of having kids.”

She looked from his mouth to his eyes, her own surprised. “You want kids?”

“Yeah, maybe. Someday.” He gave a small smile when she just stared at him. “What?”

“I guess I’m just a little . . . fascinated by the idea of you being a dad to a couple of mini suits running around, taking on the world with all that effortless charm and charisma you put out there.”

He smiled. “You think I’m charming and charismatic?”

“I think you’re a lot of things.”

He stroked a finger along her temple, tucking a loose strand of hair back from her face as he nudged in closer.

She bit her lower lip and let out an almost inaudible moan, rocking her body to his.

Yeah. For once they were on the same page at the same time.

“What are you waiting for?” she whispered.

Leaning in, he nuzzled her neck just below her ear. “Your body’s saying yes,” he murmured, “but that’s only partial consent.”

Her hands fisted on his shirt. “Seriously. You’re a nut.”

“Uh-huh.” He kissed the spot just beneath her ear and then gently sucked, smiling when she shivered and moaned again. “But a nut you want to kiss, right?”

“Yes, very much, even if I’m still trying to figure you out.”

He blazed a trail down her throat with his tongue while running his hands down her arms, to her hips, which she was still rocking into his and driving him half-mad. “Some things take time to figure out,” he murmured. “There’s no rush.”

“Says you,” she whispered and drew his head down to hers.