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Johnny stared down at me with a look of puzzlement. “Are you okay?”

I nodded eagerly. “It’s good.”

He smirked. “It’sgood?”

“Me,” I corrected with a heavy sigh and dropped my head. “I’m good.”

“What are you thinking?”

I shrugged and kept my gaze trained on my runners. “I don’t know.”

Johnny sighed heavily. “What am I going to do with you, huh?” Snaking a hand out, he clamped my waist and pulled me flush against him. My head snapped up of its own accord, my breath escaping my lungs in a rush. “Keep that pretty head of yours up, Shannonlike the river.” Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, he grazed my cheek with his knuckles. “It makes it kind of hard for me to know what to do when I can’t take your measure.” He traced my chin with his thumb, heated blue eyes locked on mine. “I can’t read you if you don’t look at me.”

“Okay,” I agreed and then backpedaled. “Wait…huh?”

“Your eyes,” he said, tone gruff. “I need them on me.”

I blew out a shaky breath. “You do?”

Johnny nodded slowly, tightening his hold on my waist. “How else am I supposed to know what you’re thinking?”

“I don’t know,” I murmured, chest rising and falling a little faster now, his close proximity wreaking havoc with my internal wiring. Unable to stop myself, I reached up and placed my hands on his chest, resisting the urge to knot my fingers in the fabric of his hoodie. “You could just ask me.”

“Ididask you, but you wouldn’t tell me,” he corrected, tone gentle and coaxing. “I asked you what you wanted to do, but you wouldn’t tell me that, either.” My pulse galloped wildly when he leaned closer and lowered his forehead to rest against mine. The featherlight contact was too much and at the same time not nearly enough. “I need you to take the lead here, Shannon,” he whispered. “You need to tell me what you want from me.” I could feel his heart hammering hard in his chest. The rhythm seemed to match mine. “Because I’m not making any mistakes with you.”

Kiss me, Johnny. Kiss me.

I want you to kiss me!

When I didn’t respond, because quite frankly I couldn’t get the words I had formed in my head to come out of my mouth, Johnny smiled and took a step back.

“Come on,” he said with a small, rueful shake of his head. Taking my hand in his, he led me toward the sitting room. “There’s no rush.” His movements were stiff and slow without his crutches. “You can tell me when you’re ready.” Pushing the sitting room door open, he gestured for me to go ahead of him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Feeling light-headed, a little breathless, and a lot disappointed, I released his hand and walked inside, feeling the absence of his touch all the way down to my toes.

“You can sit down, Shannon,” Johnny said when I hovered near the couch. He walked stiffly over to the window and drew the curtains, cloaking us in semidarkness before moving for the television. “It’s okay.”

Wordlessly, I dropped onto the couch and kept my gaze trained on the roaring fire, soaking up the heat and peace and quiet.

“What’s your favorite pizza topping?”

I looked up at him. “Huh?”

“Pizza,” he repeated as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped at the screen. “What’s your favorite topping?” Standing in front of the fire, he flicked on the huge TV and then turned back to face me with his phone pressed to his ear.

“Uh, pineapple,” I mumbled. “Why?”

He gaped at me in horror. “Are you serious?”

“What?” I blushed. “It’s delicious.”

Suppressing a shudder, he began to speak into the phone. “Hey, can I place an order for delivery?”

“Wha— Wait, you don’t have to do that—”

“Pick a film,” he mouthed, gesturing to the remote on the coffee table, before continuing to call out his food order to the person on the line.

Stunned, I picked up the remote and did exactly what I was told, scrolling through the bazillion channels he had and settling on the first film I found.

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