Cade couldn’t believe it when he finally got Zoe to admit that Delia had left for Los Angeles to meet Scott. Alone.

He’d thought they’d made strides in the trust department, but apparently he’d been wrong. She didn’t trust him, she didn’t need him. Didn’t that just about sum up the sorry existence he’d been living? He didn’t want to trust, either, and sure as hell didn’t want to need, but he did.

And though he hadn’t imagined himself ready to say these things to a woman ever again, he thought maybe he was ready to say them now.

To Delia.

Only she didn’t want to hear them.

Dammit, he’d blown everything. He should have told her sooner. He thought of little else on the long flight to California.

When he finally caught up with her in the restaurant Zoe had named, sitting opposite Scott at a cozy little table as if they were fast friends, he had trouble keeping calm. Until he got closer and had a good look at them.

Scott was grim-faced, Delia pale as a ghost.

Uninvited, Cade grabbed a chair and sat at their table, without a thought to sensibilities and politeness. Never taking his eyes off Delia, he leaned forward and put her icy hand in his. “Hey.”

Delia blinked him into focus and made a startled sound before surging to her feet.

Standing, too, Cade reached for her shoulders, concerned at the way she was shaking. “Delia? Talk to me.”

“Not here,” she said, closing her eyes briefly, then leveling them on Cade in that deliberately cool steady gaze he now knew meant she was struggling for control. “We’re out of here.”

Her hand still on his, which gave him a tiny bit of comfort, she started to make her way to the door.

Scott called after her and she paused.

“What are you going to do?” he wanted to know.

A look of fear and something deeper and darker flickered across her face, but then was gone. Delia lifted her chin. “I’m going to win without playing dirty,” she said, and then kept walking, head high, hips swaying gently.

A haze of red fury settled across Cade’s vision. He wanted to demand answers, wanted to pound Scott for putting that look in her eyes, but he had a feeling Delia wouldn’t appreciate any caveman techniques.

So he went with her silently, seething for her, at her, until they were standing on the sidewalk in the uncomfortably warm Los Angeles night.

Delia fumbled through her purse. “My keys,” she muttered. “They’re…here.” Then calmly, she unlocked her rental car, and Cade might have thought she’d already forgotten Scott except for the tremor in her hands.

“Delia.” He took the keys from her shaking fingers. “Talk to me.”

“I’m fine.” But she stared down at the opened car door as if she’d forgotten what she was doing. “I’m just fine.”

“Is that how you want to play this? As if you’re superwoman?”

“For now,” she mumbled, but when he reached for her, she clutched his shirtfront and held on tight. “I…I want to go to my hotel. Now.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

“You’re coming with me?”

She seemed shocked, and embarrassed, too, as if she knew he was good and angry. “I’d go with you to the ends of the earth,” he said quite seriously, “if you asked.”

She looked as if she was going to cry, which was the last thing he’d intended. “Get in,” he said, gently pushing her into the car. “Move over.”

“But what about your car? And how did you find-” She squeaked when he nearly sat on her and she hastily scooted over.

“The hotel,” he said firmly. “We’ll play twenty questions there, but you’re going first.” He slammed the car into gear. “And, Delia? I’m going to want to hear every bit of it. No half-truths, no holding back. I want it all.”

She blinked at him slowly, then gave him a watery smile. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’m done being a coward.”

What did that mean? But before he could ask, she set her hand on his thigh, leaned in close and kissed him softly on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered.

The touch of her lips on his skin had him almost quivering like a pathetic puppy, which annoyed the hell out of him. He wanted his anger back-it was much easier to handle. “What was that for?”

“For caring for me.” Her gaze was rueful. “I haven’t made it easy, have I?”

He had to smile at that as he pulled the car out of the lot. “Delia, easy is just about the last thing I’d call you.”

She’d already checked into the hotel, so they went directly up to her room.

By the time they got there, Delia’s heart was threatening to bounce right out of her chest. She’d been alone, handling Scott, doing just fine despite his attempt to blackmail her with an episode from her past she’d rather forget, when Cade had walked in.

Clearly furious, edgy and just a bit dangerous-looking, he’d made her heart soar. Never in her life had she been so glad to see someone, and that it was Cade who made her feel that way no longer shocked her.

Right then and there, in the middle of an emotional battle for her brother, for her future, for everything, the truth had come to her. She was indeed a coward. She’d actually become more terrified of Cade’s smile than of the outcome of the custody battle.

How sad was that?

Especially when the truth was, being with Cade, talking with him, laughing with him, just existing with him, made her feel whole.

It was time, past time, to get over her fear of letting Cade really know her. It was time to get over her virginity, too, she decided. Maybe then she wouldn’t be so…uptight. She had no idea what would come of it, but she was tired of feeling so wound up, so vibrantly aware of the tall, dark and brooding man behind her.

Why hadn’t she seen it sooner? Making love with him would help. It would have to help.

He opened the door, his eyes on her, deep and full of things that made her heat up from the inside out. He was still angry. He was most definitely full of questions. And so taut with tension every muscle she could see was delineated.

Did he still want her? She hoped so. She wanted him.

Right now, as a matter of fact.

They entered the room in silence, Delia’s thoughts racing as she planned her seduction. Cade was quiet, too quiet.

Until she shut the door.

Tossing his jacket on the bed, he turned toward her, his hands fisted on his hips, his shoulders tight, mouth grim. “Did he threaten you? Hurt you in any way?”

Because her thoughts had been running in an entirely different direction-did he have any idea how sexy he looked?-she had a hard time keeping up with him. “What?”

With an oath, he crossed to her, grasped her arms and hauled her close. “Dammit, you’re driving me crazy! How could you still shut me out, after all this time? You still won’t let me in your head. When I figured out what you’d planned, I nearly had a heart attack.” He drew in a shuddery breath, then let it out slowly. “Never mind. I’m sorry, it doesn’t matter now. None of it does. Just tell me…are you okay?” He held her slightly away from him.

“Yes, I’m…quite fine.” Breathless and strangely achy, maybe. Definitely nervous, but first-time jitters were to be expected, right?

“Tell me everything.”

“Okay. On the phone, Scott said he wanted to meet with me and apologize, but that was a lie. He had me investigated and…found something he can use against me if I don’t withdraw my custody request.”

“What?”

Delia stepped farther away and turned her back to him, wishing she didn’t have to say it. “I shop-lifted once.” She stared hard out the window. “I was arrested. It’s on my juvenile record, which is sealed, so I’m not sure how-”

“Oh, Delia,” he breathed softly. “How did-”

“I was fifteen,” she said, “and Maddie had gotten herself restricted. She’d missed dinner, then overslept breakfast, and on the way to school, she nearly passed out. We didn’t have any money, and there was the doughnut shop, so…” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but it did. Still did. She’d never forget the owner’s anger, how he’d insisted on filing charges for one lousy doughnut, how roughly she’d been treated at the police station, even though she was a minor on a first offense. She’d been terrified, and even now, the memory made her cringe.