“I wasn't going to say no.” She searched his eyes, feeling small of a sudden, and very much the woman she was. “I was going to warn you.”

His slow smile made her catch her breath. “About?”

“Business mixed with other than business pleasures.”

He brought a hand down and cupped her chin. “I'll make it my business to pleasure you.”

Although Drake was well and truly breathless at the thought, the shock of how bold he was to speak so plainly kept her focused. “I'm not a woman who loves lightly. The matters of the heart I hold close to me, so before we get to the pleasuring stage of our relationship, I'd have to be comfortable doing business with you.”

He wouldn't let go of her chin, unsettling enough, but worse? He began to brush his thumb over her jawline while he seemed to contemplate her words. “I don't want you comfortable. I want to drive you a little mad with the matters I wish to cross with your heart. And, believe me, honey. Nothing pleases me more, than to learn you’re not a woman who loves lightly. I want my woman to love me hard, truly and fully, just as I do her.”