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That’s what it felt like, looking at him.
Like he was a beacon.
A safe passage home.
My safe place.
The man was all hulking muscle and tapered waist.
And damn it, his freaking thighs…so gigantic where they pressed against the fabric of his briefs.
“I think you might be drooling, Savannah.”
My attention snapped up to his face, and I bit down on my bottom lip. “And I think you might be mad.”
A frown marred his brow. “Why would I be mad?”
I danced from foot to foot. “I might have accidentally told Dakota that you were stabbed last night.”
He groaned. “You didn’t.”
“I did.”
He scrubbed both palms over his face, wiping away the irritation. “Well, you can count on the troops descending.”
“They’re already on their way.”
“Shocking.”
“They love you.” I whispered it, knowing what a gift it was. That he had this amazing group who would rally around him. Support him through anything. Drop everything at the mention that he was harmed.
His expression went soft. “Yeah, they do. I was just hoping the word wouldn’t spread too fast before I got the chance to tell my mother. Guess I should be thankful the lights and sirens didn’t pull her from her house to see what was going on last night. It would have been way worse for her to walk up on that.”
“She lives nearby?” I kept pushing. Needing to get deeper into who he was. Know him better.
“Just on the next street.”
“I’ve seen her several times, coming and going.”
Affection left him on a puff of air. “She’s been my saving grace, helping me take care of the kids after we lost Brianna.”
“I’m glad she was there for you. That you had someone you could count on.”
The softness in his features dove straight into empathy. “I hate that you’ve never had that, Savannah. That no one took the time to see the treasure that you are. To cherish everything you are. Adore you the way you deserve to be.”
Emotion climbed my throat. Thick and overpowering.
I could feel his tenderness running through me. The need in his touch and the care in his words.
I gestured to the bed, injecting as much easiness as I could into my voice when I felt as if I was standing at the cusp of something magnificent.
Something that couldn’t be for me.
Could it? My spirit thrashed with possibility.
I choked it down before it fully took root.
“Into bed now before I force you,” I managed.
“You keep making all these threats that I really like.” How he went from being so tender to positively dripping sex in a blink, I had no clue. No wonder I’d been begging him for it last night.
I was coming to realize he was everything.
Hard and soft.
Rigid and pliant.
Rough and tender.
Multifaceted.
Each perfect, layered surface coming together to create this amazing man.
“You really are insufferable, aren’t you, Officer Patterson?” The words were clogged with emotion.
He growled and took another step forward, and the look on his face tossed me right back into a boiling pot of need. “I’ll make you suffer in the best way possible.”
I was already there.
Suffering.
Dying to feel him.
His phone rang from his nightstand, cutting into whatever salacious deeds were playing through his mind. “There they are. Gossip travels like wildfire in this town.”
“I don’t think Dakota would gossip.” She had to be the nicest person I knew. As soon as I thought it, I knew that I wholeheartedly believed it. All the way down to my soul.
Her true colors were already showing.
It wasn’t an act.
“No, but the word is out to our crew. She wasn’t going to keep that from Ryder, and if Ryder knows, then…” He trailed off, his head tilting to the side.
“Are you mad?” I found myself whispering again.
He took another step forward, then another and another until he had my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “No, Little Trespasser. How could I be mad at you? I know why you couldn’t help but tell her.”
He didn’t have to say it.
I was pretty sure it was written on me in broad stripes and bold colors.
I cared about them.
And I cared about him.
There was no longer any denying it.
By the time I’d put on a pot of coffee to brew, there was already a fist battering at the front door. Ezra appeared at the end of the short hall that led to his bedroom, wearing a pair of black sweats and another white tee, one with a Mack’s logo imprinted across his chest.
Talk about free advertising. If I saw this man walking around in that shirt? Mack’s would be the first place I’d land. But I was already here with him, in his kitchen.
There was no questioning now that I’d ventured into hazardous terrain. Had drifted so off course that I’d lost my way.
My heart panged.
Or maybe, maybe I’d just stumbled upon where I really belonged.
I shoved that reckless thought down and sent the brute of a man a scowl. “What do you think you’re doing?”
