Before she was ready, there he was. Right in front of her. Standing as tall as a tree with his broad shoulders, tapered waist, and oh-so-long legsencased in the softest, worn blue denim jeans, damp from the rain. The outfit was all biker, and he wore it well. She tried not to notice how good he looked, but she failed big time. He’d grown even more handsome in the time apart.
Cranking her neck back, she clung to the messenger bag on her lap as if she could use it as a buffer.
“Sebastian.”
His jaw flexed when she used his full name. She’d rarely, if ever, called him Sebastian. It had always been Seb. Since she learned to talk, she’d called himMy Seb.
“What are you doing here?”
“To take you home.” His rich voice went through her like a flying bullet, hitting all the major organs.
Especially her aching, pining heart, which would always belong to him.
Even though she knew he didn’t want it.
And then he fired his most perfect bullet.
“Have you missed me?”
TWO
Sebastian
If there was ever a face Sebastian Priest had explored in detail, it was the woman with her head tipped back to look up at him.
That face, with its pale blue eyes surrounded by long lashes and her braid hanging over one shoulder, used to be so expressive that he could read it like a favorite book, knowing what she was thinking.
Sunshine Hawk wore emotions like most women wore makeup.
But that was before he broke her heart, and now he couldn’t see his friend on that beautifully feminine face anywhere.
In the interim, since he’d last seen her, she’d learned to mask her emotions and was expressionless, though for a second, when she’d spotted him coming through the crowd to her, he’d caught the flicker of surprise. A fast pulse in her throat was the sole sign she was reacting to his presence.
Yeah, Seb noticed that.
Her beauty was unmatched, indescribable, and she only got better each time he put his eyes on her.
Sunshine was someone who left a lasting impression on any person she met.
She’d been leaving them on Seb since she was born.
With a bright, quick-witted mind, Sunny was hardworking in whatever she tackled. She was family-focused and incredibly devoted when she loved.
Only his memories of her had kept him a sane, functioning man.
Though he knew he was the last person she’d want to see, it hadn’t even been a choice to volunteer to take the thirteen-hour drive from Colorado. He’d been in the truck, slamming the door, even before Hawk got the words out, and he’d made it in less than eleven hours, speeding where he could. Worrying the entire way.
His hair was sopping, and he ran a gloved hand over it.
She ignored his question, which slipped out before he could stop himself. He contacted her repeatedly for months, but received no response.
“We should get going. It’s a long drive.” He stated. Sunny nodded, climbing to her feet without a word. Seb crushed his back molars together and urged her to talk to him. There were many times when she’d talk for hours. About nothing, about everything. And he’d listen like her one-person audience.
If she was excited about whatever she was into that day, Seb was always the first person she told.
But no longer.
Expecting her action, he swiftly took her roller suitcase, freeing up his hand closest to Sunshine. Although he anticipated no problems, Seb wasready and wouldn’t jeopardize her safety by slacking off, even though seeing her was frying his fucking brains.
