Even fifteen years later, Bry’s death was the reason Joe didn’t sleep most nights. Her brother wouldn’t let him within shouting distance of his kid sister.īut Bry wasn’t here. If Bryan was alive, he’d damn sure kick Joe’s sorry ass from here to the next zip code. A fire-breathing, breath-stealing, soul-defeating dragon. Her gentle nature that made a hard man like him want to play white knight and save her from the dragons that could hurt her.īut tonight he was going to be the dragon. “Hi,” he said with a clipped nod when he met the surprise in her soft brown eyes.Įverything about Steph was soft.
He heard the soft whisper of footsteps inside the apartment, then the tentative turn of the doorknob before she slowly opened up as far as the safety chain allowed, and peered into the hall. Maybe he should turn the hell around and be gone.
Maybe she’d gone to her parents’ in Virginia for the weekend, and would escape dealing with the shitstorm he was about to dump on her. His hand was cold when he finally lifted it and, after a heart-thumping hesitation, gave the door a soft rap. And lie through his teeth while he did it. But he couldn’t check out on her without saying good-bye. Hell, just thinking about it was killing him. And he was going to wake her up to tell her something that was going to kill her. Like he was going to leave tracks all over her heart. The melting snow that clung to his soles had left slushy tracks on the tiled third-floor hallway. Swallowing the rock of guilt lodged in his throat, he stared down at his boots, trying to screw up some courage. Lot of losing going on, he thought grimly. And he was scared spitless of losing her. That he was losing himself in his need to settle a score. Not of the fight he was scared that Stephanie was right. Yet the choice he’d made to see this thing through blurred the lines so badly, it was hard to say where one ended and the other began.įor the first time in his life, he was scared. He walked slowly along the dimly lit hallway, then stopped in front of her apartment door. Possibly the very last time, if this solo mission ended the way he suspected it would. But he didn’t have it in him to leave without seeing her one last time. Yet here he was, drawn like a storm-battered ship to the welcoming waters of a calm home port. The last thing Stephanie Tompkins needed was for him to show up again.
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