Give Me a Reason (Redemption Hills 1)

Her arms were wrapped tight around my waist. So fucking tight. The heat of her body saturated mine. Soaked me through.

But she was shaking, too. Shaking so bad that on the straightaways I kept putting one of my hands over hers that were locked at my stomach. My hand curled over hers like I could hold her fears. Make it right. Be someone good enough to stand by her side.

I made the last turn into her neighborhood. Her house came into view, cream-colored with light-green eaves, shrouded in a hedge of giant trees.

Should have just dropped her at the curb.

Let her off and let her go. It’s what a good guy would do.

But that was the whole problem with who I was, wasn’t it? I wasn’t a good guy. Not even close.

So I pulled into the single-car drive at the side of her house. I eased to a stop, killed the engine, and kicked the stand.

No words were said when I reached down and unwound her trembling fingers and helped her slip off the bike, but I couldn’t find the strength to let her go.

She wobbled where she stood, her fingers locked on mine, girl looking at me with those earthy, autumn eyes. Watching me like I was something different. Like I might be worthy to touch her. Hold her.

I wasn’t, but still I climbed off the bike, my frame towering over her fierce, sweet body.

So fuckin’ pretty.

Different.

Brave and bold and kind.

Better in every way.

“Trent.” She whispered my name like a prayer.

Honey dripped from her tongue and glided into my senses.

My free hand came out and cupped the side of her face, my thumb running the angle. “Eden.”

Heaven.

Paradise standing there beneath the night sky.

Her throat tremored, and her fingers fell free of the clasp of mine when she turned and started up her walk. Nothing else was said as she walked toward the front door.

Didn’t know if it was an invitation. Only thing I knew was I couldn’t do anything but follow her.

Powerless to her lure.

That connection zapped.

The draw that was this girl.

Electricity crackling and blistering like a storm.

A heatwave that shocked through the cooled night and strummed my nerves into a frenzy.

I stalked behind that goodness, that vulnerability, wanting to dip my fingers into the warmth of it.

Get lost.

Forget.

Maybe be the guy this girl clearly deserved, even when I didn’t know a whole lot about who she was, which was a mindfuck considering the information I’d just dished for the first time.

But I guessed I already knew everything important.

The truth that there was nothing corrupt about her.

That she cared.

Fuck, I got that sense that she might even love my kid.

Thing that was really messing me up was this reaction. Fact that my cock was stone, guts tangled in need, fingers itching to fist in that blonde, blonde hair.

Wanted to take her.

Taste her.

Vanish in that body and that heart and those eyes.

Eden fumbled into her bag to pull out her keys that she must have forgotten she’d surrendered to me. I dug them out of my pocket and leaned around her to unlock her door. “There you go.” It was a breath against her ear.

A shiver raced her, and she reached in and flicked on the light before she glanced back at me, nerves rattling through her as her gaze swept me like I wasn’t a nightmare that’d shown up at her door.

She widened that door and stepped inside.

Energy lashed.

Swallowing it down, I followed, entering her house for the first time.

I took it in as I clicked the door shut behind us, chuckling low when I realized it looked exactly like her.

Fit her to a T.

Pure.

Humble.

Sweet.

Everything cozy and warm and bright.

Like it couldn’t help but glow with her light.

Slowly, she turned around in the small space, wearing that same modest dress she’d been tempting me with this afternoon. In it, the girl was still the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

My sanity’s demise.

Maybe my heart’s, too.

Because fuck.

I got the sense Eden Murphy might undo me.

Obliterate the fortress I’d had to build around myself to survive.

Unravel all the dirty threads that were barely holding me together.

Retwine them until I was complete.

Make a broken man whole.

She stared at me with questions rushing over that stunning face.

I inched forward.

The air shivered, and Eden’s chest heaved.

God, I had no idea what I was still doing standing there.

I roughed a hand through my hair, dropping my attention to my boots. “Listen, I’m sorry if it was too much, unloading all that shit on you.”

Rejection twisted through Eden’s expression, the curve of her jaw appearing harsher than ever. “Don’t you dare apologize to me for that.”

My heart nearly stopped at her ferocity.

She stepped forward in a plea, her fingers raking down the front of my shirt. “Don’t apologize for trusting me with that.”

My stuttered heart started to pound. This thunder that I couldn’t contain.