She approached, trying like hell not to notice how freaking attractive he was with the morning sun making gold streaks pop in his hair and highlighting a day’s worth of stubble on his jaw. He seemed so big, taller and more muscular than she remembered. And he wore jeans and cross-trainers with his jersey. Eden had to admit, the casual look relaxed her a little and allowed her to get her feet moving toward him.
Tori released Beckett’s hand. “I’d better see what trouble I can stir up inside. Nice to meet you, Beckett.”
“You too,” he said.
Then Eden’s buffer was gone, and she was standing face-to-face with Beckett Croft again.
His grin widened and softened. “Hi.”
She tried to match his smile, but she was too intensely aware of him. “Hi.”
“I scared you, huh?” His brow pulled with concern. “Showing up like this.”
She lowered her gaze. “It was a little unnerving to find you here.”
“I was afraid of that.” He stepped toward her, reached out, and slid his index finger down her forearm, then linked it with her pinkie. Tingles spread along her skin, and her lungs tightened up again. “Sorry. I didn’t know how else to get ahold of you.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I know.”
“Here’s
the thing, Eden.” He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “I’m not the kind of guy who sits back and lets things happen to him. I’m the kind of guy who goes out and makes things happen. My mom calls it ADHD, or OCD, or plain old making trouble, but whatever, no one’s perfect, right?”
That made Eden laugh and loosened some nerves.
“The truth is, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you for the last six days,” he said. “So I couldn’t take the thanks-for-the-hookup note or the unanswered texts as proof that you weren’t interested. I had to come and see what that looks like up close and personal.”
“Yeah.” A soft laugh rolled out. “I guess you aren’t very familiar with that, are you?”
He winced and chuckled. “Ouch. Has someone been looking into my history?”
“Six days is a long time to think about something.”
“Very true. Felt like a damn month to me.” He threaded their fingers together and met her eyes directly, his expression serious. “Tell me you’re not interested, and I’ll go. I promise not to bother you again.”
So charming. So genuine. Oh, what she would give to be able to accept a man at face value again. And she could. She just had to choose to do it.
“I’ve been—”
“Busy.” He nodded, his expression serious. “I know. I kept telling myself you have more important things to do. That both our lives are already way too full. And a hundred other reasons I should have driven home from the airport this morning instead of straight here.”
She took a breath. “The truth is…I’m not sure about this. Everything inside me tells me it’s a bad idea.”
“Fair enough.” He seemed to take that in stride. “I’m not sure about this either. What I am sure of is that you promised me breakfast and bailed.”
She exhaled a laugh. “True.”
“So let me take you now,” he suggested, then added, “unless you have school."
“Not till this afternoon.”
“Breakfast? Somewhere extremely public? So we can get to know each other better? We can even take your car if you’d be more comfortable driving.”
“My car is Metro.”
His face went slack a second, but he came back strong. “I can do Metro.”
She laughed. “Oh, that deer in the headlights was priceless.”