Goal had been nothing more than thanking her. But I’d gone and gotten stupid. Had gotten too close. Had touched her because I couldn’t stop myself.
Not when I was engulfed with her presence. Cherries and sugar. So goddamned sweet.
None of that mattered right then. The only thing that mattered was Frankie, who was moaning in the backseat, her head bobbing all over the place. Worst was I couldn’t tell if she was nodding off to sleep or truly coming in and out of consciousness.
Any loyalty I had didn’t come close to touching that.
I hopped out of the truck, wrenched open Frankie’s door, and had her back in my arms in the next second. With one arm holding her against me, I grabbed her booster seat and then strode across the vacant street.
There was no hesitation when I bounded up the steps and pounded on Rynna’s door.
I stood there, shifting my feet anxiously while I waited, that unease growing tenfold when I saw a light flicker on through an upstairs window. Thirty seconds later, footsteps were shuffling across the floor. I could almost feel her confusion when I sensed her peering out the peephole at us.
But the second she did, there was no delay, and she was tearing open the door.
Concern was written all over that face.
That goddamned striking face that made something inside me light up at the sight of her.
“Oh my God, Frankie Leigh.” It was whispered panic pouring from her pretty mouth. “What happened?”
Those java eyes darted to my face.
Worry.
Fear.
I forced down every convoluted feeling I had about her. “She woke up with a fever. My battery’s dead in my truck. Need to borrow your car so I can take her to the ER.”
“I’ll drive you,” she said instead of agreeing. The girl was already sliding on a pair of flip-flops that had been sitting by the door.
“That’s not—”
She held up a hand, cutting me off the way I had continually done to her. “She’s sick, and you’re obviously upset.” Her tone softened. “I’ll drive you. It’s not a problem.”
The part of me that always needed to prove that I could raise my daughter alone wanted to rear its head and fight her. I bit it back. Focused on the feeling of my daughter in my arms.
Frankie’s well-being was my only concern.
“Thank you.”
I should absolutely not be accepting this woman’s generosity.
Every fucking one of the reasons why surged to the forefront of my mind. Screaming at me why this was wrong. To watch the line I was toeing.
Somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Rynna grabbed her purse and stepped out, still wearing what she’d obviously gone to bed in—a pair of thin cotton striped pants and a black tank.
I dropped my gaze. At least I managed to find the self-control not to watch the sweet sway of her luscious ass.
Guessed it was the little wins.
I followed her to her SUV, situated Frankie into her booster seat in the backseat, and climbed in beside my daughter.
I pretended I couldn’t feel the weight of Rynna’s worry when she kept glancing through the rearview mirror at us, pretended her concern wasn’t there, palpable in the air.
Pretended it didn’t mean more to me than it should.
I brushed back Frankie’s hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead, feeling the heat radiating off her, praying she was fine. I told myself every kid got sick. It was a part of life. But that didn’t mean my guts weren’t twisted. It didn’t mean the fear wasn’t there. It didn’t mean that every day of my life I wouldn’t be terrified of losing her, too.
11
Rynna
The big double doors Rex and Frankie had walked through three hours before swung open for what had to be the millionth time that night. I shot to my feet when this time it was finally Rex carrying out a sleeping Frankie in his arms.
The same blond-haired guy who’d been sitting with Rex at the bar on Friday night followed close behind them, and I had to do a double take when I saw he was wearing a pair of blue scrubs and a stethoscope around his neck.
Even though he still exuded that same uptight, rigid stance, Rex seemed relieved. The bounding tension that had orbited his being seemed to have dissipated.
And that relieved . . . me.
It was true.
Gone was the weight that had crushed like a pile of rubble and stone while I’d sat there alone, waiting for word. For anyone or anything to confirm that sweet little girl was fine. My rationale told me it was just a virus or a bug. Yet, this other part of me—the one that had panicked when I’d found the two of them standing outside my door in the middle of the night—had worried and fretted the entire time they’d been in the back.
God, it’d taken a matter of days for me to get in over my head.
But I’d barely been able to focus on anything else since I’d left Rex Gunner staring after me on Saturday night after I’d read Frankie that story. More confused than I’d ever been. His touch lingering on my skin and his words rambling through my head.
Honestly, I’d been shocked when he came to me for help.
But any reservations I’d wanted to hold had been wiped away by the sheer terror he’d attempted to keep veiled in the vast abyss of those stormy eyes. Eradicated by the fierce protectiveness that had radiated from him.
Most of all was this helplessness he couldn’t seem to keep contained. It was in the way his chin had quivered as he’d stood on my porch with his daughter held in the safety of his arms.
“How is she?” I whispered, even though the waiting room was loud and bright. I couldn’t do anything but reach out and thread my fingers through her brown hair. She was absolutely peaceful in his hold, and that simple touch sent a wave of affection bounding through my veins.
I sucked in a breath, surprised by the sudden, all-encompassing emotion.
Quickly, I turned my attention to search Rex’s face.
His stunning, hard, brutal face.
Obviously, it was a more dangerous place to avert my attention. Because the emotion grew.
“It’s just a virus.” That rough, scruffy jaw was held tight, though there was a heavy solace that flooded out with the words.
The man who’d followed him out elbowed Rex in the ribs. “Rex here takes overprotectiveness to a whole new level. If he had let that Tylenol kick in, he would have known she was just fine.”
Rex grunted. “Not a chance I was willing to take.”
I wondered just what chances Rex was ever willing to take.
Though, I had to agree with him on this one. “It was good you brought her,” I told him, hoping to encourage him. Hoping he’d get that I saw the kind of father he was.
The man next to him laughed a disbelieving sound, as if he took some kind of satisfaction in the situation. He shoved his hand toward me. “Dr. Kale Bryant, at your service.”
I returned his shake. “Rynna Dayne.”
A smug smile took to his handsome face, his eyes darting between Rex and me, his voice fueled by an undercurrent of laughter. “Oh, you have no idea just how nice it is to meet you, Ms. Dayne.”
Rex almost rolled his eyes. “Dr. Kale Bryant. I remember the days when I used to let you cheat off my math tests, asshole. Take it down a notch.”
Kale clapped him on the back. “Hey, don’t go knocking that whole doctor bit. Your ass would still be sitting out here waiting to have your daughter seen if it weren’t for me.”
“I’m not knocking anything. You know I owe you.”
Maybe I was surprised to hear the sincerity behind his admission. I guessed I shouldn’t have been. Not with the way he clutched Frankie to him.
Guarding her.
Protecting her.
“We should get her home,” I offered. Again, I glanced at his precious child. Her chubby cheek was pressed so perfectly to his chest and her fist was wound in the fabric of his shirt, as if the steady beat of his heart had lulled
her into peace.
Rex lifted his chin to Kale. “Thanks, man. Honestly . . . don’t think you know how much I appreciate you being there for her like this.”
Waving him off, Kale let his gaze slide to the sweet child. “Anything for Sweet Pea Frankie Leigh. That’s my godbaby, you know.”
He looked at me when he said the last, and a smile was pulling through the exhaustion that threatened to drag me under. “No way.”
Kale was all dimples as he raised his arms to the sides. “Don’t let all these awesome good looks fool you. I’m totally capable of raising a kid.” He threw a playful punch into Rex’s shoulder. “Almost as good as this guy.”
My smile grew as my eyes volleyed between the two of them, totally taken aback by the closeness Rex shared with Kale. But in a pleasant way. Maybe he didn’t need any more friends, after all.
I looked back at him, and my stomach twisted.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t need something.
Someone to fill that glaring void that was so obviously radiating within him.
And with every layer that was exposed, more and more I wanted to be that person.
“I’ve got her,” he grumbled barely above his breath when I attempted to help him get her out of the backseat of my car.
A calm stillness held fast to the cool air, daybreak just a hint of a blaze that lifted from the horizon. Glittering rays chased away the night and lit the sky in pinks and oranges and a welcoming blue.
The day brand new.
Bursting with possibilities.
“At least let me get the door open for you.” I said it with zero frustration when I wrenched free the keys he had clutched in his hand and quietly climbed the porch steps.
Somehow, I’d come to understand this man felt he needed to do things on his own.
Or maybe he’d just been forced into that role, and he knew nothing else.
Behind me, I could feel them, this buzz of energy that emanated from their skin. It made me feel as if I stood at the very edge of something magnificent, a stranger peering in to witness something pure and absolute. Alive and profound. A thriving force that threatened to suck me into its depths.
Sliding the key into the lock, I turned the lever and opened the door, standing aside as he headed straight through, his long legs eating up the floor as he disappeared down the hallway.
I wavered there, my mind flashing back to two nights ago when he’d had me pinned just inside. The memory spun around me, that fury that had been so blatantly evident.
Almost as acute as the brokenness that had seeped from his flesh and poured into mine.
Nearly as intense as the desire that had lashed between us.
I didn’t even know him, and the man was so mesmerizingly conflicted that he had me overwhelmed with the need to step closer. To dip my fingers in to explore and discover.
But it was more than that. There was something about him that made me ache. Something that made my chest and my spirit and my stomach revolt at the thought of walking away.
Sucking in a breath, I came to a quick decision. Stepping inside, I closed the door behind me and crept down the hall, unable or maybe unwilling to stop myself from peering through the doorway into Frankie’s room.
My insides trembled as I watched them.
Rex carefully laid her in her bed. Gently, he brushed the chaotic tangle of hair from her forehead. His gaze was so tender when he stared down at her trusting face, his spirit so soft when he edged forward and brushed a kiss to one of her rosy, plump cheeks.
My throat thickened, and I clung to the jamb.
Enthralled and transfixed.
God.
This. Man.
He was undoing something inside me.
Uncovering something I’d never even realized I wanted.
Slowly, he stood. His body seemed so big in the emerging day, the raw strength of him wrapping me in chains. When he shifted, those eyes locked on me, his shadowy figure moving my direction.
I struggled to find air. Reason.
I fumbled a step back into the hallway, fortifying myself, never sure where his anger might take us or where this attraction might lead us.
He stopped in the doorway. His breaths short and heavy.
That same awareness flickered to life. Only this time, it seemed as if it’d gained power from the rising sun.
“Thank you.” The words landed on me like a rough caress.
“Of course. When I told you I thought you might need a friend, I meant it. That means if you need me . . . I’m here.”
He nodded, though it seemed reluctant. As if he were crossing an invisible line by agreeing. “Okay.”
I nodded back, shocked that he’d yielded. “Okay. I’ll . . . talk to you later. Just”—I fisted a hand over my heart—“please let me know if you or Frankie need anything at all. I’d really like to know how she’s doing. I know I’ll be thinking about her all day.”
With that, I turned and headed for the door. I needed to get out of there.
Clear my head of the foolish ideas that had begun to spin. This foolish impulse to jump into torrid waters when I couldn’t see the bottom. To sate the churning need that prodded at my consciousness.
Most of all, I wanted to respect him. The space he so clearly needed.
But I had no idea how that was going to work when it was starting to hurt when I walked away.
12
Rex
I watched her escaping down the hallway.
At least, that was what it felt like. Like she was fleeing. Putting as much space between us as possible.
She should.
Maybe she was smart enough to run from whatever steadily built in the atmosphere whenever we shared the same space.
Ominous and powerful and unrelenting.
Her footsteps were swift, that silky mound of chestnut a complete disaster where she had it twisted high on top of her head. It left the creamy, delicate flesh of her neck exposed.
I itched, fighting against every single emotion I couldn’t allow myself to feel.
Fuck.
I needed her out.
Gone.
Away.
Where she couldn’t confuse, corrupt, and confound.
Where she couldn’t riddle my mind and tempt my hand.
Where she didn’t hold the power to squeeze between the cracks she continually chipped and etched into my spirit, like the exterior I’d built didn’t even exist. The girl eased into those spaces that were meant to remain closed off and shut down.
Not that it seemed to matter.
The tension only amplified the farther she got. Her footsteps grew fainter, but the space between them ignited a new kind of gravity.
Everything grew taut and tight and rigid. The air. My chest. My thoughts.
Drawing me in a direction I knew I shouldn’t go.
But standing there? I had no power. Because her scent still lingered around me, clouding my senses.
My mouth watered. Cherry and sugar. So goddamned sweet.
I was suddenly inundated with the way she’d felt against me two nights ago.
Her warmth and her comfort and that fucking insane body that made me lose my mind.
It’d been in that foolish moment when I’d given in to temptation when I should have been chasing her away. A single brush of her body had heated every inch of me. My cock harder than it’d ever been, desperate for a different kind of taste from the one she’d been offering. Fuck. How badly had I wanted to get lost in the slick heat of her tight body?
Every perfect curve seduction.
Every defined inch sin.
But it was the way she’d looked at Frankie when we’d rushed through the emergency room doors that had tipped me to uneven ground.
The floor crumbling from under me.
Logic shot. My feet were moving without my brain ever giving me time to calculate the consequences.
But right then?
I didn’t fucking care.
; Didn’t care what this would cost.
I stalked down the hall and through the living room.
The air sparked with every determined step.
She was already down the porch steps by the time I caught her by the wrist, and she gasped one of those throaty, sexy sounds that shot straight to my dick.
Fuck it all, if that simple contact point didn’t ignite to an all-out boil. Heat streaked through my veins, eclipsing everything. Reason and sanity and judgment.
I whirled her around. In a second flat, I had her back pressed against the front of my truck where no one could see us. My fingers tangled in that mess of unruly hair, our faces a breadth apart. My heart stuttered when those innocent eyes latched on to mine, so wide and confused when she realized I had her pinned.
Just like me.
I crushed my mouth to hers, because I had no fuckin’ time for hesitation. I just needed to feel something different from the constant turmoil that raged inside. For just a moment, touch on something that felt like hope.
Even when I knew it was so fucking wrong.
On a sigh, she opened for me. Her lips so damned soft when they began to move with mine.
Sweetly.
Tentatively.
I coaxed and prodded, needing more. My lips tugged and nipped at the soft plumpness, my mouth growing hungrier with each desperate pass. Begging for the kind of reprieve I was terrified only she could give.
She gave. Her breaths turned ragged when I swept my tongue into the well of her mouth for a taste.
God. I was right.
So damned sweet.
I deepened the kiss. Taking more with each lick of my tongue. Or maybe it was Rynna who was stealing bits of me with each nip and tug of those full, full lips.
Lust.
It consumed me.
Blinding.
Constricting my cells and straining my muscles.
I pressed every rigid, hard line of my body into all her soft curves. Overwhelmed. Aching in a way I hadn’t in years. Like maybe if I got close enough things might not hurt so bad.
Tempt Me: A First Class Romance Collection Page 41