“I’m sorry, Tana, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said. She shook her head, wanting to deny that was what he did, but there was no hiding her reaction. She was suddenly hyper-aware that her girls were watching the entire encounter with renewed interest. She always tried to keep her girls out of everything that happened between her and Matt, but that wasn’t always easy to do. Neither of them had any clue that their father beat her or that he was the reason that they all left to start a new life in Harvest Ridge.
“Girls, please go in and wash up for class.” Tana took the puppy from Sarah and handed him to Torren, not missing the pity in his eyes when he looked at her. She shot him a pleading look as if asking him not to cause a scene in front of her girls. She wasn’t necessarily trying to shelter them from the truth, but they were so young, she just wanted them to have as normal a childhood as possible. The girls gave little protest, kissed Tucker goodbye, and headed into the house. Torren and Tana watchedin silence as they disappeared into the house. When the front door slammed behind Beth, Torren cleared his throat.
“You still haven’t said one word to me, Tana,” he said. Tana turned to face him again, not quite able to look him in the eyes.
“Did you have a good trip?” she asked. Tana wanted to kick herself for asking such a stupid question. Torren gifted her with another one of his brilliant smiles, making her insides feel like mush.
“Sure. If you count the primary guest having a heart attack as a good time, it was awesome.” Torren stroked Tucker’s head as the puppy settled down in his arms. Tana didn’t know what else to say since small talk wasn’t her forte.
“Well, have a good night.” Tana nodded her head and turned to go into her house. She needed to round up the girls and get them into her minivan; otherwise, she might as well just give up on her hope of getting them to any part of their class.
“He hurt you, didn’t he? The girls’ father—he hurt you?” Tana stopped and turned to face Torren again, looking down at the ground since it was easier than facing him square on. “I’m so sorry, Tana. I would never hurt you, but I shouldn’t have grabbed your arm like that.” She nodded, still not able to find her voice. “Tana, please look at me,” Torren begged. He took a few steps towards her, almost as if approaching a feral animal. She shook her head, not wanting to look him in the eyes and find more pity. “Tana, please.” His voice cracked, and her eyes darted up to meet his, but instead of finding pity, she found something more—something she hadn’t seen in a long time. Tana sighed, “I need to get my girls to dance class. They’re going to be late as it is.” Torren reached out to stop her but decided against it, dropping his hand back to his side.
He nodded. “I get it—not something you want to talk about. Being new in town, I’m assuming that you don’t know many people.” Tana shook her head. She hadn’t met anyone in town,just a few moms at the girls’ preschool and dance class. They said hello to her when she showed up and waved goodbye when she left; she didn’t fit into the already tight-knit group of women. She really couldn’t consider her boss or one coworker at the library her friends. She wasn’t in town long enough to form those types of relationships with others. Besides, she tried to keep to herself, lying low in case her ex-husband tried looking for them. She didn’t want any trouble.
“No, I haven’t met anyone yet. Well, besides you.” Tana fidgeted with her sweater, wanting to find a quick escape. The whole conversation made her uncomfortable, and the intense way Torren watched her made her want to run and hide.
“Well, I’m having a few friends over tomorrow night for a small cookout. I’d love for you to come,” Torren all but mumbled.
Tana stifled her giggle. “I can’t, but thank you for the invitation. I have the girls, and I haven’t had time to find a sitter here yet.”
“Oh well, that’s not a problem. All my friends have kids or are about to have kids. Bring the girls—they will love playing with all the babies.” Tucker yapped, drawing both of their attention. “Right, and Tucker will be there. Your girls already love him, so come and bring them along.” Tana wanted to say no, not wanting to put herself out there for so many reasons, the first being that she found Torren scorching hot, and she was afraid of being burned. But the way he watched her, hopefully waiting for her answer, she couldn’t say no.
“Fine, we will be there. What time?” she asked, knowing that she was taking a chance by accepting his invitation.
“Six,” he breathed.
“I’ll bring some homemade potato salad,” she offered. Torren’s eyes lit up at the mention of potato salad, and she wanted to laugh again.
“That sounds great, I love potato salad.” Tana nodded and smiled, turning away from him to head into her house. She heard his deep laugh and smiled to herself, not turning back to see what he found funny. She had a feeling it had to do with her quirky behavior.
“Bye, Tana, and thanks for taking care of Tuck.” She waved back over her shoulder, not trusting herself to chance another look back at him. She needed to keep her eyes on the road in front of her, as her mother used to say. Straying off course because of one good-looking man wasn’t an option, not when it meant putting her or her girls into possible danger. She didn’t need any more trouble in her life, and Torren Harrison looked like he could be a whole lot of trouble.
CHAPTER TWO
Torren had to go to work for a few hours the next day. He decided not to press his luck with his sexy neighbor, taking Tucker with him to the store instead. He met with potential clients and manned the store while Tag and Piper went to her doctor’s appointment. He was excited to be an uncle, and with all the babies that his friends were having, he felt like he was now heading up a group with no other members. Every one of his friends found someone, got married, and was having kids. Sunny and Aaron had little Sadie, and now Sawyer and Lorna had a new baby boy named Henry. Tag and Piper were holding off on finding out their baby’s sex, although he had a feeling that had more to do with his little niece or nephew being stubborn even before making an appearance in the world. Torren was beginning to feel left out, like they all joined a secret club, and he couldn’t figure out the handshake to get in. Of course, he knew that it was hard for his friends and family to take him seriously, given his reputation. Still, they gave him no credit for going the past four months without one single woman in his bed. A little credit or acknowledgment would be nice.
At five, he closed the store and ran to the grocery store to pick up some burgers and brats for the grill. He wasn’t sure what everyone would want, but he knew that you couldn’t go wrong with those two staples for a cookout. He didn’t miss the way the checkout girl checked him out, but she would be just another roll in the hay, and that wasn’t what he was looking for. Still, he couldn’t help but flirt, throwing her a wink and smile. He knew how to work his assets and charms—that’s how he ended up with the nickname of the town’s man-whore.
Having Tucker as his wingman didn’t hurt. He barely made it through an aisle without being stopped by an overly friendly woman or a kid wanting to play with Tuck. Torren didn’t need a wingman to help him land a woman in his bed for the night. He wanted what Tag had with Piper; he just wasn’t sure how to go about finding that. When he set out to make some changes after the New Year, he purchased his little house and started tearing it apart. He wanted to make the house his own, and he loved being able to use his hands and hard work to make his dream of owning a home come true. Now that he was finished with his remodel, he was ready to take on his next challenge. The problem was, he didn’t know what that challenge was. He decided just to sit back and wait to see where life took him, but that would require patience that Torren didn’t have. Meeting Tana stirred strange feelings that he didn’t know existed in him. Sure, she was hot as hell, especially when she went into mom mode. She also had that whole sexy librarian vibe working for her, but there was something more about the beautiful Tana—something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Hell, he’d like to put his fingers, hands, and mouth on her. She was the first woman that he responded to in months. Thoughts of Tana under his body, shouting out his name, breathy, and moaning kept him hard as a rock most of the night. He tried to remember rule number one—no single moms—but she was making thatdamn near impossible. He worried that if he pursued her like his unruly dick wanted him to, he’d have to tread carefully. Not only did he have to consider her twin daughters’ feelings, but he was pretty sure that her ex-husband did a number on Tana. The thought of any man laying even a finger on her made him half crazy. Seeing the way that she reacted to him grabbing her arm yesterday made every protective instinct in him come screaming to life.
By the time he finally got back to his house, Tana and her girls were standing on his front porch. He checked the time and cursed, noting that it was after six. The girls ran to his truck, helped Tucker out, and played with him in the front grass. They made noises of disgust, and he smiled, knowing that Tuck went to the bathroom, causing a chorus of “yuck” and “gross" from both girls. He looked over to find Tana laughing at the whole scene and couldn’t help but stare at her. She took his breath away.
“Why don’t you girls bring him around back? I have a fenced-in yard, and you all can play back there.” Torren unlocked his front door and held it open for the three of them. Sarah snuggled Tucker into her arms, and the puppy’s tail didn’t stop wagging.
“I can help you get the food ready if you’d like,” Tana almost whispered. He nodded and led the way to his kitchen. Torren got the girls settled out back and returned to find Tana standing at the kitchen island, pulling his groceries from the bags. Dammit, she looked so right standing in his space; she made his heart stutter.
“You seem to have all your bases covered here.” She pulled out a bag of salad and laid it on the quartz countertop.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t sure what everyone would want to eat, so I just grabbed a little bit of everything,” Torren said.
“What can I do to help? Just put me to work.” Torren knew it was silly, but her offering to “help” him had him feeling a littlehot. The thought of laying her across the cold, stone countertop flashed through his mind, causing his cock to roar to life. He crossed his kitchen and took the uncooked hamburgers from Tana, and she gasped. He knew that he was going to have to tread lightly in order not to spook her, but all he could think about was kissing her. Torren needed to know if she tasted as good as she looked.
“Tana, I want to touch you, but only if you tell me that it’s okay.” He waited for her out for what felt like an eternity. Finally, she looked up at him, bit her lip, and nodded.
“No, honey, I need the words. Tell me that I can touch you,” he growled. She hesitated for just another minute, and he thought she was going to change her mind.
“Yes, Torren. I want you to touch me,” Tana whispered. He moaned and gently pulled her petite body into his own, towering over her. This time, he didn’t see fear in her eyes, only desire, and it turned him inside out with his own need. Tana moaned and leaned into his hold, giving him all the invitation he needed.
