“Ready?” she asks and I nod.
“Yeah. Oh yeah, I’m ready.” She shoots me a look, but I ignore it. I simply walk toward her, placing my hand on the small of her back. I don’t miss the sharp gasp at my touch or the way she seems to move closer. She trembles, and all I want to do is calm and soothe her.Love her.
“I’m ready.” I grin and lead the way to the passenger’s side of my car.
Love her.
I open the door and slide my hand from her back to find her hand. I help her into the truck. Once she’s seated, I lean in and reach for the seatbelt. She breathes in deep, her blue eyes wide as they stare up at me almost innocently.
“We need to buckle you up, angel. Precious cargo,” I mutter. When our eyes connect, she’s staring at me like she doesn’t know what’s come over me. And part of me, the pessimistic, cynical part of me, doesn’t either. It doesn’t make sense.
We don’t make sense.
Eden is sunshine and goodness. A hairdresser by day and an angel by night, doing good all over her community. If there is a fundraiser going on in Moonlit Pines or someone is in need of something, my girl is there.
My girl.
My girl. The term shouldn’t feel so damn right, but it does.
She’s sunshine, whereas I’m the opposite. I’ve seen and been through shit. I moved to Moonlit Pines when I didn’t fit in back at home. I have a construction job that I enjoy, and because of it, I’m able to afford my place and be able to renovate the fixer upper at my pace.
But I’m not a ray of sunshine like her. I’m quiet and cynical.
Then there is my friendship with Reed. I look at her, and now, if we don’t make sense, I don’t care.
Screw my friendship with her older brother.
Fuck anyone who thinks they can keep me from Eden Woodman. Fuck anyone who thinks daddy isn’t going to claim his dream baby girl. Nothing will stop me. Not even Mother Nature herself.
4
EDEN
I’m smiling at my sisters-in-law, laughing along with whatever they’re saying. But honestly? I’m not paying attention. How can I, when I can feel Jacob’s honeyed gaze on me from where he is sipping on a bottle of water?
I glance over and feel my face warm up as our eyes meet from across the room. Good God, he’s beautiful. His hazel eyes make me feel warm and gooey inside. Like a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie when he has a hankering for something sweet. I’m not sure what happened, but something changed with Jacob when I grabbed my purse from the front seat of my car.
When I returned, something was different.
He was different.
Whatever it was didn’t change at Reed’s place either.
Jacob was attentive and sweet. Hovering over me, giving me attention like no other man ever has. It’s like something from my fantasies.A daydream come true.One I wasn’t sure I wanted to wake up from. If one of my brothers noticed the attention Jacob was giving me, they didn’t say a word. But then again, Reed, Eli, and Owen are usually laser-focused on their wives and kids now adays.
“So… what’s that about?” Camila, Reed’s wife, asks, and I blink, realizing all the attention is on me.
“What’s what?” I try to act as if I have no idea what she’s talking about. But a knowing smile covers her pretty face.
“Come on.” Tessa, Owen’s wife and the one I’ve known almost my entire life, bumps my shoulder. “You can talk to us.” She smiles at me, and I can feel Stella, Eli’s wife, and Camila staring at me.
“There is nothing to talk about.” I shrug, trying to bite away a smile.
“He’s a good guy,” Camila says quietly. “Reed says he trusts him with his life. He saved I don’t know how many guys on their squad when they served together.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that, too.” And I did. My brother, as grumpy and reclusive as he was before Camila moved in next door, started to open up a little since I came back home.
“How’s the toy drive going?” Stella asks. I smile at her. Silently grateful to her for changing the subject.
