Page 33 of Full Throttle

I grabbed my keys and threw open my door, stopping in shock.

Standing on my doorstep, her hand raised as if to knock, stood Cherry Gallagher.

“Cherry?” I said, dumbfounded.

“Is this a bad time?” she asked, clearly nervous.

I pulled her to my chest, kissing her like I was a starving man and she was an all-you-can-eat Vegas buffet. She flung her arms around my neck, kissing me back.

I dragged her inside, holding her tight.

“This is the best surprise in the history of surprises,” I murmured. The fact that she’d come to me was incredible. Not a call, not a text.

She was here.

She smiled at me, cupping my face. “Yeah?”

I kissed her again. “Yeah.”

I tugged her to the sofa, sitting beside her. “Did you come to see Hannah too?”

“No. Just you. I-I wanted to see you.”

I bent and brushed my mouth over hers. “Thanks, Cherry G. That means more than I can say.”

She grasped my hand, and I felt a tremor go through her.

“Hey, what’s the matter?”

“I have something to say. If you’re angry, I understand. If you want nothing to do with it, I won’t be upset. But I had to come and ask.”

“Baby, I doubt you could make me angry. Just tell me.”

She drew in a deep breath. “I was thinking about you this morning.”

Teasingly, I dropped a kiss to her knuckles. “I like the sound of that.”

She huffed. “Listen to me, Mr. Salvatore.”

I chuckled. “Okay, I’ll behave.”

“I was working on a client, and she noticed I was distracted. Now, she is more than a client, she’s a friend. I should say that.”

“Okay.”

“We had coffee, and I told her about you.”

“What about me?”

“That we were, ah, seeing each other.” She took another deep breath. “And about Josh.”

“Why would you bring him up?”

“Because her husband—um, I cut his hair too on occasion. He…he’s a big shot lawyer. He specializes in family law. Advocating for the father whenever he can.”

I blinked.

“And I thought maybe you could talk to him. Tell him your story. He might be able to help. Fiona thought so.”