Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
A low, sexy murmur reached his ears. He followed the sound into the living room, glancing at the couch where Hadley had fallen asleep. She lay with her head on a throw pillow, her soft brown hair covering her cheek. Damn, she was just as beautiful now. More so, with the curves and fullness of a woman and not that of a teenage girl.
He knew he could fall for her again, so easily.
He shook off the thought, took a step toward his bedroom and stopped. He couldn’t leave her sleeping like this. She’d wake up with a stiff neck.
He strode to the sofa, bent and scooped her into his arms. As he lifted and adjusted her body against him, her lashes fluttered open.
“Zach?” she murmured.
“Shh. I’m just taking you to bed. You fell asleep in the living room.”
“I waited up for you,” she said in a husky, sleep-filled voice as she wrapped one arm around his neck. “Want to talk.”
He breathed in deep, taking in her warm, floral scent and even if it was his imagination, her fragrance smelled familiar. His cock hardened at that, not to mention the feel of her in his arms.
“In the morning,” he promised. It was time.
He started for the bedrooms, walking through the house and toeing open her door. He placed her on the bed, not realizing her arm remained hooked around his neck and he found them face to face. Nose to nose. Her lips were a breath away. His heart beat rapidly in his chest and he couldn’t not give in.
Closing the distance, he brushed her lips with his before pulling out of her hold. “Night, Hads. Get some sleep.”
She rolled over and was out cold before he left the room, not that he blamed her. She’d had a traumatic day and there was more to come. Starting tomorrow.
Chapter Six
Hadley stood in Zach’s kitchen. The large window by the sink overlooked the pale sand leading to the back of the house and the beach beyond. The view was gorgeous, as was the decor, and as always with the Dares, way out of her league and beyond her comprehension. She only had to look at her used car and the house she lived in back home to know that. But Zach, his siblings and parents, never made her feel less than, something that in her eyes, made this family unique.
She picked up her coffee cup and blew on the brew before taking a sip. “Mmm.” She needed the caffeine to face the day.
She’d waited up as long as she could last night, hoping she’d catch Zach in a better mood and they could begin to hash things out. She couldn’t see living in his house with all the tension from the past between them.
Instead, she’d passed out cold, only to come awake in his arms. Her eyelids had been too heavy to stay open but she remembered him kissing her on the lips before she fell asleep again. She didn’t think it had been a dream.
“I smell coffee.” He entered the kitchen, his chest bare, looking sexy in a pair of gray sweats sitting low on his hips.
Her gaze fell to the muscles he’d lacked as a lanky teen. As she’d thought yesterday, he was built, his chest a buff feast, his pecs defined, a six pack below, and a trail of hair leading… downward to his cock, the outline visible through the soft material.
She glanced up, trying to pretend she hadn’t been staring. “Can I get you a cup?” Her voice sounded scratchy to her ears.
“I got it.” He walked over and popped in a K-cup. While the single brew machine worked its magic, he stood too close, his freshly showered, masculine scent a reminder that he had carried her to bed last night.
She waited for him to finish and sit down at the granite top kitchen table. Joining him, she stared until he lifted his gaze from his mug. “We need to talk.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Fine. I need to talk and I’d appreciate it if you’d listen. It’s not enough for me to take advantage of your generosity by giving Dani and me a place to hide out. I want to tell you what happened all those years ago. Even if you don’t want to hear it.”
“I need to hear it.” He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hand. “I just don’t want to.” He picked up the mug, took a long sip, placed the drink on the table then leaned against the back of his chair. Arms folded across his chest, his stony gaze met hers. “Let’s hear it.”
She knew he wouldn’t make it easy on her. Despite having been sixteen and life being out of her control, she understood.
Unable to sit still, she rose to her feet and began pacing the kitchen. “Do you remember me telling you about coming home and seeing creepy men meeting with my dad?”