Page 15 of Thornhill Road

“Yes, you have made that abundantly clear. But I’m stubborn enough—or maybe stupid enough—to think maybe, just maybe, I could change your mind about going inside of that house.” I nodded toward the aforementioned house and continued, “In the event that I do, I can’t go out with you, as that would be unethical on my part.”

“Tess, I’m not goin’ into that house. How about we just skip to the good part and forget the old man?”

My name on his lips made my heart skip a beat.

My god, I should have never gone looking for Sully Thomas.

I squeezed my hands around the straps of my purse even tighter, unable to find my words.

“Come on. Go out with me. Bet we’d have a good time.”

A laugh forced its way out of my throat, and I was quick to press my lips together, cutting it short. I then hummed in embarrassment and forced a smile.

I needed to get away from him.

I was losing my grip.

“I really should be getting inside. If you don’t want to join me, I’ll have to say goodnight.”

I paused a beat, not ready to leave but certain I should.

When he didn’t say a word to stop me, I nodded and started for the house.

I took two whole steps before he said, “Maybe I’ll think about going inside if you let me take you out.”

I stopped and looked his way. “You’ll go inside if I go out with you?”

This was an interesting if not cunning proposal. If I wasn’t so freaking attracted to him, I wouldn’t have considered it for even a second—but I’d gone into that bar with one objective, and Mustang had shot me down before I could even get the ask out ofmy mouth. Now that he was turning the tables on me, it felt silly not to explore the option.

“Said I’llthinkabout it, which is a hell of a lot more than I’m doin’ now,” he clarified.

My shoulders slumped a little in disappointment.

“That’s not exactly a guarantee, Mustang.”

No sooner had the words come out of my mouth than he was up off his bike. He got close. Real close. So close I knew he smelled like leather and fresh air. So close I could touch him. So close he could touch me—and I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t want him to.

I held my breath as I looked up at him, willing myself to remember he was out of bounds. Very, very, veryfarout of bounds.

But then he spoke, and my willpower was suddenly on empty.

“I don’t know what you think you know, but that son-of-a-bitch deserves nothin’ from me. Not even a stray thought about me visiting him on his deathbed. And what you should take from that is you took one step into my bar in those pink scrubs, I took one look at you, and what I saw was worth a second look—so fuckin’ worth it, I dragged my ass out here, down a street I haven’t been on in years, just to get that look. And now that I’ve had it, I know I want a third, so much I’m willing to spare a thought to that bastard who led you to believe he still had a son all so I could guarantee that third look. Only next time, maybe we won’t talk about that dying fucker. Hell, maybe next time we won’t talk at all.

“So, what’s it gonna be, Tess?”

It was an out-and-out miracle my knees still worked.

He’d said a lot.

There was a decent amount in there I didn’t fully understand. It was like he’d thrown a bunch of puzzle pieces at our feet,and the only clues I had as to the picture they might make were locked in the depths of those hazel-blue eyes.

Eyes that wanted a third look.

A third lookat me.

That feeling I chased every time a bad boy glanced my way with interest? It was there. It was there, and it was huge, and I hadn’t even chased it. Mustang just gave it to me. Served it to me on a silver platter.

He wanted a third look.

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