Page 29 of Fractured Trust

He grimaced as pale green eyes flitted through his head. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Moment of insanity—several moments of insanity—aside, there was nothing between them. Couldn’t be anything between them.

Still, his memory drew him back.

It was their second date. As much as he’d tried to be a perfect gentleman on their first, dropping her off at her door with only a chaste, if lingering, kiss on her cheek, he’d desperately wanted to feel his lips on hers. So now, sitting in his pickup out the front of her house as her eyes glimmered palely in the moonlight, he eased closer. The delicate floral scent of her perfume, which made him think of a field of wildflowers, teased his nose. He could hear the hitch in her breath, see the rapid flutter of her pulse at the base of her throat, the slightest widening of her eyes, and knew she was as eager for this as he was.

He slid his hand into the softness of her hair and cupped the back of her head, then lowered his mouth to hers. The first touch of their lips sent a spark crackling over his body, like the shock of static electricity. Her mouth was soft and pliant under his, her skin warm under his other hand where it rested on her waist. With a groan, he stroked it upward, skimming the curve of her breast as he raised it and buried it in her hair as well, so he could tilt her head back and deepen the kiss. Her lips parted and his tongue slid into the sweetness of her mouth, her whimper sending fire racing through his body. When he finally pulled back, he watched her eyelids drift open, her pale green gaze hazy and unfocused as she gazed up at him, and the thought filtered through his mind that if only he could kiss her like that every day for the rest of his life, he’d be happy. Strangely enough, the idea didn’t freak him out. It felt… right.

Noah tipped his bottle back and finished the last of his beer in three long swallows, setting it down on the table with a clink, then looking up to catch Zac’s eyes on him. He was just opening his mouth to say something when his cell vibrated on the table where it sat next to the empty bottle.

He picked it up and checked the screen, then stood and paced a few feet away from the others so he could hear better.

“Hey, short stuff, what’s up?”

“Hi, Noah. Look, I need you to do me a favor,” Eden said.

“Yeah, sure. What is it?”

“Can you pick up Summer from the office and drop her home?”

“What? Why?”

Eden blew out a frustrated breath. “Her car’s in for servicing, and I was supposed to take her home, but I’m stuck in a meeting. I know you’re at the studio, so you’re not too far away.”

“Why can’t you call a car for her?”

There was a long, pregnant pause on the end of the phone before she spoke again, her words coming out in a rush. “Because I think she’s considering leaving, and I think it’s because of you, and I want you to talk to her and figure it out. Because I like her, and I enjoy working with her. So fix it. Please.”

Noah’s fingers tightened around his phone. Hearing that Summer was thinking about leaving sent ice trickling down his spine. If she left, he’d never get the chance to resolve this thing between them—this lingering ache he feared might never dissipate.

“Fine,” he barked.

After Eden babbled her thank you and rattled off Summer’s address, Noah hung up and slipped his phone into his back pocket, then leaned down and snatched his keys off the table.

“You off, man?” Devon asked.

“Yeah, Eden needs me to do her a favor.”

He caught Zac’s eyes again as he pivoted to leave. They were filled with cool amusement, like he somehow knew that Noah was rushing out of here to go pick up his ex-girlfriend. As if he knew exactly what had gone through his head when he’d heard she might be thinking of leaving. And he probably did the intuitive fucker.

Noah headed out the back door to the small, secured parking lot, and unlocked his Porsche 911 R. After sliding in, he waited for the gate to open and accelerated out onto the road. Winding his way through the L.A. traffic, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, wondering what the hell he was going to say to Summer when he saw her. Because the truth was that he didn’t want her to go. He hadn’t wanted her to go eleven years ago either, but she had, leaving him heartbroken in the process. And still… still, he wanted her to stay now.

He didn’t want to look too closely at what that meant.

Noah hadn’t figured out what he was going to do by the time he reached the office. Summer was already waiting outside. She was wearing a short blue dress with a hem that fluttered around her thighs in the light breeze. Before he could stop it, a mental image hit him: the slide of his hands under that fluttering hem, the smoothness of her skin, the drag of his fingertips against the silky fabric of her panties…

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel and his jaw clenched. Hard.

Summer’s face screwed up in confusion when he pulled up next to her since the car’s windows were tinted. He hit the switch to lower the passenger-side window and leaned over the center console. When she realized it was him, her face blanched. Not surprising considering how their last interaction had turned out.

She only hesitated for a second, though, before stepping forward, opening the door, and sliding in. Noah tried not to inhale too deeply as the scent of wildflowers filled the car.

He put the Porsche in gear, sensing her looking at him as he stared straight ahead, pulling out into traffic.

“What happened to Eden?” Her voice was soft, hesitant.

“She got tied up in a meeting.”

“And she asked you to pick me up?”

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