Page 110 of Tender Heart
Up here, she glows. The sun lights up her dark hair, giving it a golden halo as deep browns study my face. The Fresnel’s got nothing on my Evie.
My heart explodes inside my rib cage, its ragged pieces splattered against the cavity.
God, I need her so bad the ache could kill me.
I am well aware it absolutely will, the day she leaves.
Evie isn’t like Ava. This isn’t like last time. Last time was friends, then lust, to lovers.
Not this.
This is soul-achingly, heartbreakingly deep. When her hands cup my jaw and heat swells in my chest, my lungs burn.
“Breathe, Cal. Please.”
I choke through a raw sound. “Fuck, Evie.”
“Why did you make me make thatstupidpromise?”
“You’ll figure it out one day, baby girl.”
“What if I break it?” The words are so gentle.
“Don’t, please? That would . . .”
Make me a whole man again. Make me the happiest man alive.
Me.
Me.
Me.
Fucking hell.
I’m not that man anymore. Haven’t been for years.
“Just don’t,” I repeat.
“Okay,” she says, scrunching her face. “But.” She studies my eyes, like there is something she needs to know that I’m not saying. “Give me one last time. P-pl-lease?” The word breaks, and the tears welling in her eyes with the last phrase spill over. She forces a smile, her hands on my face trembling.
I stand, shoulders heaving. Heart breaking. I grab her face and smash my mouth to hers, and I’m intoxicated within less than a second of touching her. She whimpers with the groan I loose into her mouth, as if this is hurting her as much as it is me. I manhandle her to my hips. Spinning around, I plant her on the edge of the lamp’s platform.
Fine hands tug at my work shirt, the buttons pop, and my T-shirt underneath is all I have on a heartbeat later. I pull at her clothes, hauling the cotton dress down at the sweetheart neckline until one full, perfect-as-fuck breast spills over.
No bra.
Maybe . . .
I run a hand up her thigh and when I don’t find material, I can’t restrain the growl ripping past my lips. “Fucking hell, baby girl.”
“The last pair are in shreds. I can’t lose any more.” The prettiest smile blooms over her face.
“Christ, Evie. You don’t make this easy for me.”
She spreads her legs. “Easy is the idea, Cal.”
My forehead hits hers as I struggle to catch my next breath. I slip two fingers inside her. She’s absolutely soaked and so damn tight.
