Page 24 of Trusting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 2)

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Grace wincedas a loud crack sounded. Her eyes opened and she lifted her head up.

“Careful.” A deep voice vibrated through her, and she felt a warm hand on her head.

It was only then that she became aware of her surroundings. When she’d lifted her head, she’d almost knocked it on the roof. She was lying on top of a very hot, nearly naked man in the back of her SUV with all of her belongings stacked up beside them.

Her eyes immediately dropped down and what she saw knocked the wind right out of her. If she’d thought Easton Bishop had been sexy when he’d appeared at her window, that was nothing compared to what she saw now.

His five o’clock shadow had turned into a midnight scruff and his bed head looked like it had been styled for a GQ shot.

She could get used to this view.

The sound that had initially woken her up sounded again and her eyes shot to the front of the vehicle. She peeked around the side of her suitcase and recognized the man standing outside the passenger side vehicle cupping his hand over the window as her sister Ava’s new fiancé Asher. She’d yet to meet him face-to-face but she’d spoken to him over FaceTime and, of course, had done an in-depth background check on him, which he’d passed with flying colors.

He was a detective with the Hope Falls Police Department, so she figured he was here in a professional capacity considering none of her sisters knew that she was coming to Hope Falls.

“Hello!” He knocked again. “Grace!”

“Grace,” Easton repeated, probably surprised that the cop knew her.

“Be right out,” she shouted back. The space was crowded, and they were both nearly naked. She needed to get clothes on and go meet her soon-to-be-brother-in-law without flashing him.

Grace started to push off of Easton’s chest, but his large hand flattened her back down on her lower back. In a ninja-like move, he flipped her to the side.

A thrill raced through her and she felt the T-shirt she’d neatly stacked on the bag being pushed over her head. There was something so damn sexy about being manhandled, something she never allowed anyone to do. She lifted her arms to assist him as he dressed her as tingles swarmed through her like bees around a hive.

The next thing she knew Easton was pulling her jeans up her legs, she shimmied and tugged, and she heard him hiss as she felt something very hard pressing against her hip.

“I’ll go deal with this, while you deal with that,” she wiggled a little more against his hard-on loving that she could tease him.

His hand gripped her hip tightly. “You’re not going out there alone.”

His protectiveness caused her chest to expand. She wasn’t used to anyone taking care of her. That was what she did and had done from the time she was fourteen years old.

She shifted so she was lying on her belly and turned her head to look at him. “That’s Asher, my sister’s fiancé. Remember, I told you that she was engaged again. He’s a cop. I’ll be fine.”

From the look on his face, he wasn’t happy about it, but he did give her a quick nod and released his hand.

She shoved a few of the bags they’d put up to the side and climbed into the front seat. Her jacket was still where she’d left it when she’d taken it off the night before and she grabbed it. It was cold, but it was dry. She pushed her feet into her boots and pulled her beanie over her head.

When she opened the door, Asher took a step back. She closed it behind her smiled. “Hi Asher, nice to finally meet you in person.”

Confusion clouded his serious expression. “I ran your tags but wasn’t sure it was really you. What are you doing here? Are you okay?”

He’d barely gotten the questions out when she heard the door to her car open behind her.

She turned and saw Easton stepping out. His hair was disheveled but that was the only hint of the night they’d spent in the back of her SUV. His clothes were somehow all perfectly in place, and she didn’t even see a wrinkle.

“And you are?” Asher asked, looking at Grace with what she thought was a twinkle of amusement.

She opened her mouth to speak but Easton beat her to it.

He stepped forward. “Easton Bishop.”

“Bishop,” Asher repeated. “Are you related to—”

“Eli and Evan are my brothers and Deanna is my cousin.”

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