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384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 9, 2014

‘She wondered if he realized how much those eyes gave him away when he wasn’t careful. She wondered if anyone ever tried to look deeper.
She wondered if he wanted anyone to.’

‘Max stepped closer and she leaned slightly into him. Something was obviously wrong but he found a small bit of satisfaction that his presence seemed to comfort her. And that should weird him out. Because he didn’t do this “damsel in distress” thing. He wasn’t a white knight. He’d learned that the hard way. But something about Lea made him want to be.’
“Anything?”
She didn’t like this look in his eye. “Wait-”
“Go out with me,” he blurted.
She snapped her jaw shut, then licked her lips. “What?”
His gaze darted back and forth between hers. He was nervous. “Lea Travers, will you go on a date with me?”
“I-”
“You said anything-”
“Okay, but I might have some caveats.”
His dark eyebrows dipped. “I don’t know what caveats are but they sound fancy.”

‘“No, I’m not going to ask how I’ll know.”
She smiled. “Confident?”
He huffed out a breath and said softly. “Not at all.”
She sucked in a breath. “You still want a date with me?”
His chest hitched. “If a date with you means I get to look into your eyes when you smile and smell your hair when I’m close and feel those fingers on my skin when you laugh, then yes, doll. Yes, I want a date with you.”
It was too much and not enough all at the same time. Because he was all around her, he was her – supplying her legs and providing her heat and giving her breath because she inhaled him every time he exhaled.’
“We’re talking about me, not you.”
“Right.” He nodded. “But that’s your logic. That I’m weak because I trust. You’re strong because you don’t trust.”
Well then her logic was flawed. Because nothing was stronger than the sight of Max grabbing the headboard, closing his eyes, and trusting her with his naked body and naked heart. “I don’t think you’re weak.”
His exhaled with relief and stepped closer, brushing his fingers over her bangs, eyes watching the hair fall back into place. Then he met her gaze. “I don’t think you’re weak either. I know you have it in you to trust. Is it me? You can’t trust me?”
Everything in her heart screamed she could but her head didn’t want to admit it. “It’s not you,” she whispered. “I don’t see myself as broken or hurt or weak. And I’ve never trust another person, other than my family, to feel the same way about me. To see me as an equal and not a fragile doll.”
He laughed softly, cupping the back of her head, thumb rubbing the shell of her ear. “I call you doll because you look like one. But you sure as hell aren’t broken.”


