Page 29

I couldn’t help but feel guilty while heading to Skylar and her sister’s house for dinner.
Rhett sat in a hospital room with his father, and I couldn’t begin to imagine the lack of emotion between the two men at a time when grief ought to be allowed to flow freely. Accepted and shared, same as my family had done when Archer had passed. We’d been there to hold one another and offer comfort.
Rhett had no one outside of me, and while I appreciated his looking out for my mental health, he had to know I would face anxiety and nausea for him every day for the rest of my life if that was what he needed.
But he stubbornly insisted I stay put since my presence wouldn’t change the outcome of his mother’s demise.
Even though excitement raced my blood at the thought of meeting Skylar, I hurt for him, for his hardened exterior, the riotous mess he must be inside, and the fact he didn’t know how or want to outwardly release his feelings.
He didn’t have any type of relationship with his mother, but for me, losing my mom would equate cutting off one of my hands or feet.
I wanted that same kind of bond for my own children, healing light for both Rhett and my souls.
Skylar would be the one. I knew it deep inside my marrow. Even having only seen her profile picture and hearing her voice for a few hours over the phone the day before, something beyond the natural assured my soul of that truth.
The three of us were meant to be.
Siri told me to turn left into a residential neighborhood, and I quickly scanned over the houses sitting proudly beneath the bright sun.
Skylar had told me Nora worked for NASA and had no student loans to speak of, so the place she’d chosen to purchase a home made sense. Upper-class but not ostentatious like our neighbors down south near Hollywood’s hills.
Heart in my throat, I pulled up beside her sister’s house for our early dinner. My palms sweated. Pulse raced. Both hands shook as I parked and turned off the engine.
The front door swung inward as though yanked by the Hulk—but a flow of red hair hung over pale shoulders instead of bulky green. Skylar stood tall. Thin. Ethereal.
Gorgeous.
My breath caught at her smile, and that sense of rightness I’d hoped for slammed into place.
I’d dealt with instant lust a time or two but never to the point where my fingers ached to touch, my ears to hear her voice, my eyes to soak in her beauty.
I sat and stared, enraptured, until her smile wobbled and shoulders slouched slightly. The edge of her thumbnail slid between her teeth…she must have thought my first eyeful of her had caused me disappointment—
“Oh no, no, no…” I hopped from the car at the signs of insecurity, slammed the door, and scurried up the walkway, my pulse racing along with my feet.
Her luminous green eyes widened as I neared, her hand dropped to her side.
“Hi,” I burst out, jerking to a stop a few feet away from where she stood on the stoop—a solid three feet above me.
Her smile returned, radiant and addictive. What I wouldn’t do to see that every morning upon opening my eyes, Rhett’s sleepy gorgeousness snuggled up against her other side. “Hi back.”
The same words from our phone conversation, the same chipper voice.
We both laughed, and I held out my arms. “I’m a hugger, so if that’s not your thing—”
She leapt. Literally threw herself off the porch and landed against my chest before I could finish my sentence, causing me to stumble back two steps.
Rhett’s favorite scent of coconuts filled my lungs. Soft breasts pressed against my chest. Silken hair caressed over my face. Slender hands grasped at my back.
There was no better word for Skylar Larsen than perfection.
My nervousness didn’t stop my dick from thickening, and I quickly stepped away before my arousal made itself known. “Let me see you,” I whispered, grabbing hold of both of her hands.
Our fingers laced as though they knew they belonged together, sending a staggering rush of need through me.
Pink flushed her cheeks beneath a spattering of freckles, and her eyes danced with the sparkle of a million emeralds beneath the sun as she looked me over. Auburn eyebrows matched the color of her cascading hair brushing the swells of her breasts. She wore a simple summer dress that fell to her knees, billowy like a flower child.
She went barefoot, and the sight of her pretty pink toes, clear of polish, caused butterflies to burst through my stomach.