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I’ve always been a determined guy. I liked to think I get that from my father, but if I really considered it, I had to admit it was more a combination of Mom and Dad.

Coming from a family of well-educated control freaks—aka doctors—it’s a thing to be expected.

Dad’s a surgeon and Mom’s a pediatrician.

They knew what they wanted young, climbed the ladder of their careers, married—and then they fucked up.

When I say my parents fucked up, I’m saying that in all of their plotted perfection, I was never supposed to happen.

An out of control New Years party had me invading their lives nine months later.

Mom didn’t take maternity leave; the Davis Doctors were serious about their work, so I was raised by a nanny.

My story, though, isn’t a jacked-up pity party.

I was a happy enough kid. Mom and Dad indulged me with affection whenever they were around, although that wasn’t much.

They ensured I always had what I needed, and, for the most part, what I wanted.

I had a good childhood, and Mom and Dad were good parents who made the best out of an unplanned pregnancy.

They made the best of their crap roll of the dice, but they made damn sure they never rolled that hand again.

If you don’t get me, I’ll spell it out. I’m an only child.

Mom and Dad were around if I ever really needed anything. Money was never short. I filled my time with sports teams, studying, and girls. It wasn’t until last year when I decided to travel to Europe, against my parent’s wishes, that things started to change.

Like I said, I’m an only child. I had my teams, but I never really belonged to a team. I never looked at my family like we were a pack, never to be divided. I never had that one bud that I knew I could count on. I always just had me.

But then I decided travel was a must, and I met Kaiden. He became that buddy I thought I’d never have. Something about the guy just clicked with me. And something about me clicked for him. He’s the brother I never had and always wanted. He’s my best man.

Still, Kaiden is a new addition to the solo path I’ve always walked. And being that I lived life with people who were determined to succeed in a workforce that was both stressful and intimidating, I adopted a bit of that determination for myself.

So when I say I’m a guy who tends to get what he wants, I’m not lying. I’m not boasting, either. I worked for what I wanted and I worked hard.

The thing is, I’ve never wanted a woman. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve wanted to bang a few and I’ve done that. But I’ve never actually wanted all of a woman.

I wanted Amara Bloom, though. I’ve wanted her since I first met her and she cracked an unexpected insult at my junk. I’ve wanted her since she rejected me over and over again. I’ve wanted her since I learned the girl didn’t smile. Ever.

I was determined to have her. And I was determined not only to make her smile, but to make her laugh.

I couldn’t have concocted a better plan if I’d been the one plotting. When my buddy moved out of my place and in with his girlfriend, who also happened to be Amara’s roommate, Amara needed a place. Happenstance had it that I had a room available.

She moved in.

She’s lived with me for a month and it’s been a month of witty comments from me and the usual distance from Amara. I intended to step up my game with a few tricks I had up my sleeve. Because no matter what, I was going to make the girl mine.

That’s why I was awake at the ball-busting hour of seven in the damn morning on a Saturday. I wanted to catch her before she ran off to the gym with her friend Madison, and then to work at the Library.

I’d never been a morning person, so when Amara strode into the kitchen in a little purple housecoat that had my throat feeling tight and my fingers feeling twitchy to reach out to her, I wasn’t surprised to see her startle.

Her hand connected with her chest and her big blue eyes widened, “Crap, Beck,” she inhaled. “You scared me.”

I grinned. Her eyes narrowed and I braved a single step toward her. “Morning, peanut.”

“Argh,” she rubbed her temples. “It’s way too early for your antics.”

“I made coffee.”

“Good.” I watched her toned legs carry her to the pot. Amara had great legs . “Because I don’t think you’d survive me this morning if you hadn’t.”

I’d survive. This woman could do pretty much anything to me and I’d survive. So long as in the end she was mine.

“Feeling a little touchy?” I teased, moving quickly to stand behind her.

Her back stiffened. Correction—her whole body froze. My hot little peanut turned to ice in an instant. Breaths raced in and out.

In and out.

In and out.

Each breath came faster than the one before. Faster and harder.

“Beck . . .”

I interrupted to tease again, hoping I could turn the ice into flame. Accustomed to being the guy women melted for, I dropped my voice low, letting it rumble the way I knew most women liked. The way I knew made women melt.

Then I teased, “No need to feel touchy, babe. You got an itch, I’ll scratch it. You want happy endorphins, no need to go to the gym.” Spreading my arms wide, I smirked. “I got you covered from the comfort of your own home.”

Shit! Did I sound like an advertisement gone bad? Something about the woman had me teetering on the edge of my game. If I weren’t careful, I’d lose it.

“Beckett,” she gasped my name, sounding off. Amara had bite. Always.

Except now.

She was a scrappy little kitten that had most men cowering. Not me, though. She excited me.

“What’s up, peanut?”

“Get away from me.” The scrap I expected to back the bite of her words wasn’t there. Instead, there was fear.

What in the fuck?

“Amara?”

“I said—get away from me.” She said again, and this time I could have sworn the rattle wasn’t typical Amara annoyance, but panic. “Now!”

“All right,” I said, moving away in surrender. But I didn’t stop watching her.

My eyes clocked her every movement. I took note of the way her shoulders fell and her hands gripped the granite lip of the counter. Her arms trembled and she looked so impossibly unlike the strong scrappy woman I’d come to know this last month.

She looked fragile.

Afraid.

Beaten.

Adrenaline spiked. My fingers curled into my palms as I realized something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

And I wanted to know what the fuck that was.

My lips parted to ask when she turned to look at me with apology in her eyes. But then the apology bowed to a new bout of barely restrained terror as she took in the fisted hands at my sides.

“Beckett,” she whispered my name and I forced my hands to uncurl, hating the relief I saw light her eyes, and hating more that I didn’t understand what was wrong with her. I didn’t understand what I’d done to tip her over the edge.

Hell, I didn’t even understand what the edge was.

“What was that, Amara?” I asked low, watching as she hooked her finger through the handle of her mug. “You’re acting like you’re afraid of me.”

“I’m not afraid of you.” She said; her bite was back.

“I don’t believe you.”

Her eyes flashed and she lifted her chin. “I don’t give a shit what you believe.”

There’s my girl and her pretty little claws.

“Are you telling me if I came close, you’d be okay with it?” I challenged, feeling a little braver now that my kitten was back.

“No.” She said firmly. “I like my space.”

“You like your space?” I reiterated.

“You know I do.” I watched, studying her as she lifted her mug. The ceramic trembled—a visible extension of her unsteady nerves. “I’m meeting Maddy at the gym before work so I’m gonna have to ditch.”

“Right.”

She blinked, looking unsure. I thought maybe she was going to explain before she shook her head and strode past me into the hall.

I heard the sound of her bedroom door latch closed and I decided right then and there that I was getting down to the truth of whatever it was Amara was hiding.

I was getting to the bottom of it, and I was going to help her through whatever it was that I found and force her to face it when that time came.

And I vowed right there in my kitchen at seven in the fucking morning on a Saturday, that I was going to be there for her through it all. When in the end she laughed, it would all be worth it.

When in the end she was mine, I’d have succeeded.