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I was ready to confront her, and instead I found her crying and upset.

I’m not quite sure what happened, but my heart seemed to tear out of my chest when I saw her like that.

I’m holding her, and as she speaks her ex’s name, a rage fills my veins.

That motherfucker hurt her, and now he will pay.

“What happened?” I ask.

She pushes me away and sighs as she attempts to dry her tears. “Nothing,” she mutters as she walks over to the counter and grabs a tissue.

I walk over and grab her wrist. “Don’t give me that shit.”

“Why do you care? Why are you even here?”

I blow out a breath. Honesty is the best policy, right? “I came to confront you about why you’re avoiding me. But it can wait. Tell me what happened with your douchebag ex.”

She glances away from me. “It’s not just him,” she admits. “It’s everything crashing into everything else all at once.”

“Like what?”

“It’s none of your business. You can go now. Find one of the girls in your little black book to make you feel better.” She’s pushing me away, and I think I’m starting to piece together why.

She just got out of a relationship with someone who sounds pretty damn toxic, and she looks at me and thinks I’m toxic, too. Maybe she’s assigned that label to all men in general.

And maybe I was that way in the past. Historically I’m not exempt from being a dick.

But things are different now. My life is different now.

And I have the sudden urge to prove that to her.

“I don’t want one of those girls,” I admit.

She looks surprised for a beat. “Because you want me?” She points to herself.

“Bingo.”

She shakes her head. “It’s flattering to hear that, Travis. Really. But I don’t think I’m the right woman for you. I just got out of something, and you’re tempting me with that whole package you’ve got going on, but you have a daughter to think about and I can’t get in the way of that. You just go do you. You just go live your life the way you always have, and leave me alone. We had our night, and it’s done now, okay?”

I hate her words. I hate that she’s pushing me away without giving this a chance. “Is that why you didn’t walk Harper out to the car this afternoon?”

She folds her arms across her chest. “Yes. Of course it is. What else do you want me to say? We promised only one night, and I didn’t want to face you for the first time since we, you know…in front of Harper.”

I bite the inside of my cheek for a beat. “I never promised that.”

Her eyes dart to mine, and she shakes her head. “Well that’s all I can give. You can go now. Get back home to your daughter.” She walks over and opens the door behind me.

“This isn’t over, Hartley.” My voice is strained as I try to fight for what I know is mine even if she doesn’t know it yet.

“Yes it is,” she says. “Have a good night.”

I stare at her a beat, and then I give her what she wants as I turn to walk away. “Fucking women,” I mutter under my breath, and she slams the door behind me the second I’m through it.

I sit in the parking lot for a few minutes as I try to collect my thoughts. It’s not really over between us. It can’t be. There’s too much fire that burns between us, too many feelings.

Feelings I’m not sure I’ve ever felt before.

It’s not just the challenge. I can actually see a future with her, and instead of finding the challenge exciting, I’m finding it frustrating. I just want to get past this stupid part and get to the place where we can be together to give this a real try instead of constantly battling against each other.

And it’s not just because I’ve seen how good she is with Harper, though that’s certainly part of it. It’s not just how fucking incredible last night was, how compatible the two of us were sexually—though that’s definitely an important part of it too.

It’s more than all that.

It’s the way I feel when she looks at me, some inexplicable sense like someone finally gets me when no one has gotten me my entire life.

It’s the way my chest warms when we’re together, even if we’re fighting.

It’s the way I want to start battling with her instead of against her.

It’s the way one night with her made me think I might be falling in love with her.

Patience, Woods , I remind myself.

She’s hurting right now, and as much as I want to be the one who fixes that, she’s not ready to see it’s me.

I’ll give her some space. I’ll give her some time.

But I’m not going to call those women in my little black book. Instead, I’m going to wait for this one to realize how goddamn right we are for each other.

I head over to Josh’s house a little early, and I’m about to get out of my car and walk up to the front door when my phone starts to ring.

My first thought is that it must be Victoria calling me back over, but when I see the name on the screen, the cocky little smirk on my face fades.

It’s Madeline.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Harper had a peanut.” Her voice sounds scared and very far away as my blood turns ice cold and fear grips onto my heart.

“Fuck, is she okay?” I ask, and my voice feels far away in my own head, too.

I cleared the house of peanuts. I was meticulous.

But none of that matters now as panic sets in.

To be continued in Book 3, FAIR CATCH