Maybe she should cut the guy a little slack, [...] Maybe Thorne had been a no-show because something bad happened to him on the job. What if he'd been injured in the line of duty and didn't come by as promised because he was incapacitated in some way? Maybe he hadn't called to apologize or to explain his absence because he physically couldn't. Right. And maybe she had checked her brain into her panties from the second she first laid eyes on the man.

He was the ghost you never saw coming, death breathing down your neck before you even realized you were in the crosshairs.

He was on his knees before this female, and he'd gladly stay there for the rest of his life.

She wanted to feel him pound away her fears, a hammer to smash through all her guilt and pain and emptiness.

From the beginning, Tegan, you were more brother to me than any kin by blood. You still are.” Tegan felt likewise, in spite of all they’d been through. Maybe because of it. “I’ll always have your back, Lucan. You can count on it.

Do I love you? Yeah, God help you, but I do

Jenna.” Brock stroked the underside of her chin very gently, lifting her face up toward his. “Would it be all right if I kissed you?