Free Taking What's His (Entangled Brazen) by Diane Alberts Page B

she was more angry or upset, she knew one thing. He thought he didn’t deserve her. Thought he was somehow lacking something. He was wrong. She almost chased after him. Almost tried to get him to see himself the way she did, but she forced herself to stay still. Nothing she did, or said, would change the real issue at hand. She was his best friend’s little sister…
    And he didn’t want her.
    …
    The next morning Lydia sat in her living room, her phone in front of her next to her open MacAir. She’d typed in two little words on the Google search bar, but she hadn’t hit return yet. She glared down at the computer, her heart accelerating at just the appearance of his name on her screen. Holt Cunningham .
    She could hit the button. Read all about his past, so she could find a way to make him see she wasn’t scared of him. He seemed to think he was some kind of monster, but he was wrong. He was a damaged man, sure. But that didn’t make him a bad one.
    Did it?
    Just as she was about to hit search, a knock sounded at her door. She stared at it. It wasn’t even seven o’clock yet. Who would be here this early? Slowly, she walked to the door and plastered her face against it. Through the peephole, she saw…
    Oh, crap.
    Gasping, she smoothed her hands over her hair. It was probably a frizzy mess, but that wasn’t a huge surprise since she’d spent the night tossing and turning. Great. He looks like a model, while I look like a troll. Not much to do about it now.
    Not if she wanted to let him in—and she did.
    After taking a deep breath, she cracked the door open. “What are you doing here?”
    He held out a bouquet of flowers. “I wanted to give you these. I saw them on my way to work, and the green ones looked like your eyes…” He broke off, his cheeks red. “I mean… I thought of you…”
    They looked like my eyes ? God, he’s trying to kill me.
    Her heart did a flip-flop and then soared. Opening the door more, she took the blooms and brought them to her nose. They smelled lovely. “You bought me flowers?”
    “Yeah.” He cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I did.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I saw them, and I thought of you, so I bought them.”
    She stared at him, and he stared right back.
    Neither one of them spoke.
    After a while, he shifted on his feet. His gray pants hugged his body way too freaking closely, and he wore a button up blue shirt. His glasses were perched on his nose, and his hair was styled to the side. He looked hot as hell, of course. He always did. “I’m sorry for last night. For what I did.”
    “For touching me, or for stopping?” she asked, gripping the doorknob.
    “Both.” He shifted on his feet. “I shouldn’t have done either one.”
    She nodded. “Because I’m Steven’s little sister.”
    “Yes.” He shrugged. “I’m not going to lie and say I don’t want you. I do. But I just got out of hell, and I’m trying to be an honorable man. Trying to do things right. To get my head on straight. Starting something with you now…it wouldn’t be right. So I can’t.”
    She got that. Steven was still a mess, and he’d been home a lot longer than Holt. He hadn’t been injured as badly as him, either. If Holt didn’t think he was stable enough to be with her, even temporarily, then she wouldn’t push him.
    Swallowing hard, she nodded once. “Okay. Apology accepted.”
    He took his hands out and rubbed his jaw. “I like you, Lydia. I know we met and jumped right into bed, and then there was last night…”
    “Yeah, there was last night.” She tightened her fingers on the stems, knowing what was coming next. She might as well beat him to the punch, and say it first. “You want to forget that ever happened, and be friends? Platonic friends.”
    He nodded. “Yes, exactly. Well, not forget, necessarily. But not do it again.”
    “Yeah. Sure.” Her heart twisted. “It was just a one-night stand. No reason to