Free Whatever It Takes (Second Chances #2) by L. E. Bross Page B

pretty bad.” I met and held her gaze until she looked away. Her cheeks were flushed and she fiddled with the edge of the paper bag. I knew she didn’t misinterpret the meaning.
    But it didn’t make me feel any better. In fact, when I heard her ragged inhale and saw her shoulders start to shake, I felt like a huge dick.
    “I really am sorry, Ryan,” she finally said. When she looked up, her eyes were shiny and damned if it didn’t sucker punch me right in the stomach. “If this me could go back and tell that me what an idiot I’d be, well”—she gave a hiccupy half laugh—“hindsight is twenty-twenty, right? We all have regrets. I’m sure.”
    What was she saying? That she regretted not trying harder to make things between us work before she gave up? My pulse leaped and thundered in my ears. Jesus, I couldn’t even imagine how things would have turned out if Tess had been there all along. If she’d been there when my mom left. If we had the future we always talked about.
    What if Noah had been ours?
    I almost stumbled back. What the fuck was I thinking?
    “Sorry. I think that Noah’s little escapade hit a little harder than I realized.” Tess stood up straighter, and I could see the determination in her smile. Yes, there was an edge of desperation there too, but that had been there since I saw her in line at the grocery.
    Life may have kicked her a few hundred times, but she hadn’t broken. Somehow she was making whatever had happened work and doing it all alone. And so I wanted to take that look of fatigue off her face, if only for a little while.
    And selfishly, I wanted to just be around her.
    “Not sure what your plans are today, but this house I’m working on right now has a killer backyard with one of those wood play sets. The owners aren’t back for a month, waiting on the renovations to be done. If you’re not doing anything, I could take you guys there. Noah could have it all to himself.”
    Her face lit up. “Would you show me what you do? I’d love to see that too.”
    My damned pulse stuttered again. No one had ever asked to see what I do. Not even Seth. Sure, he helped out one or two times in the early days, but I was a hell of a lot better at it now. My dad never showed up anymore. Shari would not be caught dead at a job site.
    That one little request hit harder than it should have.
    I cleared my throat. “Not much to see, really.”
    “Are you kidding me? You make things with your hands. Buildings and rooms and . . . oh, I don’t know . . . bookshelves or something.” Her hands were flying all over the place as she talked too fast. “I can’t even put together LEGOs. I would love to see it up close.”
    I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kiss anyone as badly as I did Tess right that second.
    When I came over last Saturday morning to fix her car, and leaned close to her to get my coffee, the urge was almost too strong to resist. She’d smelled so damned good and looked even better, and I heard the way her breath had caught. Only at the last second did I pull away.
    That was a road I didn’t want to go down, though.
    Or thought I didn’t.
    Because right now, the idea of backing her against the counter and tasting her again was all I could think about. Judging by the way her tongue darted out to run over her bottom lip, how she kept looking at my mouth, she wanted it too.
    We stood like that, with the tension building between us and my jeans getting tighter until I was two seconds away from dragging her into my arms—consequences be damned.
    “I’ll get Noah,” she said breathlessly.
    She turned and moved past me, and the back of her hand brushed against mine and I could have gone off like a fucking firecracker just from her touch. As soon as she went into the bedroom I made a few adjustments, so my jeans weren’t quite as uncomfortable.
    Part of me knew this was a shitty idea. Spending more time with her was going to be torture, especially after the last few minutes.