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Reminding her of time lost.

She’d spent the last thirteen years of her life building a wall, honing her armor, and insulating herself from men exactly like her father.  Her mother’s pain, she swore, she would never endure. And yet, here she was, hopelessly hung up on a guy who took what she offered with no regard to her feelings.

Moist heat stung her eyes.  Swiping away a tear, Izzy snuggled into her pillow.  How had this happened?  Was she so desperate for—what? Love? Acceptance? Belonging? She didn’t understand herself, much less the reasons for what she felt right now. She just knew she wanted Fly

There had been guys in college who would have jumped at the chance to be with her.  Good men who would have treated her like a queen.  A few she’d hung out with, to see if maybe she was missing out on something.  She wasn’t.  At least not with any of them.

From the moment she’d laid eyes on Fly

Was she being fair to Fly

Just thinking about the way he touched her, warmed her from the inside out.  The only consolation she could take away from her time with Fly

The heart wanted what the heart wanted, and it wanted all of Fly

Sighing heavily, Izzy opened her eyes and looked toward the window.  The streetlight shone through the slits of her blinds, the raindrops sparkling as shadows moved across the pane.

Was it fair of her to expect Fly

She would if it meant finding Alex.  How did she expect a man like Fly

He wanted her.  Had asked her to let him start over. It was her own fear of being rejected again that had pushed him away when he had reached out to her.  She had done the same thing to Alex, and look what happened.  Fly

Reaching for her phone, she stopped halfway.  He needed time to think and she needed to sleep on her revelation.  Not that she would change her mind, but to let it simmer.  And tomorrow put together a game plan.

Rolling over, she punched her pillow.  It was almost two a.m. and she hadn’t slept a wink since the previous night.  She needed to sleep. Reaching to the nightstand, she grabbed the windup clock and stuffed it between the mattress and box spring.  It had been driving her crazy.

Closing her eyes, she sighed and started to count backward from one hundred…

Parked in his SUV across the street, drinking coffee, Fly

His dick swelled in his pants as he imagined her arching into him, her hungry lips parted, her pearly white teeth biting her bottom lip as she hissed in a long luxurious breath.

Jesus Christ, he could not remember wanting anything as badly as he wanted her.  Want collided with need.  She was as unique as a snowflake.  And as perfect.  He should march right into her house and demand she take a chance on him because he was willing to take a chance on her.

What if it didn’t work out?  He didn’t want to hurt her.  It had never occurred to him that she might be the one to walk away.  Feeling gut-punched at the thought, Fly

Give him a gun and turn him loose in a room full of bad guys with bigger guns and he had no fear.  Ask him to make a commitment to Pink and he ran for the hills.

The reel repeated itself in Fly

Izzy woke to the rain.  For a long time she lay in bed listening to it, thinking how much more she would enjoy it if Fly

It was pouring outside.  If the weather let up some, she would walk to Casper’s, the little neighborhood market, a few blocks away.  They were organic certified and while a little costly, it was worth the splurge.

Sitting at the kitchen table, she sipped her coffee and booted up her laptop.  Fly

Her chest tightened. Did he, she wondered, have any idea what he did to her?  How he had made her feel?  As alive as he had made her feel, she felt empty now.  Her confidence last night in her ability to win Fly

Izzy remembered the big Anatolian shepherd, Turk, her father had brought home to guard the house when she was eight years old.  Turk had the run of the property.  No one got past the gate.  He had been a handful, a dangerous animal, and her father had warned her to stay away from him. But Izzy was drawn to the big rough-and-tumble dog.  She was patient with Turk.  Eventually his loyalty to her rose above his loyalty to the rest of the family. The night she was kicked out, Turk sensed something was terribly wrong.  He’d fought his way out of the house to run after her and her mother.