“But when she finally says something, I know which part struck her the hardest.It’s the part that makes me look like the bastard most people have always thought me to be.”

“She stands facing me to take off the helmet. When she does, she shakes her dark hair free. It looks like something a girl in a shampoo commercial might do. I have no doubt she doesn’t have a clue how sexy she is. But she is. Holy hell, is she ever!”

“Something about the look on her face makes me feel like a meal. And if I were, I’d be a happy meal, for sure.”

“When she smiles shyly at me, I exhale. And when her cheeks turn pink, I chuckle. I don’t know why that makes me so happy. But it does.”

“I stop in front of Olivia and cup her face in my hands, kissing her sweetly on the mouth. She looks up at me with her liquid eyes and something in me melts away. I think to myself that I hope it wasn't something important. Something that I needed.”

“A girl like me?”“Yeah, a girl like you.” Cash’s lids drop down part way over his eyes, making them look like heavy, bedroom eyes, and his voice is like the silk sheets I can imagine him sleeping on. “Feisty, sexy, gorgeous as hell. I bet you’ve never met a man you couldn’t wind around your little finger.”He’s watching me like he wants to undress me right where we are—in an empty bar with low light and soft music. And there’s a tiny part of me that would love for him to do exactly that.”

“She was just trying to make it through life with a part of her heart missing. We all were.”