He looked like sin had felt guilty, gone to confession, and walked straight out to misbehave again.
But even with all that?
He wasn’t Sterling.
Where this man looked like a beautifully packaged disaster, Sterling stood beside me with that burning intensity that made the whole world narrow to a single point.
The man’s grin sharpened when his gaze slid from Sterling to me, as though he’d just spotted something hilarious. “Hayes!” he called. “You coming, or are you planning to elope?”
Another rush of heat shot up my neck, and Sterling’s jaw flexed. “Give me a minute.”
The man pushed off the truck with a predatory confidence, strolling toward us like he owned everything around him. Sterling shifted beside me, something protective flickering through him, subtle but unmistakable.
He exhal
