Page 70 (1/1)

Prologue

Willia in his Lexus on the corner of the familiar street for over an hour A whole daet out of the car His eyes had been rooted on the old Victorian terrace for every painful second He’d avoided this part of town for over twenty years with the exception of one ti her home

Now, though, he had to face his past head-on He had to get out of his car He had to knock on that door And he was dreading it

There were no other options left for hiht‘Ti out of his car Shutting the door softly, he started towards the house, annoyed that he was incapable of steadying his thu in his ears Each step he took, her face was beco his eyes shut in pain

‘Da

He found hi at the front door His poorblasted with too many badWilliam Anderson often experienced because hesure of it

Letting his head fall back on his shoulders and his eyes close briefly, he drank in the longest inhale of air he ever had Then he raised a shaky hand and knocked on the door His pulse accelerated when he heard footsteps, and he very nearly stopped breathing when the door swung open

She hadn’t changed a bit, except now she ? She didn’t look at all shocked, and he didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing He’d reserve judgement until he left here There was a lot to talk about

Her now-grey eyebrows raised coolly, and when she started shaking her head mildly, Willia to shake in his boots

‘Well, look what the cat dragged in,’ she sighed

Chapter 1

It’s perfect here But it would be even more perfect if my mind wasn’t aorry, fear, and confusion

Rolling onto hts built into the vaulted ceiling of our hotel suite, seeing soft, fluffy clouds littering the bright blue sky I can also see skyscrapers stretching up to the heavens I hold my breath and listen for the now-fa – car horns, whistles, and the general hustle and bustle are all detectable fro this building sees are incredible, yet it’s not what isnext to y queen-size bed I’ in As, the cars, the personalitiesmy love for Miller Hart

We’ve been here for teeks now, and I miss Nan terribly but speak to her daily We’ve let the city s us up and had nothing to do except immerse ourselves in each other

My perfectly imperfect man is relaxed here He still has extre to find many of his OCD habits loveable I can say that now And I can say it to hinore the fact that he is crippled by obsession inme

At least there are no interferers here in New York – no one to try to take away his most prized possession I’m his most prized possession And it’s a title I’ to shoulder Because I know that the sanctuary we’ve created here is only te on the horizon of our current al the strength within th Miller is so confident I have

Abeside me pulls me back into the lavish suite we’ve called home since we arrived in New York, and I smile when I see him nuzzle into his pillow on a cute murmur His dark waves are a mussed mess upon his lovely head and his jaw shadowed by coarse stubble He sighs and pats around half asleep until his palers locate aze linger on his face, feeling his fingers coain This has becoentleman He’ll twiddle with my hair for hours, even in his sleep I’ve woken with knots on a few occasions, soht up in the strands, but I never complain I need the contact – any contact – from him

My eyelids slowly close, soothed by his touch But all too soon,the haunting sight of Gracie Taylor I snap ets yanked back and in the ers frorumbles a few times but doesn’t wake, and I rest his hand on the pillow before pullingover my naked shoulder, I see Miller lost in a deep sleep and silently hope his dreams are serene and blissful Unlike mine

Lettinga little stretch and a sigh I reeCould I really have seen hteen years? Or was it just a hallucination brought on by stress?