Chapter One #2
“Great, you girls give Mr. Torren his puppy, and I’ll clean up the mess.
Then, we are leaving for class.” Tana turned on her heel to head back into her house, and Torren gently grabbed her arm, causing her to gasp and cringe.
The look on his gorgeous face made her instantly regret her overreaction.
But her past abusive relationship with her ex taught her that men could be assholes.
Torren released her arm and took a step back from her as his hot gaze roamed her body, and she suddenly felt like he could see straight through her.
“I’m sorry, Tana, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said.
She shook her head, wanting to deny that was what he did, but there was no hiding her reaction.
She was suddenly hyper-aware that her girls were watching the entire encounter with renewed interest. She always tried to keep her girls out of everything that happened between her and Matt, but that wasn’t always easy to do.
Neither of them had any clue that their father beat her or that he was the reason that they all left to start a new life in Harvest Ridge.
“Girls, please go in and wash up for class.” Tana took the puppy from Sarah and handed him to Torren, not missing the pity in his eyes when he looked at her.
She shot him a pleading look as if asking him not to cause a scene in front of her girls.
She wasn’t necessarily trying to shelter them from the truth, but they were so young, she just wanted them to have as normal a childhood as possible.
The girls gave little protest, kissed Tucker goodbye, and headed into the house.
Torren and Tana watched in silence as they disappeared into the house.
When the front door slammed behind Beth, Torren cleared his throat.
“You still haven’t said one word to me, Tana,” he said. Tana turned to face him again, not quite able to look him in the eyes.
“Did you have a good trip?” she asked. Tana wanted to kick herself for asking such a stupid question. Torren gifted her with another one of his brilliant smiles, making her insides feel like mush.
“Sure. If you count the primary guest having a heart attack as a good time, it was awesome.” Torren stroked Tucker’s head as the puppy settled down in his arms. Tana didn’t know what else to say since small talk wasn’t her forte.
“Well, have a good night.” Tana nodded her head and turned to go into her house. She needed to round up the girls and get them into her minivan; otherwise, she might as well just give up on her hope of getting them to any part of their class.
“He hurt you, didn’t he? The girls’ father—he hurt you?
” Tana stopped and turned to face Torren again, looking down at the ground since it was easier than facing him square on.
“I’m so sorry, Tana. I would never hurt you, but I shouldn’t have grabbed your arm like that.
” She nodded, still not able to find her voice.
“Tana, please look at me,” Torren begged.
He took a few steps towards her, almost as if approaching a feral animal.
She shook her head, not wanting to look him in the eyes and find more pity.
“Tana, please.” His voice cracked, and her eyes darted up to meet his, but instead of finding pity, she found something more—something she hadn’t seen in a long time.
Tana sighed, “I need to get my girls to dance class. They’re going to be late as it is.
” Torren reached out to stop her but decided against it, dropping his hand back to his side.
He nodded. “I get it—not something you want to talk about. Being new in town, I’m assuming that you don’t know many people.
” Tana shook her head. She hadn’t met anyone in town, just a few moms at the girls’ preschool and dance class.
They said hello to her when she showed up and waved goodbye when she left; she didn’t fit into the already tight-knit group of women.
She really couldn’t consider her boss or one coworker at the library her friends.
She wasn’t in town long enough to form those types of relationships with others.
Besides, she tried to keep to herself, lying low in case her ex-husband tried looking for them. She didn’t want any trouble.
“No, I haven’t met anyone yet. Well, besides you.” Tana fidgeted with her sweater, wanting to find a quick escape. The whole conversation made her uncomfortable, and the intense way Torren watched her made her want to run and hide.
“Well, I’m having a few friends over tomorrow night for a small cookout. I’d love for you to come,” Torren all but mumbled.
Tana stifled her giggle. “I can’t, but thank you for the invitation. I have the girls, and I haven’t had time to find a sitter here yet.”
“Oh well, that’s not a problem. All my friends have kids or are about to have kids.
Bring the girls—they will love playing with all the babies.
” Tucker yapped, drawing both of their attention.
“Right, and Tucker will be there. Your girls already love him, so come and bring them along.” Tana wanted to say no, not wanting to put herself out there for so many reasons, the first being that she found Torren scorching hot, and she was afraid of being burned.
But the way he watched her, hopefully waiting for her answer, she couldn’t say no.
“Fine, we will be there. What time?” she asked, knowing that she was taking a chance by accepting his invitation.
“Six,” he breathed.
“I’ll bring some homemade potato salad,” she offered. Torren’s eyes lit up at the mention of potato salad, and she wanted to laugh again.
“That sounds great, I love potato salad.” Tana nodded and smiled, turning away from him to head into her house. She heard his deep laugh and smiled to herself, not turning back to see what he found funny. She had a feeling it had to do with her quirky behavior.
“Bye, Tana, and thanks for taking care of Tuck.” She waved back over her shoulder, not trusting herself to chance another look back at him.
She needed to keep her eyes on the road in front of her, as her mother used to say.
Straying off course because of one good-looking man wasn’t an option, not when it meant putting her or her girls into possible danger.
She didn’t need any more trouble in her life, and Torren Harrison looked like he could be a whole lot of trouble.