Chapter Two
Torren had to go to work for a few hours the next day.
He decided not to press his luck with his sexy neighbor, taking Tucker with him to the store instead.
He met with potential clients and manned the store while Tag and Piper went to her doctor’s appointment.
He was excited to be an uncle, and with all the babies that his friends were having, he felt like he was now heading up a group with no other members.
Every one of his friends found someone, got married, and was having kids.
Sunny and Aaron had little Sadie, and now Sawyer and Lorna had a new baby boy named Henry.
Tag and Piper were holding off on finding out their baby’s sex, although he had a feeling that had more to do with his little niece or nephew being stubborn even before making an appearance in the world.
Torren was beginning to feel left out, like they all joined a secret club, and he couldn’t figure out the handshake to get in.
Of course, he knew that it was hard for his friends and family to take him seriously, given his reputation.
Still, they gave him no credit for going the past four months without one single woman in his bed.
A little credit or acknowledgment would be nice.
At five, he closed the store and ran to the grocery store to pick up some burgers and brats for the grill.
He wasn’t sure what everyone would want, but he knew that you couldn’t go wrong with those two staples for a cookout.
He didn’t miss the way the checkout girl checked him out, but she would be just another roll in the hay, and that wasn’t what he was looking for.
Still, he couldn’t help but flirt, throwing her a wink and smile.
He knew how to work his assets and charms—that’s how he ended up with the nickname of the town’s man-whore.
Having Tucker as his wingman didn’t hurt.
He barely made it through an aisle without being stopped by an overly friendly woman or a kid wanting to play with Tuck.
Torren didn’t need a wingman to help him land a woman in his bed for the night.
He wanted what Tag had with Piper; he just wasn’t sure how to go about finding that.
When he set out to make some changes after the New Year, he purchased his little house and started tearing it apart.
He wanted to make the house his own, and he loved being able to use his hands and hard work to make his dream of owning a home come true.
Now that he was finished with his remodel, he was ready to take on his next challenge.
The problem was, he didn’t know what that challenge was.
He decided just to sit back and wait to see where life took him, but that would require patience that Torren didn’t have.
Meeting Tana stirred strange feelings that he didn’t know existed in him.
Sure, she was hot as hell, especially when she went into mom mode.
She also had that whole sexy librarian vibe working for her, but there was something more about the beautiful Tana—something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Hell, he’d like to put his fingers, hands, and mouth on her.
She was the first woman that he responded to in months.
Thoughts of Tana under his body, shouting out his name, breathy, and moaning kept him hard as a rock most of the night.
He tried to remember rule number one—no single moms—but she was making that damn near impossible.
He worried that if he pursued her like his unruly dick wanted him to, he’d have to tread carefully.
Not only did he have to consider her twin daughters’ feelings, but he was pretty sure that her ex-husband did a number on Tana.
The thought of any man laying even a finger on her made him half crazy.
Seeing the way that she reacted to him grabbing her arm yesterday made every protective instinct in him come screaming to life.
By the time he finally got back to his house, Tana and her girls were standing on his front porch.
He checked the time and cursed, noting that it was after six.
The girls ran to his truck, helped Tucker out, and played with him in the front grass.
They made noises of disgust, and he smiled, knowing that Tuck went to the bathroom, causing a chorus of “yuck” and “gross" from both girls. He looked over to find Tana laughing at the whole scene and couldn’t help but stare at her. She took his breath away.
“Why don’t you girls bring him around back? I have a fenced-in yard, and you all can play back there.” Torren unlocked his front door and held it open for the three of them. Sarah snuggled Tucker into her arms, and the puppy’s tail didn’t stop wagging.
“I can help you get the food ready if you’d like,” Tana almost whispered.
He nodded and led the way to his kitchen.
Torren got the girls settled out back and returned to find Tana standing at the kitchen island, pulling his groceries from the bags.
Dammit, she looked so right standing in his space; she made his heart stutter.
“You seem to have all your bases covered here.” She pulled out a bag of salad and laid it on the quartz countertop.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t sure what everyone would want to eat, so I just grabbed a little bit of everything,” Torren said.
“What can I do to help? Just put me to work.” Torren knew it was silly, but her offering to “help” him had him feeling a little hot.
The thought of laying her across the cold, stone countertop flashed through his mind, causing his cock to roar to life.
He crossed his kitchen and took the uncooked hamburgers from Tana, and she gasped.
He knew that he was going to have to tread lightly in order not to spook her, but all he could think about was kissing her.
Torren needed to know if she tasted as good as she looked.
“Tana, I want to touch you, but only if you tell me that it’s okay.” He waited for her out for what felt like an eternity. Finally, she looked up at him, bit her lip, and nodded.
“No, honey, I need the words. Tell me that I can touch you,” he growled. She hesitated for just another minute, and he thought she was going to change her mind.
“Yes, Torren. I want you to touch me,” Tana whispered.
He moaned and gently pulled her petite body into his own, towering over her.
This time, he didn’t see fear in her eyes, only desire, and it turned him inside out with his own need.
Tana moaned and leaned into his hold, giving him all the invitation he needed.
“You can kiss me if you want,” Tana whispered.
Torren ducked his head down and gently ran his lips over hers, not wanting to push her too much.
When she gasped into his mouth and parted her lips, he took that as a sign that he could take things a little further, deepening the kiss and allowing his tongue to find hers.
Kissing Tana felt right, like finding his home.
Tag laughed and cleared his throat, letting them both know that they had company.
“Sorry to interrupt, guys, but I have a whole train of people coming in behind me.” Tana squealed and hid behind Torren, causing Tag another chuckle.
Torren found the whole scene a lot less funny, and from Tana’s position, hiding behind his big body, she wasn’t amused either.
“You want to introduce me to your girl?” Tag asked.
Tag’s smug smile felt like a challenge, and Torren found himself wanting to punch the smirk right off his brother’s face.
“I’m not his girl, I’m Tana. I live across the street,” she squeaked.
Tag held his hand out. “I’m Tag Harrison, Torren’s twin brother.
” Tana hesitated, then eventually shook Tag’s hand and retreated to Torren’s side.
He liked the way she sought him out for comfort.
Piper waddled into the kitchen and introduced herself, and Tana seemed to relax a little.
Tag and Piper introduced her around the room, and Torren loved the way his friends accepted Tana and her girls being there with their core group.
The women swept her off into the backyard to talk about God only knew what because they always seemed to mystify Torren.
“So, you’ve been holding out on me. You’re seeing someone and didn’t tell me?
” Tag questioned. Torren sighed, knowing that Tag, Aaron, and Sawyer were all going to ride his ass about Tana being there.
Tag walking in during their steamy kiss was going to give his brother material to work with for days.
Torren wouldn’t take that kiss back for anything, though, even with all the shit his brother was going to give him.
“We just met a few days ago. She watched the puppy for me, and she seems nice,” Torren said. Aaron clapped him on the back, and Torren shot him a dirty look.
“Well, it’s good to see you back in the saddle, Tor,” he joked.
“Shut the fuck up, Aaron. There’s no saddle, and I’m not back in anything.
You three need to mind your own fucking business,” he barked.
When he noticed all four women looking over at them, standing by the grill, he realized that he was being a little louder than he wanted.
“Tana is a nice woman, and you three need to leave her the fuck alone,” he whispered.
Sawyer held up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t say a word.”
“No, but I can bet that you were next. It was just a kiss.” Torren knew that he was lying because that kiss wasn’t just anything. Kissing Tana felt like magic, but he wasn’t about to admit that to his brother and two best friends.