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Prologue

Seth

Sitting in the grass in the backyard of Ridge and Kendall’s house, I’ Knox show me his new ninja skills This kid, he’s a trip

“Sef, see?” Knox asks

“I see You’re the best ninja ever,” I praise him

“That’s whatsh

“Finley!” I hear a female voice call out

Looking up, I see a little girl with dark curls racing toward the pond A woot a pretty good head start There’s a fence around the pond to help protect the kids, but I still ju, I lift her into reen eyes stare at erous,” I tell her She’s not very old She’s about Everly’s size, so I’ around two

“Thank you,” the wo us She holds her hands out for the little girl, but she er and touches the scruff on h “I’m so sorry She’s not really been around many men I’m Mara” The wohter”

“Hi, Finley,” I say, keepingto scare her, especially since I’er who just scooped her into his arms “My name’s Seth Can you say Seth?” Green eyes just watch me

Tearing irl, I look toward her mother and my breath knocks out of my chest From a distance, I could tell she had the sahter What I wasn’t prepared for were her reen eyes Finley’s are beautiful Her ht to ain “I’m Seth”

“Thank you for your help” She gives me a kind smile

“No worries” I force myself to look away from her before I reach creeper status Or worse, her husband co through h, Mara said she’s not been around“The water is dangerous, sweetheart,” I say to Finley again

“You don’t go near the water without Morab sohter, but she doesn’t reach back Instead, she lays her head on hter and er or a hter is aHowever, the way she bites down on her bottom lip and shifts from foot to foot, tells me she’s nervous

“You want sohter She nods her little head I look up at Mara “Let’s go get some juice” I turn back to Knox “Knox, buddy I think the ninja needs some juice Gotta stay hydrated,” I tell him

“Yeah, juice,” he agrees, and takes off running for the deck

“I can take her,” Mara says when I follow him at a much slower pace

“It’s okay You’re my new buddy, huh?” I ask Finley She doesn’t answer She’s perfectly content to just rest againstto the deck

“Aether We were roommates,” Mara offers after a beat of quiet

“We all grew up together,” I explain

“Yeah, that’s what she said She’s trying to get me to move here That’s actually why I’m here For a job interview”

“What field?” I ask

“Human resources”

“Lots of drah

“You could say that What about you?”

“I ith Ridge, so does Tyler, Mark, and Kent”

“Beckett Construction?”

“Are you a mind reader?” I ask her playfully

Reaching out, she points to the logo on my T-shirt Her eyes rake overback to reen eyes sparkle

Once we reach the steps of the deck, Mara says, “Thanks for your help” This tiive Finley a choice She reaches out and takes her froives me a smile over her mom’s shoulder

I stand still, frozen in time as I watch them walk away I’ve never felt an attraction like this Not ever She’s a singledeal Hell, I like kids, love the theht feeds and stepping on LEGOs No, as much as I’m attracted to her, and her beauty, I have to sit this one out

Chapter One

Seth 1

My head is pounding I know that openingtoone leg off the bed to stabilize the spin, it doesn’t fall far And that’s when I re ain

Mara

I can’t stop thinking about her I stole her number from Amelia’s phone the same day weif she needed helpto be nice, but at the same time, I

couldn’t stop thinking about her Lucky forfrom her interview yet, so my offer to help her move was unnecessary I have to ad closer wouldthe offer to help herout if she wasAuys if they’d heard would open a can of worms I’m not really ready to open At least I don’t think I am

Although, I about spilled them all over the floor when I spoke to Mark a couple ofOkay,that has been on my mind since Memorial Day Since the day I laid eyes on Mara for the first time

We’ve started this… texting thing that we do It’s casual conversation, but it’s theI’ve had with a wo lyrics and she tries to guess which song and the artist In turn, she sends uess thescore

I tried to get her to come up this weekend, but she said she and Finley had plans for a girls’ night slu if I could crash, but I stopped irl needs stability, and I don’t know if I’ive it to her Not only that, but no one knoe’ve been talking At least, not that I’m aware of Not that we need to tell them We’re just two people who talk frequently, text even oing out and finding a war her, just any old warm body doesn’t appeal to me

“Make it stop,” a female voice whines

Forcing my eyes open, I slowly turn to see Aabout how I feel “We’re too old to drink like that,” I tell her

“We’re not even thirty,” she says, louder than she intended from the wince that follows

“It’s been a long damn time since I consumed that much alcohol,” I admit

“Yeah”

I knohy I was drinking To forget about Mara and those big green eyes To forget about that long dark curly hair that I would love nothing more than to have splayed out onAmelia, on the other hand, I’m not so sure

“You good?” I ask her

“No,” she says, deadpan, and even though it hurts like hell, I laugh

“You’re going to be fine”

“I need to pee” I watch her as she rolls over and slowly sits up Her elbows rest on her knees as her hands rub at her eyes “Ew,” she says, standing and i her foot “What the?” She stares down at the floor

“What is it?” I ask

She turns to look atcoain

“Seth…,” she says, shaking her head