Fragile

BATTLE SCARRED

Six years after trading in his combat gear for hospital scrubs, Luke Rafferty still hasn’t found what he’s been searching for: a normal life. At his job, Luke is faced with things just as heartbreaking as those on the battlefield, none more so than the abused children brought in by a pretty red-headed social worker.

HEARTBROKEN

For Devon Manning, being a social worker is a rewarding job, but also a constant reminder of her own troubled youth. Devon takes everything one day at a time—unable to form a relationship with anyone except the children she rescues.

A DESIRE TO HEAL…

When Luke meets Devon, he thinks he might have found what he’s been looking for, but in order to get the life he wants, Luke has to break through Devon’s emotional barriers and make her realize that his healing touch might be just the complication her life needs…

2/2009

“Luke, don’t.  Just…don't, okay? Just let it go.”

Cautious, keeping his movements slow, he moved a little closer.  “I dunno.  I’m going to have a hard time doing that, you see, because I think about you pretty much all the time.  I go to work hoping I’ll see you and then I feel bad because usually, I only see you when something bad has happened to one of your kids.  I’ve been wanting to ask you out pretty much since I first saw you and now I finally got you outside of work, I go and screw it up.”

The smile on her mouth looked forced, even to him.  “I’d just take it as a sign, then.  You and me wouldn’t last through one date.”

“Yes.  We would.”

He couldn’t not touch her at that point.  Closing the distance between them, he murmured, “I’m going to kiss you.  And I haven’t been this nervous about kissing a girl since I played seven minutes in heaven when I was in sixth grade.”

Her hand came up, pressed against his chest.  “Not a good idea.”

“Not doing it would be an even worse idea,” he argued.  Reaching up, he covered her hand with his, stroked his thumb up and down the inside of her wrist.  “Come on, Devon… can you tell me you haven’t ever thought about this, not even once?”

Averting her head, she said, “That’s not the point.”

Luke was quiet for a second and then he murmured, “So one dumb ass mistake on my part and you’re going to totally write all of this off?”

“There’s nothing to write off, Luke.  We haven’t even had a single date.”

A grin crooked his lips upward and he said, “My point, exactly.” Screw being nervous, he decided.  Dipping his head, he covered her lips and it took less than a second to realize Devon Manning was every bit as sweet as he’d suspected.