Deeper Than Need by Shiloh Walker

by being there.” In the darkness of the truck cab, she turned her head to look at him, a sad smile on her lips. “You can’t even know how much better you made it.”
    Lo and behold, that little demon of temptation grabbed him by the throat. Before he could stop himself, he reached up, cupped her cheek. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t move away. If she’d done that, he could have wrestled everything inside him under control. He could have pulled his hand back, but instead she angled her head ever so slightly so that the silky skin of her cheek rubbed against his palm.
    Now another urge warred inside him, the need to slide his hand around the back of her neck, pull her up against him and taste that mouth.
    Idiot. She’d been through what had to be one of the hardest days she’d ever faced, if not the hardest. The last thing she needed was to have him moving in on her.
    Fumbling for those words that proved to be so elusive, he brushed his thumb down her skin just once. She was so soft. So soft. “It will be okay. Maybe not tonight, and maybe not for the next few days, but it will get better,” he said.
    “I’ve been telling myself that for the past couple of years.” She dropped her head back against the seat. “You ever heard that saying about the light at the end of the tunnel?”
    “Yeah.” He chuckled, but the sound was more tired than anything else. “It might be light. Or it could just be a train. I know that feeling, all too well.”
    Silence lapsed and he went back to staring at the warm, welcoming lights of Ali’s place. Part of him wished he was a different kind of guy, the kind of guy who could move on what he felt inside, act on what he suspected Trinity felt, too. He’d seen that glint in her eyes, more than once.
    If he could have just acted on that. Clenching his jaw, he shoved his head back into the headrest while a hundred if onlys ran through his mind.
    Maybe if he wasn’t who he was, he could offer to let her and Micah stay with him. Neither of them would have to be alone that night. It didn’t even have to be about anything more than that.
    Shoot, they could have used the pullout sofa in his living room and he would bunk on the chair. Nobody would have been alone with the thoughts in their heads.
    But he was who he was. No escaping it. No changing it.
    It was a bad, bad idea anyway.
    Besides, Ali and Trinity seemed to be pretty friendly. Trinity definitely needed some place where she could relax, maybe let her guard down.…
    She can do that with you. He’d actually love to have her relax around him. Let her guard down. Lean against him, the soft rhythm of her breath warm against his chest. He could tangle his hand in her hair and just hold her. His chest ached just thinking about it.
    “You sure you’re okay staying here?” The question slipped away from him before he could stop it.
    She gave him a wan smile. “Yes. Ali was actually one of the first people I met when I moved here. And Micah likes her boys. He’ll do better having the distraction around. We’ll be fine.”
    “Hopefully, it will just be a few days.”
    From the back there was a sleepy little grumble and then a yawn. “Mama?”
    She turned to look at him. “Hey, sleepyhead.”
    “Where are we?”
    She told him, and just like that the sleepiness was gone from the boy’s voice and he practically started to vibrate in his booster. “We’re staying here? Really? Really? ”
    Trinity slid Noah an amused glance and then she nodded. “Really.”
    She had her hands full with Micah for the next few minutes. Once she had him out of the truck, she watched as he bolted up the sidewalk to meet the boys who came whooping out of the house. She didn’t move to follow. Instead, she turned to look at Noah, her eyes grim, her face tight. “Can I be really honest, Noah?”
    He lifted a brow.
    “I’m not in a huge rush to get back to that house. If a lightning bolt struck it tonight, I wouldn’t cry a single