Trinity Falls by Regina Hart Page B

was always buried in a book.”
    â€œAnd you, Darius and Quincy were always arguing over comic books.” Her blush was becoming a permanent condition.
    â€œWe weren’t arguing. We were debating.” His eyes warmed as they shared the memory.
    Megan exhaled in relief as her grandparents’ house—now her home—came into view at the end of the block. “I’ll race you.”
    She issued the challenge to mask her desperate need to escape him. Ean laughed as he pulled away from her. A latent competitive streak stirred to life inside Megan. She dug deeper, raising her knees and pumping her arms, straining to keep up with him, hoping to pass him.
    Her gaze dropped to the fine, firm muscles of his derriere. A thread of an idea sewed into her mind. Megan reached forward and grabbed the waistband of his black gym pants. Ean came up short. The surprise stamped on his copper features was comical. Megan laughed as she sprinted past him.
    She tapped the sycamore tree in front of her home and threw her arms above her head. “I won!”
    Ean slowed to a stop beside her. “You cheated.”
    Megan was breathless from exertion and giddy with victory. “That wasn’t cheating. It was strategy.”
    Ean’s eyes dipped to her mouth. “It was cheating.”
    His voice was a low, wicked rumble. Megan sobered. Ean’s head drew closer. His scent—sweat and musk—clouded her thoughts. The burgeoning heat in his eyes rendered her motionless. This moment was her young girl’s fantasy, but his nearness stirred every inch of her woman’s body. All she knew was his heat, his touch, his eyes. And all she wanted was his taste.

CHAPTER 7
    Ean leaned closer. Too close. His movement wrenched Megan from her trance.
    She staggered backward—away from the sycamore tree, away from Ean. Away from temptation. “Excuse me.”
    She stumbled up her walkway, tripped up the five redbrick front steps and fumbled into her home. With shaking hands, she relocked her door before collapsing against it. Her legs felt like water balloons. Her heart galloped like a startled horse. What had just happened?
    Gripping the doorknob, Megan leaned toward the smoked side window on her right and spied on Ean. Her breath caught in her throat. He was still beside the tree. His long, lean body stood in profile as he stared at the sidewalk. Unobserved, she could allow her gaze to touch every inch of his hard, muscled form. Loose-fitting black running pants covered long, strong legs and lovingly cupped his tight glutes. His sweat-stained gray jersey molded his flat abs and chiseled pecs. Her fist clenched the doorknob. She wanted the courage to go back down her walkway and ease the ache building inside. She needed the sense to keep this locked door between them and protect her heart. What should she do, give in to desire or hold on to common sense? Before she could decide, Ean turned and jogged back toward the park.
    Damn it!
    Megan leaned against her front door. What had she been thinking? Ean Fever wasn’t for her. Her roots were planted deep within Trinity Falls, Ohio. Almost from birth, Ean had been searching for other soil. She was too old to be weaving fantasies about the town’s most popular boy falling in love with her and living happily ever after. Fairy tales were for books.
    She pushed away from the door and plodded to her upstairs bathroom. Even if Ean had returned to Trinity Falls to stay, he’d come back for Ramona. She’d been rejected in favor of her cousin before. She wouldn’t allow history to repeat itself.
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    Ean stood in Quincy’s office doorway hours later, watching the former running back review papers. His childhood friend had become a university professor. Very cool.
    He knocked twice on Quincy’s open door. “How does it feel to be the one giving the grades instead of getting them?”
    Too late, Quincy masked his surprise.