Page 4 of Erik's Salvation
Fuck. He thought he’d be alone out here. It was part of the lure of coming home. To see his family but still have his space. His land. Windows looking out onto nothing.
“I’ll have the information within the hour.”
And Chandler would. If there was information to find, he’d dig it up. He could hack any system. Find any information, even if it was supposed to be buried. Dead. Gone.
“And Hunter…” Chandler paused. “Welcome home.”
Erik’s gut clenched. Home. This was his goddamn home now.
“Thanks.” He hung up, his gaze moving to the dark kitchen before returning to that framed photo, memories once again trying to prick at his mind. Good memories, but also heavy.
He blew out a breath and focused on a chipped corner of the fireplace. This house needed work, and that work would take a while because this place was huge. But that was fine. He’d already decided to take a couple months off work to get everything fixed.
He was about to get more of his shit out of the garage when a car sounded outside. His hand twitched to reach for the Glock in its holster. Both his house and the one next door were shielded from traffic noise by long driveways, so the car must be his neighbor’s. He could only hope they didn’t have people over often.
Beyond the window, a small red Honda was pulling in. It stopped in front of the house on the gravel drive. When a woman stepped out, his eyes narrowed.
Average height, long, flowing blonde hair. But it was the clothes that caught his attention. A tight skirt that hit her knees and a blazer. Clothes he’d seen earlier that day.
Because he’d seenher.
No fucking way. The woman with the box of underwear, who’d almost gotten herself killed, was his neighbor? The one with piercing blue eyes and a body so damn soft he’d had to force himself to release her?
He watched as she grabbed some bags from the back and disappeared into the house.
Every part of him already rebelled against having a neighbor. But her? A woman who looked so fucking innocent she just needed a damn halo to complete the image?
He grabbed his bag with too much force and went upstairs, shoving thoughts of the woman out of his head. He hadn’t planned to sleep in his grandfather’s old room, but this was where his shit had been placed by the movers, so it looked like the decision was made.
It only took a few minutes to unpack what he needed for the night, then he pulled the curtain back from the window. The entire front part of his land was visible from here and just a hint of the neighboring house.
He was about to turn when he saw movement from the other side of the fence.
Erik stared at the woman. She’d changed into a large, oversized sweatshirt and the shortest denim shorts he’d ever seen. Fuck, he could almost see her ass.
It was damn cold outside. What the hell was she thinking?
The sun hit her hair, making it glow. Making her look even more like a damn angel.
An angel who was opening the side gate separating their properties and stepping onto his land.
CHAPTER2
Cereal. It was the food of the gods. The nourishment that kept all the had-a-long-day-and-can’t-even-turn-on-the-burner type people alive. Today, it kepthertype of people alive.
It was also the one food Hannah refused to give up for her type 1 diabetes. Technically, she could eat whatever she wanted, she just had to give herself the right amount of insulin. But, as a fully functioning adult, she tried to eat a balanced diet.
Not tonight. Because tonight, all she could think about was her near-death experience. Oh, and those beautiful hazel eyes and that big, strong back… God, who was she kidding? It wasn’t just his back that was perfectly sculpted. It was all of him. Every. Beautiful. Inch.
She lifted the spoon to her mouth, trying her best to ignore the pile of bills to her left. Her stomach sank anyway. The pile was big, and it was expanding every month.
It was officially time for her to start applying for second jobs. Goodbye spare time. It would be hard, but she was used to hard. She’d had it hard her whole life and had always come out the other side stronger.
She spooned another heap of cereal into her mouth, turning toward the view outside the kitchen window, and almost sighed.
Spectacular. And it made every hard moment of her life worth it. She still had to pinch herself to prove that she wasn’t dreaming. That she owned this land.
The house was small, only one bedroom, and when she’d bought it, it hadn’t been even close to habitable. But her friends had pitched in to help renovate, and she’d spent close to a year making it livable, including completely gutting the old bathroom and combining it with the previous second bedroom to create a walk-in closet and new primary bath.
