Page 1 of Never the Same

Prologue

Hollis

Charleston, South Carolina; June 2027

“I could’ve been naked. What the hell are you doing in here?” Reed lingered in the bathroom doorway, a towel slung low around his hips, water still beading along his collarbone. I’d been waiting a good ten minutes for him to find me on his bed, petting his dog.

“And what would be so bad about that?”

His jaw flexed. “You’re just lucky I didn’t pull a gun on you like the last time you broke in.”

“From where, beneath your towel?” I asked with a laugh. “Besides, that home invasion ended just fine, didn’t it? I walked away without a single bullet hole.”

“Traitor,” he said to Ranger instead of acknowledging me, then motioned for him to get off the bed. I followed the order and stood as well.

Ranger sat protectively at my feet, as if worried his dad might bite me.

I mean . . .

Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to happen.

“Not his fault he didn’t give you a heads-up I was here. He loves me.”

“No clue why,” he grunted.

I ignored him, opting to take a moment to not-so guiltily check out his physique, because a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

Reed tore his hands through his dark hair, trying to tame the wild, wet strands with only his fingers. All he managed to do was free more water droplets, and they cascaded down to his broad chest.

I zeroed in on the tattoo scrolled across his rib in fancy black script and blurted out, “What’s that about?”

“You’ve known me for months, which means you’re well aware of the fact I don’t talk about myself.” He shoved away from the doorframe, and Ranger howled a little warning at him to behave. “Why would I start now?”

I continued to key in on what was written across the one rib, ideas percolating as to what it meant. “As someone who keeps their walls so high they might touch the stars . . .” I forced my eyes back up to his. “. . . I can respect your unwillingness to share.”

For whatever reason, my answer only seemed to annoy him more. He stopped before me, close enough that our Belgian Malinois barrier began whacking his tail against his daddy’s shins.

I did something both bold and stupid. I let my hand act on its own accord. Instead of tracing the tattoo, I went for his hair.

Reed immediately snatched my wrist, as if I’d left behind a trail of insults with that quick touch.

His jaw muscles stopped working themselves to death, and his gaze softened. “What happened to you? Why is there blood on your ear?”

Shit, is there? I jerked my hand back to deal with flyaways from my French braid, a lame attempt to hide what had happened at zero five hundred.

“Where were you before you came here?” He nudged his chin in the direction of his bed, now spotting the package I’d left.

I twisted to the side. “That’s a baby shower gift for Audrey. I was hoping to stash it here until her party.”

“Which isn’t anytime soon.”

“I know, but I had it with me, and I don’t want her finding it in my rental when I pick her and Chase up. We’re going for brunch in the city.”

Audrey was my best friend, and she had a nine-year-old son, Chase, who was my godson. Audrey had recently remarried, and her husband, Alejandro “Alex” Rodriguez, worked at Delta Shield Security with Audrey’s brother, along with Reed.

“What is it?” He stepped around me, picked up the package, and opened the lid. “A baby rattle. Is this thing made of real gold?”

“Of course.” I grabbed the blue box, closed the lid, and went into his walk-in closet, taking it upon myself to hide it. I bent over and set it on a shoebox. When I stood and whipped around, he was now bracing each side of the doorframe, trapping me in there.