Needs A Little TLC (Spinning Hills Romance 2) by Inés Saint

but her presence was so forceful that whatever she was really feeling radiated around her. At the moment, Sam felt as if a python was wrapping itself around his manhood, cutting off all circulation.
    “Why, hello, Samuel. I see you found Cassie’s old bike. How nice of you to bring it by. Good-bye now.”
    Sam didn’t know if Sandy McGillicuddy was saying good-bye because she was leaving or because she was dismissing him. His gaze settled on Cassie and he raised an eyebrow.
    Cassie caught the look. “Bye, Mom,” she said, kissing her cheek.
    Mrs. McGillicuddy swept past him, shooting Cassie a significant look, before taking the cold front she carried off with her. “I fixed the hand brakes,” he said to Cassie the moment her mom slammed the door to her white Jag.
    “Why?”
    Sam could pretend she was referring to the hand brakes, but with her arms crossed and eyes hard, she was in confrontational mode.
    He shrugged one shoulder and shifted from one leg to the other. “Peace offering.”
    Cassie nodded. “I think we can manage peace.”
    Sam took a step back, preparing to leave, his goal accomplished, but a long, drawn-out sigh and professional eye roll from Cassie stopped him. “What?”
    “You think you can fix my old bike, grunt ‘peace offering,’ and we’re good?”
    “You want to talk?” He should’ve known. Johnny was always saying women had a biological need to talk things out.
    “I think we need to set boundaries if we’re going to be effective business partners, and that requires talking, yes.” She flashed him a halfhearted version of her old mocking grin and Sam looked away.
    In his experience, everyone had a type, and Cassie had always been his. Eyes perpetually lit up with good intentions, pretty face sprinkled with freckles, and flaming hair that matched her vibrancy . . . she had always looked too damn loveable for his own good.
    She peeled away at a layer of old paint on the porch post. “Jake looks just like you, and he has so much of Johnny and Dan in him, too. If what happened hadn’t happened, then Jake might not be here.” She sighed. “Meeting him made me realize that being mad over something that happened ten years ago doesn’t make sense. I’m also where I am because of what happened, and I like where I am.”
    Sam stood very still, letting her words seep in. This was a new start indeed.
    “But, like I said, we need to establish some boundaries,” she continued, when he didn’t speak. “We’re not friends anymore, either.”
    “You picked up with Johnny and Dan exactly where you left off.” He looked up and shook his head when he saw the alarmed look in her eye. “I don’t mean to say we should pick up where we left off, but maybe we can be friends, too.”
    Her smile was wide and genuine now. Her lips looked as soft as he remembered them. A zing shot from his chest out to his limbs and he shifted again. “It feels as if Dan and Johnny have been living next door all these years. But I don’t know about us trying to be friends again, and it’s not because you were once my boyfriend and you hurt me. The pain that still lingers is that you were my best friend and you hurt me, just when I needed you most.”
    “I’m sorry.” Simple words, but he felt them deeply. Always had. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he took a chance and said, “For what it’s worth, I tried my damndest to reach out after you left, but your father wouldn’t tell me where you were and your mother wouldn’t even talk to me.”
    Cassie’s eyes widened. “You went to my parents?”
    They locked gazes. So many things he wanted to say. But he never knew how to start these types of conversations. When it came to the important things, people heard and believed what they wanted to hear and believe. He swallowed hard, not sure he had any right to question her about anything. “You say I let you down just when you needed me most . . . but I was in the dark, Cass. Something was going on, but you