Need Me (Broke and Beautiful #2)(63)

“Yeah.”

“I don’t want it.” Ben fell back a step on the sidewalk, positive no one could survive that kind of pain, but she followed him. And she kept coming. “Not without you, Ben. I don’t want it without you.” She wrapped her arms around him, followed by her legs, and then he had her full weight against his body and it was so f*cking intoxicating it took all his willpower to stay standing. Her curves found his muscle and they reacquainted themselves, interlocking like they’d never been apart. He could feel her fingers in his hair, her lips kissing his cheek, his neck, and he could only stand there, stunned and grateful. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I shouldn’t have made you leave. I should have understood.”

“No,” he breathed into her hair, finally allowing his arms to wrap around her. Oh, God. It felt like everything good in the world was concentrated right where they were pressed together. “You’re not sorry. I can’t handle you being sorry.”

“No?” She pulled back to swipe at her eyes. “Can you handle me loving you? Because I do. I love you so much, Ben.” When his head dropped forward into her neck, a watery laugh bubbled from her lips. “Not because you bought me a baseball field, even if it’s the best—the best—gift I’ll ever get for the rest of my life. Thank you.” She slid her fingers into his hair. “I love you for knowing what I needed even when I didn’t. For stealing my alarm clock. Learning how to work the damn tractor. So many reasons. If you still need me, too, you have me. You never stopped having me.”

Ben was pretty sure he would never breathe again, but he forced oxygen into his lungs. “If I need you?” He gave her a hard kiss. “Honey, I don’t need anything else.”

She opened her mouth for his kiss, tongues sliding together, drawing groans from both of them. “Later, you’re going to take me home and show me where you live. Where you sleep.” Her lips edged into a smile. “But first, we’ve got a baseball game to win.”

As he carried her down the sidewalk toward the field, they were greeted by loud, noisy cheers from their friends. Ben could barely hear it over the pounding of his heart.





Can’t get enough of the Broke and Beautiful girls?

Don’t miss Abby’s story . . .





MAKE ME


The next new adult novel from

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

TESSA BAILEY

Coming August 11 from Avon Impulse!





About the Author



New York Times and USA Today bestselling author TESSA BAILEY lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and young daughter. When she isn’t writing or reading romance, Tessa enjoys a good argument and thirty-minute recipes.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.





By Tessa Bailey

Broke and Beautiful

Chase Me

Need Me

Line of Duty

Protecting What’s Theirs

Staking His Claim

Asking for Trouble

Officer Off Limits

His Risk to Take

Protecting What’s His

Unfixable (New Adult)





Give in to your impulses . . .

Read on for a sneak peek at four brand-new e-book original tales of romance from HarperCollins.

Available now wherever e-books are sold.

CHANGING EVERYTHING

A FORGIVING LIES NOVELLA By Molly McAdams

CHASE ME

A BROKE AND BEAUTIFUL NOVEL

By Tessa Bailey

YOURS TO HOLD

RIBBON RIDGE BOOK TWO

By Darcy Burke

THE ELUSIVE LORD EVERHART

THE RAKES OF FALLOW HALL SERIES

By Vivienne Lorret





An Excerpt from

CHANGING EVERYTHING



A Forgiving Lies Novella by Molly McAdams Paisley Morro has been in love with Eli Jenkins since they were thirteen years old. But after twelve years of being only his best friend and wingman, the heartache that comes from watching him with countless other women becomes too much, and Paisley decides it’s time to lay all her feelings on the table.





Paisley


I fidgeted with my coffee cup as I tried to find the courage to say what I’d held back for so long. Twelve years. Twelve years of waiting, hoping, and aching were about to come to an end. With a deep breath in, I looked up into the blue eyes of my best friend, Eli, and tensed my body as I began.

“This guy I met, Brett, he’s—well, he’s different. Like, he’s a game changer for me. I look at him, and I have no doubt of that. I have no doubt that I could spend the rest of my life with him.” I laughed uneasily and shrugged. “And I know that sounds crazy after only a few weeks, but, honestly, I knew it the first day I met him. I don’t know how to explain it. It wasn’t like the world stopped turning or anything, there was just a feeling I had.” Swallowing past the tightness in my throat, I glanced away for a moment as I strained to hold on to the courage I’d been building up all week. “But there’s this other guy, and I swear this guy owns my soul.”

Eli crossed his arms and his eyebrows rose, but I didn’t allow myself to decipher what his expression could mean at that moment. If I tried to understand him—like I always did—then I would quickly talk myself out of saying the words I’d been thinking for far too long.