Summer Nights and Fireflies — S.L. Sterling

Blind dates aren't my thing. Never were. However, when Liam and Maya tell me they have the perfect woman for me, I'm intrigued. Who do they think is perfect? Maya's best friend Bexley. I'll admit, she's right. She's sexy as hell. A firecracker. One I'd love to make explode… but there is only one problem, I don't do relationships. Why don't I do them? I'll tell you why. I'd been in love once, back in high school. So much so that when she got pregnant our senior year, I wasn't upset or worried. We were meant to be. Two months later, the night of graduation, she lay dead on a slab inside the city morgue. A drunk driver hit her. It was then I'd decided never to love anyone again and I'd managed to keep that promise to myself, until now. Not a single woman had tempted me the way Bexley does, and she is the exact opposite of the woman I'd first loved. As we get to know one another she shares with me that she also doesn't date. I knew I shouldn't have asked but I did, and once I investigate what she tells me, I can't even bring myself to look at her. It's clear that my heart wants Bexley because while we're apart she is all I can think about. I just need to figure out how to allow myself to let go of what I know of her past and let her in.