Vicious, thick scars lay across his back, the skin raised where it had been split open and then left to heal. I saw the ones that ran across his shoulders, first. Then my eyes roamed lower and I saw the ones on his upper back. I started praying under my breath that the next scar would be the last one, but they went on and on, slashing across his lower back in cruel efficiency, as if the person who’d left them hadn’t wanted to leave an inch untouched. They only stopped an inch above where the towel clung to the hard cheeks of his ass.

I stared in shock. Who would do this?! How could someone…. The more I looked, the more sadistic details I saw. The scars were layered, wound on top of wound, criss-crossing. This wasn’t just one event, this was time after time. And at the end of some of the scars, there were extra marks where something had cut in deeper, something square. The buckle of a belt.

He carried this with him, hidden under his suit, cloaked by that cocky grin. Danny! I just wanted to put my arms around him and hug him close.

He dressed slowly and then looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearly ten a.m. but Danny didn’t move. In fact, he sighed and leaned back against a locker.

I suddenly realized that he wasn’t running late. He was deliberately killing time in here, waiting until the last possible minute before he went through to where everyone was gathered. He was avoiding someone. But that didn’t make sense, he was one of the team, he saw these guys every day—

My stomach lurched. He was avoiding me. He’d just been flirting in the garage, and now he didn’t want to run into the geeky girl who’d read too much into it.

I stepped back to leave but, at that second, he glanced around and saw me. Those glittering green eyes locked with mine and—

It was an animal reaction, before thoughts could get in the way. A wave of raw heat that shot through the air and slammed right into me. I felt like I’d been pushed right out of my clothes and pinned, naked and wriggling, against the far wall, his mouth on my neck. The heat flooded my body, filling me up, leaving me gasping. He wanted me. Here. Now. Up against the lockers or on the tiled floor.

He took a step towards me as if pulled, his eyes narrowed with lust.

My whole body had gone trembly and weak and the blood was thundering in my ears. I swallowed, feeling drunk.

Then he faltered and stopped. He looked away for a second and, when he looked back, the lust was contained, just barely. And with it was a longing that made my chest go tight.