Tyler by Celina McKane

Tyler:

She’s even more beautiful than I remember – but if I touch her, I know I’ll destroy her.
When my mother died, all I wanted was to see Ariana’s beautiful face. Her sparkling green eyes and sweet nature could brighten even my darkest day, but I was in no shape to see her. So instead I ended up knocking back a few too many beers with my best friend, her brother Brandon.
That was the night everything went to hell.
Seventeen years later, I still remember the way her beautiful eyes flashed with rage on the day I left town. All I could say was, “I’m sorry,” and I feel like I’ve been saying it ever since.
Now, after all these years, I’m being called back home. Back to that place of pain and guilt and shame…and back to her, the most gorgeous woman in the world. The only girl I ever loved.
But fifteen years of Army Special Ops have broken me, turned me into even more of a monster than I already was. This visit has to be a simple get in, get out mission…because if I take one look at Ariana, I know I’ll be lost.
And she’ll be doomed.

Ariana:

He’s tough but sensitive, scarred but sexy, so familiar…but not the man I knew.
I honestly thought I’d never see him again. Actually, we all thought he’d died years ago…but here he is, large as life. Larger, even – he’s gained a lot of muscle in the past seventeen years. And a lot of scars.
Tyler was my first love, my first taste of passion, my first everything. We were perfect.
And then, on the worst day possible, he abandoned me.
Oh, I got over it…sort of. There are some things you never get over. And the news I’ve been waiting seventeen years to tell him? Definitely one of those things.