by Nicola Marsh
I looked into his kind, understanding eyes that seemed to bore straight through me and not care about the devastation simmering below the surface. I could lie to him, but after spending the evening with him I’d started to feel human again.
“This is the first time I’ve been out in a while,” I said, plucking at my serviette until the edges started to fray.
He placed his hand over mine and a tingle skittered up my arm.
“You don’t have to be nervous. I’m not expecting anything from you.”
Heat burned my cheeks. Great, now he thought I was a prude as well as moody.
“It’s not that.”
Relief eased the tension pinching his mouth but he didn’t remove his hand from mine. I liked it.
“Then what’s up?”
Settling for the half-truth to give him something, anything, to stop him scrutinizing me, I blew out a breath. “You’re the first guy I’ve been out with since I’ve come to New York City. And I have no idea what this is. Plus you’re older and into that whole club scene and I feel awkward and untrendy and—”
“I wouldn’t have asked you out if I didn’t want to be with you.”
He squeezed my hand and the tingle spread into my chest, melting the hard knot of icy fear that resided there—the fear I’d never be able to get past Noah’s suicide and forever blame myself.
I crinkled my nose. “I’m not always like this.”
“Great to hang out with, you mean?”
Before I could explain my lapse into moroseness and self-doubt, he released my hand to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. I held my breath as his fingertips, the pads worn smooth from playing the sax, brushed my cheek.
His lopsided smile almost made me believe in a future. “In case you’re wondering, I think you’re pretty cool, Alyssa Wood. Even if you do act a little crazy.”
A part of me ached to tell him the truth, to tell him everything, so there were no secrets between us to mar the exquisite newness of our friendship. But as I looked into his guileless eyes, green flecks sparking amid the gold, the urge to blurt the truth faded away.
I couldn’t change what had happened in Broadwater. But I could change my future.
“Maybe I’m acting a little crazy because you’ve been sending me mixed messages for weeks?” Totally untrue, but I wanted to see if our night out meant anything beyond Ronan being Ronan: ultra cool and heart-stoppingly amazing.
He screwed up his eyes, pretending to think. “Really? From where I’m sitting, sending a girl first-hand, sight-unseen video footage of a guy’s arrangements for a possible album is almost a full-blown declaration.”
Enjoying the shift onto safer ground and his ability to flirt his way around my tenseness, I eyeballed him. “A declaration of what?”
“You know.”
Before I could blink he’d captured my chin in his hand, his gaze riveted on my lips. I inhaled sharply, the heady aromas of toasted bagels and tangy pickles and pastrami tickling my nose, the noise of the deli fading as Ronan inched towards me, building anticipation, driving me crazy. I wanted this but the longer he took the more time I had to second guess and—
His lips touched mine and my world lurched. I strained towards him, my hands clinging to his shoulders, desperate for an anchor. His lips were firm and warm and skillful. Either he’d done this a lot or playing the sax was a prerequisite for seriously hot making out.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that, our lips clinging, our bodies swaying towards each other, but when he eased back I wanted to scream “no”. While Ronan was kissing me I could forget my fears. I could concentrate on living in the moment and feeling buzzed by an amazing guy kissing me. I could pretend that last year never happened and Ronan was the first guy I’d ever kissed, not Noah.
“Let’s hit the road.” He stood, slung my satchel over his shoulder and grabbed the bill. “My treat, okay?”
I wanted to protest and pay half, but that would require speaking and after that kiss I couldn’t formulate a word let alone get my brain and mouth to work in sync.
As he paid, I watched him, my pulse skipping in time with my racing heart. I couldn’t deny that kiss had been incredibly hot—my lips still tingled two minutes later—but Ronan’s appeal was so much more than physical. He joked with the waitress as he handed over cash, ribbed the chef who stuck his head out of the kitchen door for a moment and chatted with a fellow patron who’d left his credit card at home. Simply, Ronan made people feel good.
Considering what I’d been through in the last year, I’d give anything to feel good more regularly. As we stepped out into the frigid air, he took my hand and held it the entire seven blocks to Angie’s apartment.
I didn’t know if the kiss and the handholding meant anything.
I didn’t know if dating a guy like Ronan was possible let alone wise.
I didn’t know much beyond how incredibly safe he made me feel—the first time I’d felt safe in ages.
When we reached the old brownstone where my aunt lived, he took hold of my other hand and tugged me close. “Just so you don’t accuse me of any more mixed messages, once I get home I’m sending you my latest clip.”
“Okay.”
He laughed at my muted enthusiasm. “It’s a song I wrote.” His forehead rested against mine and I closed my eyes, savoring our closeness. “For you.”
His lips found mine again in an all-too-brief parting kiss, over as quickly as it had begun. But I cherished it as much as his declaration. I’d never had a song dedicated to me at Broadwater High discos, let alone had one written for me. It made me feel special in a way I hadn’t in a long time.
He tapped me on the nose. “And just so you know, I only send original songs to special female friends.”
My heart did a happy dance while I grinned. “What? All hundred of them?”
He made a grand show of glancing at his watch. “As of eleven-fifty-three, there’s only one stand-out.”
His knuckles grazed my cheek in a strangely intimate gesture that had me wanting to leap into his arms and wrap my legs around him, like some corny scene out of a romantic movie.
“I had a great time.” His lips brushed mine in a soft, lingering kiss that made me light-headed.
Wow, I could get used to this. Being kissed by a super hot guy, not the wooziness that made me sway a little when our lips eased apart.
“See you tomorrow.” He stared at my mouth for another few seconds before he shook his head slightly, as if trying to clear the fog. I knew the feeling. Confused, befuddled and totally in lust.
I managed a dazed nod as he strode away, the wind whipping his hair around his face and I shouted a belated “thanks for tonight” as he reached the end of the block.
He raised a hand in acknowledgment before rounding the corner and disappearing from sight.
I touched my lips, pressing my fingers against them in the hope I could hold onto the surrealism of having Ronan kiss me. I needed to cling to the dreamlike bubble that had surrounded me the last few hours and believe that we had a future. Needed to forget the horror of how my last relationship had ended, and the fallout I’d fled.
BELIEVE (book 3 in the Soul Retrievers series)
Releasing 2016.
With Alyssa’s soul retriever gift awakening, she needs training and the best teacher is her grandmother, the mysterious Selene.
However, Selene can’t be found so Alyssa’s mother enlists the help of Joel, Selene’s protégée.
While Alyssa’s relationship with sexy saxophonist Ronan blossoms, she can’t deny her growing feelings for Joel. Her hot instructor understands how torn she is between normality and the spiritual world. He seems to know her better than she knows herself.
And what of Noah, her ex-boyfriend whose soul she’s trying to assist toward a better place?
In order to move forward, Alyssa knows she has to keep the faith.
But what if believing comes at a price she isn’t willing to pay?
Al
so check out Nicola Marsh’s new adult series:
CROSSING THE LINE
TOWING THE LINE
BLURRING THE LINE
Available as a boxed set: A WORLD APART series
CROSSING THE LINE
Laying it all on the line for love…
Mia Cresswell is tired of being good.
Achieving geek status at college doesn’t equate with fun. So when she heads home to her dad’s tennis academy in Santa Monica on spring break, she’s determined to be bad. And hot Aussie tennis star Kye Sheldon is just the guy to help her do it.
However, Kye’s troubled past continues to dog him and attending the Cresswell Tennis Academy is his last chance at the big time. He can’t afford to screw up…by screwing the boss’s daughter.
But Mia and Kye’s relationship is much more than a vacation fling.
Will it be game, set, match, when the truth is revealed?
Or will Mia and Kye have a real shot at love all?
TOWING THE LINE
I need a new start. Anonymity. In a country where no-one will know me, and the havoc I create.
Not all the rumors about me are true. But I made one mistake too many in LA and attending an Australian college for a few semesters is the perfect solution.
I plan on avoiding guys. But the part-time tutor and sexy Aussie artist Ashton? Has me re-evaluating the wisdom of being a reformed bad girl.
Ash is aloof, dedicated, serious, and I must corrupt him. So I seduce him. Not expecting to fall in love for the first time. And the last.
Because Ash has high standards and when he learns the truth about me, he’ll join the long list of people in my life pretending I don’t exist.
BLURRING THE LINE
Annabelle Cleary travels half way around the world...to fall in love with the boy next door all over again.
Completing her degree at a college in Denver may just be the most exciting thing this small town girl has ever done. Until she discovers her new mentor is Joel Goodes, the guy who once rocked her world.
Joel isn't a keeper. He'll break her heart again. But Annabelle can't resist the sexy Aussie at his devastating best and soon they're indulging in an all-too-brief fling.
Annabelle wants it all: career, relationship and kids, in the hometown she's always loved. The same town that holds nothing but bad memories for Joel.
When they return to Australia, will it be a homecoming they'll never forget?
Have you read Nicola Marsh’s award-winning young adult novel
SCION OF THE SUN?
In the blink of an eye, 16-year-old Holly Burton's unremarkable life is shaken to the core. A vision of the mother Holly never knew leaves her questioning everything she once believed about her past and possible future.
But when Holly's fresh start at a boarding school for highly gifted students in Wolfebane, New Hampshire, turns out to be anything but, she realizes just how bad things can get. Holly's transported into a parallel existence and confronted with a dark and ancient evil.
With the help of Joss, a sexy alpha warrior sworn to protect her, and her new BFF, the equally swoon-worthy Quinn, Holly faces her fears and takes on a most unlikely adversary in a showdown that is worse than anything she could've possibly imagined.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA TODAY bestselling and multi-award winning author Nicola Marsh writes flirty fiction with flair for adults and riveting, eerie stories for young adults.
Based in Melbourne, she has published 54 books with Harlequin, Entangled Publishing and indie, and sold over 6 million copies worldwide. Her first indie release, Crazy Love, was a 2012 ARRA (Australian Romance Readers Award) finalist. Her paranormal urban fantasy Scion of the Sun (Month9Books) won 2014 Best Young Adult novel in the National Readers’ Choice Awards.
She’s also a Waldenbooks and Bookscan bestseller, a 2013 RBY (Romantic Book of the Year) and National Readers’ Choice Award winner, a multi-finalist for awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, RBY (RWAus Romantic Book of the Year), HOLT Medallion, Booksellers’ Best Award, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, More than Magic and has also won several CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Awards.
A physiotherapist for thirteen years, she now adores writing full time, chasing after her two young heroes, barracking loudly for her North Melbourne Kangaroos footy team and her favorite, curling up with a good book!
She also loves interacting with readers.
She blogs at https://nicolamarsh.blogspot.com
Tweets incessantly https://twitter.com/NicolaMarsh
Chatters on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NicolaMarshAuthor
Answers emails at [email protected]
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