Beyond Doubt (Beyond Love Series #2)

by Bolton, Karice

  To my wonderful husband and mom. Thank you for always believing in me. And to my marvelous Street Team! It is so much fun getting to chat with you all on a daily basis. I’m so lucky to have such a fun group of people surrounding me! Per your suggestion, I’ve included the playlist. Great idea, Heidi!

  Copyright © 2013 Karice Bolton

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, and events either are the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Contact the Author

  To contact the author, please visit her online at http://www.karicebolton.com or via

  Twitter/Facebook @KariceBolton.

  If you’d like to be included on her mailing list to find out about

  new releases, click here or go to Karice Bolton’s website.

  BOOKS BY KARICE BOLTON

  THE WITCH AVENUE SERIES

  LONELY SOULS

  ALTERED SOULS

  RELEASED SOULS

  SHATTERED SOULS

  THE WATCHERS TRILOGY

  AWAKENING

  LEGIONS

  CATACLYSM

  TAKEN NOVELLA (A Watchers Prequel)

  THE CAMP

  BEYOND LOVE SERIES

  BEYOND CONTROL

  BEYOND DOUBT

  BEYOND REASON - Coming Soon

  AFTERWORLD SERIES

  RecruitZ - Coming Soon

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  THANKSGIVING RECIPES

  PLAYLIST

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  AWAKENING EXCERPT (WATCHERS TRILOGY)

  LONELY SOULS EXCERPT (WITCH AVENUE SERIES)

  The elevator chimed, barely bringing me out of my morning fog, and I took one graceful step forward, tripping right into the carriage. My mishap scared the yawn right out of me, but I was met with a deep, gravelly chuckle, and my heart instantly skipped a beat. I wasn’t expecting an audience so early in the morning.

  “Good morning,” a vaguely familiar voice greeted me.

  Oh no! How could this be?

  “Having a little difficulty staying upright?” he teased and that was all it took. I knew who was on the other side of the voice before I even looked.

  I raised my head and locked eyes with him—the one man in the universe who was off-limits, my best friend’s brother. He was also the one man who’d managed to sneak into my dreams last night and take charge.

  Heaven could be so cruel in the love department.

  The intense charisma he projected from just one smile was enough to melt me, or anyone, in place. His features were magnificently chiseled, and his eyes held a playful curiosity as he raised a dark brow waiting for a response of some sort.

  I felt a blush creep up my spine landing on my cheeks as my mind wandered to a few of the images that my memory left behind from the night before. His hands skirting along my belly, his mouth following—just to name a few. I usually loved my active imagination but not so much at the moment.

  To top it off he looked out-of-this-world delicious, even this early in the morning. And that should be illegal. His dark hair was mussed just right and his black suit stretched along his chest, matching my dreams from the night before. He flashed another smile and his brown eyes immediately warmed as he took me in. Tiny little creases around his eyes formed as his smile grew larger at my apparent inability to stop gawking, or reminiscing. Either way, I got the feeling that he knew he had the upper hand, and I had to change that.

  I turned around quickly and pushed the lobby button. The silver doors slid shut, and the elevator felt like it was the size of a narrow, toothpick holder as I debated what to do or say. My inclination was to hold onto the railing, but that would be a dead giveaway that he was taking my breath away. The elevator began gliding down swiftly when I became one with my words again.

  “What are you doing here?” I blurted, refusing to turn to face him.

  “It’s nice to see you too,” he laughed.

  I felt his gaze run along my body, and with every fiber of my being, I wanted to be the good friend that Gabby deserved. I wanted to be repulsed from his adoration.

  But I wasn’t.

  In fact, I loved the feeling this encounter stirred inside of me. It didn’t help that the images my mind conjured the night before were on fast-forward as I squeezed my eyes shut.

  “Brandy, wasn’t it?” he asked, slicing my strength in half. His voice was so masculine, and beyond a doubt, the sexiest voice I’d ever heard.

  Get a grip, Brandy!

  I nodded, allowing my mind to take control.

  “Jerry, was it?” I asked, knowing damn well his name was Aaron. And I remembered calling it out a time or two last night in my deep sleep.

  His laughter boomed inside the elevator’s tight quarters, and I was unable to hide my smile. I felt the magnificent energy run between us, and my body tingled at the thought. Of him. Of me. Of him and me. But were these feelings only brewing because I knew I couldn’t have him, and he was nothing more than a safe and casual flirt?

  The elevator hit a bump right before it landed at the lobby, and I was thrown off-kilter as I took a step toward the doors.

  I let out a sigh just as his fingertips gripped my arms from behind, taking me completely off guard. My belly muscles contracted as I felt his soft touch signal something deep inside me that I wanted nothing to do with.

  “Glad I was so memorable,” his voice rumbled. “It was Aaron.”

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked, spinning to face him.

  “It looked like you were about to go over again,” he said, smiling innocently, his eyes piercing. “Just wanted to protect my sister’s best friend from tumbling.”

  Neither of us could deny the energy that was running between us, but I was going to do my best. My friendship with Gabby was far more important than anything this could ever amount to. That I was sure of. He was trouble. I could tell by the gleam in his eye, his mussed up hair, and that look. I would only amount to a prize he could stack with the other females he’d acquired. I could sense that much about him. If there was one thing I got out of college, it was how to sniff out a player. And he was a player—among other things.

  His phone rang, and his one hand let go of me as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket. He silenced it quickly, before he slid it back in his pocket and locked eyes on mine once more.

  I shrugged his remaining fingers from my other arm, turned around, and proceeded off the elevator in a quick strut but not before he caught up to me.

  “Where were we?” he asked, knowingly.
<
br />   The magnetism he exuded was impossible to miss as he moved ever so smoothly through the lobby. I noticed all the necks turn to watch him glide after me, and I got the distinct feeling I was in over my head. I still wasn’t sure of what terrible things Gabby’s long lost brother had done, but if she said they existed, then I believed her.

  “I was headed for a latte, and I have no idea what you were up to. As of now I’m beginning to feel like you’re stalking me,” I said, pushing my way through the revolving glass doors.

  The sidewalk was bustling with workers headed to the many skyscrapers that were stationed in this corner of the city. I passed by a gardener and said a friendly hi as he was watering the building’s large planters. I hoped that Aaron would get the message: the gardener was more interesting than you, buddy!

  “Do you think that’s how I operate to get a woman in bed?” he asked, his lips tugging into a smile. “I tend to like my women agreeable and excited, not frightened and on the run.”

  The shock of his statement did nothing but delight me, which told me my only line of defense was to pretend he didn’t exist. Besides, he couldn’t exist, not in my world.

  I ignored him, trying to stifle a laugh and decided not to go to the coffee shop across the street. My plan was to shake him.

  I had to shake him.

  “Still going to get coffee?” he asked, his low voice vibrating my common sense right out of me.

  “Yes. That was the plan,” I said, attempting to act dismissive. But that’s all it was—an act.

  “Is there a problem with the Starbucks across the street?”

  “I don’t like it.” I pursed my lips together and kept walking. And that was a complete lie. It happened to be my favorite near the office. They knew my name and drink before I even got to the counter.

  “You don’t like Starbucks or you don’t like that particular Starbucks?”

  “That particular one,” I replied, walking quicker.

  “And why’s that?”

  I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to face him.

  So much for my plan.

  “Are you always used to getting what you want?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Mostly.” The corner of his mouth turned up slightly, and I wanted to deck him and jump him simultaneously.

  “Then what is it you want?” I asked, his eyes intense as amusement filled them.

  “How about I buy you a cup of coffee and we can discuss.”

  “I can buy my own, and I was planning on it being a solitary act.”

  “You know you’re curious,” he whispered, taking a step closer. “I can see it in your eyes.”

  I wondered what else he could see in my eyes…the fact that he was the main character in all my fantasies the night before, or how about the guilt that was pulsing through me since I allowed him in my dreams in the first place? Either one was a viable option, but I hoped I wasn’t that transparent.

  Against everything I stood for—and the friendship I cherished above everything in my life—I nodded in agreement.

  “I’ll give you five minutes and that’s it,” I muttered, unable to look him in the eye.

  “Great. I think I can relay my proposition to you in that amount of time,” he grumbled, as I spun around to the crosswalk.

  Proposition?

  Trying to shake the gnawing feeling of desperation tinged with excitement, I darted across the road and landed at the Starbucks that was completely out of the way, and he was right behind me.

  The line wove through the coffee shop, allowing me to peer at all the mugs and trinkets as I stood waiting for what seemed like hours. I needed to do anything but look at him. Keeping myself busy tracing the lines of the mugs with the space needle etched onto the ceramic, I was surprised that he wasn’t speaking—relieved—but surprised.

  And then I jinxed it by sneaking a look out of the corner of my eye.

  “So I’m sure you’ve heard all sorts of things from my sister,” Aaron began, completely throwing me off guard.

  “Actually, I haven’t heard a thing about you. Ever. And the ride home with her last night provided just as many insights,” I said quietly, before stepping up to the counter to place my latte order.

  Digging for my debit card, I felt Aaron’s body come deathly close to mine as he recited his drink order to the waiting cashier. He was no more than an inch or two behind me, and with one accidental wiggle, I’d find my body pressed up against his. He swiftly handed over a twenty-dollar bill to handle both of our drinks, and I let out a disgruntled grunt. He placed his one hand on my shoulder as he waited for his change, and my body wanted to sink into his. Even though it was an innocent gesture, it felt far more escalated and like he was staking claim, or at least that was what I hoped. My heartbeat quickened as I felt the space between us shrink. This was absurd. The feelings that were crashing around inside of me from merely being in close proximity to him were crazy. It felt like all my nerves were on end, tingling with the slightest movement, the slightest touch.

  He was good.

  Too good.

  Too experienced.

  Anger began to quickly replace the amusement that had momentarily settled in my mind as I got my wits about me. Who did he think he was?

  I didn’t want to make a scene in front of everybody at Starbucks. But, again, who did he think he was? He took his change and dumped it all into the tip jar before taking a step back from me. Was that supposed to impress me?

  A big tipper. Whoopie!

  Letting out the breath that I didn’t even know I was holding in, I scowled at him and marched to the end of the bar.

  “You’re welcome,” he said, grinning as he came up behind me.

  “Thank you,” I muttered, staring at the barista as she placed the lid on my cup.

  “Have a good day,” the perky barista said. But somehow her gaze didn’t include me while she stared at Aaron, smiling.

  “We will,” Aaron replied. I could almost hear the wink in his voice as he grabbed his drink off the counter.

  The nerve!

  I walked away from the bar toward an empty table for two. The morning paper was scattered across it, which I shoved to the side. I had to get my head on straight. He was off-limits. He flirted with anything that had a pulse. He was a creep. He was a player. And most importantly, he was my best friend’s long lost brother.

  But he was gorgeous, and there was something so intriguing about him.

  “Beneath that scowl, I know there’s more,” Aaron said, pulling out the chair from the table.

  “You are bad news,” I said, confident in my best friend’s assessment. After all, he was her brother. She would know.

  He arched a brow and crossed his arms, stretching the suit jacket’s material to its maximum. I could only imagine the definition under that material. No, let me rephrase. I already had imagined the definition under the fabric, and it was not for the faint of heart.

  “I won’t disagree with that,” he said, clearly amused.

  Annoyed, I took a sip of my latte and let my gaze fall to the brown tile floor and then to my phone. It was a quarter to eight. I didn’t have to be to my lovely cubicle for fifteen minutes.

  “So what was it you wanted to discuss with me? A proposition of some sort?” I scoffed, feeling his eyes on mine.

  There was silence. He was waiting for something.

  I looked up and his gaze fastened to mine. That’s what he was waiting for.

  “I thought Gabby would have told you about me,” he began.

  “All I know is that I didn’t even know you existed until last night.” And I wished it had stayed that way. God, his lips were full and…

  “I don’t know what I was expecting,” Aaron said, his tone softening, the playfulness leaving. “I’ve done some things I’m not proud of.”

  “Yeah?” I asked, not amused. “Care to elaborate?”

  “Listen, I want the chance to talk to my sister, apologize to her, explain things to her. A lo
t happened and…” his voice trailed off, catching me off guard. The confidence completely evaporated from him, and his ego dissolved into nothingness. He ran his fingers through his dark hair as he thought about what next to say. His mouth puckered as he blew out air and looked toward the ceiling. He looked so vulnerable, nothing like the man chasing me down the sidewalk.

  “I think you’re the key to getting to speak with my sister,” he replied flatly.

  Shaking my head, I broke my gaze from his. “Not going to happen. If she wants to talk to you, she will. I’m not going to force anything. I don’t know what happened between you two, but I want no part of it. She’s my best friend and as far as I’m concerned you don’t exist until she says you do.”

  “Brutal,” he muttered, scooting forward in his seat.

  “Whatever bad blood is between you two… is between you two. Buying me a cup of coffee isn’t going to make me forget where my loyalty resides. She’s like a sister to me and what we’ve been through binds us together forever. Having a good looking, not-so-sweet-talking brother pop up out of the blue isn’t going to shake that. You may be able to weasel your way with others but not with me. You want to talk to her? Grow a pair and talk to her.”

  And with that, I grabbed my cup and purse and walked out of the Starbucks. But something inside me told me it wasn’t going to be the last of him, no matter how hard I tried to make it so.

  Twelve hours earlier…

  “Are you going to be okay?” I asked, noticing Gabby walking a bit like Frankenstein. “Your shoulders look like they’re up to your ears.”

  Gabby nodded, and I felt her discomfort from here. Poor girl. I had no idea what was happening, but the almost perfect life I thought Gabby lived seemed to be shattering with every step closer to this stranger. I wanted to be angry that my best friend didn’t tell me she had a brother, but I was just baffled. Yet, here I was about to meet him. I continued following her through the scattered tables until we slowed some. Her hesitancy worried me.