Taken By The Heart (4 Contemporary Romance Novellas)

by Sierra Rose

  I sipped my coffee, coolly watching him, when I was screaming on the inside. “Email.”

  “From who?”

  I laughed humorlessly. “I don’t know. Whoever it was used your name in the ‘from’ box, but judging by your face, it wasn’t you.”

  He sighed and rubbed a hand across his forehead. “I’m sorry, Miranda. I met Amber before I met you. We had fun, but you’re more than just fun. You’re what I want.”

  I pointed to the phone. “Well I can’t tell. And don’t try to lie and say those photos were taken before we met because that car show was three weeks ago.”

  He swallowed hard and looked down. “I know.”

  “So you’re still seeing her then.” It was more of a statement.

  He nodded. “Yes, but I’m calling it off with her today. She’s a little psycho and possessive, that’s why I hadn’t done it yet. But I swear, I’ll call her right now.”

  “Ya know what?” I said, standing and grabbing my coffee and the phone, “Good luck with the Marines and all those fake weekend operations, and your life in Miami, and whatever else you’re doing. I don’t have time, nor do I deserve someone who only wants to give me half his time. A guy who truly wants me will want to spend every spare minute with me, not every other weekend, or half of his vacation.” My voice hitched at the end and I was mad for it.

  I stormed out of the coffee shop and he followed me. “Wait!”

  I didn’t. I just kept walking to my little red Civic and as I hit the key fob, I felt Chris’s hand on my shoulder. “Miranda, I’m sorry.” I could swear I saw his blue eyes glistening, and I almost lost it.

  He pulled me to his chest and I offered little resistance. God, he smelled good.

  “Please stay. Let’s talk,” he whispered into my hair and I wondered why I was still standing here being manipulated by this beautiful, cheating boy.

  I shook my head and didn’t bother to wipe the tears falling down my cheeks. I opened the car door and sat in the driver’s seat. Before I slammed the door closed, I looked up at him, as he still stood by the car. “Goodbye, Chris.”

  Six Months Later

  “Two, please,” Jason said to the pretty hostess at the fancy island restaurant he took me to to celebrate me finishing my junior year at U.C. San Diego.

  I had met Jason just a week after my breakup with Chris, and while I should have given myself some time, I fell in instant lust with Jason when I saw him in his camouflage uniform. He had been standing in line at the small taco bar I loved to go to every Friday. You can’t beat the authentic Mexican food in southern California. He had smiled as he let me go ahead of him in line, and I melted at the pools of warmth in his chocolate eyes. His hair was as black as night, and I could tell his body was fit beneath his fatigues. As I sat to eat by myself, he asked if he could join me and the rest, as they say, is history.

  As the hostess seated us, I was about to sit down and froze. There was Chris and, I assumed, Amber, although I couldn’t be sure, as she wasn’t wearing a bikini as she had been in most of the pictures in the now-deleted slideshow. Chris and I briefly made eye-contact and I had to look away, as the look in his eyes was first surprise, then something close to affection – even pain. There was no way I was going there again.

  I made Jason trade places with me at the table so I wouldn’t have to stare at Chris and his date, saying I wanted to face the window and he didn’t even question it. I purposely made more public displays of affection with Jason than I normally would for Chris’s sake. He had to know I was happy and didn’t miss him one bit, even if it was a lie.

  I never once turned around to see if Chris was watching us. He could have up and left for all I knew. I refused to even be bothered by it, and as we made to leave, I was forced to look at the table. They were still sitting there, drinking coffee and talking. I didn’t look in his direction again, but as we passed the table, Jason stopped.

  “Hey, Ferguson, what are you doing here?”

  I stiffened when I heard Jason address Chris, and was forced, out of manners, to look at Chris and Amber. I smiled absently.

  “Dinner.” Chris’s one word answer.

  “This is my girlfriend, Miranda,” Jason said proudly, grabbing my hand and kissing it.

  Chris introduced us to Amber and I kept the fake smile plastered on my face.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, then looked at my date. “Jason, can we go? I don’t feel so well.” Then I shot a look at Chris.

  “It was nice meeting you, too, Miranda,” Amber said with a hint of facetiousness in her tone to our retreating figures.

  Once we got to the car, I asked Jason, “How do you know that guy?”

  He started up the engine of his new blue Mustang and said, “He’s in my battalion. He dated my sister a few times.”

  That piqued my interest. “Is that so?”

  “Yeah,” he said, putting the car in gear. “He’s a real asshole.”

  ***

  I was sitting at Starbucks a month later, studying. My iPod in my ears and a plain black coffee on the table in front of me, I felt a headache brewing from the statistics I was staring at. I really hated math but I needed this class as part of my graduation requirements so I decided to just buckle down and do it.

  As the numbers swam in front of my face, I rubbed my hand on my forehead, trying to memorize them for the test I was sure to fail come Thursday.

  As I flipped the page of my textbook, I saw the chair in front of me slide out and someone slide in. I looked up to see Chris sitting there, sweetness, regret, and uncertainty dancing in his blue eyes.

  Mine, however, flashed with anger as my stomach did a summersault. I slipped the earbuds out of my ears. “What do you want, Chris?”

  “I knew I’d find you here.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “You didn’t answer my question, stalker.”

  He laughed nervously. “I didn’t stalk you, I swear. I just wanted to talk to you.”

  “About what?” I asked, attitude lacing my words.

  He took a deep breath and smiled. “I broke up with Amber.”

  “So?” I took a sip of my coffee as if I didn’t care. Even though I had to admit, I was a bit curious.

  “Well I just thought you should know. I wanted to apologize again for my behavior. Amber is a… hard person to break up with.”

  I smiled coolly. “So what you’re trying to say is, you lacked the balls, or the intestinal fortitude to break up with her so you could be with me? So you just thought, ‘What the heck, I’ll date them both!’?”

  His face grew serious. “It really wasn’t like that, Miranda. I mean, Amber and I were on a downslope anyway. I should have had the… intestinal fortitude, as you said, to just break it off with her. It was my fault and I take full responsibility.”

  I stared at him. I had no idea what I should say. He looked and smelled so good, I knew if I sat here much longer, I would probably cave and agree to see him again. Or, God forbid, sleep with him. His eyes were pleading for forgiveness but what happens if I forgive him? Am I expected to just forget his cheating ways and pretend everything’s okay? No, I’m not.

  “Chris, I appreciate the apology. And you know what? I’m over it. I’m over you, I have been for a while. But I will offer you forgiveness because I believe that will help us both in this situation. So, Chris, I forgive you.” I stood up, slid the book off the table, along with my coffee, and looked at him. “Have a nice day.”

  He stood up and looked at me incredulously. “Have a nice day? Are you serious?”

  I sighed, exasperated. I need to get out of here. “What do you want, Chris?”

  He grabbed my free hand and rubbed his thumb over mine. “Please say you’ll see me again. I miss you so much. I can’t stop thinking about you and our time together. I was stupid. Please give me another chance.”

  I gently pulled my hand out of his warm one. “Chris, giving you another chance would make me the fool, wouldn’t it? Please don’t call m
e or try to see me. Goodbye.”

  I turned, made my way to the front door, and went outside to my Civic. I got in and swiped at the tears falling unchecked from my eyes. Why did he still have this effect on me? I was still seeing Jason, he was good to me, but he was no Chris. He didn’t affect me the way Chris did, or does, I should admit to myself. What is it about unavailable men that I seem to attract – and be attracted to?

  I’m damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.

  As I drove away, I saw him getting onto his motorcycle, his face turned toward me. I was tempted, so tempted, to get back with him, to give him another chance. But how could I? If he did it to Amber, he would do it to me. Men like him, boys like him… they don’t change. I know everyone deserves a second chance, but I just can’t be the one to risk being hurt again if he is truly the type who can’t stay faithful to one woman. If you want to know someone’s future, look at their past. That’s what my dad always tells me. And I knew nothing of Chris except what he had done to both me and Amber. I hoped he found happiness one day, and I hoped he stayed faithful to whoever he ended up with. It just wasn’t going to be me.

  I deserve better… don’t I?

  THE END

  AUTHOR’S NOTE:

  Out of all the “fan mail” I get, this short story about Chris and Miranda is the one I get questioned about the most. Since you all don’t think their story is finished, I plan to do a book about them at a later date. Please watch my Facebook page or Website for the release of that. It will have the same title as this short story. Thank you for being passionate readers, and as an author, I appreciate you reading my stories.

  And now, please enjoy a short excerpt from my full-length novel, “Patriotic Duty” (A contemporary romance about Miranda’s friend, Cara) which is free to download everywhere e-books are sold!

  Synopsis: Newly divorced party girl Cara Reid wants to have fun. Much too young to even be a divorcee, she and her bestie, Miranda, set off to have fun and maybe a few casual hookups and live life. One night at a military bar, Cara meets Riley Forrester, a hot Army soldier who makes her melt with one look of his deep ocean blue eyes. But Riley is only staying the summer in California and then has to go back to Colorado at the end. Cara tells herself he’s just a summer fling and is determined to enjoy herself and let him go once the summer is over. But once Riley receives orders he wasn’t expecting, she’s forced to make a decision on whether she’s going to be there for him when he gets back, or move on with her life. What she wasn't expecting was to fall so hard for the beautiful soldier boy and now she's faced with accepting her feelings or letting him go.

  Patriotic Duty

  By C.J. Pinard

  …We wandered through a few more casinos and then decided to call it a night. Riley was mostly quiet during the evening and even in the elevator ride up to our room, he didn’t say too much. He was normally a quiet person anyway, wasn’t half as chatty as me, and I was used to being around Miranda, who clearly could not stand silence of any kind, so having so much quiet was hard on me. I tried not to fill it with stupid small talk, as I didn’t want to annoy him, but finally on the ride up in the elevator, I reached for his hand and pulled it up to my mouth and kissed it, as it was still clasped in mine.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, staring at him.

  He looked down at me and smiled when I kissed his hand. “Nothing, nothing at all, Cara. Why?”

  “You’re awfully quiet tonight.”

  He measured me with a long stare, as if he wanted to say something, but then didn’t. He simply smiled and kissed my forehead.

  The elevator dinged and we got out, padding down the green carpeted hallway and to our room. I noticed for the first time the fancy cream-colored sconces that lined the hallways and held the warm lights that gave the hall a dim glow. Riley put the card key in the door and it beeped our welcome.

  He flipped the light on as I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and put some cold water on my face. I looked at my reflection and my cheeks looked flushed and my eyes bright. I’d never seen me look like this and I wondered if that was what love looked like.

  Or extreme lust, I suppose.

  I changed into a hot pink V-necked cotton Victoria’s Secret night shirt with the number 86 on the front and padded barefoot into the bedroom. Riley was sitting on the edge of the bed in just his jeans doing something with his phone and he looked so good. He looked up when he heard me come out and smiled.

  “God, you look so hot in that.”

  I looked down at myself and cocked my head slightly and slid some hair behind my ear. “Really?”

  I sat next to him on the bed and he set his phone on the nightstand and stared at me as I sat there. I don’t know why I was feeling a bit awkward, we’d spent what felt like a hundred nights together already but I guess being in a new place will do that.

  I stared back at him for a minute and said, “What’s on your mind, soldier?”

  He sighed and brought his hand to my face. “I’m going to hate leaving you.”

  I frowned and looked down. Taking a deep breath, I looked back up and said, “Are we back to that again?”

  He shook his head and dropped his hand. “I’m sorry. I wish I could think of something else.”

  I grinned. “I can help with that.” I slid my hand up his thigh and popped the snap of his jeans. “You going to let me tear your clothes off now?” I raked my eyes up and down his body. “Well… what’s left of them?”

  He nodded as I ran my hand up his chest. I pushed him back gently onto the bed and began running soft kisses up his stomach, chest, then his neck. I caressed my hands over his shoulders and biceps, loving the feel of them. He was all man, all muscle, oozing masculinity and it constantly turned me on. I finally found his mouth and pressed my lips on his. I straddled his stomach and he slid both hands up my thighs and up to my sides, finding my breasts. I moaned as he softly ran his fingertips over my nipples. He continued to kiss me, his tongue mingling with mine.

  I felt his hands slide back down my waist and he playfully threw me onto my back and wiggled out of his pants. I could see his hard length pressing to get out of his boxer briefs and it aroused me to see how much he wanted me. Pressing his warm body on top of mine, he kissed me again, running a hand through my hair and over my face. He broke the kiss and looked at me. “God, Cara, I want you so bad.”

  I nodded and stared at him. “I want you, too.”

  He sat up again and yanked my night shirt off, and then stripped me of my panties. His boxer briefs weren’t far behind, and as he climbed up the bed, I opened myself for him and as he lay on top of me kissing me, his hard arousal pressed into my thigh, driving me crazy with need and want. His hand gently grabbed my breast as his thumb rubbed slowly over my nipple. He ran measured kisses down my neck, my collarbone, the valley between my breasts, and finally to my right breast. His warm tongue licked and sucked at it and I almost came off the bed as a deep, dark heat settled between my legs, begging for him.

  “Make love to me, Riley. Please,” I begged as I snatched a handful of his dark hair.

  End of free preview

  OTHER BOOKS BY C.J. PINARD:

  Enchanted Immortals (Book #1)

  Enchanted Immortals 2: The Vortex

  Enchanted Immortals 3: The Vampyre

  Enchanted Immortals 4: The Vixen

  BSI: Bureau of Supernatural Investigation (An Enchanted Immortals Novella)

  Patriotic Duty (When Riley Met Cara #1)

  Tour of Duty (When Riley Met Cara #2)

  Unscathed (A contemporary romance collaboration with Tim O’Rourke)

  Three of a Kind: Tales of Luck, Chance & Misfortune (short story collaboration)

  Summer Sizzle: Stories of Love, Lust, and Passion (short story collaboration)

  Blood Bites: Three Vampire Tales (short story collaboration)

  Tidal Wave: Tales of Deep Passion (short story collaboration/When Riley Met Cara–a short)

  Soul Rebel (R
ebel Riders Series #1)

  Coming soon:

  Beneath Broken (contemporary romance)

  The Lunar Effect (werewolf saga)

  Soul Redemption (Book 2 in the Night Rebels series)

  All books available where e-books are sold.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

  C.J. is a west coast native who has lived on both coasts and now lives near the middle, in Colorado! Coming from a family of writers and editors, she feels writing is in her blood and hopes people will lose themselves for a little while in the fantasy and fun of her stories. She also loves sweet red wine, the SF 49ers, and unlike most authors, doesn't have any cats. When she's not writing, she can be found chasing around her kids or working at her day job, which she totally feels interferes with her real life, but also sometimes gives her inspiration for her books, since reality is sometimes way more interesting than fiction.

  She also loves getting notifications that people have sent her an email, added her on Facebook, or on Goodreads. So stop by and say hi – don't be shy! She's not! :)

  www.cjpinard.com

  https://www.facebook.com/CJPinardAuthor?ref=hl

  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6565787.C_J_Pinard

  We’ve reached the end and it was great having you. Thanks for coming along and reading each character’s story. We hoped you enjoyed the stories as much as we enjoyed writing them.