by Audra North
Flying half way across the country to do her practical nursing placement at Stone Cliff Resort hadn’t been part of Abby Claire’s plans for the summer. When her first appointment, which would allow her to stay at home and care for her family, falls through, it’s either pack up and go or risk not graduating. Meeting the rich, God’s gift to all things on earth playboy, Sullivan Hope wasn’t in her plans, either, but the more she’s around him, the clearer she sees the man who hides behind the parties and liquor.
When a summer fling turns into more than either of them had bargained for, Sullivan’s world begins to crumble and Abby gets dragged down into the rubble. He can’t let her in despite her healing touch. And Abby can’t risk getting too close and finding a reason to stay and save Sullivan.
Fitting In by Audra North
Stas Petrovich is sure that being elected president of his college class will grant him the social acceptance he craves. But when rain ruins his campaign event, he’s left in the company of the Weird Girl, the one person guaranteed to jeopardize his chances. But he discovers that Leila dos Santos is fun and genuine and sexy as hell, and he’s forced to reconsider what’s most important to him.
Fitting In appears in the Summer Rain anthology alongside other exclusive stories by Ruthie Knox, Molly O’Keefe, Cecilia Tan, Charlotte Stein, Mary Ann Rivers, Amy Jo Cousins, Shari Slade, and Alexandra Haughton. One hundred percent of author proceeds from Summer Rain are donated to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN). For more information on RAINN, visit www.rainn.org.
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Excerpt
Leila sucked in a breath and turned away. She had to turn away or, oh, she would probably do something stupid, like close the three steps of distance between her and Stas and press her lips to his like some kind of creepy kissing stalker.
The way she watched him made her feel like a stalker, anyway. That was the only reason she knew things about him that he clearly worked so hard to conceal, like that smile—how emotionless it actually was, and how it hurt her to look at it.
It was impossible not to watch him.
She knew that, on most weekends, he drove nearly an hour to the Houston Oaks Country Club to work as a caddy, but no one else seemed to know about his job except for her. Because she’d seen him, once, when she was there with her family over Thanksgiving break. She’d fled before he could notice her, but to this day she wasn’t sure who she’d wanted to spare from embarrassment. He never laughed too loud or drank too much, and he didn’t seem to own any clothes other than chinos, polo shirts, or preppy shorts, as though putting on a pair of jeans was somehow shameful.
While she . . . well. Ever since that first semester of her sophomore year, she’d made it a point to stop being ashamed. To live her life and not give a damn what anyone thought.
That didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt sometimes. Like when people lowered their voices to whispers when she walked by, or looked at her like she had some kind of disease that they would catch if they so much as talked to her.
Sometimes she still couldn’t believe that Jake had done what he did. How he’d lied. How he’d told those lies to everyone.
Cold-hearted. Desperate. Poor Jake . . . a victim of that cruel bitch.
She could hear the words they hurled at her from behind their hands. They believed Jake’s version because he’d gotten to them first, which—Jesus, she hadn’t thought he’d tell even one other person. She’d thought it was enough for just her and Jake to have known. But he’d told a lot of other people. So many. Too many. And they’d believed him because he was good-looking and popular and met all of their expectations, while she kept to herself and rode her bicycle in the rain.
They believed the worst of her because she already didn’t fit in, and so they felt justified in deriding her. To create a version of her that was so . . . hateful, but that conformed to every ingrained belief that so many of them had and didn’t even realize it. Even the people she’d thought were her friends had believed the worst of her.
That was probably why Stas had looked like that when she’d shown up . . . like he’d rather eat nails than spend time with her. And yet . . . he’d agreed to stay.
When he’d said yes, she’d wanted to attach herself to his mouth and never let go. Most guys who approached her these days were only looking for one thing, because they believed what Jake had said about her, so she’d gotten used to steering clear of them. But Stas didn’t seem to want that from her. Not the way she wanted it from him.
He stepped closer to her. Close enough to make her blood heat and her breasts swell, the heat from his body making them plump like sweet cakes that she wanted to offer to him to lick and nibble and—
Whoa. She was feeling suddenly light-headed.
Summer in Houston was notoriously hot and humid, but the rain had at least helped to keep her cool enough on the ride over. Now, though, she was sweating as though it was so hot that the mercury had exploded right out of the glass, but the dampness between her thighs had nothing to do with the wet weather.
“Are you going to keep those clothes on?”
Her fingers went lax, and the poncho she’d been holding fluttered to the ground. No. Oh, oh, no. She didn’t need clothes getting in the way. She needed his mouth on her skin. She needed this—this desire—the throbbing, breathless kind that she hadn’t felt in so long and that she’d been so afraid had died two summers ago.
Desire for a man, not only to put his hands on her, his fingers in her, but to make her feel like she’d felt back then, as though she’d found someone she could be with. She hadn’t trusted a man since. There had only been herself, and loving who she was.
Thank God he spoke again before she could grip a handful of her T-shirt in her fist and yank it over her head. Because that’s what she was about to do, her fingers curling around the hem already, when he said, “If you didn’t bring a change of clothes, I’d certainly be happy to rent a coverall for you.”
Oh. He hadn’t meant what she’d thought he’d meant.
She felt the blush rising before she could stop it, and quickly ducked her head. It hadn’t occurred to her to bring a change of clothes. She’d never gone paintballing before. She’d come today precisely because this was something new and different.
This was definitely different. And it felt new, too.
But there was no way she was going to let him pay for a cover-up just so that she didn’t have to get paint on her grungy, sweaty cycling clothes. Especially not when he’d probably had to work God only knew how many extra hours to rent this place out.
Luckily, her gaze settled on the poncho pooled on the concrete slab of the porch, near her feet. She stooped to pick it up, waving it as she straightened again, like a neon yellow flag. “Actually, I was going to put this over my clothes,” she lied.
She’d stick out like a sore thumb, even in this downpour.
He hesitated, as though debating whether to argue with her, and for a fraction of a second, she thought he might insist on renting something for her, anyway. She lifted her chin defiantly, daring him to contradict her, and he finally nodded and motioned to the facility door. “Let’s go get the guns and masks, then. And, to be fair, I should warn you that I’m a pretty good paintballer. Don’t feel bad if you end up surrendering more quickly than you expect.”
With that, he grinned—a real, lopsided one this time, uneven teeth and all—and Leila’s knees nearly buckled with surprise and lust. Oh, God, if you only knew how much I want to . . .
But she didn’t say anything, simply brushed past him with a jaunty grin and an excitement she hadn’t felt in years.
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I owe so much to my husband and kids for giving me the time and space to write. Without their support, I would not be a writer! I am thankful every day for the happiness they bring to my life, and for all the experiences I never would have had withou
t them.
Thank you, too, to Amy Jo Cousins and Shari Slade, for slogging through the early, terrible drafts of this manuscript and providing feedback that made it three hundred percent better. I owe you my sanity, AJ and Shari!
Cathryn Fox and Jan Meredith, you two gave me an amazing opportunity to be a part of this series, and for that I am so grateful. But even more so, I got to know the both of you better and meet the other incredible authors in this series: Renee Field, Lilly Cain, and Sara Hubbard. I have really enjoyed being part of such an amazing group of women!
To the people who made the book itself look good: Croco Designs, for the gorgeous cover, and Debra Stang for the editing…thank you!
There were so many people who improved this book with their talents and special touches. I am amazed and awed by you all. Any errors that remain are my own.
Audra
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Thank you!
Summer Lovin’ Series
Excerpt from Fitting In by Audra North
Acknowledgments