by J. K. Coi
“What do you mean? How would that work? We’d never see each other.”
“I suppose you haven’t been keeping up with the business section the last few weeks?”
She frowned. “Not really.” Helping her father had become her sole focus, and she’d buried herself in it because it had also kept her mind off Nolan and all the things she should have told him to keep him from walking out the last time. She tried to remember those things now, but all she could think was Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go.
“Without any stalkers or threats against me and the company to make our stockholders uneasy, Harrison and I were able to close our big deal this week.” His eyes glowed with boyish excitement. “And the first thing I did was pick up the phone to call you, because you were the one I needed to share it with.”
“Me?”
He let out an exasperated groan. “April Porter, you’re the one I want to share it all with. Successes, failures, ideas, and plans for the future. All of it. How the hell can you not get that, yet?”
“Maybe because you never told me?”
“I told you in a hundred different ways,” he said, stepping even closer. He reached up and slipped his hand behind the nape of her neck. He kissed her with such burning intensity, she might be able to breathe fire when he pulled away. “It was in every touch, every look, and every kiss.”
She pressed her fingers to her lips, joy and hope blooming. But she had to be sure this was more than just Nolan deciding he wasn’t done with the challenge of her. “You’ve never had a relationship that lasted longer than five minutes in your entire life. Remember when I asked you if you wanted one? Well, you didn’t say yes.”
“You’re right.” He paused. “Neither did you.”
“You were right when you said someone had hurt me,” she blurted. “His name was Jeremy, and we dated for six months. Then I went to a fancy party with him like the one you took me to, and I overheard him telling his friends that he was just seeing how the other half lived, but he was done with slumming and it was time to get serious…with someone more suitable to his social position and who would fit in with his future goal of becoming governor.”
“What a fuckwit,” Steve snarled. “Just wait until he tries to run for office. I’ll make sure everyone knows what a selfish, pompous little douchebag he is.”
“He said…” She paused, having difficulty getting the words out. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d shown this much emotion to anyone other than her father. “He said a lot of the same things I overheard your mother say when I was hiding in the bedroom of your apartment that morning.”
He swore and took her hand. “My mother didn’t mean it that way. Well, she did, but…she thinks that reclaiming our past life will somehow make up for everything that our father cost us.” He pulled her closer, and she bit her lip as part of her tumbled into the gold flecks sparkling in his eyes.
“But she really only wants us all to be happy, and you make me feel more alive, more successful, more worthy than a hundred of those empty society girls, because with you I’m real.” His tone was raw; there was none of the teasing playboy left in him. For once, he was showing her exactly who he was, exactly what he felt. “When she sees that, she’ll come around.”
April swallowed hard. “It doesn’t matter. You were right when you called me a coward. I opened myself up before and lost, so how can I bet everything on you now? How do I know it’s going to stick, and that you won’t be looking for the next best thing in a couple of months, or a year?”
He shook his head. “You don’t, and if you’re looking for a guarantee, the only one thing I can give you is my promise to always be open with you.” His gaze narrowed. “But I’m going to need the same promise from you, because that’s the only way we’re going to make it work.”
He took another step forward so that she had to look up to hold on to his gaze. “Can you do that? Can you love me despite my track record and my past?” he murmured gently, smoothing his thumb across her cheek. “Can you forget about where you think you belong and embrace a world where we can be in gym shorts in a boxing ring one minute, and dressed up at a gala event the next?”
His tone was teasing, but it was no longer a game he played with her, or a mask that he wore. His real self showed through in the emotion pouring from his gaze, warming her from the inside out.
Her mouth was dry and her nerves jangled, but it wasn’t from fear or uncertainty. Love and hope filled her to overflowing. “Only if you can love me despite my prickly pride and ugly suits.” She grinned. “And as long as that world is right here, right now.”
He ran his hand over her hair tenderly, before tipping her chin up and claiming her mouth.
“I am here,” he murmured against her lips, leaving her breathless and whole as a tidal wave of love washed over her with his words. “Right here. Right now.”
“Then let’s do this,” she whispered.
His chuckle rumbled all the way through her. “That’s my brave Amazon warrior.”
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, my husband and son always go above and beyond to accommodate my crazy schedule. Thank you both for feeding me occasionally and patting my head when I moan out loud.
I wish to thank my agent Courtney Miller-Callihan, who has become someone on whom I rely for her wisdom, advice, and guidance, even though I try not to bombard her with emails and insanity.
This book took many forms before arriving at the story it is today, but my amazing critique partners Christine, Kim, Paula, and Amy helped me – as they do with every book – to sharpen my focus and stay on track. For them I am always supremely grateful.
But as with every book, it is the editing that puts the pretty shine on a finished story, and Tracy Montoya’s insight was absolutely invaluable. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do.
About the Author
J.K. Coi is a multi-published, award-winning author of contemporary and paranormal romance and urban fantasy. She makes her home in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and son and a feisty black cat who is the uncontested head of the household. While she spends her days immersed in the litigious world of insurance law, she is very happy to spend her nights writing dark and sexy characters who leap off the page and into readers’ hearts.
Find her online at www.jkcoi.com, and visit her alter ego, Chloe Jacobs, who writes thrilling dark fantasy for young adults, at www.chloejacobs.com.
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Also by J.K. Coi…
In Bed with the Competition
Elizabeth Carlson and Ben Harrison used to be friends, coworkers…and almost lovers. But that was before Ben proposed mixing business with pleasure. Elizabeth refuses to lose her heart to a hotshot tycoon with a cutthroat, take-no-prisoners attitude. But when they meet again at a Caribbean conference, Ben’s determined to finish what they started, even if it’ll only last a few steamy, tropical nights. Can Elizabeth walk away from a hot island fling with the sexiest man she’s ever known, or will losing herself in Ben destroy everything she’s fought to achieve?
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