by Sybil Bartel
I breathed out past the lump in my throat. “I know.”
“Talk to me,” he said gently.
I stared at the contrast of his arms against my waist. I had a natural honey hue but Talon was a surfer—a surfer who had a way of getting past my defenses. I couldn’t explain it except to say I knew he’d never judge me. I took a breath then told him the truth.
“I’m having a hard time. I thought I’d be fine but I miss him and I’m becoming a little resentful of the fact that he’s gone for so long. I know it’s not him, I know it’s me. I need to build a life for myself now that I can, but I just want him around. I feel guilty for even thinking it, let alone telling you about it. And the last time we spoke?” My voice broke, guilt and regret eating me alive. “Talon, I asked how long he planned on being a marine.” The dead silence I’d been met with still haunted me.
Talon shifted. “You think you’re the first woman to ever own those feelin’s?”
“No.” But that didn’t make it right. Buck had warned me what I was getting into. I felt like I was betraying him by even having these thoughts.
“Look.” Talon moved us to the steps and set me down. “There ain’t no right or wrong when it comes to emotion, darlin’, there just is. You can own what you want but when it comes to relationships, it won’t do you any good if you keep it to yourself. You tell Blaze any of this?”
I shook my head. I didn’t dare.
“And how’s that fair? He can’t fix what he doesn’t know is broken.”
“There’s nothing broken with him,” I protested. Buck was amazing. Quiet and strong and intelligent, he’d jump in front of a moving train for me.
“There’s nothin’ broken with you either, darlin’,” Talon said quietly, pushing my wet hair behind my ear. “That’s not what I’m sayin’ here.” He grasped my shoulder. “But not collectin’ a government paycheck won’t make him a different man. Once a marine, always a marine.”
Suddenly, I was too close to Talon. His intensity, his ability to switch from flirtatious to deadly serious in less than a second—Talon was a dangerous vortex I’d fallen into once before. I wasn’t going to do it again.
I pushed away and swam underwater to the other end of the pool. When I surfaced, Talon was still on the steps. He watched me with an intensity only Buck could match.
Dunking to push my hair back, I lifted myself out of the pool and walked back to my lounger for my towel. I didn’t look, but I felt Talon’s eyes on me the whole way. I studiously dried off and by the time I was done, Talon was swimming laps. He was a lot of things but still wasn’t one of them.
I went inside and made iced tea. When I came back, he was on the lounger and his easy smile had returned.
“I was wonderin’ if you had any hostess in you,” he teased.
Trying like hell to not look at his wet muscles, I handed him his drink and smirked. “Watch it or you’ll be wearing that tea.”
Talon laughed and took the glass. “Now there’s that smart mouth I love.”
I set my glass down, twisted my hair up, and lay back on the lounger. When I glanced at Talon, he was blatantly staring at my body.
“Cut it out,” I warned.
His forehead creased and when his eyes met mine, I was momentarily stunned by his merciless gaze.
The backs of his fingers glanced across my stomach. “I expected to see you knocked up,” he said quietly.
My heart plummeted and I felt the color drained from my face. “What are you talking about?”
His hand slid away and for one breathless moment, I was caught in his knowing stare. “Who’s that fear for, Sugar?”
* * * * *
Don’t miss
IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE by Sybil Bartel,
available August 2015 from Carina Press.
www.carinapress.com
Copyright ©2015 by Sybil Bartel
About the Author
Sybil grew up in Northern California with her head in a book and her feet in the sand. She used to dream of becoming a painter but the heady scent of libraries with their shelves full of books drew her into the world of storytelling. Her true literary love is the New Adult genre but really, any story about a love so desperately wrong and impossibly beautiful makes her swoon.
Sybil now resides in Southern Florida and while she doesn’t get to read as much as she likes, she still buries her toes in the sand. If she’s not writing or fighting to contain the banana plantation in her backyard, you can find her spending time with her handsomely tattooed husband, her brilliantly practical son and a mischievous miniature boxer she refuses to claim ownership of.
To find out more about Sybil or her books, please visit her website http://www.sybilbartel.com or Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/sybilbartelauthor and if you really want to know what she’s thinking, you can follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/SybilBartel.
Read why you should never apologize and never fall in love in NO APOLOGIES!
Never apologize
Hard-edged rocker Graham Allen has it all. He’s flush with cash from playing bass in a band by night and restoring classic cars by day. And there are plenty of women willing to share his bed for a night, complication-free. Perfect, because if there’s anything he learned from his past, it was to never get attached—to anything. So when bartender Carly Sullivan flashes her innocent smile, Graham isn’t prepared for what happens next.
Never fall in love
Two rules, that’s all Graham has—never apologize and never fall in love. He knows Carly is everything he should avoid. Cheerful and sweet, she has “relationship” written all over her. But Graham can’t stay away from her probing questions and concerned blue eyes.
When Graham discovers Carly is hiding a crushing secret, he’s prepared to risk it all. Until in one single moment, everything changes and Graham’s past threatens to collide with his future. His life is crumbling down around him, and soon no apology in the world can save him.
He should’ve known to walk away.
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ISBN-13: 9781426899676
Impossible Promise
Copyright © 2015 by Sybil Bartel
Edited by Kerri Buckley
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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