so hard behind him that it makes the windows rattle. As the sound of his motorcycle fades, Elyse slumps down onto the floor, drawing her knees up to her chest and she finally lets the tears come.
Read on for an excerpt from the sizzling sequel
Available now!
FREE for Kindle Unlimited customers!
CHAPTER ONE
“Are you sure you’re going to be alright? I don’t have to go out tonight.” Jen gives her best friend a concerned look.
“Yes, you do.” Elyse gives Jen a serious stare, which is only made mildly less effective by the redness of her eyes. “I don’t expect you to babysit me every night. It was a breakup, not a bereavement!” Elyse tries a smile but, from the expression on Jen’s face, it doesn’t come off all that well.
“Don’t do that, ‘Lyse. I’m the one who’s been sharing pizzas and passing you tissues for the better part of a week! You don’t have to pretend around me. I know it wasn’t just a breakup!” Jen lays her hand over Elyse’s, surreptitiously moving her coffee mug out of reach at the same time, knowing that if Elyse has any more coffee, she’ll be up half the night obsessing over what happened between her and Dane.
Elyse looks up at the ceiling, sighing deeply and wrapping her terry cloth dressing gown around herself even tighter. She was in the second stage of post-breakup mourning now and that mostly consisted of moping around the house and feeling sorry for herself. So far so good.
“What do you want me to say, Jen? That I cared about him? That I hate how we left things?” Elyse rubs at her eyes, surprised that she can even bring herself to cry anymore. Her tears should all be used up by now, surely. “Sorry, I know you’re just trying to help. But right now I think I just need to be alone.” She lets her forehead drop down to the kitchen counter and starts banging her forehead against it.
“You know that if you keep doing that for much longer, you’ll be lucky if you have any brain cells left.” Jen nudges Elyse back from the countertop and rolls her eyes at the expression on her friend’s face. “How have you got yourself so worked up about a guy that you only just met? I mean I haven’t even met him yet!” Jen almost looks more annoyed about this than any other aspect of the situation.
“Sorry, Jen, you’re right. I should have waited until you’d given him the seal of approval before I screwed everything up.” Elyse throws herself onto the couch with more force than necessary, taking up the same position she’s held the majority of the last few days.
“Exactly.” Jen’s response shows no sign of irony whatsoever. She collapses into an armchair opposite Elyse, looking at her intently.
“What?” Elyse shifts uncomfortably under her friend’s intense stare.
“I’m just wondering when you’re going to be done beating yourself up about this.” Jen shrugs, looking around the room as if she might find the answer somewhere—just lying around.
“Jen, we’ve been through this.” Elyse groans, putting her head in her hands. She can’t bear to have this conversation again. “I lied to him; he found out in the worst possible way. He didn’t give me a chance to explain, and I don’t know if he had if it would have made any difference. I betrayed him, Jen, and this is a guy who takes trust pretty damn seriously. I screwed up. End of story.” Elyse wonders if she sounds as miserable to her friend’s ears as she does to her own.
“You were doing a job, ‘Lyse. A job that you’ve jeopardized to do the right thing by Dane and his buddies.” Jen leans forward, as if she’s trying to get her friend to see sense purely with the power of her mind. “That has to count for something.”
“Not enough apparently.” Elyse shrugs, signaling she’s done with the conversation.
“It’s not like you
Read on for an excerpt from the sizzling sequel
Available now!
FREE for Kindle Unlimited customers!
CHAPTER ONE
“Are you sure you’re going to be alright? I don’t have to go out tonight.” Jen gives her best friend a concerned look.
“Yes, you do.” Elyse gives Jen a serious stare, which is only made mildly less effective by the redness of her eyes. “I don’t expect you to babysit me every night. It was a breakup, not a bereavement!” Elyse tries a smile but, from the expression on Jen’s face, it doesn’t come off all that well.
“Don’t do that, ‘Lyse. I’m the one who’s been sharing pizzas and passing you tissues for the better part of a week! You don’t have to pretend around me. I know it wasn’t just a breakup!” Jen lays her hand over Elyse’s, surreptitiously moving her coffee mug out of reach at the same time, knowing that if Elyse has any more coffee, she’ll be up half the night obsessing over what happened between her and Dane.
Elyse looks up at the ceiling, sighing deeply and wrapping her terry cloth dressing gown around herself even tighter. She was in the second stage of post-breakup mourning now and that mostly consisted of moping around the house and feeling sorry for herself. So far so good.
“What do you want me to say, Jen? That I cared about him? That I hate how we left things?” Elyse rubs at her eyes, surprised that she can even bring herself to cry anymore. Her tears should all be used up by now, surely. “Sorry, I know you’re just trying to help. But right now I think I just need to be alone.” She lets her forehead drop down to the kitchen counter and starts banging her forehead against it.
“You know that if you keep doing that for much longer, you’ll be lucky if you have any brain cells left.” Jen nudges Elyse back from the countertop and rolls her eyes at the expression on her friend’s face. “How have you got yourself so worked up about a guy that you only just met? I mean I haven’t even met him yet!” Jen almost looks more annoyed about this than any other aspect of the situation.
“Sorry, Jen, you’re right. I should have waited until you’d given him the seal of approval before I screwed everything up.” Elyse throws herself onto the couch with more force than necessary, taking up the same position she’s held the majority of the last few days.
“Exactly.” Jen’s response shows no sign of irony whatsoever. She collapses into an armchair opposite Elyse, looking at her intently.
“What?” Elyse shifts uncomfortably under her friend’s intense stare.
“I’m just wondering when you’re going to be done beating yourself up about this.” Jen shrugs, looking around the room as if she might find the answer somewhere—just lying around.
“Jen, we’ve been through this.” Elyse groans, putting her head in her hands. She can’t bear to have this conversation again. “I lied to him; he found out in the worst possible way. He didn’t give me a chance to explain, and I don’t know if he had if it would have made any difference. I betrayed him, Jen, and this is a guy who takes trust pretty damn seriously. I screwed up. End of story.” Elyse wonders if she sounds as miserable to her friend’s ears as she does to her own.
“You were doing a job, ‘Lyse. A job that you’ve jeopardized to do the right thing by Dane and his buddies.” Jen leans forward, as if she’s trying to get her friend to see sense purely with the power of her mind. “That has to count for something.”
“Not enough apparently.” Elyse shrugs, signaling she’s done with the conversation.
“It’s not like you
Similar Books
