Taking Tiffany by MK Harkins Page A

Fletcher all through high school. He wasn’t anything like what you saw at the fundraiser. He was kind and funny…my first love.” I wondered if I should tell him everything. I wanted to change some of my habits that kept me frozen in place, so I decided to plow forward.
    “Go on.” He rubbed my arm. It was just what I needed.
    “Fletcher and I had it all planned out. We would attend the same college and get married right after. But it all was destroyed in one night. Our future together no longer existed.”
    “What did he do?”
    “A week before our graduation all our friends met up at a bonfire by the lake to celebrate. First, my friend, Emory went missing, and, soon after, I couldn’t find Fletcher. I had this weird, eerie feeling that something wasn’t right. It was confirmed when I found them behind an old boathouse.”
    “I’m so sorry, Tiffany.” He put his arm around me.
    “The betrayal wasn’t the worst part. I knew I’d be upset for a long time, but I didn’t plan on it lasting for so many years. Not my feelings for Fletcher, those ended quickly, but the lack of trust. I haven’t been able to trust again, but more importantly, I don’t trust my judgment. How could I be so stupid? Not to mention, being twice betrayed, not only by Fletcher, but also by a close friend.” I felt humiliated admitting to Todd that I’d made such a poor choice, and as a result, made myself an emotional hermit.
    “It wasn’t you being stupid. It was Fletcher. There are two types of men when it comes down to it. Either you have it in you to cheat, or you don’t.”
    I nodded in agreement. “Intellectually, I know that. But, ever since that experience, I’ve chosen the men I date based on their safe factor. By that, I mean men who I know in advance I won’t develop serious feelings for. So, I’ve lived at home, and I haven’t put myself at risk. At least until now.”
    He cocked his head to the side.
    “You’re dangerous to me,” I told him.
    “Dangerous?” His deep brown eyes penetrated mine.
    “Yes. You aren’t safe. You could do some serious damage.” I felt exposed telling him all this. Why was I talking? I needed to shut up. Right now.
    His eyes softened, and his mouth tilted up into a grin. “That’s exactly why I’ve avoided you.”
    “Really?” That made me feel so much better.
    “Yes. My first love also betrayed me.”
    “What happened?”
    Pain flickered across his face. “Her name was Savannah. I met her in college. She betrayed me, but not in the same way.”
    It was my turn to give him a questioning look.
     “Breaking up with Savannah destroyed me. I was a wreck for years. But she didn’t cheat.”
    “What did she do?”
    “She chose her family over me.”
    “Oh, no.” I’d wondered why he seemed closed off. We had more in common than I’d originally thought.
    “When I first met you, I was scared. The potential was there.” He picked up a strand of my hair and wrapped it around his finger. He gave it a tug, and I leaned in to kiss him. Now that I’d started kissing him, I couldn’t seem to stop, but his words echoed in my head.
    Still curious, I asked, “The potential for what?”
    “For heartbreak. You could break my heart,” he confessed. “My feelings for you came on strong and fast. That hadn’t happened since …”
    “Savannah?”
    “Yes.”
     “What do you mean when you said Savannah chose her family over you?”
    “It was her dad. He didn’t approve. She came from a wealthy family, Tiffany.”
    Oh, the pieces were coming together.
    “Like mine?”
    “Yes, like your family.”
    “And you thought I, or my family, would reject you?”
    “That was my fear, yes.”
    “Thanks for being honest with me. You know me well enough now, right? You know that wouldn’t happen?”
    “Yes, but I think I’ve given your father other reasons to hate me.” He grinned and shook his head.
    “Don’t worry. He’ll like you once he gets to know you. He can be a little