How did he know to do these things?
“We’d better get back before they send a search party for us.” I didn’t know why that came out of my mouth. Fear that maybe I might do more with Bray than I’d ever done before? Inexperience? A kiss to my shoulder and one to my neck caused much more than butterflies. I was feeling a raw heat, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do about it.
“As you wish, Miss-Mis.” When we started walking again, he grabbed my hand, and I let him, but a few steps before we hit the clearing, I pulled free of his hold.
That action had the muscle in his jaw twitching, in anger or disappointment, I didn’t know. He had read my gesture as I didn’t want people to know I was with him, when in fact it was only partially that. I didn’t care about everyone, only my bunkmates. I was attempting to minimize being ostracized more than I already was, because girls can be mean and competitive. Especially when the boy they like, likes you.
My heart hurt knowing I had made Bray feel he was anything less than the most intriguing and incredible guy I’d ever met. But I had. And those words “less than” were chiseling the edges of my heart. The reality was that he was more than . . . more than any guy I had ever met. And the evening ended without me telling him that or letting him know how I felt.
“Isn’t Bray the best kisser.” We were all sitting on our beds and Becca looked directly at me when she said it. It wasn’t a question. It was to let me know I wasn’t special and that she’d kissed him.
Only, she didn’t know that I hadn’t actually done anything with him.
“Of course he’s the best kisser, after all, I was the one who taught him how to do it.” Charlotte brushed her long mane, making eye contact with me in the mirror.
“That’s not all you taught him,” Ashley chimed in, letting me know it was one against three and that she and Becca were all too willing to do Charlotte’s bidding.
Turning from the mirror, Charlotte tipped her head to the side and smirked, “Understatement.”
This tall cool glass of Evian from Connecticut was expecting me to fight back like a Northerner, and that was not going to happen.
Bray had chosen me tonight, and Charlotte was going to have a summer filled with watching him pursue me hard, not the other way around. The meaner she got, or the more people she got to gang up against me, the more she would hurt herself, and I wouldn’t have to do a damn thing.
Clearly, she didn’t understand that.
Whatever was going to happen between me and Bray was going to happen. We were captivated by one another. And as they babbled on about summer’s past with him, I sat cross-legged on my bed brushing my hair, effectively tuning them out as I replaced their noise with a soundtrack of my own, filling my head. My mind’s eye was wrapped up in a tale, a summer love, playing out on the sports fields and the trails, around campfires in the night, a North-South West Side Story.
Drifting off to sleep that night, I envisioned the sky from earlier in the night and hoped that Bray’s and my stars weren’t crossed.
More to come . . .
Want to be the first to know when the rest of Bray and Misty’s story is coming out . . .
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About the Author
A native New Yorker living deep in the heart of Texas, Julie is obsessed with reality TV, the existence of past lives, and Bruce Springsteen. And she misses the ocean. Big time.
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Also by Julie A. Richman
Searching for Moore
Moore to Lose
Moore than Forever
Needing Moore Series
Bad Son Rising
Henry's End
Slave to Love
The Do-Over
Love on the Edge of Time
Moore than a Feeling
The Color of Love
Aligned
A short retelling of the beginning of the INFIDELITY series
Aleatha Romig
A fun, alternative look at the beginning of the bestselling Infidelity series—not about cheating.
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Get firsthand insight into Lennox “Nox” Demetri’s inner thoughts as he and Alexandria “Charli” Collins begin the “...sexy suspense saga that will leave you hot, bothered, and begging for more.” ~ Redbook magazine
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And for lovers of the Infidelity series, don’t miss the bonus chapter guaranteed to make you remember all the reasons you fell in love with this cocky hero.
ALIGNED
A short retelling of the beginning of the INFIDELITY series Series Copyright ? 2017 Romig Works, LLC
Published by Romig Works, LLC
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2017 Edition
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Editing: Lisa Aurello
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without the written permission from the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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2018 Edition License
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This novella is licensed for your personal enjoyment. This novella may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this novella with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this novella and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the appropriate retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
One
Lennox
“Another drink, Mr. Demetri?” the bartender asked as he cleaned a small glass tumbler, wiping the rim with a white cloth.
Standing with my elbow on the makeshift bar, I contemplated his offer. The dinner was over, and as I surveyed the large ballroom, my gaze came to rest on the round table near the front of the room with two empty chairs.
One was mine.
My chair.
My seat.
Where my ass was supposed to be.
The woman seated next to my empty chair smiled politely, talking to our table companions as her eyes flickered about the room, no doubt trying to locate her date for the evening.
That was the problem.
I didn’t want to be here with her or consider her a date, escort, companion, or any other appropriate descriptor.
To me, she was no more than a person to occupy the seat next to mine, an accessory for my evening, as significant as a pocket square or diamond cuff links. She was a woman from my company, someone who worked in public relations. I barely knew her, and for some reason, that made this entire scenario more unsettling.
Then again, I had no desire to get to know her. It wasn’t her work or drive that made her undesirable. She was a valuable employee, and I appreciated anyone who had a strong work ethic. It wasn’t her personality or appearance. She was pleasant enough to be around and not bad on the eyes. Even though blondes had never been my thing, I knew a beautiful woman when I saw one. Perhaps, it’s the Italian in me, but brunettes were the ones who caught my eye.
The reason I wasn’t interested was that I wasn’t in that place—that place in my head or heart to allow anyone to get close. Not again. Maybe never. Those stars had once aligned. Physics told me that it wouldn’t happen again.