Synopsis
The most painful scars are the ones you never see.
In her DJ booth at a Cleveland dance club, Casey feels a
sense of connection that’s the closest she ever gets to normal. On her college
campus, she’s reserved, practical–all too aware of the disaster that can result
when you trust the wrong person. But inexplicably, Daniel refuses to pay
attention to the walls she’s put up. Like Casey, he’s a senior. In every other
way, he’s her opposite.
Sexy, open, effortlessly charming, Daniel is willing to take
chances and show his feelings. For some reason Casey can’t fathom, he’s intent
on drawing her out of her bubble and back into a world that’s messy and
unpredictable. He doesn’t know about the deep scars that pucker her stomach–or
the deeper secret behind them. Since the violent night when everything changed,
Casey has never let anyone get close enough to hurt her again. Now, she might
be tempted to try.
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Excerpt
He
looked down at my mouth again, then back in my eyes, and his eyelids grew
hooded. He leaned a fraction closer. “I have a confession.”
My
pulse kicked up just a notch. “Why?”
“Why
. . . what?”
I
swallowed, fought every instinct to stare at his mouth. His full lips, now only six inches from mine. My body
began to respond to his nearness, and I dragged in a ragged breath of his
cologne. He smelled fresh, like a soft breeze on a spring day at the lake. I
wanted to inch closer. No, stop it, I ordered myself. This was
dangerous, to let myself even be this close to him.
“Um,
why are you confessing something to me?” I finally asked him.
“You
ask me the most unusual questions.” He gave a ghost of a smile. “Honestly, I
don’t know. But I feel like I want to talk to you all night. Which is why I
wanted to confess that I haven’t been able to get you off my mind.”
I
swallowed, let his words sink in, then swallowed again. His honesty was
disarming me, chipping piece by piece at the careful shield I had around
myself.
“Casey,”
he said on a soft breath. “You intrigue me.”
He
opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could get out another word, I
pushed my head forward, past the last few inches separating us, and pressed my
lips to his. Daniel froze in surprise for just a moment, then slipped a hand to
my forearm, stroking down until his fingers met mine.
With
his other hand he cupped the back of my head and teased my mouth open with his
tongue, tilting so he could deepen the kiss. He tasted like chocolate and Coke
and something purely male, a combination that intoxicated me more than the
beer.
My
heart thrummed in a wild, erratic beat as he drank from my mouth. I opened
wider, our tongues slipping and sliding, my breaths falling into his mouth in
little pants. I moved closer, breasts brushing his lean and firm chest. His
hand tangled deeper in my hair, and his body heat flooded through my thin shirt
into my torso.
I
was dizzy, drunk on him, aching with a surge of something intangible coursing
through my veins. My core tightened; my belly fluttered.
He
pulled back for a moment with a small gasp of air, eyes nearly black as he
peered down at me. Then he gave me a crooked smile and kissed me again. Took my
mouth in a sensual move that fluttered my lower belly.
I
cupped his shoulders with both hands. His muscles bunched and flexed beneath my
fingers. Heat poured off him, thickened the air around us.
His
fingers stroked my scalp as he tasted me. The thumb on his right hand brushed
against my thigh then moved up my leg, to the crease between my thigh and
torso. The sensation of him so close to my stomach gave me a brief pause.
When
his hand moved aside the bottom of my shirt and the very tip of his fingers
brushed my bare stomach, I jerked away, pulling back to the other side of the
car. It was like a bucket of ice water had been poured over my head. I tugged
my shirt down as low as it could go, heart jackhammering against my rib cage.
God,
please tell me he didn’t feel it, I prayed. I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready.
About the Author
Rhonda Helms started writing several years ago and loves
writing teen and New Adult romance. She has a Master's degree in English and a
Bachelor's degree in Creative Writing. She also freelance edits manuscripts.
When she isn't writing, she likes to do amateur photography,
dig her toes into the sand, read for hours at a time, and eat scads of cheese.
WAY too much cheese.
Rhonda lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, two kids, a
dog and a really loud cat. Visit her website at http://www.rhondahelmsbooks.com
for more information about her and her releases.
Giveaway
A $25 iTunes gift card (INTL)
An e-copy of ALL I EVER WANTED (INTL)
A paperback copy of Scratch (US/Can)
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