More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Like always, her words flow out in a rush, and I’m left thunderstruck. My heart cracks open, full of warring awe and bitter disappointment. She had a crush on me? She was going to tell me! I missed that. Not only was she left alone, I also never got to tell her my truth. “I loved you,” I say.
“You can call it puppy love or whatever, but I wouldn’t have said I liked you too. That would’ve been a lie. It was more than that. You were my first true friend and . . . I loved you, Noelle.”
Love. Present tense. I can feel it in my gut, every ancient instinct to protect and treasure and adore. She heats my blood like a wildfire with no hope of containment.
“You’re my dream girl.” I make her look up. Those golden honey eyes undo me. “That’s what I would have told you then. You still are.”
This scar always reminded me of a wave.” Her fingers trace the big one on my face from where it meets my lip to where it disappears into my hairline. Then she starts tracing the bigger ones on my chest. “But seeing them all now, you’re more like a mountain, and these are rivers of lava.” Every place she touches tingles. “Don’t even try to convince me you’re not beautiful. I have eyes, and I like what I see. The way your nose slopes and bends, there’s not another like it.”
“Just like that,” I whisper, bringing my hand up to cradle her jaw until her lust-drunk eyes swim at me. I suck on her bottom lip, bite it, wishing she could taste what I taste, smell what I smell, see how she’s so close to finally letting go. “Fucking beautiful. You’re almost there.”
“Grind on me, goddess.”
“No more hiding! I want to see your face. Your body. Everything. Got it?” She uses my horns like handles to drag my attention up. “And no more talk about us forgetting each other.” “Yes ma’am.” I’m probably grinning like a fool because I love it when she manhandles me.
“Of course. I’m a well-rounded reader.” I scoff. “I brought nine books for this trip, and I have my e-reader stuffed with more than any one person could read in a lifetime.”
I need all the time I can get to figure out the best way to woo my pretty librarian in a permanent way.
His eyes crack open and in one powerful move, he’s on top of me. Over 300 pounds of delicious man presses me into the bed like a preserved flower.
“Mmmmm. Breakfast of champions.” He licks his lips with a proud smirk. His chest heaves as he looms over me, naked in the daylight and completely unaware of how glorious he looks. “You ready for some pancakes, goddess?”
“It’s my vacation. I should do what I want.” “And what’s that?” he smirks because he knows the answer. He just likes to hear me say it. “You.”
“I was paying for you.”
“I was paying for your time, busy lady.” His thick, sexy fingers play with my delicate ones as he peppers more gentle kisses over my knuckles. “You were worth it and so much more. You’re priceless.” He interlaces our fingers. “Precious.”
His hands slide down to spread my legs open more before shifting to my ass to urge me up to my knees and closer to his mouth. “Oh.” My hands find his horns, grasping for stability. “Sit on my face, goddess.” The colors in his eyes swirl like a firestorm. “And hold on tight.”
To dream big, Noelle, whatever that is. Even if it’s not that old building.” It’s you, I want to say. My biggest dream would be him living in Winter Bliss with me. He dreams about business, but I dream about people. And I want him.
You’ve got all the business smarts.” “You’ve got all the heart.” He cups my face with one hand while the other lays across my chest. “The more important of the two.”
“Second Chance Stories,” I say, waggling my eyebrows. “Get it? Purgatory. Old books that need a new life.”
“I like it.” He leans down and kisses me. “Every story deserves a second chance.” Just like us.
A noisy Noelle is music to my ears, and I eat her like a starved man. Her salty honey taste was made for me. Nothing tastes better than her pleasure.
Sometimes life takes an irrevocable turn, and we have no choice but to adapt. Find a new normal. Hold tight to all the good we can, whatever we have left.
Winter Bliss is my home. I can’t see myself anywhere else. But I want Rom too. And I want him here.
He said he loved me back then. It was sweet, and I assumed he just meant a childhood sweetheart kind of thing. But I still feel it now, and I think he does too.
To be with him might mean dealing with a few missed connections, but I can adjust. Even if a long-distance relationship is full of challenges, Rom is worth the extra effort. He’s worth everything to me.
I may not see him tonight, but tomorrow I’ll tell him what I want. A second chance at first love.
“You’re everything to me. My past and my future. There’s nowhere else I want to be than with you.”
She’s my forever and my right now. I’m so lost in the moment; there’s no one else but me and her.
There are no timelines to a love story, only the next chapter.
