Tragic (Lark Cove, #3)

by Devney Perry

He had a tragic allure, one that screamed sorrow and loss. I knew that pain all too well. Recognition hit me in a flash and I spun around, hurrying back in the direction we’d come. That man was up here to grieve, and we’d just intruded on his private moment.

And maybe a hot, sweaty fling with my grouchy, soon-to-be-next-door neighbor. He had no-strings-attached sex written all over his handsome face.

Bahaha sure just sex 🙃😏

One look at her and the pain in my hand vanished. Her chestnut hair was long and full, parted in a perfectly straight line down the middle. It hung past her shoulders in thick, silky strands. Her deep-set eyes were the color of my favorite dark-roast wood stain. Her lips were plump beneath the regal bridge of her nose. The green forest light illuminated her olive skin. Her classic beauty was out of place on my dusty porch.

“You can stay.” “I’ll come back down. I’m hungry.” I wasn’t, not where my stomach was concerned. My cock on the other hand was starving, begging for another taste of her.

Bahahaha he said girl I’m hungry 👻

A dining room table that looked exactly like the one I would have made for myself.

Of all the neighbors I’d had before, and there had been many, Kaine was far and away my favorite.

A sense of pride filled my chest, squeezing out the pain from past memories. Knowing I was the cause of his smile and laugh was empowering. I did that. Me. I made Kaine smile. He made me forget.

I’d realized another thing on my road trip—I was not made for casual sex. My bruised heart was on the line and it required careful relationships, not callous. Friendship was the most I should offer Kaine.

“This turned out so . . .” I trailed off, without words to describe the masterpiece. “It’s yours.” My hands froze. “What?” “I was going to wait until your house was done, but I decided to give it to you now. This is for your dining room.” “But what about the person you were making it for?” He shrugged. “It was always for you.”

I was falling in love with my grouchy, tormented neighbor. I was falling in love with a man who was sweet and kind. I was falling in love with a man who had a little magic of his own.

I pictured her, pregnant with our child, trapped in a crumpled car as life seeped out of her body in a crimson stream.

“Kaine?” She gasped, a wrinkled hand covering her mouth. “Is that you?” “Yeah, Mom. It’s me.” She stepped closer. Then with a deafening crack, she slapped me across the face.

I wasn’t expecting that slap and I chuckled 😂💀

“Somewhere along the line, you stole my heart. I’m going to steal yours in return. Just wait and see.”

“It’s going to be okay,” I promised. Then I took her face in my hands and gazed at her beautiful face. The face that started and ended my day. “We’ve got a lifetime of magic left.” “How can you be so sure?” “Because it was never the cake.” I brushed my lips against hers. “The magic is us.”