SYNOPSIS:
After suffering a terrible loss Caroline closed herself off
to any more heartache. Haunted by the memory of love lost, she wonders if her
heart can ever heal or if she will be alone forever. When her grandmother
passes away Caroline reluctantly travels to a nearby town to help her family
settle the estate and encounters a charming and irresistibly sexy man from her
past.
Following his brother's untimely death Luke has made it a
point to live in the here and now. But he's never been able to forget the beautiful
blonde he met years ago. When she reappears unexpectedly he makes it his
mission to win her over. Convincing her she belongs with him won't be an easy
task, especially when she tries to deny their connection.
When their lives intersect in a wave of attraction, denial,
and desperation, will the desire for love be enough to awaken their broken
hearts, or will the guilt and grief of the past stand in the way of their
budding future together?
EXCERPT:
"That's
my driveway you're standing in," said a deep southern drawl. I stepped
back to see a man in a big black four door truck.
"Oh,
gosh, I'm sorry," I said, taking a more few steps back so he could turn
in.
I was
waiting for him to head further down the road when he stopped the truck in my
path and got out. He was tall, well over six feet. His eyes were hidden by a
pair of sun glasses, but I recognized him instantly.
"I'm
just going to check the mail," he said. "What're you doing out here
anyway?" As he opened the mailbox and reached in to retrieve his mail, I
noticed the way the muscles in his arms flexed.
"I
was just out for a run," I said waiting for him to recognize me.
He looked
over at me and stopped abruptly, as if seeing me for the first time. He lifted
the sunglasses off his face and stared at me wordlessly. His dark green eyes
held me motionless. He walked a couple of steps towards me raising his hand to
touch my cheek.
Sparks flew, and I inhaled sharply.
"Caroline,"
he said hesitantly, and then dropped his hand, searching my eyes.
My skin
was burning where he touched it, but I managed to nod slowly.
"Hi
Luke."
He didn't
say anything for a moment, almost as if he wasn't sure what to do next.
"I heard
about your grandmother. My condolences for your loss."
"Thank
you," I said, looking down.
I felt a
bead of sweat run between my breasts and suddenly realized how I must look.
"You
are so damn beautiful." He smiled brilliantly, and my God his lips looked
kissable. I tried not to think about how they would feel on me, and realized I
was staring at them. God, my hormones
were raging! I quickly cleared my throat, and tried to steer the
conversation in another direction.
"Since
when do you have anything nice to say to me?"
"Caroline,
come on. We were such good friends once. I know I didn't treat you well for a
long time, but I never stopped caring about you."
"I
don't want to rehash the past Luke."
"Caroline,
I lost you and Mark in the same day, and it broke my heart. I wondered how you
were, how you were coping. I thought about calling you a million times, but I
never knew what to say. Since then, I've been trying to get my life back on
track, live in the moment and not dwell on the things I can't change, but you
being here...... it's like a second chance."
I shook my
head at him.
"I
haven't moved on Luke. I still miss Mark every day, and I haven't forgotten how
you treated me all those years."
He looked
at me sympathetically. "I apologized for all that already. And I miss him
too, you know."
"You
used to stare at me like you couldn't stop looking, and then you would barely
speak more than a word to me when I tried to talk to you. You accosted me in
hallways, kissed me, screamed at me, disappeared. That's not something I can
just forget, apology or not."
His green
eyes simmered as his eyes narrowed.
"How
was I supposed to act when the one thing I wanted most wasn't mine to
have?"
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