S. K. Lessly's Book Excerpts

Excerpt

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I took a deep breath, hovered over his contact name but before I could push the button, it started to vibrate in my hand. Paul's handsome face covered the screen, and a smile spread along my face, my body heating with the anticipation of hearing his sexy voice.

 

I swiped across the screen and answered the call, my voice soft and low.

 

“Hey, you.”

 

There was a slight pause before his sexy as sin voice caressed my ears.

 

“Hey, beautiful, did I wake you?”

 

My grin deepened, and I settled deeper in my thick, soft comforter.

 

“No, I’ve been up for a while. I can’t sleep.”

 

“I thought your sister gave you sleeping pills to help you sleep?”

 

“She did, I just don’t like taking them. They make me feel weird, and I don’t want to be dependent on them. Don’t worry. I’m okay.”

 

Paul grew silent, and I knew he caught on to my bullshit. He called me out on it too.

 

“You don’t sound okay. Are you still having nightmares?”

 

I closed my eyes, not wanting to talk about it. I also didn’t want to bring up the other elephant in the room, the reason why I decided to call him before he called me — deflection time.

 

“You uh, sound very much awake yourself,” I observed solemnly, smoothly changing the topic, or at least trying to. I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling as if it held the answers I seek. “Why are you up? Are you at work?”

 

Paul breathed out and replied, “No, I’m not at work. I guess I’m in the same boat as you are. I can't sleep either and stop trying to change the subject. Talk to me, Lauren. What’s going on? You say you’re okay, but I can hear it in your voice that you’re not.”

 

I closed my eyes and fought the urge to cry. Ugh… no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to get my grit back.

 

The worry in Paul’s voice made my heart ache, and I wished so desperately that he was here right now. I wanted him here with me, holding me, telling me that everything would be okay. That’s what I wanted the most. Unfortunately, that wasn’t my reality.

 

“Talk to me, baby,” Paul coached his voice low and deep. Butterflies took flight in my stomach at the concern and longing in his voice. I almost cracked.

 

“God, Paul, I’m going out of my mind. We really need to talk.”

 

“Yeah, we do.”

 

“There’s so much I want to say, and so many things I want to tell you.”

 

“Okay. Then tell me.”

 

“I can’t. That’s the problem.”

 

“Why can’t you?”

 

“Because you’re not here.” I sounded like a whiny child right then, but I didn’t care.

“There are things that need to be said, but you’re like a hundred miles away, or whatever. I just… I mean I want…” my voice trailed off in frustration. My thoughts were all over the place, my mind a scramble of confusion. I growled low, unable to fend off the despondency I felt.

 

He chuckled lightly, which only fueled my frustration.

 

“Lauren, aren’t you coming home in a week?”

 

I sighed loudly. “Yes, but—”

 

“Wait,” Paul interjected quickly. “Please don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind about coming home.”

 

“No, I haven’t changed my mind. I am coming home.”

 

“Okay.” He sighed, sounding relieved. Damn, what in the hell did I put him through?

 

“Good, we can talk when you get home,” he said matter-of-factly.

 

“But you don’t understand. Yes, I’m coming home soon, but my family will be with me. We have plans to sightsee and explore the city all day on Saturday. Then Sunday is the Super Bowl. I know you can imagine how that day will go. There’s no telling when we will be able to talk, and I really need to talk to you.”

 

I grew silent, trying not to break down into a complete and utter tantrum. God, this was all my sister's fault. Yes, that’s right I was blaming her for these stupid drugs she has me on. The drugs were supposed to help me relax, so she said, but I swear I’ve been more emotional and jittery than normal.

 

When I got myself together, I admitted in a low tone. “I just wish you were here, that’s all.”

 

“You do?” he asked, and he sounded a bit surprised by my statement.

 

“Of course, I do,” I stressed firmly, hoping that he could hear the need for him in my voice. “I know I was the one that said I needed space, but I’ve missed you so much. I just want see you and…” I trailed off as dang-blasted tears collected in my eyes.

 

Fuck…

 

“Baby, I want to see you too, which is why I called. I’m standing outside your brother's door. Come let me in,” he replied, and I almost choked on my shock.

 

“Um, what?”

 

“You heard me. I’m outside. I need you to come to the door and let me in. It’s cold as shit out here. I had to park two blocks away, and walk and this wind is no joke. My face is frozen, and my toes are about to become little ice cubes. Ohh shit, wait. Please tell me you’re still staying with Mark?”

 

“Yes, I’m at Mark's,” I answered with a breathless laugh, my heart pounding in my chest.

 

“Good, I was going to be pissed if I had to walk back to the car and find you.”

 

I sat up in my bed. “Paul, don’t play games. Are you really outside?”

 

I heard him chuckle lightly. “Yes, woman. I would ring the bell but it’s kind of late, and I don’t want to wake up those twins. Mark would kill me, or shit rather Maria would kill me and she’s kind of scary when she’s pissed.”

 

“Oh my god!” My voice rose in excitement, but then I remembered the twins and lowered my voice. “You’re really here? Outside?”

 

“Are you going to open the door or let me freeze to death?”

 

I shot up from the bed and grabbed my terrycloth robe from the back of the bedroom door. “Oh shoot, yes, sorry. Yes, I’m coming. I’m coming.”

 

I threw my phone on the bed, not caring that I left him on the other end and flung open my bedroom door. I tiptoed down the hall to the steps and moved as fast as and as silent as my sock-covered feet would allow. I could see a figure standing outside the stained-glass window of the front door.

 

It was him. Granted, I couldn’t see his face, but I just knew it was him.

 

I opened the door to the foyer, stepped through the cold space, and unlocked the front door. Standing in front of me, dressed in a black wool pea coat, black skully, and a scarf around his neck, was a smiling Paul. It took me less than a second to look him over before I launched myself into his arms, wrapping my arms and legs around him as best I could.

 

He caught me with no problem and held me tight against him. A shiver racked my body, not from the cold, although it was cold as shit. No, it was the sheer, overwhelming feeling of joy and peace from being in his arms again that took over my body. I buried my face in his neck, forgetting the biting cold and held on tight.

He was here. He drove all this way to see me, and he was here.

 

Without me directing him, he stepped through the doorway of Mark’s home, closing the front door and locking it. He then walked through the foyer and closed that door too, entering the warm house with me still in his arms. Fuck that. I wasn’t letting him go for nothing.

 

He was here, and he had me. I wasn’t ever letting go.

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