Raw, A Dark Romance (16 page)

The sharp blade of a nose.

The chiseled jaw.

Those lips.

Those lips.

My heart was pounding. Hard. I felt a little dizzy.

I hadn’t even talked to him yet. How would I ever convince him not to throw my baby brother in jail?

Pull it together girl.

Twenty-three. Twenty. Three. That was how many times I’d heard Joss say, “Abby, I’m in trouble. Big trouble,” since our father died. Twenty-freaking-three times too many.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew Joss could pull through this crap and get himself together, I wouldn’t have bothered stepping in to drag him out of one scrape after another. But I did. Because, despite his long, difficult struggle with addiction, Joss was a good person. He didn’t go out of his way looking for trouble. Trouble seemed to always come looking for him.

And this time there might not be anything I could do about it.

Breathe.

If Kameron Maldonado, owner of MalTech Corporation, decided to report my brother’s alleged crime to the police, he could end up in jail. For years.

My brother. A felon.

Breathe.

My brother. In prison.

Breathe.

The only family I had left, gone.

Breathe.

My sweating palms were sticking to the leather couch. I dragged them down my thighs. My scratchy polyester skirt wasn’t going to dry them. But I did it anyway. When I heard the door to my right rattle a little, my heart skipped a beat. I jerked my head, glancing at it then at the young woman sitting behind the reception desk directly in front of me. She was staring at a computer screen.

I glanced at my watch. Twelve, twenty-five. I’d been sitting here for almost a half hour. My appointment had been at twelve.

God, this was torture.

The doorknob rattled again, and once more panic charged through my body. My head spun. The door swung open, and my breath caught in my throat.

Kameron Maldonado stepped out, moving out of the doorway. He was smiling over his shoulder, at the man behind him. “We’ll get together later this week to talk about the details. Thanks.” Kameron extended a hand, and the man shook it.

The visitor returned Kameron’s thank you and then, as he passed me, gave me a fleeting look before waving goodbye to the receptionist.

I turned my attention back to Kameron. He was standing next to the door, looking at me.

“Abigail Barnes?” he asked.

I nodded, stood on wobbly legs that felt boneless and heavy. Not expecting a handshake, but preparing for one anyway, I dragged my palms down my legs again as I shuffled toward his office.

After a quick, formal introduction and a brief handshake, Kameron closed his door behind me, circled his desk and stood, waiting for me to sit in the chair facing him.

My stomach twisted.

Of all the situations Joss had put himself in, this was by far the worst. Not only had he put his job in jeopardy, but mine too. Somehow I had to convince this man not to fire us both.

I sat, back straight, body stiff, heart thumping so hard I could hear it.

“How can I help you, Mrs. Barnes?”

“Miss,” I corrected. My mouth was dry. I licked my lips, but that did nothing to help. My tongue was as dry as the Sahara.

He nodded, “Miss Barnes.”

“I’m here on the behalf of Joss Barnes. My brother.” A huge lump of something coagulated in my throat. I tried to swallow it. It didn’t budge. I tried again.

Kameron’s brows lifted. “Are you all right, Miss Barnes?”

Swallowing a third time, I nodded.

He stood, strolled to the cabinet recessed into the wall behind me and opened a door. Within a second, he was standing over me, a cold bottle of water in his hand.

I accepted with a weak “Thank you,” unscrewed the cap and sipped.

“Better?” he asked as he leaned back against his desk.

I nodded.

Looming over me, he crossed his thick arms. God, he was big. Intimidating. Extremely intimidating.

“Your brother is in serious trouble, Miss Barnes. If what I heard is true, he not only violated more than one clause of his employment contract, but also broke the law. I was told he stole company property and sold it. I can’t let that go with a warning.”

We were so screwed.

Feeling utterly defeated, I nodded. “I understand.” My nose was starting to burn. Dammit. This was just too much. It was all too much. Our father’s death. Mom’s disappearance. And my brother’s rebellion and addiction. I was a fighter. I was a survivor. If I hadn’t been, my brother and I wouldn’t be where we were today. But I was too young to deal with this much crap. Every time things started to turn around, something new would come up and drag me right back down into the gutter.

When would life stop kicking me around? When?

My hands were shaking as I lifted them to drag my thumbs under my eyelashes. My eyes were burning now too. A sob was sitting in the pit of my stomach, but I was holding it in. Holding my breath.

I needed to get out of there. I couldn’t cry in front of this man. No.
Nonono
. I stood too fast and felt myself stumble. He caught me, fists clamped around my upper arms. Our gazes locked.

Something really strange happened. A crazy, unexpected bolt of electricity charged through my body. I heard myself gasp.

His eyes widened slightly. “Don’t go.” He gently forced me back into the chair. “I haven’t finished yet.”

What was there left to say? Was there any chance he was going to help me?

Afraid to hope anything decent could come out of this mess, I nodded and waited.

He released me, stared down, arms crossed over his chest once again. “Your brother has put me in a hell of a position.”

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked, my voice cracking.

His eyes narrowed slightly. He tipped his head to the right. “Why? Why are you so willing to put your neck on the line for him?”

What kind of silly question was that? “He’s my brother.”

“But he just about got you thrown out of here. You understand that, don’t you?”

Just about?

Just about!

I wasn’t fired yet.

“Yes, sir. I do,” I said, screwing and unscrewing the cap on the water bottle I clasped in my hand. “If my brother was a complete lost cause, I wouldn’t have bothered trying to help him. I would’ve let you fire him. Hell, I would have stood by and watched him be arrested, too. But I can’t. Because I know there’s more to this situation than you and I know. He’s not a bad guy. Sure, he’s hit a bump or two lately. He’ll get it figured out.”

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe there is more to this situation than we know. But, say he is guilty, what do I do with him until I figure out what really happened?”

“Good question.”

“If he did do it, how could I risk keeping him on, knowing he might steal something else?”

“Another good question.”

Leaning closer, he placed one hand on each arm of my chair, trapping me. I felt myself pushing back into the chair. I could smell his cologne, could see the flecks of silver-blue in dark, dark gray-brown eyes the color of my favorite chocolates. I could feel the warm caress of his breath on my face.

My heart jerked again. But this time it wasn’t because I was afraid. No, I was...warm. I was breathless. I was staring at his lips and wondering what they might taste like.

What was going on?

“How long have you been working for us, Miss Barnes?”

“T-two years,” I stuttered, my gaze locked on his mouth. What was he getting at? What was he thinking?

“Hmmm.”

My gaze inched up, following the line of his aristocratic nose to those dark eyes again. I saw something there, the flicker of something obscure, something wicked. My heart rate tripled, quadrupled, maybe. “Sir? Please don’t fire me. My job is our primary source of income. Our father died. It’s been really hard on us both, but especially Joss. He was only thirteen and a boy with no father--”

He leaned closer. “I’m sorry about your father.” I was trapped, his body like a big wall hovering over me. Why was he standing so close? Why was he looking at me like
that
?

“Sir?” I murmured when he inched even closer. I’d never had a boss act this way with me before. If I didn’t know better, I would swear he was…he was…

His head dipped down. Now, his mouth was hovering over mine. Not inches. No. It was a tiny fraction of an inch from mine. His breath softly caressed my lips. Warm. Sweet.

Was he going to kiss me?

Was he expecting some kind of bribe? A payment in return for my job?

I was frozen. Shocked. Unable to move. Unwilling to move. It was wrong for him to use his position to try something like this. Wrong. Illegal. Unethical. Immoral.

But wow, was he a beautiful man. Sexy. Intelligent. Mysterious. I wanted him to kiss me. My lips were tingling already, and he hadn’t even touched them yet. My blood was pounding hard through my body, too. My heart was slamming against my breastbone. I let my eyelids fall shut, enclosing myself in darkness and swirls of red.

“Miss Barnes?”

“Sir?” Something soft brushed against my lips. And again. Little sparks of electricity sizzled and zapped under my skin. Heat whooshed through my body, up to my face, down between my legs.

The intensity of my body’s reaction took my breath away. And still I couldn’t move. A crazy impulse popped into my head. I wanted to throw my arms around his neck, tangle my fingers in his silky hair and pull him to me.

I can’t do that. I can’t.

***

Please turn the page for a special sneak preview of HOPELESSLY BROKEN by Tamryn Ward.

For fans of
Jamie McGuire’s BEAUTIFUL DISASTER,

Hopelessly Broken
by USA Today Best Selling author, Tamryn Ward

High school dropout Jenn Reynolds doesn't have time for anything but work, work, work. Not school. And definitely not a social life. Dating? Yeah, right. No matter how hard she tries to put her life back together, it keeps crumbling apart. The sudden death of her parents started the destruction. Now, her life is spinning out of control, and she is about to lose the only thing that matters anymore. She has no choice. She must find someone she can trust, someone who might be able to help her stem the devastation.
But who will it be? Both Aeron and Bobby are everything she doesn't need--Aeron, the totally mysterious, totally dangerous stranger who doesn't stay in one place for long, and Bobby, the hot bad boy rockstar who has already broken her heart once. No matter what, with all the dirty, tattoed hotness loping through her front door, and vying for her bed, Jenn's life is either about to get better...or a whole lot worse.
SAMPLE

Her door swung open and banged against the wall, blam.

Jenn, standing next to her dresser whirled around. “Aeron?”

“Dammit, Jenn.” His eyes were wild, dark, feral. Tension pulled at his features, his mouth, his jaw.

She couldn’t move. She was frozen in place. Like a doe caught in the scope of a hunter’s rifle. “What’s wrong, Aeron?”

He charged at her like a furious bull, shoving a chair out of the way. He halted inches from her, nose flared, breathing swift.

Her heart rate spiked. She searched his eyes, trying to push through the dark shadows.
“What is it? Are you angry at me?”

“No.” His hand jerked up, cupped her cheek. And her skin sizzled under his touch. A little jolt of electricity charged through her system, locking her muscles, freezing her in place. She couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move. Her gaze drifted down, to his mouth. That perfect mouth. His lips looked soft yet strong. Would she ever know how they tasted? “I…I’m trying.”

“Trying to do what?” she whispered.

“To stay away.”

“From who?” she asked, though she already knew the answer. All day she’d found herself flirting with him, stealing glances, smiling at him as he played with Logan. And he flirted back for a moment. Everything was wonderful. She felt alive and beautiful and happy.