Scales: Of Justice (Broken But ... Mending Book 3) (29 page)
Karina turned around and glanced the other way, deliberately putting her back to Ian.
And there he was.
Brian.
Her heart sighed even as it started to pound. She should go over to him. He looked sad, like he’d lost his best friend. Which, after the end of a two-year relationship, she guessed he had. But Karina told herself she was still a friend, right? Albeit a casual one, but still… They’d had classes together, the odd beer-and-pizza night as part of a group. That kind of thing. He had no idea that she’d been in love with him for a long time. She’d been careful to keep her feelings hidden. He hadn’t been free and she wasn’t the type to break up relationships.
She checked out the other half of the bar before her gaze zinged back to Brian. He lifted his beer bottle and poured the remaining golden liquid down his throat. Slamming the empty down, he reached for the spare, waiting. Damn, she hated to see him like this.
All right. She was going to go over there. Just a sip of beer for courage, first. She raised her glass to her lips.
“Karina. I’m glad you’re here. I was hoping to see you before you left. May I sit?”
Ian. Shit. He’d somehow evaded her awareness and seated himself on the barstool next to her without her knowing. This was what she got for being nice and polite to a guy who mistook it for encouragement and, frankly, gave her the willies.
She attempted a smile behind her glass as she drowned a big gulp. She had to get away. Now.
“Sorry, I came here to meet someone.” She said it lightly, dismissively. She’d planned to wait another minute or two before approaching Brian, but Ian’s crowding was forcing her hand. “Oh, there he is. Brian.”
She got up and waved in Brian’s direction, tossing a good-bye smile at Ian.
His brows came together in a dark vee and his lips thinned, the expression causing her smile to falter and her stomach to heave. His thick nose and heavy brows might indicate a Mediterranean ancestry, but the darkness in his eyes gave her the spooks.
“I hadn’t realized.”
Keeping her face averted she took another big step and cast a glance back, relief washing over her when he didn’t follow, but instead walked back to his seat.
Well, she’d started down this road, so…
“Hey.” She slapped a bright, friendly smile on her face and sat down across from Brian. Now that she was safely seated her unease over Ian abated, even while her heart lurched at the deep unhappiness on Brian’s face.
He looked up at her, a lopsided attempt at a smile peeking out. “Hi, Karina. I’m not good company right now.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say. His pain was a palpable thing. Impulsively, she reached across the table and laid her hand on his. “I heard and I’m sorry.”
Surprise lit the dark depths of his chocolate eyes.
When he didn’t say anything, she stood. She’d intruded on his private pain, and that wasn’t right. She turned to leave.
“Wait.” His husky voice reached out to her. “Please, don’t go.”
She smiled warmly at him and sat back down.
She stayed there for several more rounds as they talked deep into the night. Once or twice she glanced over at Ian. Every time she looked he appeared to be seething with anger as he stared toward her and Brian. She shuddered.
“This place is closing soon.” She tugged Brian to his feet. “Come on, you look ready to drop.”
“I’m not that bad,” he protested, but allowed himself to be shuffled out the door. The cool night air hit them and snapped some of the buzz away. Karina looked at the stars, her heart full and happy. Not exactly a dream date, but it was Brian…and her…alone.
“Let’s go to my place. I think I have a bottle of wine,” he suggested.
“You’re going to fall asleep before you ever get it open,” she scoffed as she fell into step beside him.
He looked at her, his little-boy expression pleading that it couldn’t possibly be bedtime already. “I don’t want to be alone tonight,” he admitted softly. “Please come share a bottle of wine with me.” There was only a slight slur to his voice and she’d had just enough to drink to feel the same.
Besides, she didn’t want the night to end either. It might not be the wisest move but she couldn’t come up with any convincing reasons why she shouldn’t spend the last few hours with him.
She gave in.
He grinned at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “How come we didn’t do this before?” His sloppy grin made her heart laugh. “We should have. I’ve always liked you.”
Magical words.
They walked toward his room, arms around each other, talking, murmuring in low voices. The heat of his voice, the tenor of his words, the glow of moonlight, Brian’s touch – it was magic. And she wanted more. She wanted it all. Tonight.
*
The couple walked
down the path, sliding in and out of view. He’d hidden in the trees thinking to see where Brian was taking Karina. And hoping his instinctive guess was wrong.
But no; there she was. Ian thought he’d missed her leaving. But no, she’d left with Brian. Why?
Why Brian?
Brian was nothing. And he had a girlfriend. Or he’d had a girlfriend. According to the gossip, he’d just been dumped.
How could Karina do such a thing? It’s not like Brian was in any shape to enter another relationship right now. Had she no respect. For him? Or for herself?
He stood in the shadows of the trees that darkened the path and watched them make their way to Brian’s dorm. Anger simmered inside.
Brian had many girls fawning all over him. He didn’t need Karina. He’d only cast her off later.
Karina deserved better. If she weren’t so blinded by Brian’s flashy looks, she’d realize it. She’d be sorry later.
Damn Brian to hell.
*
Satisfaction thrummed through
Karina’s body as she collapsed beside Brian in the wee hours of the morning. Her skin was damp and her body buzzed from their heated lovemaking. “Who’d have thought?” she whispered into the darkness.
A deep rumble rolled out from his chest as he attempted to speak but couldn’t. She grinned. She’d brought him to this. She’d been the one he’d turned to tonight. Not Wendy, but her – Karina. Maybe she shouldn’t have jumped at the opportunity…but she’d needed the chance to show him how good they could be together. How perfect.
And given that exams were over and all students going their separate ways, it had been now or never.
It seemed she’d loved him for so long. Always an acquaintance, never quite a friend and always superficial, kept on the outside…the last place she wanted to be.
She could no more stop blurting the words than she could stop the tidal wave of love that swept through her, giving the words their freedom.
“I love you,” she whispered and dropped a kiss on his bare chest, before nestling her head on his shoulder and falling asleep.
*
Morning dawned bright
and clear. Karina woke slowly, her body still warm and achy from the night’s activities. She bolted upright as memories flooded back.
Brian.
She’d had the most wonderful night of her life. She grinned and bounded out of bed.
Wrapping herself in the sheet, she walked out to the communal room, grateful that Brian’s roomies had already left.
Empty.
She stood in the middle of the room, dread forming a sinking ball of steel in her stomach. An engine started outside.
She raced over to the glass doors, stepping out onto the small verandah in time to see Brian’s car disappearing down the drive at a good clip.
He was coming back, wasn’t he?
She stood there, waiting, for a long time after his car disappeared from view. As her heart broke into a dozen tiny pieces, hope faded away. The small sedan was gone.
And he hadn’t once looked back.
TO BE CONTINUED…
This ends the preview of Second Chances.
Part 1
of the book is Free.
Part 2
is also available.
Touched by Death
Adult RS/thriller
Death had touched anthropologist Jade Hansen in Haiti once before, costing her an unborn child and perhaps her very sanity.
A year later, determined to face her own issues, she returns to Haiti with a mortuary team to recover the bodies of an American family from a mass grave. Visiting his brother after the quake, independent contractor Dane Carter puts his life on hold to help the sleepy town of Jacmel rebuild. But he finds it hard to like his brother’s pregnant wife or her family. He wants to go home, until he meets Jade – and realizes what’s missing in his own life. When the mortuary team begins work, it’s as if malevolence has been released from the earth. Instead of laying her ghosts to rest, Jade finds herself confronting death and terror again.
And the man who unexpectedly awakens her heart – is right in the middle of it all.
This book is FREE. Sample chapter is next…
I
n perfect symphony
the clouds swayed in the sky, wrapping the moon in protective cotton wool as the ground shook and trembled beneath the sleepy town of Jacmel in the south of Haiti.
Mother Earth growled and raged over and over again as if she knew the secrets long kept hidden in the hills behind the small town. As if she knew about the injustices done. As if she knew this had to stop. She gave one last mighty shove and the earth cracked open.
Trees toppled, their roots ripped from the ground in hapless destruction. Large rocks tumbled as their foundations were wiped out from below. Everything fell to the force of Mother Nature – at long last exposing old secrets to the light.
When she was finally satisfied, the clouds slipped back from their protective stance, letting the moon glare upon the result of Mother Earth’s game of fifty-two pickup with the Devil. The rays shone on bones long picked clean – now newly exposed to the sky.
The ground undulated one last time. The surrounding hillside shuddered, sending a light dusting of earth and rock to rebury the gruesome evidence. As if the sins of man were too much for even the moon to see.
*