The Broken Road (The Broken Series) (47 page)

I
stared out over the ocean as I tried to gauge how I was feeling about the
decision I had just made. We sat quietly awhile longer, both lost in our own
thoughts.

Again,
Kadyn broke the silence. “Who do you dread telling most?”

I
considered the question for some time before answering. “Charlie,” I finally responded.

“Charlie?”
Kadyn asked, clearly surprised.

I
smiled. “Yeah, Charlie.”

He
looked mildly amused. “Why?”

“Because
he knew all along how this fellowship was going to end.” I shook my head in
wonder, then changed the topic. “Hey, you got any paper on you?”

Kadyn
glanced at me curiously. He handed me the white paper bag our food had been in.
“Only this. Why?”

I
smiled innocently as I reached for the bag. “I need to make a list. You got a
pen?”

“No,
but you could use this.” He handed me a small plastic container full of pasta
sauce, looking anything but innocent.

“I
can’t write with
this
!” I threw the pasta sauce at him and made a mad
dash for the ocean. Kadyn scooped me up before I reached the waves. Then he
threw me in.

Within
seconds he pulled me from the waves and folded me back into his arms. “You
saucy wench,” he scolded playfully.

“You’re
the saucy one!” My head fell back as I laughed at my own joke.

Kadyn
just rolled his eyes. Then his face turned unexpectedly serious. His voice
cracked as he pulled me closer. “Thank you.”

“For
what?” I asked, completely baffled by his change in mood.

Kadyn’s
arms tightened around me. “For giving us a chance.”

“I
can be pretty determined when I have my heart set on something.” I smiled as I
repeated the words he had spoken on our first date.

A
huge grin spread across Kadyn’s face. “Then we’re golden.”

I
hugged him a little closer. “Hey, if you could kiss anyone in the whole entire
world, who would it be?”

Kadyn
didn’t bother answering. He simply crushed his lips against mine.

The
waves washed over us as we lost ourselves in the kiss, oblivious to the raven haired
man who stood seething on the shore.

###

I live in Northern
Virginia with my football-crazed husband, two beautiful daughters, two psychotic
Shih Tzus, and two freakishly large goldfish. I teach courses in international
relations, foreign policy, peacekeeping, and human security at the American
Military University. I also work as a reading tutor at my daughters’ elementary
school. What can I say? I still love school. Reading has long been my passion,
so I belong to not one but two book clubs, which I fondly refer to as my “good
girl bookclub” and my “bad girl bookclub.” Suffice it to say the “bad girl
bookclub” is the one that decided to read Fifty Shades of Gray.

I’ve been writing for
as long as I can remember. In my childhood, I loved writing poetry, song
lyrics, and short stories. Somehow, this morphed into supreme court briefs,
government reports, congressional bills, journal articles, and op ed pieces as
I grew older. And now? I’m writing romantic suspense novels. God only knows
why.

Thanks for reading this
first book in the broken series. Keep reading for more information on book two
in the series. I love hearing from my readers, so please stop by ksruff.com,
drop me a note, and let me know what you thought about the book!

beautifully
broken

book
two in the broken series

How many times can one woman be abducted? That’s
the question burning Kristine Stone when she finds herself staring down a dark
and dangerous man from her past. When she refuses to leave with him, he forces
her hand by threatening to kill the man she loves, along with thousands of
others. Kristine fears his terrorist connections will enable him to make good
on this threat, so she complies. She thinks she has it all figured out. If she
takes the path of least resistance and does everything this man asks, he will
eventually tire of her and let her go. Despite this well intentioned plan,
Kristine discovers just how seductive this man can be. She is forced to choose
between the love of two men and stands to lose everything in the end.