Never Enough: A New Adult Romance
Read Never Enough: A New Adult Romance Online
Authors: Annie Green
Never Enough
Annie Green
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, facts and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is strictly coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Annie Green; All rights reserved.
Dedication
To my husband who would rather be playing video games, but reads my stuff anyways.
You’re my best friend.
And to Sandon who puts up with my craziness. Thanks for loving these characters as much as I do.
Table of Contents
Damien
I glanced out the coffee shop windows where the rain was coming down in sheets before turning my eyes to the rustic clock on the wall.
She was late and for some irrational reason I was starting to worry. Ever since she had moved into the room next to mine, I had this sinking sensation I couldn’t quite brush off. It had built slowly and was so indiscernible I had been able to dismiss it without much thought. However, as the days grew into weeks and as I saw the gradual transformation take place both internally and externally with her, that sinking feeling had flooded my very being. I was so incredibly screwed.
I shook my head to ward off the anxiety building in me as a customer came up to the counter, telling me the half and half canister was empty. Thanking him for letting me know, I walked between the clusters of mismatched furniture
in the small coffee shop toward the kiosk that housed the sugar and napkins. As I grabbed the metal container, the bells above the door jingled.
There she was. And holy fuck she was wearing a bright red bra under her sopping wet shirt. Had she walked to work
in the rain? Had she purposefully done that to drive me crazy?
“You’re late,” I grunted, grabbing the canisters and giving her my best glower. Her long, dark brown hair was wet from the rain and the purple chunks she had recently added to the mix popped out.
Her dark brown eyes flew up to meet mine and my heart smacked my sternum painfully. She was wearing dark blue jeans that hugged her mile high legs and a long sleeved light gray shirt that was way too thin for this kind of weather.
A few of the college guys who
most likely went to Santa Cruz State turned her way, their eyes sliding away from their laptops to move over her sleek form. I grasped the handle of the canisters so tightly I thought they were going to break off. She of course had no knowledge of the effect she had on the males around her. It was probably because up until a few weeks ago she had been a timid little creature who lacked any sense of self and had gone unnoticed by everyone including me. Even though we had worked together for months, I’d rarely noticed her. She was only a blip on my radar. However, when she finally moved into the room next to mine, something shifted dramatically. All I could say was she was a force to be reckoned with and much too tempting. How I hadn’t seen that before continued to blow my mind.
“I know,” she said between clenched teeth as she unknowingly caused the guy
sitting closest to her to glance down at her chest. I was done having the customers eye fuck her. She needed to dry off and change her clothes before I lost it.
“You’re wet and your shirt is see through,” I said gruffly. “Go change your clothes.
”
Temperance Cole shifted her dark green gaze down to the front of her shirt and sighed. “Crap. You can totally see my bra.”
“Yeah you can,” a guy from across the room said, causing her already pink cheeks to darken. She might have looked a whole lot more rock and roll than she had a few weeks ago, but she was still an innocent young woman I shouldn’t be lusting after.
I scowled at the guy, causing him to sink back into his chair. I knew I looked slightly intimidating with my tattoos and muscular build. I had rugby and my tattoo artist
, Kyle, to thank for that.
Grabbing Temperance by the arm, I set the canisters on the counter and led her to the backroom.
Thankfully it wasn’t that busy at the moment so I could spare some time. I reached into my locker and pulled out my sweater. I threw it at her, not wanting to get too close or else I’d end up doing something I’d really enjoy, but would probably regret in the morning.
She caught it in her right hand and stared at me with those sexy eyes.
“What is your problem?” she asked, the ends of her hair dripping water onto the hardwood floor. “Seriously, you’d think I just murdered someone or something…”
“You were late,” I repeated
, interrupting her. “And you’re dressed inappropriately for work.”
Her mouth opened slightly and all I wanted to do was stick my tongue inside it. I clenched my teeth so hard that my jaw popped.
“I had a flat tire and instead of waiting for a tow truck like I should have, I ended up walking all the way here because I knew you were working alone…” she said, but her words became nothing but unintelligible ramblings. I couldn’t think coherently, let alone process vocabulary at the moment.
Because holy hell, h
er tits were hardening under her shirt and if I stood there a minute longer I was going to have a whole lot of explaining to do. So I held up my hand and turned around. “I need to get back out there. Come out when you’re dry and ready to work.”
She huffed as I strode from the back room and I forced myself to keep m
y eyes in front of me. When I’d met her three months ago, I hadn’t thought twice about her. She was mousy and incredibly shy, but the more I got to know her, the feistier she had become. I heard from my boss Peter that she lived with pretty controlling parents and when he told me she’d be moving in next door to me, I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t think it would be a big deal. Little did I know that seeing her walking around the house in her tight running pants and at times, just her towel would have me in a perpetual state of hardness.
And now she was finding her own sense of style and was turning out to be pretty outspoken and I liked it. It totally turned me on. But I was so screwed because I had made a promise to someone
a year ago and it didn’t involve being with anyone this soon. It was too fucking soon.
“Can I help you?” I heard Temperance’s voice behind me and I turned around and frowned. She had snuck out of the backroom without me noticing and there was a line of guys waiting to order their second cup of coffee. And all because she was standing behind the cash register with all that wet hair and my grey sweater unzipped just far enough to show off the top of her chest. I was now one hundred percent
sure she had no clue what she did to the male sex.
“I’d like two shots of espresso,” a guy with dark framed glasses said and I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. He looked like a total twat and I just wanted to punch him in the face.
“Sure thing,” she said brightly as she asked for his name, which happened to be Skylar. What the fuck kind of name was that anyway?
She was going to scrawl it on the cup, but I roughly grabbed it from her and grumpily made the five coffee orders from the guys who were standing in line. I made sure to give them all decaf because each and every one of them had their eyes on her chest like the creeps they were.
I don’t know why I felt so possessive when I’d only known her a few months, but I did and it was getting worse with each passing day. The feeling inside was like a slow working disease that took over more and more of your functioning each day until you ended up totally paralyzed.
I heard her phone ring and watched as she pulled it from her back pocket. She glanced at the screen before shoving it back where she got it. The way her cheeks darkened after checking her phone had my blood boiling. It had to be a guy; probably her brother’s dickhead friend who she’d had a mad crush on since she was little. I only knew that because I
’d overheard her telling a coworker about him a few weeks ago and apparently he was back in town. It was all a little too much. If I ever saw them together, I’d probably end up throwing him away in the trash like the garbage he was.
I didn’t like feeling out of control like this. I needed to get some of it back before I ended up acting like a total caveman.
“No phones on during work. You know that,” I said, making sure to sound less angry and more authoritative. It didn’t really work. I just sounded like a jerk.
“Fine,” she replied, grabbing her phone and turning it on silent. “It’s off.”
“Good,” I said, as she grabbed a rag and began wiping down the counter. She had always been a good worker and had never really given me attitude, but today she seemed a little off and I didn’t know why. I didn’t like it either.
“What’s up with you?” I finally asked, not being able to take the waves of tension rolling off her. If she said that her bad mood was because of some guy, I was really going to lose my shit.
“Just a bad day,” she muttered, not meeting my eyes.
“What happened? Boyfriend break up with you?” The last comment was said dryly, but I was desperately searching for an affirmation she wasn’t with
that guy she liked. I didn’t think I could bear it.
She placed her hand on her hip and glowered at me. “I don’t have a boyfriend and even if I did why do you assume he’d be breaking up with me? Huh?”
Her sassy comment had my lips twitching in amusement, which only seemed to make her madder.
“Whatever,” she muttered when I didn’t respond. She grabbed the rag and began furiously wiping down the counter when the bells above the door jingled and a familiar face bounded toward us.
“Tempie!” It was Maggie, Temperance’s best friend who I was pretty sure had some influence in Temperance’s new look. Maggie’s shoulder length blonde hair had streaks of pink in it and both of her arms were covered in tattoos. The funny thing was she was a music major at a local, private music school nearby and from what I’d heard Temperance say, a phenomenal piano player. That passion of hers just didn’t seem to match all those tattoos and body piercings.
She turned her knowing blue eyes on me and gave me a small smile. “Damien.”
I nodded uneasily at her. She was way too perceptive and I had a feeling she knew I wanted her best friend in a bad way.
Temperance didn’t
seem to notice, however. She grinned widely at Maggie and asked, “Why are you here? I thought you said you got a practice room at school today.”
“I did, but then I was so excited that I had to come down here and tell you in person. Piano practice can wait.” Maggie glanced over
at me and I turned away. She’d caught me staring at them and I didn’t want to seem like a total creep.
“What happened?” Anxiety lined Temperance’s voice and I peeked over at her through my lashes.
“I got you in to see my tattoo guy tomorrow.”
Temperance squealed and my breath hitched. She was getting tattooed? Holy hell, this was not going to end well.
“What time?”
“At three. You down?”
I saw Temperance bob her head eagerly and I pinched the bridge of my nose. A headache was beginning to form behind my eyes and I wondered if I was getting another migraine. Damn it all to hell. They seemed to be coming on a regular basis ever since Temperance had moved in next door to me. I couldn’t really explain it, but I was pretty sure it had something to do with the sexual frustration I’d been living with for weeks.
“Okay,” I muttered. “Time to get back to work.”
“Fine,” Temperance said sourly. I knew I had officially killed her good mood, but I needed her to stop being so damn happy when I had been in a perpetual bad mood. I saw Maggie’s eyes twinkle as she looked at me, causing me to scowl.
“Give me a Chai tea latte please,” Maggie said before adding, “I think that tattoo is going to look super hot where you want it too. I can’t wait to see it.”
It was going to look super hot? Where the hell was she getting this tattoo? Visions of a male tattoo artist eyeing her sweet body filled my mind and a jealous rage boiled through me. I needed to get away just for a little bit to collect myself before I totally lost control and punched the wall.
“I’m taking my ten,” I said without warning, striding quickly away from Temperance and Maggie. I walked outside and pressed myself up against the wall of the coffee shop. The previous downpour had slowed slightly and it came down lazily from the gray clouds lining the sky. I turned my gaze to the busy street that sat adjacent to the shop and heard the cars drive through the puddles, which were undoubtedly lining the pavement.
It rained pretty frequently during the winter in Pacific Grove, a small town in California that sat near the ocean and Santa Cruz. This sweet little place was far enough away from the eccentricities of that crazy city to maintain some normality, but still had the charm of NorCal. If it weren’t for the fog and rain, it would be the perfect place to live.
I heard the door open to my left and saw Maggie walk out. She turned toward me and offered me a small smile. “Enjoying your break?”
“Yep,” I said, blowing into my hands. I had given Temperance my only sweater.
I saw her watching me, but I kept my gaze on the cars before me. I didn’t need her looking into my eyes and reading my mind.
“Just do it, Damien. She wants you as much as you want her,” she said lowly.
My gaze snapped to where she was standing, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. “Excuse me?”
“Just once. Don’t you think that would take care of that bad mood of yours? And Temperance, well she’s curious about how it’d be with you…”
I blinked at her and opened my mouth to ask
if she had been joking, but she just tilted her chin up to the sky and sighed. “I just love the rain, don’t you?”
I nearly screamed in frustration as she hopped off the curb and jogged to her beat up Ford Focus. Had I heard her right? Or was I just hearing what I wanted to? It was infuriating. I wanted to follow her and demand she repeat what she’d said, but I didn’t.
That would have made working with Temperance unbearable. Instead I turned on my heels on strode back into the store.