Untamed Hearts (9 page)

I feel an ache slice through me, longing, and
pure bittersweet regret. Just one night, that’s all I had with him,
but somehow, it’s meant more to me than anything else in my life
since. I thought in time it would fade, that I would feel those
feelings with some other guy, that I would dilute Hunter’s power
with a hundred other kisses, dozens of other bodies and lips and
hands.

I was wrong.

He’s still the only one. The one guy I let slip
through my defenses. The one guy who shared my pain.

The man I walked away from, before he could have
a chance to break my heart.

“I didn’t mean to surprise you,” Hunter’s brow
furrows. “I figured after that show, you’d be up here celebrating.
Not…”

He trails off, but I can fill in the blanks.

Not moping here, defeated. Not stuck, exactly
the same as when he saw me last. Not hiding from the whispers and
scorn like some scared little kid.

I lurch up. “I can’t…” I stutter. “It’s
not…”

Hunter stares at me, confusion masking his
chiseled, tanned face. He probably expected some witty banter, my
usual tough barbs, but right now all my defenses are down and I
feel like my chest is ripped wide open, heart beating bloody and
raw for the whole world to see.

Why tonight? Why him, here, now of all
nights?

“Brit?” Hunter moves towards me but I flinch
away.

“No!” I stumble back. I can’t do this. Hell, I
don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to face him again, but right now,
every instinct in my body is screaming out to run.

“You shouldn’t be here.” I gasp. I turn, bolting
for the door, but my foot catches on the gravel and I stumble,
scraping my shin painfully against the jagged metal edge of the
chair.

In an instant, Hunter crosses the distance
between us to hold me up.

“Easy there,” he murmurs, holding onto my arm. A
shock of sensation floods through my body at his touch, and despite
everything, my heart leaps just to feel him next to me. He holds me
to him, tight against the solid warmth of his body, and for a
moment I’m caught there, lost in his eyes, in all the memories of
the past.

But the past is done. It was over almost as soon
as it began.

“Goodbye,” I manage, breaking free from his
embrace. I hurry down the stairs, crashing through the bar hallway
and out into the back parking lot. Garrett’s truck is parked right
by the exit, and I know the keys will be up under the mirror. I
scramble in, gunning it into drive and taking off, not stopping a
moment, not until I’m a mile away, speeding down the dark streets,
and Hunter is just a memory in the rearview mirror.

If only he could just stay that way.

I slam the steering wheel, my cheeks burning
with humiliation. What’s he even doing back here? Hunter Covington,
Ivy League prince, heir to a society fortune. He should be off
playing tennis at the country club, or partying in Monte Carlo, or
whatever it is that young, gorgeous men do when they have the world
at their feet and a multi-million dollar trust fund burning a hole
in their designer pockets.

He could be anywhere, doing anything, and
instead, he’s back here in Beachwood?

I shake my head in determination. Just because
he’s back doesn’t mean a thing. He’s probably just passing through,
the way his family did every summer when I was growing up. The
Covingtons had an old horse ranch out on the edge of town, and a
fancy new mansion on the waterfront too. They would come for July
with Hunter and his brother, Jace; bring their rich friends down
too, dock their yachts and stroll around town, cooing over how
‘quaint’ and ‘rustic’ we all were.

That’s not fair, a voice warns me. Hunter wasn’t
like that.

No, he wasn’t. I sigh, remembering him back
then. I was fourteen, fifteen, too young to really care at first,
but even I noticed that every year, he got more gorgeous: growing
taller, his muscles filling out. The slim, athletic boy who first
bounded around town like an eager puppy turned into a strapping
young man, in front of all of our eyes. God, the girls in town
would go crazy over him: flirting and giggling if he so much as
looked in their direction. And with his older brother along,
too…

They were the golden boys, alright.

Handsome. Charming. Wealthy.

Untouchable.

At least, until that night…

Don’t even think about it. I tell myself,
pulling the truck into the drive of the beach house. Whatever the
reason he’s back in town, he’s still the boy who’ll inherit the
whole world, and I’m still the girl with nothing.

Some things never change.

Read on in UNAFRAID, the new bestselling
novel out now!

“
Mom always told me there are two kinds of
love in this world: the steady breeze, and the hurricane. Emerson
Ray was my hurricane...”

Juliet McKenzie was an innocent eighteen-year
old when she spent the summer in Beachwood Bay--and fell head over
heels in love with Emerson. Complicated, intense Emerson, the local
bad boy. His blue eyes hid dark secrets, and just one touch could
set Juliet ablaze. Their love was demanding and all-consuming, but
when summer ended, tragedy tore them apart. Juliet swore she’d
never go back, and she’s kept that promise... Until now.

Four years later, Juliet’s done her best to
rebuild the wreckage of her shattered life. She’s got a great
boyfriend, and a steady job planned after she graduates. Returning
to Beachwood to pack up her family’s beach house to prepare it for
sale, Juliet is determined that nothing will stand in the way of
her future. But one look from Emerson, and all her old desire comes
flooding back. He let her go once, but this time, he’s not giving
up without a fight. And Emerson fights dirty.

A heartbreaking history. An unstoppable passion.
Torn between her past and future, Juliet struggles to separate love
from desire. But will they find a way to overcome their tragic
secrets--together? And after so much damage has been done, can a
love remain unbroken?

The international bestseller, out now!

FREE

***