Title: Swoon
Author: CM Foss
Release Date: February
2015
Steph
I was never your
typical girl. I didn’t grow up with the warm and fuzzies and I
didn’t need them. Love wasn’t something I could wrap my
mind around, and so I didn’t. I knew what I was good at. I was a
great friend, had a passion for healing others, and a way with horses. I could
be all those things at the same time without ever discussing my own
feelings.
Until
him.
Lawrence
I’ve been
told I have a way with words, able to talk myself into or out of just about
anything, and anyone. It’s one reason I managed the family racehorse
business so well. I could wine and dine with the best of them, selling
bloodlines and high-priced stallion services over a five-course dinner. Talk
was not cheap in my world.
Until
her.
****
Young and carefree,
living worlds apart, they indulged in what seemed like the perfect
fling.
Until Lawrence
decided he wanted more.
Until
Steph’s careful world fell apart.
Until they had to
decide if love was worth the
fight.
I
tried to be discreet but all sound, including his laugh, faded away as I met
Lawrence’s eyes from across the room. Both of us were frozen,
stricken, and drawing the attention of our tables. A stunning girl seated next to
him had her mouth set in a grim line, irritation evident on her features. I
broke away from his gaze and pushed my chair back suddenly, excusing myself to
use the restroom. Justin was staring daggers at me but I needed some air. My
heart was racing and it hadn’t been used in several months, so it
wasn’t used to the
exertion.
I saw Lawrence
stand out of the corner of my eye and knew he was going to follow me. I was
pretty sure everyone else noticed
too.
I hurried out onto
the front porch, sucking in a breath of cold air as I leaned back against the
door, until it nudged me forward. Without looking, I stepped carefully in my
heels across the wooden boards and leaned against a post at the front steps,
listening to Lawrence’s slow footfalls as he
approached.
He didn’t
say anything. I simply felt his fingers pick the hair up off my back, smoothing
through the ends and letting it fall. My heart was still racing, my breathing
erratic. He stood close. I could feel his heat at my back. But he
didn’t touch me
anymore.
“How long
did that take you?” he
asked.
I
felt a small bubble of laughter rise in my chest at his first
question.
“Hours,”
I responded.
“I
didn’t recognize you at first. I noticed you, as I walked in from
behind. I saw a beautiful, bored girl, but I never imagined it was
you.”
Tears pricked my
eyes at his words and I tried to hide my sniffle by taking long, deep
breaths.
“Why are
you crying?” he asked.
“I
don’t know!” I cried out, covering my mouth with my hands
when I realized how loud I’d
been.
Lawrence took my
arm and gently turned me to face him. Even in the dimness of the porch light I
could see his blue eyes studying me. I couldn’t tell if he liked what
he saw.
He shook his head.
“I don’t like it.”
Well, that answered
my question.
He
brought a hand back up to my hair and ran his fingers through it again, his
brows furrowed.
“It’s
just hair.” I shrugged. “It’ll go right back to
curly.”
He dropped his hand
to my hip and I shouldn’t have been able to feel the heat from his
palm, but I did. And I shouldn’t have liked it. But I
did.
I
had no idea what to say. So many things had happened, so much time had passed.
And yet, suddenly it didn’t seem like it had been that
long.
Our moment was
broken by the front door swinging open and Justin leaning out, clearing his
throat.
“Excuse
me,” he said, his voice laced with restrained irritation.
“If you two are finished, I need Stephanie back at my
table.”
I stared at
Lawrence a moment longer before stepping away. As I turned to walk back to
Justin, Lawrence let his hand sweep from my hip, across my abdomen to the other
side, leaving a trail of heat in its wake. I watched Justin’s eyes
narrow at the move and my step faltered long enough for Lawrence to whisper in
my ear.
“I
don’t think we’re quite
finished.”
I live in beautiful
Northern Virginia with my incredible husband, two awesome kids, three dogs, and
two budgies. My husband and I both grew up riding and competing horses and have
our own equestrian operation that we run together. In my spare time, I read
through the hundreds of stories awaiting me on my
e-reader.
My love of books
started early, and my mom used to ration my reading time so I didn't go
through them too quickly. I love all things romantic, whether it's dark
or light or silly or dirty, but I really love a happy ending!
In my small moments
of quiet time, you'll find me sipping on wine and reading while any
movie where people randomly burst into song or dance plays in the
background.
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