Each day I prayed for my husband to love me again.

After fifteen years together, he walked away from me, and into the arms of another.

I didn't know how to cope. I didn't know my worth. I didn't know how to exist without him by my side.

All I wanted was for him to come back to me.

Then, Jackson Emery appeared.

He was supposed to be a distraction for my mind. A summer fling. A confidence boost to my bruised heart.

We were perfect for one another, because we both knew we wouldn't last. Jackson didn't believe in commitment, and I no longer believed in love. He was too closed-off for me, and I was too damaged for him.

Everything was fine, until one night my heart skipped a beat.

I didn't expect him to make me laugh. To make me think. To make my sadness somewhat disappear.

When our time was up, my heart didn't know how to walk away.

Each day I prayed for my husband to love me again, yet slowly my prayers began to shift toward the man who wasn't right for me.

I prayed for one more smile, one more kiss, one more laugh, one more touch...

I prayed for him to be mine.

Even though I knew his heart wasn't destined to love.

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"I've read about boys like you in books, ya know," she whispered, her fingers slowly spinning spirals on my chest.

"Oh, yeah? What did those books teach you about boys like me?"

"Well..." She bit her bottom lip, and with a small inhalation, she whispered, "They taught me to stay away."

"Then why are you so close?"

She tilted her head up, looking me straight in the eyes. "Because in those stories, the heroine never ever listens."

"And then there's trouble?" I asked.

"Yes, and then there's trouble."

From the way she said those words, I knew trouble was exactly what she was in search of. We were the classic cliché. She was the good girl next door, I the monster from around the block. We were perfect opposites for the perfect storm, and she was asking me to be her next flaw, her greatest mistake.

And, well, who was I not to live up to her request?

"I could destroy you," I warned.

"Or save me."

"Is it worth the risk?"

"Isn't it always worth the risk?"

The more she touched me, the more I wanted to touch her back. I wrapped my hands around her wrists flipping us around so she was now against the wall with her hands above her head. "I have rules." I leaned in closer, lightly brushing my lips against her neck. God, she smelled good, like peaches and my next sin. "You can't break these rules, either." My tongue rolled from my mouth and circled against her neck before I gently sucked her skin.

She shivered at my touch. "What are they?"

"Rule one," I whispered, my mouth moving across her collarbone. "You never stay the night."

"Rule number two," I said, dropping her left arm to the side. Taking my hand to the bottom of her blouse, I slowly raised it up and massaged her skin. "You never develop feelings."

"That's easy enough," she replied, her breaths uneven as I teased at the top button on her jeans. "I don't believe in feelings anymore."

I didn't know why, but that made me sad for her. I, too, didn't believe in falling for people, but that was my norm. Grace seemed the type to believe in something bigger than love, so the fact that her belief was completely gone was a bit surprising.

Maybe we had more in common than I thought.

"Rule number three...we don't talk about my life."

"Like ever?"

"And lastly, rule number four..." My mouth brushed against hers, and I slid my tongue slowly across her bottom lip. "If your favorite pair of panties get ripped, don't expect me to replace them."

Hi! I'm Brittainy! Join me as we travel through my mind as a Romance Author. This includes such things as my random thoughts, tricks, tips, things I'm learning, things I'm re-learning, things I'm forgetting, and my weird ways of crafting stories.

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