If You Stay (Beautifully Broken, #1)(79)

He nods, relaxed once again. “Anytime. I’m a spawn of Satan specialist. I’m just happy that I was nearby and heard you scream.”

“Yes,” I agree. “That was very lucky for me.”

“Hmm,” Luca says, drawing out the sound. “Let’s leave that verdict out for now, shall we?”

[page]I stare at him, wondering what that means and why he seems so mysterious when he suddenly turns and walks out. I trail weakly behind him, trying to figure out what I had missed.

And then he is gone.

He is such a commanding presence that his absence is noticed immediately. The air around me lightens and the charged atmosphere is gone, like a thunderstorm that has abruptly moved on. I stand at the front door, watching him jog lightly down to the beach where he continues running in the wet sand. I watch his broad shoulders ripple as he moves until he is gone from my sight.

And I’m holding my breath. I realize it in an instant and inhale deeply.

Luca Minaldi, whoever he is, is intense.

I add that to the list and then examine it in my head.

Rich

Formal

Gentleman

Jaded

Unafraid

Intense

Mercurial

Dangerous

I have no way of telling at this point if these descriptors are accurate. In order to know for sure, I’ll have to interact with Luca Minaldi again. Luckily, as part of my research, I have vowed that if I have meaningful interaction with anyone this summer, I must follow-up with them in a second or third meeting so that I can ascertain if my initial theory on his or her character was correct. It’s the only way I can test my hypothesis in a practical sense.

But something deep inside of me tells me that my hypothesis should be damned in relation to Luca. I shouldn’t pursue another meeting with him. There’s something about him, something secretive and troubling, that I know I should steer clear of. My trained intuition is shouting at me.

And although I don’t have any basis other than my own intuition for it, I add secretive to the list. Because one thing is clear. Luca Minaldi is an enigma. I shake my head and lock my door before going back to bed.



To read continue Eva and Luca’s story, you can find it here on Amazon.



Or, if you are in the mood for something lighter (funny and wildly inappropriate), please continue reading to see an excerpt from Confessions of an Alli Cat.





Confessions of an Alli Cat (Book One, The Cougar Chronicles)

Genre: Women’s Contemporary Fiction

By: Courtney Cole





Chapter One


(Or: Why God invented BFF’s)





“Allison, I’m telling you, you need to try this. Honest to God, it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made for my hormones.”

“Which is exactly why I shouldn’t even consider it. I’m too old to be listening to my hormones.”

Sara stops in the middle of the frozen food section of our very local grocery store and puts her hands on her hips, glaring at me with her big brown eyes.

“And if you don’t take care of your hormones, who will? Rick the Dick?”

“Shhh, Sara!” I look around to make sure no one is listening to our conversation. I’m glad to see that, for the moment, we are alone.

“Well? Is he?”

“You know he’s not.”

“And we know why he’s not, too. Because his dick has been in service to at least four other women that we know of. At this point, I’d be afraid it might fall off inside you if you went back for some.”

“Oh my god, Sara, hush! Someone’s gonna hear you!”

I look around frantically, but thank God no one has appeared around us. Sara stares at me, half imperiously and half with pity.

“I don’t care and you shouldn’t either! I’m tired of women acting like having sexual needs is a bad thing. I’m all about embracing it. Girl, I wasted twenty years of my life thinking vibrators were evil. I still can’t figure out why the hell I listened to my mother.”

I’m the one who stares imperiously now.

“Sara, a vibrator and a young hot guy are two totally different kinds of toys. If you were trying to talk me into getting a vibrator, I’d be all for it. But this is totally out of the question.”

I watch Sara’s ruby stained lips fall open.

“Holy shit, you don’t have a vibrator? Allison, what the hell? Aren’t you afraid that thing is gonna get cobwebs and shrivel up from lack of use?”

I feel myself blush when I look up and see a little old lady sitting in a motorized cart frowning at us. Holy shit. How did I miss her purple hair when I looked around a minute ago?

Please God, let her have forgotten her hearing aid today!

“All right. That’s it,” Sara says suddenly, reaching for the few items in my buggy and dumping them onto a shelf in one big heap. “We are going to the naughty store. Today starts the liberation of Allison. Or at least your hoo-hah. I’m making it my mission in life to help you let your inner cougar out of the cage. That bitch has been in captivity for far too long.”

She takes my hand and whirls me around, abandoning my cart and dragging me toward the exit. Our heels click loudly on the scuffed floor, attracting the attention of everyone in our direct vicinity.