Love Scars - 1: Scratch Read Online Free Page B

the hostess.
    If I hadn’t seen that brown paper bag lying on the floor of Brad’s SUV, would I have gotten on the bike and gone home? I honestly don’t know.
    You might as well take it in, I told myself. No harm in that.
    I grabbed the vodka and went through the gate to the backyard. Brad was in heaven, dancing with his angel on the lawn. He’d kill me for interrupting them, but I wanted to drop off the bottle and get out of there.
    “Dude,” Brad said. “Hey, Lisa, this is J.D., my best friend.”
    I shot daggers at him with my eyes, but it was too late.
    “Best friend?” she said. “I thought he’d only been working for you two weeks.”
    “We’ve known each other since we were kids,” I said. “I wouldn’t be at BlueMagick if it wasn’t for Brad.” That much was true.
    “He’s a good guy,” Lisa said. She looked in the bag. “Ooh, Frank’s going to like that.” She handed it back and jerked her thumb toward the deck at the back of the house.
    My gut felt like it turned over. “Oh, no.”
    I must have said the words aloud, because I could feel Brad and Lisa both giving me a strange look, but my attention was caught, bound up, and focused on a girl sitting with a guy on the deck steps. Her arms were wrapped around her bare legs and her long brown hair was draped over her shoulders. She had the deepest, sweetest brown eyes, and I was falling into them.
    Help! I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!
    My heart pounded like a maniac. Against my will, my body followed Brad and Lisa to the deck. Lisa threw her arms around the guy as he stood up, and I vaguely heard her call him Frank.
    I couldn’t talk. I had to get out of there. Danger Will Robinson!
    “Nora, this is J.D.,” Brad said. “We work together at BlueMagick.”
    “Hi, Nora,” said someone using my voice. My hand reached out to shake hers. “It’s nice to meet you.”
    What was my hand doing? I had to get out of there. Her hair smelled like mint and rosemary. I wanted to run my hands through that thick brown luxury and pull her lips to mine, right there in front of God and everybody. Must run. Must run now.
    Her hand was so small in mine. Everything in me screamed a primal demand that I protect her. The only way to protect her from me was to turn around right that minute, walk through the gate, and ride out of her life.
    “Hi,” she said.
    Damn. I was hoping she’d have a screechy voice. Something, anything, to drive me away from her. No such luck.
    She followed Frank and Lisa to the bar. It was my chance to get out of there. I looked at the gate. All I had to do was turn right and walk. Make my legs go, one foot in front of the other. Easy peasy .
    I think I would have done it. I think I still had a measure of self-control left, enough to get me through that gate and peddling down the driveway. She was standing at the bar, talking to Frank and Lisa, her back to me. I could disappear while no one was looking.
    If only she hadn’t reached behind her head and swept her hair over one shoulder, exposing the perfect tanned skin of her back. If only she hadn’t turned and looked at me just then, her eyes drilling deeper into me than I could bear, ripping through scars I thought had healed twice over.
    If only I hadn’t walked in her garden.
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    J.D. and Nora are both covered in love scars. Can their awakened libidos guide their broken hearts to new happiness?
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    Find out immediately when the next episode goes live. Sign up for email notification when Love Scars – 2: Deeper is available.
     
    Love Scars – a romantic suspense serial
     
    Part 1: Scratch
    Part 2: Deeper – available now
    Part 3: Stop
    Part 4: Exposed
    Part 5: Cover
     
    - oOo -
     
    Sneak preview of Love Stars – 2: Deeper
     
    Chapter 1
     
    “Yeah!” a male voice in the living room screamed.
    “Die! Die! Die!” someone answered amid obnoxious laughter.
    Crap. Videogames. Word about the party had gone viral, and the house was crammed with