They say life is about choices. You spend your life making decisions and dealing with the consequences, whether they are positive or negative. In my tumultuous frame of mind, I make a choice. A very poorly thought out choice, but one that I have to live with, nevertheless.
Description:
I know what you’re thinking. It’s unconventional to want a man nine years older than you. It’s inconvenient to crush on your dearest friend’s older brother. It’s silly to pine after a man for six years. It’s cliché to lust after a celebrity. It’s pathetic to fall in love with a man who barely knows you exist.
I know what you’re thinking because I’ve thought it all, too. And yet that hasn’t stopped me from wanting Blake Campbell. Charming, gorgeous, brilliant, kind, selfless – Blake is everything I’ve ever wanted, but he doesn’t see me that way. In fact, he hardly noticed me until one night.
Traumatic events brought us together for the first time, but then he tossed me aside. I know it’s irrational, but I wanted him up until the moment he left me lying there alone.
When his eyes finally open and he finds out I’ve left, will it be too late?
Imagine the worst day of your life. Immerse yourself in the details. How did you feel? Who were you with? What were the consequences?Recalling my darkest day is as simple as typing a few search terms into a web browser. It only took thirty minutes for me to become the center of a media frenzy that caught the attention of an entire country.
So I hid.
Nine months later and I'm getting better. Moved two hours from home, landed my dream job, and met a delicious new guy.
Healing is that simple, right?
Wrong.
EXCERPT
They say life is about choices. You spend your life making decisions and dealing with the consequences, whether they are positive or negative. In my tumultuous frame of mind, I make a choice. A very poorly thought out choice, but one that I have to live with, nevertheless.
As soon as Cassidy finishes her encore, I tell the girls that we’re going backstage to meet the singer. They follow behind the private elevator to the lower level of the Chi Center, talking giddily. I push their voices out of my mind, leading them with long, purposeful strides.
There are perks to owning the joint. The security guards clear the way for me, knowing not to bother me when I’m in a foul mood.
With a short knock, I push my way into Cassidy’s crowded backstage room. The moment she lays her fake-eyelash covered gaze on me, she squeals. The sound hurts my ears, but I pretend it doesn’t.
“Blake Campbell, I didn’t know you were coming back here!” She literally launches herself at me, latching her over tanned arms around my neck and thrusting her glitter-speckled tits against my chest.
And then, in plain sight of Stella, I yank the pop star into my arms and thrust my tongue down her throat.
You are a moron.
*****
"Stella, please wait."
I know my heart is at risk. It's tottering on the edge of a cliff, and a stiff wind could send it over the edge. He has the power. To scar me. To break me. To destroy me. But the moment that he murmurs my name, I relinquish control.
“Why?” I choke out. “Who are you? The nurturing big brother? The loving, compassionate guy I’ve come to know, or the conceited prick using me for my body? You know what; don’t answer that. I can’t do this anymore.”
I take a few steps back. Heartache, my steady companion, reappears. Without the distraction of his touch, I’m reminded that it’s bitterly cold outside and a stark shudder rolls through my entire body.
“You’re cold,” he mutters unhappily and shrugs off his suit jacket. Before I have a chance to argue, he drapes it around my back. Blake’s large hands settle on my upper arms and begin to rub vigorously.
“Why does my temperature matter?” I ask the question to this collarbone, refusing to make eye contact with the man who continues to torment my emotions.
“Stella –” there it is again, my name on his lips is tremendously distracting–“I want to start over with you.” Another shiver cascades through my shoulders and he makes a pained expression. With an arm anchoring me to his side, Blake leads me back through the door of the club and into the secluded hallway. I wrench out of his grip and put some much-needed distance between us.
“Start over with what?”
“A first date, we’ll need one of those.”
“You’re not making any sense, Blake.”
“It’s pretty simple. When a woman captures all a man’s attention, when she’s the only thing on this mind, he takes her on a date. Then another and another and another until he can convince her to be his.”
The words make my body go rigid in disbelief and my heart slow in my chest. I let my eyes fall closed as I shake my head back and forth. “Don’t say things like that to me, Blake.”
Even though I can’t see him, I sense him getting closer. Then his knuckles trail down my cheek in a whisper of a caress. “I won’t stop, Stella. This is going to happen and we’re going to do it right. That night last month… I don’t regret what happened between us because I wanted you.” His voice drops into a husky murmur.
Olivia Luck lives in the middle of America with her loving husband and her obsession with writing. She wrote her first romance novel at age eight. When she’s not reading, editing, or writing, you can find her in the kitchen learning to cook. Olivia loves to travel and spend time with her family.
Get in touch with Olivia, she adores emails: olivialuckauthor@gmail.com
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