Jaxon is the guy she’s
supposed to avoid. K.C. is the girl he won’t let get away....
K. C. Carter has always
followed the rules—until this year, when a mistake leaves her the talk of her
college campus and her carefully arranged life comes crashing to a halt. Now
she’s stuck in her small hometown for the summer to complete her court-ordered
community service, and to make matters worse, trouble is living right next
door.
Jaxon Trent is the worst kind
of temptation and exactly what K.C. was supposed to stay away from in high
school. But he never forgot her. She was the one girl who wouldn’t give him the
time of day and the only one to ever say no. Fate has brought K.C. back into
his life—except what he thought was a great twist of luck turns out to be too
close for comfort. As they grow closer, he discovers that convincing K.C. to
get out from her mother’s shadow is hard, but revealing the darkest parts of
his soul is nearly impossible.
“So, how did this happen?” I asked,
holding the gauze on his skin, under the cuts, to catch the saline.
His abs flexed, probably from the cold
fluid, since saline didn’t sting, as I poured it over the cuts, cleaning them.
He sucked in air through his teeth. “Some
of the science kids have greenhouses on the roof,” he grunted, and I almost
laughed out loud. “Masters asked me to go up and make sure the roofs were
closed, but I slipped coming back down the stairs. Scraped myself on some bolts.”
Ouch.
I used the rest of the gauze to wipe up
the solution, and then ripped open a package with a wet wipe and made sure the
blood was cleared up.
“You should be using gloves,” he pointed
out. “You know? Blood and all.”
“I thought any girl was safe with you,” I
shot back, tearing open bandages. “Isn’t that what you told me?”
Jax was silent for a minute, narrowing his
eyes farther and watching me as I placed three rectangular bandages on his
stomach.
“I said any girlfriend of mine,” he
finally clarified. “But you shouldn’t be so careless. Use gloves next time.”
I ignored him, feeling weird on the
occasions he acted like this. Jax had a habit of scolding me, sometimes acting as
though he was protecting me, and then following it all up with being an asshole.
I finally figured out condescension was his way of gaining superiority. Making others feel stupid.
I finally figured out condescension was his way of gaining superiority. Making others feel stupid.
I sat back, looking him in the eye and
changing the subject. “Is anything else hurt?”
He hesitated only a moment. And then
folded his arm back, lifting his right elbow to reveal the scratches I’d
noticed earlier.
Repeating the same procedure, I stood up
and leaned over him, catching the saline wash as it cascaded over his wound and
into the gauze.
He hissed, and I blinked.
“Blow on it,” he ordered.
“It doesn’t sting,” I scoffed, knowing
damn well that saline didn’t hurt.
“K.C., Jesus,” he barked, wincing.
I rolled my eyes but gave in. Holding the
underside of his arm—his hard triceps—I leaned down and released a slow, cool
breeze over the scratches. Jax’s scent wafted over me again, and I desperately
wanted to close my mouth so I could breathe him in through my nose.
But I didn’t. I could tell his eyes were
on me.
“Why are you watching me?” I asked, wiping
up the rest of the solution and blood.
I didn’t look at him, but I heard him
swallow.
“This is just the first time you’ve ever
made me feel good, is all,” he replied in probably the most candid way I’d ever
heard him speak.
I pinched my eyebrows together.
The first time I’d ever
made him feel good. I didn’t know what to say to
that. Hell, I had nothing to say to that.
Keeping quiet, I finished applying his
bandages as fast as I could and didn’t meet his eyes again. He’d tried to be
nice to me in high school. He’d tried to be a friend. Maybe friends with
benefits but still a friend. Now here I was, forcing my attention on him, and
he probably had no patience for me anymore.
“Can I ask you a question?” I ventured.
“What?”
“That night you drove Liam home . .
.” I swallowed, smoothing my fingers over the bandage I’d fixed to his arm. “You
said you had tattoos. Too many.” I repeated his words, my eyes fixated on his
forearm. “What did you mean?” I pressed, because clearly Jax didn’t sport any
tattoos. His statement hadn’t made any sense.
Even though I hadn’t looked at him, I
noticed his head turn away as he inhaled a slow, deep breath. Kind of as though
he was getting ready to dive deep underwater and knew he wouldn’t be up for air
for a while.
“Sorry,” I said quietly, straightening up
and crumpling the bandage wrappers in my fist. “I just . . . I don’t know .
. .” I trailed off. “I just want to understand.”
I finally met his eyes, and he studied me
silently. I didn’t know if he was trying to figure out what to tell me or if he
wanted to tell me anything at all. Funny thing was, I’d thought about what Jax
said that night a lot over the years, and while I was curious, it wasn’t until
I’d overheard his conversation with Jared today that I knew it had something to
do with his childhood.
And I realized that I didn’t know Jaxon
Trent at all.
He rubbed his forearm and narrowed his
eyes briefly before relaxing. “If you could get a tattoo, what would it be?”
I blinked, shocked by his question. “Um.”
I laughed softly, thinking. “I thought about a set of angel wings, I guess. With
one of the wings broken,” I admitted.
“It has something to do with your past?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“And it’s something you want to remember?”
he pressed.
“Yes.”
“That’s why I don’t have any tattoos,” he
concluded. “People get tattoos for all kinds of reasons, but they’re always
badges of what has made them who they are. I don’t care to remember what and
who made me this way. The people that gave me life. The people that brought me
up . . .” He shook his head, defiant. “The places I’ve seen or anything I’ve
done. It’s all in my head, anyway. I don’t want it on my body, too. I don’t
care about anything that much.”
Series Order
Penelope Douglas is a writer in Las
Vegas. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, she is the oldest of five children. Penelope
attended the University of Northern Iowa, earning a Bachelor's degree in Public
Administration, because her father told her to "just get the degree!"
She then earned a Masters of Science in Education at Loyola University in New
Orleans, because she hated Public Administration. One night, she got tipsy and
told the bouncer at the bar where she worked that his son was hot, and three
years later they were married. To the son, not the bouncer. They have spawn,
but just one. A daughter named Aydan. Penelope loves sweets, The Originals, and
she shops at Target almost daily.
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great series
ReplyDeleteThank you for this awesome giveaway.
ReplyDeleteThanks for highlighting Falling Away. Love this series and Jax's story didn't disappoint.
ReplyDeleteI loved Bully, Until You, & Rival. I can't wait to read about Jax & K.C. Thanks for the giveaway! :-)
ReplyDeleteI love the books i have read all of them so far and cant wait until the next one comes out
ReplyDeletethanks for the great giveaway
ReplyDeleteCaught my attention.
ReplyDeleteLove this series!
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