Life is a series of reoccurring ripples in time.
The moment I saw her…something shifted.
The moment my lips touched hers…life got messy.
The moment my heart got involved…everything changed.
Vi Harris tests every bit of my strength.
She is my test.
My challenge.
At a time when I should be focusing entirely on myself, this radiant woman with a bright, cheeky smile and a cracked sense of humor waltzes in and spins everything on its axis.
Vi has the potential to make me weak at a time when I’m determined to show everyone just how bloody strong I am.
She’s everything I am not…yet somehow, she sees through my darkness.
She’s everything I am not…yet somehow, she sees through my darkness.
My pain.
My despair.
She doesn’t see me as broken.
She sees me as the man I’m fighting so hard to be.
She doesn’t see me as broken.
She sees me as the man I’m fighting so hard to be.
The man that I’m still struggling to see myself.
The follow up book to Not The One: Hayden's Story
Not The One – Released Dec 7, 2015
As the only survivor of a rare birth, Reyna Miracle has never felt like she belonged. When a horrible tragedy strikes during her graduate courses at Oxford, she spirals down a dark and sexy path with Hayden, her deceased best friend's brother. But when Liam Darby, a mistake from her past reappears, Reyna's world begins to crumble as the two men fight for a love that she can't even accept for herself.
“You’re so confusing, Hayden,” I reply, my voice embarrassingly breathy as he stands only a foot away from me now. His eyes are glossy with obvious lust. Pure, undiluted lust. “You kiss me and run away, then kiss me and tell me I can do better. I don’t know what you’re even saying.”
He licks his lips thoughtfully. “I’m saying that tonight when you showed up looking the way you did…” he pauses as his eyes drift down my body. His heated expression makes me feel every drop of hot blood coursing through my veins. “I wanted to have you right then and there. But not in a club full of people. I wanted you in the privacy of your bedroom…where the curves of your hips, the rise of your chest, the moisture on your lips…are for me and me alone.”
I exhale at his guttural tone and am embarrassed when a throaty noise comes out of my mouth. He takes this noise as permission and moves in closer, his posture hunched as he looks down at me. “So, I’m sorry for some things, Vi. But I’m not sorry for interfering. To ask me to just walk away when a prat like Ethan Simmons worms himself within inches of your mouth…your fucking mouth that I’ve touched with my lips…lips that I have claimed as mine in a thousand different fantasies…No, Vi. No. I’m not going to be sorry for that.”
“But you said—”
“Stuff what I said. I can’t stay away from you.” The words rush out of his mouth as he harshly grabs me by the waist. His bruising, firm grip shoves up the stretchy fabric of my top as his lips find mine in a desperate, needy kiss. He greedily yanks the cups of my bra down and caresses my nipples in such a way that I rip my mouth away from his and let out a strangled cry. I’m not all together certain I’ve ever heard that sound come from my mouth before.
He releases my nipples to pull my top off over my head, revealing my lacey red bra tucked firmly beneath my breasts, pushing them up for his lustful perusal. He drops an open mouthed kiss on each of them before standing back up straight. Groaning in frustration, he pauses his assault and looks into my eyes. A warmth blossoms in his gaze as he wraps his arms around me, holding me close. “I’m terrified, Vi…of so much. But I don’t have the strength to walk away from you again. You make me weak.”
I exhale with relief and anxiety over his comment, feeling my emotions at odds. I’ve been wanting Hayden Clarke to let me in since he first kissed me outside my building. But what does it mean when he says he feels weak around me? Am I capable of hurting him? I lick my lips and guide him down to my level. “Maybe with time I can make you strong.”
Amy Daws is a commercial producer and lives in South Dakota with her husband and daughter. The long-awaited birth of Lorelei is what inspired her passion for writing. Amy is a lover of all things British and her award-nominated romantic comedy series, The London Lovers Series, is centered around Americans in London. It's emotional and self-deprecating with lots of humor sprinkled in. On most nights, you can find Amy and her family dancing to Strawberry Shortcake’s theme song or stuffing themselves inside children’s-sized playhouses because there is nothing they wouldn’t do for their little miracle.
