So far, STOLEN seems to be doing okay. I’m hearing… ‘that scared me to death’ and ‘Great, now I’m REALLY paranoid…’ *G*

Happy to be of service!

Here’s a snippet from the book. Just a reminder, this isn’t connected to any series. It’s completely stand-alone.

“If you’d called, I would have been there.”

Shay swallowed. “I know you would have. But we’re not together anymore, right?”

“Does that mean you can’t need a friend with you?” He touched her shoulder.

That light touch sent her heart skittering around in her chest, a mad little dance that made her breathless. Breathing was already difficult. Being near him made it so much worse.

“We’re not friends, though, are we, Elliot?” she said quietly.

“So not dating means we can’t be friends?”

“You didn’t want to be friends.” She hugged herself tightly and closed her eyes so he wouldn’t see the truth in them. She couldn’t handle being friends with him anyway. It would hurt too much. “You just wanted us to be over, remember? You said we were done. So we’re done. Besides, I managed okay.”

“Always gotta be so tough, huh, Shay?”

No. Miserable, she gave him her back and circled around the back edge of the store. She wasn’t tough at all. She was miserable and lonely and she wished like hell she could be what he needed, give him what he wanted. She just didn’t know how.

At the back of the store, she headed for the fantasy section, bypassing the romance. Once upon a time, it had been her first stop in the store.

“A couple of your favorite writers had books out last week. Don’t you want those?”

“I’m not much into romance these days.” Depressing as hell, reading about a happily-ever-after when it was painfully clear she wasn’t very likely to find one. She’d have to settle for a humdrum-ever-after. Besides, as grim and moody as she was these days, she found herself connecting to action or gore or violence better.

Stopping in front of the shelves featuring the newest releases, she studied them, all too aware of Elliot standing at her back. “You’ve probably got business to do, paperwork and all that crap. You can go back to it.”

“Thanks for your permission,” he murmured.

A warm hand settled low on her back. As he bent his head, Shay shivered at the feel of him. Damn it. Coming in here had been a BFM. Big fucking mistake. She should have just waited in the car…

“I miss you.”

Closing her eyes, she whispered, “Don’t.”

His lips brushed across the side of her brow. “Don’t what? Tell you that I miss you? Miss us?”

“Us?” She laughed hollowly as she turned to face him. “There is no us, remember? You said that. There’s me…and there’s you…and sometimes we’re together, but there’s no us.”

His gaze held hers. “I never wanted it to be that way. And maybe there was more of an us than I realized. Seeing you…” He paused, took a deep breath. “Seeing you just drives that home.”

Those intense, hypnotic eyes held hers. Her heart kicked up a few beats, stealing her breath away. As he started to dip his head, Shay stood there, frozen. Shit. What now…

His mouth, so warm, brushed against hers. She gasped and then almost wished she hadn’t as he used that opportunity to tease the inside of her lips with his tongue, moving deeper and deeper. His hands came around her waist, tugging her closer.

This is a bad idea…

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