Certified Disaster (Beautiful Mess Book 2) Read Free

thinking
or feeling.  There was a moment of horrible tension,
and then he heard the last thing he’d expected to hear in this situation. 
    Bri laughed.
    Not sure whether to be relieved or
insulted, Cole could only sit there. 
    “Oh my gosh,” she managed through
her giggles.  “What is with us and cars?”
    “Um,” he chuckled nervously, “I’m
not sure.”  He still wasn’t sure what was going on.
    She finally lifted her head, and the
genuine amusement on her face sent relief flooding through him.  “I mean, here
we are, in the middle of the parking lot, where anyone could walk by and see
us, and we’re about ready to get naked and just go at it, and not for the first
time!”  She burst into a rolling fit of laughter.  Unable to resist, he found
himself laughing with her.  “There are probably security cameras out here, too,”
she squealed. 
    “Yeah, we just gave any of the
guards watching quite a show.  We probably just made their night!” 
    “Oh man!” she returned, and they
both broke down into hysterical laughter.  It took a few minutes before they
were able to calm themselves down, and then Bri removed herself from Cole’s
lap.  His body protested the loss of her. 
    Sighing, she slipped her cover up
back over her head.  “This bikini is nothing but trouble.  I should go home and
burn it.”
    “Don’t you dare,” he warned her.  “On
that glorious day when I finally get that little instrument of torture off of
you, I’m going to have it framed, hang it on my wall, and set up a shrine
around it.  I’m claiming it right now.  It’s mine.”
    “Well, you can have it,” she
grinned, “but I think it’ll always look better on me.”
    He gave a short laugh, before
sobering.  He ran his fingers through her hair longingly.
    “Seriously though, how much longer
are you going to make me wait.  Even you have to admit this whole taking things
slowly deal has run its course.”
    “I know,” she shook her head,
averting her eyes.  “And I’m sorry for being so difficult and lame... but I’m
not ready.  It’s a big step, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m a little
scared.”
    “Scared of me?”  He swore his heart
stopped. 
    “No!”  Her eyes met his firmly.  “Not
at all.  I love you.  I trust you.  I’m just scared of what it means for us,
how it’ll change things between us.  It’s not something you can just come back
from, you know.  I just want it to be right.”
    He ran his fingers along her jaw.  “ You aren ’t difficult, or lame.  I don’t want you to doubt
anything, or worse, regret anything.  I can wait until you’re ready.”  She
smiled up at him, and he couldn’t resist leaning down and placing a soft kiss
on her lips.  “But, just to be safe, you may want to retire that bikini until
you are ready.  Because it does all kinds of naughty things to me.”
    She giggled.  “Well, I could cover
up more, if that would help.”
    “Baby, you could dress like a nun
and you’d still be the sexiest damn thing out there.  I can’t wait until I can
have all of that sexiness.”
    “I know,” she said softly.
    “Well, I better let you go so you
can get your paper done.”   He leaned in for one last kiss.   “You are worth waiting for,”he whispered against her lips, meaning every word.  He felt her shiver,
and smiled to himself.  He loved that he had as much of an effect on her as she
did on him.  Well, almost.  “Love you.”   He pulled back and climbed out of the car.
    Bri waved at him before driving
away, and he watched her until her car was out of sight.  Yep, she was
definitely worth waiting for, and he could be patient... for now.
    Who knew that patience would become
his greatest virtue?
    The irony of it caused him to laugh
as he walked inside. 
     

Chapter 2
     
    Bri sat at her favorite on-campus
eatery, taking in the beautiful fall foliage around her.  The weather was still
pretty warm, so she’d chosen one of