Faith (A Dark Romance Novel) Read Free Page A

face lighting up, delight shining in his eyes.
    Don’t be such a prude. You’ve never done a wild thing in your life, Emily , a voice in the back of my mind urged. And the voice was right. I always followed my father’s rules. Always. And when it came right down to it, I did share my father’s vision for me, I did want to be the perfect wife to a good Christian husband. But why couldn’t I have fun, just once? Why couldn’t I just throw caution to the wind and do something a little crazy? What would it really hurt? That was what I’d come here for in the first place.
    And he was so handsome, and that dangerous bad-boy vibe excited me. He was perhaps in his late twenties, much too old for me. But then again, why was I overthinking this? It wasn’t like anything was going to happen. It was a little walk – nothing more, nothing less.
    I nodded. “Okay.”
    He cocked a brow at me. “Just okay? You’re hurting my feelings.”
    Laughing, I rolled my eyes at him. “I mean, I’d love to.”
    “Good.” Slipping an arm around my shoulders, he started to lead me toward the exit.
    “Wait.” I stopped in midstride and he stopped with me. “I have to tell my friends I’m leaving.”
    “Sure, sure.”
    I took a couple of steps toward my friend Bonnie and then spun back to face him. “Can I get a lift home? I mean, if you have a car here.”
    He smiled at me. “Of course.”
    “If you don’t mind…”
    “Why would I mind?”
    I frowned. “But only if you haven’t been drinking, ’cause…” I shrugged. “You know…”
    He made a criss-cross over his chest with his index finger. “Cross my heart.”
    We shared another smile before I rushed off to fill Bonnie in on my change of plans.
     

 
    Chapter 2
     
    Emily
    “So tell me about yourself. I want to know everything,” Tanner said.
    I looked over at Tanner, who was walking beside me, his hands stuffed into the outer pockets of his black leather jacket. Feeling my eyes on him, he turned his head and met my stare. He was easily one of the best-looking men I’d ever come across. For one of the first times in my life, I questioned whether refraining from sex until marriage was really necessary. Women my age had premarital sex all the time and found good, hard-working, loving husbands. Every one of my new friends indulged in it regularly. Bonnie had teased me the previous night, calling me a prude and saying my father had brainwashed me. Maybe she was right. I found I was questioning my beliefs more and more lately. Was the vision I had for myself truly my vision, or was it my father’s? I honestly didn’t know anymore.
    I gave my head a shake, even though my emotions were in turmoil. No. I’d made a promise to God, my father and myself. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t at least indulge in a kiss. I’d been kissed a few times, and Billy Thorne had felt me up once. Certainly not a large amount of experience, but I wasn’t completely clueless either.
    “So,” Tanner prompted. “Spill it. Tell me everything.”
    I shrugged. “There’s not much to say, really. My father is a pastor, and he usually relocates our family every couple of years. He doesn’t like to stay in the same place too long. I go to college in the fall, so this is going to be my last move with my family.”
    “So you’re close with them?”
    “Very.”
    “Must be a lot of pressure living up to the standards I would guess are expected of a pastor’s daughter?”
    “Yeah. It can be. I try my best, but sometimes Father’s expectations seem out of reach.” We rounded the block and began making our way back toward the nightclub parking lot. “Father is very demanding, but I get it. He only wants the best for me.” I laughed. “He’s scared that when I go off to college, I’ll turn into some wild woman and forget everything he’s taught me.”
    Tanner chuckled along with me. “Oh, I don’t think so. You seem to have a pretty good head on your shoulders.”
    “I like to