Redemption Read Free

both. Bryan smiled at her, his eyes heavy. “What are you doing to me?”
    Mara’s eyes gleamed, and for a second Bryan thought he saw red swirl around the pupil. He was losing it. Seriously losing it. He blinked hard and tried to focus on her face. Her eyes were blue, like always.
    “I just want to be here for you, Bryan. You don’t have ever have to hurt again. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to do anything but be with me. Let me take care of everything,” she said, her voice coating him and dripping off every nerve like honey.
    “Mmmm. That sounds good,” he agreed.
    But he needed to think. There was something he wanted to talk to her about, someone he was supposed to call. He shook his head briskly as if waking up from a dream. Ah, yes. He remembered now. “Wait. Mara, I do need to work. I need to get out of this apartment. Nick called and mentioned something about a job; I have to call him back.”
    Mara reached up and caressed his cheek, allowing her fingers to slide down his jaw, his neck, his chest. “Not today. Maybe tomorrow. For now, just touch me.” She leaned in and kissed him.
    Bryan fell into the kiss, and again had the sensation of slipping deeper and deeper underwater. His lips slid down her neck, peppering her skin with kisses. He stopped, his eyes momentarily regaining focus as he looked at the tattoo on the back of her neck.
    The blue lotus was beautiful, just like Mara. When he kissed it, he imagined he could feel the softness of its petals. Surely it was only his imagination, but it felt so real. He kissed it again and inhaled, a fragrance as exotic as Mara filling his nostrils. The world around him began to blur. All he could see was the woman whose face hovered above his own.
    And just as he’d done every day for the past six months, Bryan willingly gave over a bit more of himself to her.

Chapter 2
     
     
    N ick picked up the phone and dialed the number again. One of these times, he knew that Bryan would pick up. The guy must be screening his calls. Nick could understand why he might not want to talk, but it had been six months. The phone rang on the other end, and Bryan’s voicemail picked up. Nick rolled his eyes and left what he estimated to be the tenth message.
    He and Carrie were getting married. They were looking for a photographer, and months ago Nick had suggested Bryan, using their friendship as a good reason for the choice. Carrie had taken the bait and agreed.
    Now if Nick could just get the guy to answer his phone. Carrie wouldn’t wait forever.
    She walked into the room carrying a bowl of popcorn. “Well? Any luck yet?”
    “No,” Nick answered. “But I’ll get him.”
    “You’ve been trying for, what, two months now? Maybe we should just go with another photographer,” she suggested. “Maybe he doesn’t want to come back here after, you know, everything that happened.”
    Nick considered just how right Carrie’s assessment might be. He reviewed the facts. Miranda had chosen Derek, Nick’s best friend, over Bryan. He’d flown across the country to win her back, and she’d turned him down. The level to which that had to suck for Bryan was beyond his comprehension.
    His own relationship with Carrie, on the other hand, had been so easy, so natural. From very early on, he knew that they were meant for one another. He smiled upon remembering her reaction to the ring he’d saved for nearly a year to buy. The day Nick proposed he’d barely been nervous as the question spilled from his lips; he was positive her answer would be yes.
    Followed by much squealing, many phone calls, and great exuberance.
    She hadn’t let him down.
    “He’ll call,” Nick said, not with certainty, but with hope.
    “Hypothetically speaking, if he does call and agrees to be our photographer, Miranda’s going to be an issue,” Carrie said, picking up a few pieces of popcorn and tossing them into her mouth. “She’s my maid of honor. Do you think he can handle