Savin' Me Read Free

along the inside of
the bowl, or hang her head under the flowing chocolate fountain, so
she was forced to take the strawberries, too.
    Since leaving this shindig wasn’t an option,
her best bet was to find a secluded corner where she could drop the
smile, slip off her shoes to give her poor, aching feet a break,
and take a few deep breaths.
    And soothe her soul with chocolate.
    She picked a few of the larger
berries—because they held more chocolate—loaded them down, then
stacked them on her small plate. Settling into an empty corner of
the lobby, she kicked off her shoes and sagged in relief against
the wall. She picked up a berry, licked her lips, then slid the
fruit into her watering mouth, savoring the mixture of sweet,
smooth chocolate and tart strawberry.
    Oh God, that’s good.
    After several moments of delectable bliss,
the hair on the back of her neck began to prickle. For the past
thirty minutes, she’d had the strangest sensation of being watched,
and the feeling became too strong to ignore.
    She grabbed another berry and casually
scanned the crowd. She’d just bitten down, once again enjoying the
near-orgasmic feeling of the thick chocolate rolling across her
tongue, when she stumbled across a brilliant-blue gaze boring
straight into her.
    Ohmigod!
    Her heart stuttered, her stomach plummeted,
and she gasped at the sight of him. Chocolate and strawberry juice
shot to the back of her throat, and she began to choke. She yanked
the mangled strawberry from her mouth, stifled the coughing as best
as she could, then grabbed her glass of water. After a few sips,
she had the coughing under control, but her heart rate and
breathing remained out of step.
    She’d give just about anything to convince
herself it wasn’t him, but she’d never mistake or forget those
eyes. She saw them every night in her dreams and often in
daydreams. Even on a cellular level, she recognized them, and
everything feminine within her came alive.
    Maybe he doesn’t recognize me.
    Just because she’d spent the last thirteen
months reliving every second of their incredible night together
didn’t mean he had. However, as she flicked her gaze back to him,
that tiny fragment of hope slipped away and was replaced with
dismay.
    The million-watt smile that had played so
easily on his mouth the night they’d met was gone, and a severe
scowl took its place. Oh yeah, he recognized her and he wasn’t
happy. In fact, he looked downright pissed.
    She didn’t know which was worse: him not
recognizing her, or him recognizing her, but being so obviously
unhappy to see her. A heavy sadness settled over her as she dropped
her gaze to the floor, righted her shoes, and slipped her feet into
them.
    What’s a girl gotta do to catch a freakin’
break?
    The last two weeks had been hell. Between
quitting her job—the only job she’d known since college—packing her
apartment in a heated rush, and moving from the big city of
Charlotte to the small, coastal town of Riverside, where she didn’t
know anyone besides her new boss, she was operating on a tightly
stretched rope.
    And at this moment, she heard the faint
tearing as a few more strands unraveled and gave way beneath
her.
    She spotted Maggie and Seth, two of her
coworkers, talking with a sales rep from a local radio station that
she’d met earlier in the evening. Needing to know Erik’s connection
to the agency, she casually made her way to them. If luck was on
her side, she’d find that no one knew him. He’d be a lost soul who
had wandered into the wrong party and decided to stay for a
beer.
    She slipped into a space between Seth, the
very talented and very gay art director, and Maggie, the equally
talented and very northern copywriter. She patiently waited for a
break in the conversation and when the opportunity presented
itself, said, “I think I’ve been introduced to almost everyone, but
there’s one gentleman I haven’t met yet. I wondered if anyone could
tell me who he is.”
    “I’m