Love like Yours Series Box Set: Books 1 - 4

by Nicole S. Goodin

  She frowned. “Well, I guess so?”

  “Well then...” I bent down and lowered my lips to hers and brushed them lightly. “I guess I’m up for it.”

  ***

  Jesus. Christ.

  When Lexie pouted those sexy lips at me and told me she was a terrible driver, I’d thought she’d been exaggerating.

  She wasn’t.

  She was undoubtedly the worst driver I’d ever encountered – and that included the time I got in the car with my fourteen-year-old neighbor when we were in high school.

  The steering, stick shift and foot pedals had been about two things too many for her to manage at one time and we’d ended up bunny hopping around that lot, stalling over and over again, for forty minutes before she’d thrown in the towel.

  “You could have at least let me try an automatic,” she scolded me. “It’s my first time in years, for God’s sake,” she muttered under her breath as we drove—me behind the wheel—to our date destination.

  I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at her; she was so damn adorable when she was flustered. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were wide.

  “Stop laughing at me!” she cried in mock outrage. “I wasn’t that bad.” She crinkled up her nose and burst out laughing at the ludicrous statement she had just made.

  I raised my eyebrows at her.

  “Okay, okay,” she admitted. “I was terrible.”

  I shook my head in amusement.

  “In my defense, I did warn you.” She pointed her finger at me.

  And yet, I wasn’t prepared...

  “You’ll do better tomorrow,” I reassured her.

  Her mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious?”

  I frowned in confusion.

  “You don’t really want to endure that all over again do you?” she asked in disbelief.

  I pulled into the car park of the ferry terminal and turned the engine off.

  “Not really,” I told her honestly, turning to face her. “But I told you that I’d teach you, and I will.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off.

  “As long as I’m getting to spend time with you, I’m not complaining,” I promised as I took her hand in mine and lightly kissed her knuckles.

  “You’re being incredibly kind to me.”

  “What can I say?” I bragged. “I’m just that sort of guy.” I winked and jumped out of the car.

  I grabbed our bags, and her door swung open and she jumped out to meet me.

  “We’d better hurry up or we’ll miss our ferry,” I told her as I took her hand in mine.

  “Where are we going?” she asked excitedly.

  “You wanted to see the sights?” I grinned at her. “Well here we are.”

  9. Lexie

  I glanced over at Colt, the wind whipping through my hair, and knew without a doubt that I’d never felt quite this free.

  Sure, I lived half of my life on a boat, but this was different. It was just for the sake of it. No one here knew me, or expected anything of me. Hell, even Colt didn’t really know me, not all of me anyway.

  But it feels like he does...

  I was having an amazing time with him. He’d told me about his brothers and his parents, and about the town they grew up in. He wasn’t close with his parents, neither were his brothers, and my heart broke for him.

  My parents were separated, and both re-married, but that had just doubled the love I’d had growing up. Being an only child and having no siblings to share things with was the only thing I considered a downfall of my childhood.

  Colt had smiled and laughed as I’d told him stories about my crazy dad, Mike, and his equally kooky wife, Viv. My mom, Sally, was quite the opposite; she was always the practical one, that’s probably why she was so much happier now with her husband of ten years, Alex, than she ever was with my dad.

  Colt had even talked a bit about his ideas for the club, and while he did seem passionate about his visions, it didn’t sound like he had been investing the time required to make much progress lately. Of course I’d opened my big mouth and pointed that out to him... he’d just shot me a knowing smirk, and said nothing more about it.

  Then, we were on the deck of the ferry, being taken to a place I’d never even heard of, let alone visited.

  Colt smiled one of his smiles that had my stomach flipping and gestured with his finger for me to follow him inside. I snapped another quick picture and followed after him. He took a seat near the front and patted the cushion next to him.

  “Pass me your phone,” I instructed as I sat down next to him.

  “What for?” he asked curiously as he pulled it from his pocket and handed it over.

  I reached into my backpack and pulled out a pair of earbuds. “We’re going to see what kind of music you like.”

  “Shit,” he muttered under his breath as he took the earbud I was offering and slipped it into his ear.

  I opened his Spotify and chose the playlist he had last played. I scanned through the songs.

  “This is your playlist? Jesus.” I shook my head at him. “Are you kidding me?”

  He grimaced.

  “That’s pathetic. It’s like heartbreak hotel in here. Snap out of it, kid.”

  “Who are you calling kid?” He smirked.

  “You.” I jabbed my finger at his chest. “These songs reek of a fifteen-year-old boy.”

  He laughed deep and loud.

  “You actually follow a playlist called ‘Broken Heart’,” I hissed as I continued to scroll through his music library.

  He attempted to defend himself. “I was broken hearted.”

  “You were something alright,” I mumbled to myself. “There’s One Direction in here,” I gasped, completely outraged.

  He leaned back in his seat and chuckled. “What can I say; I’m a closet boy-band fan.”

  “You a closet anything else?” I sniggered as I found some decent music and hit play.

  “With you sitting next to me?” He raised his brows. “Hell no.”

  I laughed at his lighthearted teasing.

  “Unless Zac Efron makes an appearance,” he joked. “Then I’m gonna have to love ya and leave ya.”

  “Huh,” I mused. “I picked you as more of a Justin Bieber kinda guy.”

  He nodded his head and thought hard. “He’s a close second.”

  I giggled. The banter between us was fun and easy.

  “You wanna know a secret?” he whispered as he moved in closer to my ear.

  I nodded slowly. Goosebumps formed on my skin at his nearness, I could feel his breath fanning across my neck.

  “I’m actually the kinda guy that’s into the sexy little brunette woman sitting next to him.” His voice was hoarse.

  “I bet you say that to all the girls,” I breathed when I couldn’t come up with anything witty to say.

  “I do,” he agreed. “But the eighty-year-old lady I sat next to on the bus didn’t seem to appreciate it too much.”

  I swatted his arm and rolled my eyes.

  Clown.

  He leaned back against the seat and slung his arm over my shoulders, tapping his foot to the beat.

  He touched me so casually, as though he had the right to already. I didn’t mind, not one bit; there was a familiarity between us I couldn’t explain. I’d known him for less than twenty-four hours, but I was already well aware that he was something special.

  “We’re here.” He smiled down at me, breaking me from my thoughts.

  He stood up, slinging the huge, suspicious-looking bag he had brought along, and my backpack onto his shoulders.

  “I can take that,” I protested as I got to my feet.

  He just laughed at the suggestion and took my hand in his again.

  ***

  “This is incredible,” I told him for the one hundredth time.

  “I think you said that already,” he drawled.

  He was reclined on the picnic blanket he’d brought along, and I was leaned back ag
ainst him, the picture-perfect view of the horizon stretched out before us.

  “But it’s just so pretty,” I replied.

  He chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you like it.”

  “I do.” I nodded. “It’s perfect.”

  He couldn’t have chosen a better date. The ferry had taken us to a small tourist Island; we’d strolled around hand-in-hand before hiking up to view the city and have the picnic lunch that Colt had prepared.

  He’s thought of everything.

  I tilted my head back to look at him and smiled at the sight. He’d surprised me by pulling out a pair of black-rimmed glasses and removing his contact lenses – I didn’t even know he’d been wearing them. He’d explained that his eyes were getting irritated. Apparently he didn’t like wearing the glasses, he didn’t think they suited him... but I wasn’t in agreement.

  I hadn’t realized that glasses could look so... hot.

  “What?” he murmured, looking down at me and sweeping a strand of hair away from my forehead.

  “Nothing.” I shook my head. “I’m just enjoying finding out what kind of guy you are,” I replied in a soft voice.

  “And what kind of guy is that?” he asked, his fingers tracing gentle patterns across my cheek.

  “The kind of guy who packs every different food group because he’s not sure what I like,” I told him with a smile.

  “I know now,” he replied with a triumphant smile, as though knowing what kind of sandwich filling I enjoyed was like winning a contest.

  He’s just so sweet.

  I smiled shyly. “And the kind of guy who’s not afraid to say how he feels, or go after what he wants,” I continued, my voice a hoarse whisper.

  He nodded, his eyes locked on mine.

  “And the kind of guy who looks too hot for his own damn good, especially wearing those glasses.”

  He huffed out a disbelieving breath.

  “It’s true,” I insisted. “And you’re patient, and sweet, and kind, and—”

  He cut me off, claiming my lips in a flash.

  His mouth was hot and demanding, firm and persistent. I kissed him back with a passion I didn’t know I possessed, and I felt a little bit of my heart start to belong to him. He kissed me like he was never going to get another chance – and the truth was he might not.

  He might not...

  The reality that we lived so far apart came crashing down on me and I felt tears welling in my eyes.

  Sensing my change of emotion, he pulled away slowly.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, lifting my chin to look at him when I tried to avoid eye contact.

  “I’m sorry,” I blurted out. “It’s just... I live over two-and-a-half-thousand miles away.”

  He searched my eyes, his fingers clasping my jaw.

  “I know I’m being silly.” I shook my head and felt a tear escape and roll down my face. “But I like you. I really like you already.”

  “I feel the same way,” he told me without hesitation.

  “But what’s the point?” I shrugged, my voice breaking at the end. “I’m going home on Friday, and then I’ll be there and you’ll be here. And we won’t be together,” I rambled.

  “Lex...” he whispered. “Don’t think like that.”

  “I don’t want to set myself up to get hurt,” I whispered before he could say anything more. “And I can feel it already. If we keep doing this, I know I’m going to be broken in six days’ time.”

  He nodded slowly, accepting the truth in what I was saying.

  This decision was killing me, but I knew myself well, and I knew that if things carried on this way, this good, I could very well be in love with this man by the time I needed to board that plane.

  It’s better this way.

  “I wish more than anything that we could give this a shot,” he replied, his voice thick with emotion.

  He pulled me against his chest and held me tight.

  “Me too,” I whispered back.

  “Do you want me to take you home now?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet?” I pleaded. “I just want to pretend that we have forever for a little while longer.”

  ***

  I pushed the door shut and leaned back against it, tears welling in my eyes.

  My heart was screaming at me to go back out there and tell him that I’d made a mistake, but my head was telling me that it was better this way.

  I won’t get hurt this way... if only that were true.

  I was already hurting, and we’d barely even started anything yet.

  I took a deep, steadying breath and headed towards where I could hear TV in the living room.

  “You’re back already,” Quinn acknowledged with a frown as I came into view. She was sitting on the couch reading a book, Harrison’s feet in her lap.

  “Yeah.” I nodded, a fake smile plastered on my face.

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “What’s with the face?” she demanded.

  “What face?”

  “Don’t give me that shit.” She eyed me up, head to toe. “Something’s wrong.”

  Dammit.

  I’d forgotten just how much Quinn saw. It was like she had a knack for seeing through the bullshit.

  She turned to Harrison who was sprawled out on the couch, mindlessly flicking through TV channels. “You.” She pointed at him. “Out.”

  He smirked at her. “Bossy.”

  “You like me bossy,” she teased, lightly shoving his feet off her lap.

  He sprung up from his seat with the grace of a wild cat. “What’d my idiot brother do now, little Lex?” He mussed my hair as he strolled past me.

  “Nothing,” I mumbled. “And don’t do that, I’m not five years old, I’m just short,” I called at his retreating back, my retort all bark and no bite.

  “What happened?” Quinn demanded, pulling my attention back to her.

  I dropped my bag to the floor with a thud and moved to sit down next to her. I tucked my feet up and got comfortable. If I knew Quinn, and I did, we’d be here until she got all the information she wanted.

  “Nothing happened,” I told her. “Nothing bad anyway.”

  “Then why have you got a face like a smacked ass?”

  I frowned at her. “I take offence to that.”

  She waved her hand dismissively. “Doesn’t make it any less true.”

  I fiddled with the bracelet on my wrist.

  “I really like him,” I told her quietly.

  “I know,” she replied. “But I don’t see why that has you nearly in tears.”

  The mention of tears had my eyes welling up all over again.

  “It’s... it’s just...” I stammered. “Oh what’s the point, Quinn? He lives here, and I don’t. What’s the point of taking it any further? I’ll just end up getting hurt.”

  Quinn nodded slowly. “So you don’t want to see him again?”

  “Of course I want to,” I replied quickly. “I just can’t.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it,” she snapped.

  I looked her in the eye, a little shocked at her tone.

  “What’s the worst that could happen, Lex?” she asked, more gently this time.

  I shrugged. “I dunno... we have an amazing week together, I fall in love with him, and then I have to go back home, alone.”

  “So, let me get this straight... your worst-case scenario is falling in love?”

  “No, it’s falling in love and then having to walk away,” I clarified.

  Quinn gave me a small smile. “You know, when I first realized the extent of my feelings for Harrison... I was terrified. I was worried that he wouldn’t feel the same way, or that his loyalty to his brother would be too much for us to overcome, or that I’d lose myself in loving him... I was terrified.”

  “It all worked out okay for you.” I smiled.

  “It certainly hasn’t been smooth sailing, but we’re here now and I couldn’t be happier with my choices.”

  “Why do I feel lik
e you’re telling me this for a reason?” I raised my eyebrows in question.

  She smirked. “Because I am... it’s like El says, nothing that’s worth it ever comes easy.”

  “But I’m leaving in—”

  “I know you are.” She held her hands up in defense. “All I’m saying is if you really think you’re okay with never seeing him again, then fine. But if you have doubts... then you should think hard about it. I don’t want to watch you living with regret.”

  I nodded. I needed some time to absorb Quinn’s advice.

  “I’m gonna take a shower.” I stood up and headed for the door, grabbing my bag on the way.

  “Good idea, Lex.”

  ***

  The water pounding down on my back must have done the trick to clear my head.

  What was I thinking?

  If this was meant to be – really meant to be, then it’d work out. I just had to take a chance...

  I know what I need to do.

  I jumped out of the shower and dressed in a rush. I flew down the stairs, my hastily packed bag clutched in my hands. I burst into the living room, expecting Quinn to be where I’d left her.

  “Quinn?” I called out.

  “Yeah?” she called back, her voice coming from the direction of the front door.

  “Do you think you could...” I trailed off as I saw Quinn, a massive grin on her face and her car keys in her hand.

  “What?” she asked. “Could I drive you somewhere perhaps?” She had a smart look in her eyes, daring me to admit that she had been right.

  “Yeah, yeah, you were right.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Course I was.” She smirked. “Now get your ass in that car.”

  “If you can love the wrong person that much, imagine how much you can love the right one.”

  - Author unknown

  10. Colt

  I took a swig of my beer and flicked through the channels again. I don’t know why I was bothering; I couldn’t focus on anything on the screen anyway – all I could think about was her.

  I was probably overreacting.

  I barely even know the woman.

  It felt like I knew her though. I felt like I’d known her my whole life... and the fact that it was over before it even got the chance to begin really fucking sucked.

  I understood her decision, and I could see why she wanted to protect herself. But it was going to be a long six days, knowing she was only a short drive away, but I couldn’t see her.