Second Chances 1
In Full Bloom
From the moment that Taryn Michaels runs into her new landlord, Evan Connolly, on the stairwell, she is dangerously attracted to him. She's starting her career as a veterinarian at the Los Angeles Zoo and isn't looking for any complications. The more she gets to know him though, the more she realizes that he might be worth the risk.
Evan Connolly has moved back to L.A. to pursue his lifelong passion for growing exotic orchids. When he buys a florist shop, building and all, he gets far more than he bargained for when it comes with a gorgeous, feisty tenant. As the sparks fly between them, he's finding her more and more difficult to resist.
When they finally give into temptation, it quickly develops into something deeper. As the truth of Taryn's past comes back to haunt them, will Evan be able to break down the walls she's built around her heart? Will she let him?
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 65,478 words
IN FULL BLOOM
Second Chances 1
Michelle Roth
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
IN FULL BLOOM
Copyright © 2014 by Michelle Roth
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-702-2
First E-book Publication: December 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
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DEDICATION
For my readers. Without you, none of this would even be possible.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
About the Author
IN FULL BLOOM
Second Chances 1
MICHELLE ROTH
Copyright © 2014
Chapter 1
Taryn Michaels walked through the side entrance to her apartment building. Exhausted and exhilarated at the same time, she started up the stairs to her apartment. She’d finished her last day as a veterinary intern at the Los Angeles Zoo. When she went back on Monday, she’d be an official employee.
As she started up the second flight of stairs, she let out a surprised yelp. Quickly dodging a box as it rolled down the stairs toward her, she turned to watch as it broke apart at the bottom of the landing with a thunk.
“Shit! I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” a worried voice asked from the top of the stairs.
“Yeah. I think whatever was in that box probably isn’t though,” Taryn said, turning back toward the voice at the top of the stairs.
He wore a pair of faded jeans that were torn in several places and a snug black T-shirt. His lower jaw was covered in dark stubble. His black hair was short and messy, as if someone had been running their hands through it. His eyes looked almost black in the dim light of the hallway. He was in his mid-thirties, Taryn decided. He was the very definition of sin.
Suddenly, aware she had been staring, she asked, “So, uh. Why are you throwing boxes down the stairs at me?”
Tall, dark, and sexy gave her an all-out grin now and said, “Hey now. I didn’t throw it so much as it fell.”
Dear Jesus. That voice. It was deep and smooth. A sexy face, a ridiculous body, and that voice, too? She couldn’t look away as he descended the stairs and stopped in front of her.
Reaching out, he extended his hand and said, “Evan Connolly. I bought the building.”
Taking his hand and giving it a firm shake, she said, “Taryn Michaels. Your tenant.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“You, too. I’m gonna head on up so you can go ahead and finish throwing your things down the stairs,” Taryn said, grinning.
“Yeah,” he said, smiling good-naturedly as he ran a hand through his messy hair. “I’m not likely to live that down, am I?”
“Probably not anytime soon,” she said, stepping around him. “Have a good night.”
As she moved toward her apartment door, she thought, Well. This was certainly an interesting development.
An hour later, Taryn had showered and changed. She was applying a coat of mascara when she heard a knock on the door. Putting the mascara wand back in the tube, she moved back through the bedroom.
“Hang on,” she shouted as she moved toward the door.
When she opened it, her sister Cora stood on the other side of the door. All but tackling her, she squealed, “Tare, you’re a vet now!”
Grinning, Taryn said, “I am!”
Taryn pulled her inside and said, “Help me lace up t
he back of this shirt. When I bought it, I didn’t think about the dynamics of trying to put it on without help.”
Turning around, she presented Cora with the back of her red corset top.
“Ooh,” Cora said. “This is hot! Are you looking to get some tonight?”
Snorting, Taryn said, “You’re staying the night tonight. I’ll pass.”
“The girls were out,” Cora said, gesturing to Taryn’s chest. “I was just checking!”
Rolling her eyes, Taryn moved toward the bathroom, saying, “Lemme mascara and then we can leave.”
Ten minutes later, they walked across the street. Darla’s was a little hole in the wall place. Darla, an older heavy-set woman, had been behind the bar the few times that Taryn had gone in. It was low-key and close to home. In deference to the fact it was technically her celebration, the girls from work had let her pick the place.
As they walked in the door, she immediately spotted Serena from administration sitting at a table with Mindy, one of the other veterinarians on staff. Serena immediately jumped up and said, “You’re official now! Congrats, honey.”
Taryn was immediately pulled into hugs, then gifted with a tiara and a martini. She took a sip of a martini, placed the tiara on her head, then introduced Cora.
Over the next few hours, several people stopped by the bar to congratulate Taryn. Even her new boss, Mike, had showed up for a while. He’d congratulated her on finishing her internship and reminded her that now she, too, would know the joy of telling the intern to shovel the poop from the rhinoceros cage.
Everyone had wanted to buy her a drink. After the fourth one, she’d started giving them to her sister and had switched to water. At 5’3”, Taryn was a light-weight to say the least.
It was after midnight when they finally walked back across the street to Taryn’s apartment. She wasn’t particularly drunk, but she was definitely feeling relaxed. As they turned to walk up the second flight of stairs, Taryn ran directly into a wall of warm, male chest.
Looking up, she saw Evan. Reaching out, she grabbed his shoulders to steady herself, then felt his hands settle on her hips. Feeling the warmth of his fingertips against small swath of skin between where her top ended and her jeans started, awareness coursing through her veins. She watched him now as he slowly appraised her, taking in the corset top and dark-washed jeans.
His hands flexed against her hips as he released her and stepped back. Even though they no longer touched, she could still feel the electricity arc between them.
Next to her, Cora said, “Well, hello. I’m Cora. Who are you?”
“The new Mrs. Weatherly,” Taryn answered, not breaking eye contact with Evan.
Sparing her a glance, he said, “Evan Connolly. Nice to meet you.”
Looking him over, Cora grinned and said, “Definitely easier on the eyes than Mrs. Weatherly.”
When neither party responded, she continued, “Well, I’m going to go inside and make another drink while you two stand out here on the landing and eye fuck each other.”
Giving a little wave, she wobbled up the stairs.
The spell effectively broken, Taryn flushed and said, “You’ll have to forgive my sister. She’s incredibly drunk.”
She saw a wide grin spread across his face as he waved her off and said, “I could barely tell.”
She felt her lips twitch in response and then said, “Right.”
“Night, Princess,” he said, his fingers reaching up to tap the tiara on her head.
Taryn opened her mouth to speak and then heard Cora yell, “God, Taryn. Come let me in, at least! I have to pee.”
“Night,” Taryn said with a hint of exasperation in her voice, as she walked around him and up the stairs.
Cora squinted down the hall way at her, then asked, “The new Mrs. Weatherly? Wait, so he’s your landlord now?”
“Yep,” Taryn said, unlocking the door and letting them into the apartment.
“Not that I blame you in the least, but eye-fucking or any other kind of fucking your landlord is a terrible idea,” Cora said wisely as she scurried into the bathroom.
Rolling her eyes, Taryn grabbed two bottles of water for them. Twisting off the top of hers, she drank deeply and waited for Cora to finish in the bathroom.
When Cora returned to the room, Taryn passed her the bottle of water and then said, “Thanks, oh wise one. I hadn’t put that together until you said something. I’m not going to bang my landlord. Jesus. Give me some credit.”
“Hey,” Cora said, raising her hands in mock surrender, “I know you’ve been on a sexual hiatus for a while now. I wouldn’t blame you.”
“I will admit, he’s hot. Really, really hot. That would complicate things big time. I’m not into complications. That’s why I stopped dating in the first place.”
“You can’t keep up this ‘born again virgin’ stuff forever. Not every guy is like Jeremy. Some of them aren’t complete shitheads,” Cora said, referring to Taryn’s ex-boyfriend.
“It’s not even about Jeremy now. I just don’t want to deal with the hassle. I’m just finishing school now, getting settled into a career, and I want to focus on that for a while.”
Cora nodded, though she looked somewhat skeptical.
Taryn held up a hand and said, “It’s fine, Cora. I’m perfectly content. Can we move on from my sex life and focus on something else?”
“Like Hottie McSexyPants? This is a new development. When did he move in?”
Taryn laughed and said, “Today, I guess. I met him when I got home. He was moving in. Almost knocked me down the stairs.”
Cora raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to continue, so Taryn recounted the story of this afternoon’s encounter.
Cora confidently said, “I give you a month, tops, before pants come off.”
On a sigh, Taryn said, “No. There will be no taking off pants. I can practice self-control.”
“But do you really want to?”
“I just told you I wanted to,” Taryn said, exasperation clear in her voice.
“You’re gonna be living across the hallway from a whole lot of sexy. If the conversation on the stairs tonight is any indication…” Cora trailed off, taking another swig of water.
“He might have a wife or a girlfriend. Hell, maybe he has a boyfriend. I don’t know, Cora,” she said, rubbing her eyes. Realizing she had just smeared makeup on her hand, she added, “I’m gonna go wash off my makeup. I bet I look like a raccoon right now.”
Cora continued to talk as she headed into the bathroom, saying, “No way on earth that man has a boyfriend, the way he was staring at your tits.”
Taryn scrubbed a hand over her face and laughed.
When she came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, she was in a pair of Hello Kitty boxers and a tank top. Her face had been scrubbed clean.
Cora immediately shoved a drink in her hand.
She looked at it, then sniffed it suspiciously. Blanching, she said, “Gee. Is there liquor in this, Cora? I can’t quite tell.”
Uncharacteristically serious, Cora said, “I drink once every three or four months. You drink less than I do. You’re not like him. Neither of us are. You just finished eight years of schooling and an internship in seven and a half years. Celebrate with me. This is huge.”
Cora was right. Taryn said, “What the hell. Can I add some more juice to this though? This kind of smells like lighter fluid.”
Three hours later, Cora snored lightly on the couch next to her. She’d brought over a stack of zoo-themed movies and then passed out during the first one. Taryn didn’t blame her. It was an awful movie, complete with talking animals. She grabbed the throw from the back of the sofa and covered Cora.
Turning off the television, Taryn poured out the remainder of her drink. A little woozy now, she realized she was officially drunk. Grabbing another bottle of water, she headed into her bedroom. Flopping down on the bed, she wrapped the covers around her like a cocoon and passed out.
* * *
*
The loud thumps and shouting from the hallway woke Taryn. She turned her head, wincing at the sharp stab of pain behind her eyes. Looking at the clock, she willed her eyes to focus. 6:17 a.m. What in the hell was all the noise in the hallway? The grunting and shouting continued for another two minutes before Taryn forced herself out of bed.
Stumbling through the living room, she heard Cora moan, “Make it stopppppp,” from under her blanket.
Unlocking the door, she looked around to see Evan standing there with two delivery men dragging something massive down the hallway.
“Seriously?” she said. Three sets of eyes quickly shot in her direction. “What in the fuck is so important that you need to drag it down the hallway so loudly at six in the morning on a Saturday?”
The delivery men just stared at her, mouths open, while Evan winced and said, “Sorry. This was the time they had open. I didn’t think it would be this loud. We’ll keep it down.”
“Thanks,” she grumbled, holding a hand against her head to stop the pounding.
“By the way,” he said, his lips twitching, “Nice look you’ve got going on there.”
She realized he was gesturing to her hair. She patted it until she realized the tiara from last night was tangled in her hair
She shot him a withering look and said, “Ugh. Fuck off.”
Backing up into her apartment, she slammed the door. The shuffling and shouting commenced as soon as she closed the door. Moaning, she went to the medicine cabinet and got some aspirin. She took them and then chugged the bottle of water she had taken to bed. Flopping back down on the covers, she put a pillow over her head.
When she finally surfaced, it was nearly noon. Her head felt a bit less like someone was stabbing it with an ice pick, so she got up and wandered into the living room. She saw that Cora was already gone. Picking up the note on her kitchen table, she read.
In Full Bloom [Second Chances 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 1
