by Lily Zante
Table of Contents
Title Page
Author’s Note
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
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
An Excerpt from Embracing Love
Booklist
About The Author
Reclaiming Love
(Tainted Love, Book 2)
Lily Zante
Author’s Note
The characters in the Tainted Love Series first appeared in The Proposal, which was the first book in the Perfect Match Series. The Tainted Love Series is a spin-off from the Perfect Match Series and some characters crossover into both sets of books.
It isn’t necessary for you to have read the Perfect Match books in order to enjoy the Tainted Love books. But if you are interested in seeing how the two series are connected please click here.
The books in the Tainted Love Series are all standalone and can be read in any order.
Tainted Love Series: (A spin-off from the Perfect Match Series)
Misplaced Love
Reclaiming Love
Embracing Love
Tainted Love Boxed Set (Books 1, 2 & 3)
Perfect Match Series:
Lost In Solo (prequel)
The Proposal
Heart Sync
A Leap of Faith
Perfect Match Boxed Set (Books 1, 2 & 3)
Look out for my other contemporary romance series books:
The Billionaire’s Love Story:
The Gift, Book 1
The Gift, Book 2
The Gift, Book 3
The Gift, Boxed Set (Books 1, 2 & 3)
The Offer, Book 1
The Offer, Book 2
The Offer, Book 3
The Offer, Boxed Set (Books 1, 2 & 3)
The Vow, Book 1
The Vow, Book 2
The Vow, Book 3
The Vow, Boxed Set (Books 1, 2 & 3)
Indecent Intentions:
The Bet
Honeymoon Series:
Honeymoon For One
Honeymoon For Three
Honeymoon Blues
Honeymoon Bliss
Baby Steps
Honeymoon Series Boxed Set (Books 2, 3 & 4)
Italian Summer Series: (A spin-off from the Honeymoon Series)
It Takes Two
All That Glitters
Fool’s Gold
Roman Encounter
November Sun
New Beginnings
Italian Summer Series Boxed Set (Books 2, 3 & 4)
An Ordinary Hero
Standalone books:
Love, Inc
An Unexpected Gift
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Chapter 1
She didn’t understand why it excited him—taking cheap shots of her in her underwear—but it did. It made her feel grimy, as though she’d eaten in a cheap burger place where the meat was of questionable origin.
Melissa recoiled at the thought of it, remembering how humiliated and dirty she felt. It was the kind of dirty that brought a smile to his face. As it had last night when she’d had no intention of staying over.
“You look so hot,” he’d whispered hoarsely, before he slipped her bra strap off her shoulder. “You can do better than that,” he told her, when she wouldn’t kneel like he said. She’d winced, wondering how they’d gone from making out to this. It seemed to turn him on—the idea that he could make her do things she wasn’t comfortable with. Melissa blushed at the memory, the color heating her cheeks. She’d sat back down on the bed and buttoned up her shirt after the shame of it all. Like trapped gas, a feeling of discomfort lodged deep in her stomach and made her uneasy.
And yet at other times when he was good, he was the best. Her friends at work thought he was hot. Not just cute-hot, but hot-hot. And he was. No arguing with that. She’d seen the way girls swept their gaze his way even when she was out with him: buying tickets at the cinema or ordering at a restaurant. They didn’t try to hide their lust.
It always made her feel invisible. The way she often felt when she went out with her friend Heather—her outwardly ditzy persona adding to her beach blonde look, complete with smile and curves. She got noticed. Melissa did not.
“Skinny latte to go,” a barista on autopilot announced into the air.
“Skinny latte to go for—Melissa.” Another announcement, spoken in a world-weary voice.
“I think that’s yours.” A gentle touch of a hand on her arm and a soft voice close to her drew her back into the bustling buzz of the early morning coffee shop, just across the road from work and a few minutes walk from the gym.
The gym where she’d spend a couple mornings a week before work. She glanced at the person who’d spoken to her. He pointed to her cup. “You’re Melissa, aren’t you?”
Her attention had been snatched back and she acknowledged him with a nod, this stranger with the soft eyes. “Huh? Yes.” She stared vacantly at the tall coffee cup, then glanced at him again, his face registering familiarity. She’d seen him here before. His hair was the color of dark chocolate, longish and swept back at the sides.
With an effort she grabbed her coffee, voiced a quiet “thanks” to him and turned to head out the door.
But collided head-on with a motorcycle courier who was removing his helmet. His oversized frame knocked right into her and the sharp bite of instant heat singed her chest.
She yelped in agony as the sensation, like hot prickly barbed wire, stung her skin. The motorcyclist turned, saw what he’d done and rushed to her side as she pulled her sticky, coffee-stained shirt away from her scorched skin.
“Oh, damn,” she groaned.
“I’m so sorry.” The courier turned crimson when he saw her drink had spilled all over her. Luckily her coat and scarf had absorbed most of it.
“Here.” The familiar guy with the soft eyes handed her some tissues, which she gratefully accepted.
“Does it hurt? Do you want to sit down?” The motorcyclist asked, fussing over her. She shook her head, truly embarrassed at what had happened even though it hadn’t been her fault.
“Can I at least get you another drink?”
“No, no, I’m fine.” Melissa wiped the stubborn stain and kept her shirt away from her body. It had cooled fast, but she still felt a slight pinch of soreness underneath.
“I’m sorry,” the motorcyclist repeated, as if the mantra would fix the situation.
“It’s okay. I’ll be fine,” Melissa said, w
ith a finality she hoped would get through to him. He shrugged and left, heading towards the washroom.
An assistant came over to ask her if she was all right and whether she’d like another drink. “No, thank you.” She was eager to get out, to not draw even more attention to herself.
“You shouldn’t be embarrassed. It wasn’t your fault.” The guy with the soft eyes told her. She looked at him, her face flushed from attracting too much unnecessary attention.
“Maybe getting a drink might help. A small comfort for the pain?” She was too dazed to reply. Instead, she watched as he turned to the assistant who still hovered around. “She’d like a skinny latte and a blueberry muffin, please.”
“I didn’t get a blueberry muffin today.”
“No, but you sometimes do.”
Startled, she patted the stain and stared back at him. Long eyelashes, she concluded.
“They’re probably hoping you don’t sue,” he said quietly as he waited by her side. “Does it hurt?”
She shook her head, even though it stung a little. “My scarf got most of it.” She unwound it from her neck and scrunched up her nose as she inhaled the smell of stale, cold coffee. Wonderful. Now not only was she wearing yesterday’s clothes, but she smelled of old coffee too. “Thanks for the tissues.”
“No problem.” The corners of his mouth moved up a little and an unsure smile tried to break loose. He looked away but continued to wait by her side with his hands in his pockets and a backpack on his back.
“I’ve seen you here before,” she commented.
“I’ve seen you.” The corners of his mouth moved up a little more until he actually gave her a smile. She responded, and at the same time wondered why he wasn’t joining the line to place his order, why he was so intent on waiting with her. “I’ll be fine, thanks.” She didn’t want to tell him to go, but she also didn’t want him to think he had to stick around. She wasn’t incapacitated.
She looked down at the ugly wet patch on her blouse and groaned.
“It doesn’t look too bad.” But his reassurance was futile because they both knew it did.
She pulled the edges of her coat together and placed her hand across her chest, holding the coat down with her hand. They stood in silence, smiling politely. “Don’t you want to place your order?” she asked.
“I’m waiting for it,” he said, as her cheeks heated some more. He’s not waiting for you, silly.
“Here you go, ma’am. Have a nice day.” Melissa took her order from the assistant. “Thanks,” she said to the guy next to her.
“No problem,” he replied. “You might want to get that burn looked at.”
She shook her head and dismissed the idea. “This little thing? It’s nothing.”
He cocked his head, as if doubting her for a second. “It doesn’t look like nothing to me. But at least you’re okay. Have a good day.”
“You too,” she replied, feeling suddenly uplifted.
Chapter 2
Noah stared after her long after she had walked out of the coffee shop. He watched through the glass windows as she made her way across the road, her now familiar thick, long hair falling loosely over her back. It had been the first thing that he’d noticed. Shiny, luscious almost caramel brown, it had been the thing that had drawn him first. When he looked at the face framed by such beautiful hair, he’d been startled to see a face so full of sadness. It immediately made him want to know why.
The more he became aware of her, the more he seemed to bump into her even though he knew she hadn’t noticed him once.
Until this morning. And then it had been a double whammy. Not only had he found out her name, but he’d managed to speak to her too.
He collected his order but his thoughts strayed back to the girl; this morning she’d seemed even more distant than usual.
There was more of the sadness; it was subtle and hidden, but it was there all the same. He could sense it somehow, the signs that gave things away. Signs that revealed discomfort. And unease.
Of people hiding things that pained.
Once he, too, had known someone who was sad and hurting so much inside that she had hidden it completely. He hadn’t known it then. But now, in the fullness of time, he was able to look back on it all.
He knew of the carefully constructed, polished to perfection exteriors people put up so that they could hide the very things they didn’t want others to see.
Maybe Melissa had sadness and secrets too.
If he’d only been as observant before, he might have been able to do something.
Melissa looked nothing like Bree; that wasn’t the reason he found himself looking out for her. His memories mingled with the aroma of coffee beans as he remembered the girl he had lost.
“Bree like the cheese?” he’d asked her, going back a decade to the first time he’d met her, when they were both freshmen in high school.
“I hate cheese.” She’d laughed, crinkled up her nose. They’d started dating not long after. It was a high school romance, full of angst and discovery, new highs and bottomless lows.
But it was nothing compared to the depth of love the second time around, when he’d come back home from college.
This time around it had been the real thing. But now it, too, was gone. It was time to lay those ghosts to rest and try to move on. That was what everyone around him said. It didn’t make it any easier though.
He took his coffee, brought himself back to the present. Following in Melissa’s footsteps he dragged himself from the warmth and out into the wall of gray coldness outside.
At least he now knew her name. Melissa.
She didn’t know it, but she was the first girl who had ignited a flicker of interest in him.
His parents kept telling him, as did his friends, that a year was a long time and he had to move on. And that was exactly what Noah proposed to do.
Chapter 3
An hour after getting into work, Melissa gathered together the paperwork for Nadine and prepared to meet her boss.
She’d sprayed more perfume but she still reeked of coffee. The only option now was to rush out during her lunch hour and buy a new top. She hated being in the same clothes as she’d been in yesterday, but she hadn’t expected to stay over last night at Matt’s. He’d obviously had other ideas.
She was lucky that a guy like him was interested in someone like her. Even her friends in the accounts department envied her. So when a guy like Matt Elliott asked her out after months of flirting around, she wasn’t about to refuse. She’d noticed him around the building a few times. Who wouldn’t notice him? Lean, and wiry, yet strong—nothing like those beefed up guys from the steroid ads she’d seen in the papers. Him being part of the IT team meant he got to wander around the building legitimately. Whenever anyone had problems with their computers, or programs, they called IT.
Things had started slowly, the flirting, the emails, the looks, the passing glances. Each time he’d come to sort out a problem—even if the problem was someone else’s—he would stop by her desk. And that was how it had begun way back in the summer when he’d fixed a network problem for Nadine.
Since that time she noticed he was always the one who dealt with the problems on this floor. She got used to seeing him around more often. Soon, their flirty emails were about more than just smiley faces.
The emails got longer, the glances got more daring and before long he was asking her out for drinks after work. He was cool and good-looking and moved with a couldn’t-give-a-shit attitude. It was the antithesis of her and she was sucked into the excitement of wild and daring that Matt seemed to suggest.
At first she hadn’t been too sure whether his attention, directed all at her, was meant for her. In fact it had taken her ages to convince herself that he was interested. Eventually he asked her out.
But it all seemed so different now.
She knocked tentatively on Nadine’s door.
“Hey, come in.” Nadine sat at her desk, and even though she
put on a smile, Melissa could see right through it. She thought her boss would be happy to come back after a month in Europe—which seemed to Melissa to be an awesome opportunity anyway. Nadine hadn’t been so enamored of going in the first place. So she imagined her boss would be more than happy on her return. But the way Nadine looked right now indicated otherwise.
“Glad to be back?” Melissa asked, hoping Nadine would offer some insights into her mood. She handed over the minutes of the team meeting that she had typed up.
Nadine took the papers. “I thought I might be,” she offered, “but I’ve got even more things to deal with back here. And I didn’t want to stay so late at the office, not so soon after coming back.” She sighed, casting a quick glance over the papers. “Sit down a while, Melissa.”
Melissa obliged reluctantly and hoped that her wearing the same clothes as yesterday wouldn’t be so obvious. “The work won’t ever die down, Nadine. You have to set a time and get out of here. Surely it’s great to be back home, with Ethan?”
“He’s the best part of it all. I think I’ll feel better once my workload clears a little.”
“You work too hard,” countered Melissa. Nadine arrived at work before she did and was still at her desk when Melissa headed out of the door in the evening.
“I’m looking forward to the Christmas break,” Nadine confessed. “But turning thirty-five doesn’t appeal.” She put her fingers to her lips when Melissa jerked in her seat, eyes wide open in surprise. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She said firmly. “Anyway, how are you this morning?” Nadine’s gaze traveled to her blouse. “Accident?”
