You're Mine: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance

by Lauren Wood

  “There are a lot of good places around here. Are you looking for a place to eat, drink or dance?”

  “I don’t know. Somewhere to eat first I guess. Would you like to show me a good place that you like around here? I am buying.”

  Cameron looked at the groceries that I had set on her kitchen counter. It was like only then did she realize that I was in her kitchen, just feet from here. The door was still open, but no one was in the hallways and it felt like we were alone.

  “Um, well I was going to just make some pasta.”

  “Come on Cameron. You haven’t gone out in a while.”

  She didn’t like the comment or maybe it was the fact that she didn’t like that I noticed. It was hard not to and whether I wanted to or not, I was constantly aware of what she was doing. It was a hazard of the job and the fact that she was always around. How could I not notice such a woman?

  “I guess I could.”

  Although she wasn’t as enthused as I would have liked, it didn’t matter, I would take it how it was. After trying to forget about her in the arms of several others, it was becoming clear to me, painfully so that she had gotten under my skin. All I needed to do was scratch the itch and then I could forget about the sassy mouthed tenant that kept me up at night.

  “Let’s go then.”

  “I have to get ready and put these groceries up.”

  “I will help you.”

  Cameron didn’t look so sure of my skills, but I was already taking things out of the bags and setting them on the counter. I wasn’t going to give her a reason or a chance to say no.

  “Um, okay. I’m going to jump in the shower then. I will be back out in a few minutes.”

  I watched her walk into the bathroom and I felt a tightening in my chest. I was thinking about her naked and soaped up in the shower. It was the first thought that went through my head and it was one that I just couldn’t shake. I couldn’t wait to see what she looked like without her clothes on. Tonight was the night.

  The water turned on and my mind went into overdrive. What would happen if I just went in there right now? Would she turn me away?

  ***

  Without a real idea of what she would do, I didn’t go into the bathroom. I didn’t want to move too far too fast and lose her. It was the last thing that I wanted to do and all I could tell myself was that it was going to happen soon.

  There was a small peek of her in a towel, her hair damp from the shower and that was enough. It was a tiny, tasty tease that was going to get me through until I could peel off whatever it was that she was putting on.

  Unlike most girls, Cameron was done pretty quickly. She looked completely different, sexier then I had seen her before. There was a touch of makeup that I didn’t usually see and I liked the idea that she had done it for me. The woman was beautiful and swallowing my tongue was well worth it to see her like that.

  “You look…”

  Cameron giggled and swished her skirt around. “Do you like it?”

  I nodded my head, unsure if actual sound would even come out of my mouth. It was so dry in there I felt like I couldn’t move my tongue around properly. Yeah, I liked it alright. That dress was going to be the nail in the coffin. There was no way that I was going to be able to walk away from that. She was too much, too beautiful and now I was thinking about naughty things that I wanted to do to her. There was nothing good that was coming out of my mind right then.

  “I am going to take that as a good sign that you like what I am wearing. Are you sure it is not too much?”

  Shaking my head, I told her that it wasn’t. It was something, but definitely not too much.

  “Okay, well are you ready to go?”

  Again I shook my head and just kind of stared at her. Here I was acting like the old me, the version that lost the girl. “Yeah, let’s go.”

  She was no longer hesitant and she gave me a little grin that set my blood boiling in my veins. Cameron knew exactly what she was doing to me and I was more than happy to be her plaything. Little did she know that I was going to have my way soon enough, of that I was adamant.

  When we got out to the parking garage, she asked me where my car was. “I never said I drove a car…”

  Her eyes widened when she got a look at the bike. It was fairly easy to see that she wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of getting on the back of it. I had learned one thing from my cousin Carlos and that was to make sure that I took her on my bike. He had promised that a girl couldn’t resist it and I would be rewarded with a soft body leaned tight against my back. It sounded like a win-win to me.

  Cameron was going back and forth in her mind that much I could see and I waited for her to make a decision. I wasn’t going to push her into anything. She would come around. I hoped so anyways. I wanted Carlos to be right.

  After a few moments that felt like an eternity, I was starting to question how sure I was of it. How positive was I that she wasn’t going to just flat out deny me like she had so many times before?

  “Okay, but it’s not far at all. We could just walk if you want some fresh air.”

  The temptation to have more time with her was nothing compared to having Cameron smashed up against my body. That was how I was going to get her. I was going to make her think about me the way I was thinking about her. And I just wanted to know what she was going to feel like pressed up against me. Handing her the extra helmet I kept in the black satchel, she put it on and smiled at me in a way that stopped me in my tracks. God, this woman was going to be the death of me.

  **END OF PREVIEW**

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  PREVIEWS

  Never Mine

  A Bad Boy Second Chance Romance

  PROLOGUE

  FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: MANDY

  I couldn’t believe what I’d just found out. It was not at all what I was expecting when I took the test. Things like that don’t happen to girls like me. I was just out of high school and I had my whole life ahead of me. Greg had his whole life ahead of him and I knew what he would say if I told him.

  It occurred to me then that I couldn’t tell Greg. He would try to fix it, do things that he didn’t want to do because of it. I couldn’t let him do that. I didn’t want him to be with me because he had to or because he felt trapped. There was nothing that I could do but get away. I had to get away from Watertown for a while. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, but I needed space and time to think.

  Packing up my bags, all I could think about was Greg and what he was going to think when he found out that I had left. I knew that I couldn’t see him again and the thought made my heart hurt. It was something that I had to do, that much I knew, but it didn’t mean that it wasn’t going to hurt more than anything else I had ever felt before.

  Looking back one last time in the room that I had lived in since I was a small girl it wasn’t my childhood home that I was going to miss the most. It was Greg and I knew I was always going to wonder what would have happened if I had stayed.

  CHAPTER 1

  MANDY

  “Come on Mandy. I don’t know why you are being like this. It is a nice night and you have nothing else going on. Let’s go have some fun for a few hours.”

  I tried to look excited, I really did. It was hard to feel like doing anything after I had worked twelve hours at the animal sanctuary. It had been a long day with two animals put into quarantine and another couple being released. All I really wanted to do was find a movie that I hadn’t seen in a while and have a glass of wine. I was tired, but it wasn’t going to matter to Alise. I had made her a promise and she was going to hold me to it. That much I knew, so there was no point in fighting it.

  “I said I was going, what more do you want?”

  “A little enthusiasm would be nice Mandy. Stop acting like you are on death row.”

  I smi
led, but I knew that it didn’t reach my eyes. I was leafing through the closet, trying to find something to wear while Alise played with my hair and the curling iron.

  “I’m not. I just haven’t gone out in a while.”

  She sighed and pulled another hot strand of curl off the iron that fell to my shoulder. I looked into the mirror and I liked the change. I hadn’t done much to my hair in a while besides braid the blonde mess up for work. Now I was looking like I didn’t deserve a lab coat on me, but I still couldn’t find anything that I really wanted to wear. Nothing looked good and I knew that it was because I wasn’t that into going out to a bar to drink and dance.

  “I know you haven’t. Ever since you and Jeff broke up, I haven’t been able to get you out of the house after dark.”

  Shooting her a look, I couldn’t believe that she was bringing him up. He was the last person that I wanted to think about, but if I was honest he was a lot like all of my exes and I didn’t want to talk about any of them either.

  “I just had to take a little break.”

  “Well time is up Mandy. It is time to get back out there and you aren’t going to do it with that.”

  She took the little red dress out of my hands and I protested a little. “What is wrong with that?”

  “It isn’t near short enough. I thought you wanted to have some fun?”

  Groaning inwardly, I waited for her to pull out a skirt and tank top combo that made me blush. It was not the kind of outfit that I would wear but to keep the peace and get it over with, I slide the clothes on and watched them cling to my curves. “I look like a slut.”

  Alise shook her head. “No, you look a little cheap, but not a slut.”

  I smiled and laughed that she thought there was a difference. All I could think about was how much attention the clothes were going to bring me. Straightening up the skirt and pulling it down as far down my leg as I could, I gave up and realized that it was going to have to be okay. I had agreed to it after all.

  “Do you want me to put your makeup on?”

  Looking at the woman staring back at me in the reflection, there was no part of it that I recognized. My red hair was a mass of loose curls that fell around my waist and the outfit was tight and revealing. I looked good, a few years younger than my thirty two years, but I felt like an imposter.

  “No I think I am good on that Alise. I look enough like you.”

  She took it as a compliment and told me that my boobs looked good in the shirt. “If I had a body like yours Mandy, I wouldn’t be so shy to show it off.”

  I didn’t want to hear that. Alise was beautiful and petite, something that I had always wanted to be. Where everyone else saw curves and features that they liked, I always wanted to be doll-like, like her.

  “Whatever, Mandy. I know that you don’t get it, but I can’t even pull off half of the clothes that you have.”

  Waving her off, I swiped a little lip gloss on my lips, as well as some eye liner and called it a day. “Are you ready?”

  She looked at me as if she had been ready for a year and I had to giggle at her. Alise had a way of dragging me into things that I wasn’t necessarily into, but she at least made it fun on the way. Locking the door behind me, I moved out into the chilly night. Alise was right behind me and I was hopeful that I could get her back home before it got too late.

  “What about Alfie?”

  “He is with Rita for the night.”

  “Good, so that means that you can stay out all night.”

  “No, I still have work tomorrow.”

  Alise gave me a look and I ignored it as we got in the car. I was still hoping to be in bed before midnight. My overnight partying days were behind me.

  ***

  When we got to Dante’s, I was still a little reluctant, but as soon as I got a drink in my hand I was feeling a little bit better about the situation. The White Russian had an extra shot of rum in it and before long I was feeling the music more than I was feeling my nerves. Alise was right of course, she always was it seemed. Maybe a night out was just what I had needed the whole time.

  I could feel the smile spread across my face as I looked out at the dance floor. It was only when I caught the side profile of someone that I used to know that everything in me stopped. The people, the music, it was all in the background as Greg came into view.

  Memories flooded my system and I was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe in the packed room. He didn’t see me yet and I was split between standing still and running away so that he didn’t. It had been too long since I had seen him and the last time I had, my heart had broken into a thousand pieces. There was a part of me that knew that he was never going to forgive me for what I had done. I had made some decisions that I knew was going to be hard for him to deal with. They were hard for me to live with as well, but it was what had to be done.

  Greg was a bad boy or he had been when we were in school together. He was the love of my life and I would have sworn that I was going to marry him. That is what I had expected and when things had changed, it had taken me a long time to get over Greg, if I ever really did.

  He turned my way and I stopped in my tracks. I had been staring and though I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see him or not, if I wanted him to know that I was even there. When he saw me though, I saw the recognition on his face and I was left speechless. He remembered me and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. One way or another, Greg started to walk towards me and I was left there to stand. The drink in my hand was gone and I felt betrayed a little bit by that.

  “Mandy Cossin, as I live and breathe.”

  I smiled up at him and I could feel my body’s age old response. All of me remembered Greg quite well.

  CHAPTER 2

  MANDY

  “I can’t believe you are here. What are you doing here Mandy?”

  I didn’t know what to say, passed the fact that he was standing right there and I missed him. God, I had to stop the words from coming out of my mouth. What was wrong with me when all it was I could think about was the last time the two of us were together in such a way? I was shocked to say nothing and it was only when a tall blonde woman walked up behind him and asked him when he was going to be able to leave that I pulled it together.

  “I’ll be ready to leave soon Amber.”

  Amber could tell that she was being ignored and I stood up a little straighter in the woman’s presence. I don’t know why, but I wanted to know who she was and though I think I had a good idea of who she was, I wanted confirmation.

  “No, don’t let me hold you up Greg. Maybe we can catch up another time. Nice to see you again. It has been a long time.”

  I started to walk away and though I was happy to see him, filling my eyes with Greg, I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to talk to him and explain myself. There was a part of me that wanted to, but more than that I knew that it wasn’t going to end well. If I told him the truth, Greg wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me. That much I knew for sure.

  The breath in me was starting to come easy again and my eyes looked for my friend Alise. I wanted to get out of there before I ran into someone else, though there weren’t any more Greg’s running around. He was the only man that I had ever loved and there was a part of me that was sure that it wasn’t possible to love someone more than I had loved Greg.

  “Mandy?”

  I felt his hand on my shoulder before I heard him calling my name. There was something in his green eyes that I didn’t understand, but I didn’t want to. Looking behind him, I asked where his friend was.

  “Why did you take off? You’re really bad about that, you know that right?”

  “Bad about what?”

  “Taking off on me.”

  I was silent for a moment. He was talking about the fact that I had just left. I had left Watertown in the dust, along with my boyfriend at the time. I’d never say goodbye and that was one of the reasons that I knew it was going to be hard to talk to Greg again. I wasn’t
proud of what I had done and how I had acted, but there had been no other choice for me. I had to do, what I had to do, no matter how hard it had been or how hard it was then with the past staring me in the face.

  “Sorry, I don’t think your wife or girlfriend wanted you talking to me, so I didn’t want to get you in trouble with her.”

  Greg looked at me as if he didn’t understand what I was saying. “Who? Amber?”

  He waved her off like she wasn’t important. “Yes.”

  “She is just a friend.”

  I smiled and remembered that we had been ‘friends’ a long time ago too.

  “So you never got married?”

  He shook his head. “Never found a woman that made me want to. Not in a long time anyways.”

  I didn’t know what the last bit was about. We had dated our senior year. He had tried to date me several times, but I had been focused on my studies. When I finally gave into his boyish good looks and piercing green eyes, I knew that I had made a mistake. I loved him not long after that and I wasn’t sure if I had ever loved someone the same again or if I ever would. Greg had been a special kind of love and almost fifteen years later, he still made me feel the same.

  “What about you, are you married?”

  “God, no.” My answer was paired with a strong shake of my head. The last thing I wanted to think about was getting married. I had never even come close. I had been asked, but never once had I thought to actually say yes to one of those kinds of questions. I was more likely to never get married, especially when it was figured that I was already in my thirties.

  “I can’t imagine some guy not snatching you up a long time ago.”

  Shrugging, I looked around again for Alise. Maybe she could pull me from his grips that he had on me so that I could get out of there. Every minute I spent with Greg was not good. I knew that I wanted to talk to him more, see how he was, but I was afraid of what would happen after that. I knew that part of me would always love him, but I had left him for a reason and that reason was still just as valid as it once was. It was actually more so now because I wasn’t prepared for him this time. I had had years to know the difference between what we had had and what I would have with others. At the time I was with Greg, I didn’t understand how special it really was and how special it was going to be as time went on. That was the hardest part of all of it. I knew what I had lost now and though I couldn’t go back, there was a large part of me that wanted to. I wanted to go back to the way things were when I was permanently in his arms.