Running in Place
(Mending Hearts #2)
By L.B. Simmons
Expected release date: Late October 2013
SERIES
READING ORDER:
Mending Hearts #2 - Running in Place
Blurb:
Tatum
O’Connell:
Some call me a party girl. People see me as
happy, full of life, with absolutely no cares in the world. They see what I
want them to see. But no one knows me - really knows me. Not even Noah
Reese. Mr. Perfect is always watching
me, most likely judging every single imperfect thing I do. But, if Noah wants
to keep an eye on me, that’s just fine. I definitely don’t mind. I just hope he
doesn’t have any plans to save me from my new-found life of self-destruction
because in order to save me, he will have to see me…
And I’m never going to let that happen.
Noah
Reese:
Perfect. That’s me. That’s the only
acceptable way to be, according to my father. Perfect grades. Perfect manners.
Perfect athlete. Perfect SAT scores. Perfect college. And recently, I was
accepted into the perfect med school. My future has already been mapped out for
me and there’s nothing that can change that. Not even Tatum O’Connell. That
girl is out of control, yet for some reason, I can’t seem to keep my distance
from her. I watch her closely, hoping that one day she’ll let me in, but
watching her lead her life down the dangerous path she’s on right now isn’t
easy…
I have a feeling I’m about to find myself
swept away by the hurricane that is Tatum O’Connell.
“Two fleeting souls,
Unknowingly tethered.
Too slowly drawn,
Impatient fate calls.
The jolting collide
intertwines their lives
And
splinters their walls.”
“Catalyst”
– Noah Reese
Author Bio:
L.B. Simmons is a graduate of Texas A&M University and holds a
degree in Biomedical Science. She has been a practicing Chemist for the last 11
years. She lives with her husband and three daughters in Texas and writes every
chance she gets.
Connect with L.B.:
Website:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Teaser:
Still laughing and not paying attention, I
round the corner, only to run straight into a completely different kind of trouble. A
brown-headed, blue-eyed, whirlwind kind of trouble. A trouble that looks unbelievably hot in a
tight-ass, short black dress. A trouble
wearing the highest black heels I’ve ever seen, heels that make her legs look
unbelievable and should be outlawed judging by the bulge forming inside my dark
Diesels. Damn. She’s also a trouble
that I’ve formed a decent friendship with over the last few weeks, so any
mental images I have of her doing certain things to me wearing those heels have
got to go.
“Hey!” she says laughing as she flips her
hair off her shoulders. My eyes
immediately land on her pouty lips, the clear shine reflecting off of them as
she smiles. “What are you doing here?”
I clear my throat and tear my gaze from her
mouth. “Getting my check, you?”
She looks me up and down as she nods her
head. “Me too,” she says clearing her own throat. “Where are you going, looking all spiffy?”
I chuckle because only she would say spiffy.
“I’m taking Piper to that new club, Parallel. Where are you going looking all spiffy?”
She claps her hands together excitedly
before taking my hand. “We’re going
there too! Yay!”
I’m still surprised every time she touches
me. It’s such a drastic change from the
first day at the duplexes. As I think
about the last month or so - all the times that we laughed together at something
ridiculous that she said, or the fact that she insists on bumping hips with me
every single time a song comes on the radio that she likes while singing at the
top of her lungs, even the times she lightly brushes her hand across my arm
while she’s speaking – there’s a level of comfort and ease about our
friendship. Reason five hundred why I need to curb my inappropriate thoughts
about this one.
I smile to myself as she tugs me
harder. “Where are you taking me?”
“To the employee bathroom!”
Well, that did absolutely nothing to fend
off dirty thoughts.
“Why?”
She giggles. Obviously, she’s already
started drinking. Great. Well, at least we’ll
be at the same place so I can make sure Dickhead the Douchebag takes care of
her.
“Because, I’m gonna fix your hair. It looks too…perfect. It needs to be messy – sexy, like you.” She
stops dead in her tracks. “Um…I mean, as sexy as you look now.” She exhales,
frustrated. “Sexily dressed, that’s
what I mean.” She bites her bottom lip nervously as she mentally tries to hook
her words and reel them back in. I just
laugh because she looks so damn cute.
“So, you think I’m sexy?”
Saying nothing else, she rolls her eyes and
pulls me in the direction of the bathroom.
Once we arrive, she flips on the light and points at the toilet for me
to take a seat. Turning on the faucet, she sets her purse on the counter and
pulls out a travel size hairspray. After
digging around for a little while longer, she turns towards me.
“Well, I guess this will have to do.” She
tilts her head to the left and then scrunches her mouth to the same side, deep
in thought. Nodding to herself, she leans over and wets her fingers in the sink
before stepping in between my legs.
She breathes in deeply before placing her
fingers in my hair. Slowly, she
distributes the water throughout, often leaning back to the faucet to get
more. Her cool hands work from the sides
of my head toward the top, where her fingers interlace to form a spiky section
down the center. Then she bends at the waist, placing her face so close to
mine, her breaths hit my mouth. I know I
can’t have her, but damn if I don’t want to take some piece of her with me. So
greedily, I take in her air with every breath she releases. Her eyes still
focused on my hair, I watch her mouth. Still breathing with her, I lick my
lips, the movement distracting her so that she brings her blue eyes to mine. In
silence, we stare, only the shared breaths between us are heard.
Taking her hand out of my hair, she places
it on the side of my face and gently strokes my cheek with her thumb as we hold
each other’s eyes. Before long, I watch
a soft saddened half-smile appear on her lips.
“Much better,” she says with one last soothing run of her thumb before
she backs away. Reaching for the hair
spray, she tweaks the top of my hair, pulling random pieces in different
directions before spraying them. I fight
the urge to put my hands around her waist and pull her into me. To hold her. To have her.
Instead, I sit with my hands on my knees,
wanting what I can’t have.
After a couple of more sprays, she steps
back. “All done. You’re good to go. To
the bar. With Piper,” she says, the pitch of her voice getting higher with each
incomplete sentence spoken. There’s no
mistaking the heartache radiating between the both of us. It’s so thick I could slice it with a knife.
Giveaway:
To celebrate the cover of her newest novel, Running in Place, L.B. is offering her
readers an awesome Giveaway!
· Winner 1: $100 Amazon gift card
· Winner 2: A set of signed paperbacks of Running
on Empty and Recovery.
· Winner 3: ARC of Running in Place,
to be sent to the winner in mid October.
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