“I never ask you for anything, Dad.” Her breath snagged on the final word. “I just need help with this. Please. You don’t understand.”
Guilt battled against the never-ending pressure to win, win at all costs. “Alice,” he said tightly. “We’re playing Temple on Saturday—”
Peggy laid a land on his arm. “I can go,” she whispered, looking a little surprised at herself for making the offer. That made two of them.
“Hold on a second, Alice.” Elliott covered the phone with his hand. Trying not to be obvious, he sucked in the scent of Peggy. She’d swept it forward on her second approach, and it brought forth flashes of her head thrown back on his pillow, her mouth laughing into his neck. “That’s not necessary.”
“It sounds pretty necessary.” She took back her touch, fingers curling into her palm. “Maybe just tell her I’m from the school…a fellow faculty member.”
Elliott couldn’t hide his skepticism. “You still look more like a student.”
She wet her lips in slow motion. “Noticed, did you?” Her low, seductive laugh made his boxer briefs feel two sizes too small. “Come on, I’m not meeting with my assigned alumni committee until tomorrow morning. My evening is free.” No longer meeting his eyes, she shrugged. “And I know what it’s like to lose your mother before you’re ready, so I have that in common with Alice. She probably doesn’t even know she needs the girl time.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know about your mother.” He itched to reach out, run a thumb over the curve of her cheekbone. “I appreciate your offer, but I think we both know any kind of involvement with one another is a bad idea.”
“Involvement is a pretty strong word.” A smile teased her lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You’re worried for nothing.”
“It’s never nothing with you.”
She held his gaze a long moment, before turning away. “Text me your address, Elliott. My number hasn’t changed.”
About the Author
Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high-school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband and best friend, and she discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.
She now lives in Long Island, New York, with her husband and daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.
You can learn more at:
TessaBailey.com
Twitter @mstessabailey
Facebook.com
Also by Tessa Bailey
Romancing the Clarksons Series
Too Hot to Handle
Line of Duty Series
Protecting What's His
Protecting What's Theirs
His Risk to Take
Officer Off Limits
Asking For Trouble
Staking His Claim
Riskier Business
Owned by Fate
Exposed by Fate
Driven by Fate
Broke & Beautiful Series
Chase Me
Need Me
Make Me
Crossing the Line Series
Risking It All
Up in Smoke
Boiling Point
Raw Redemption
Made in Jersey Series
Crashed Out
Rough Rhythm
Thrown Down
Standalone Titles
Baiting the Maid of Honor
Unfixable
Off Base
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Tessa Bailey
Newsletters
Table of Contents
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Tessa Bailey
Excerpt from Too Hard to Forget copyright © 2016 by Tessa Bailey
Cover design by Elizabeth Turner, cover illustration by Kris Keller. Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First Edition: September 2016
First Mass Market Edition: January 2017
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ISBNs: 978-1-4555-9414-6 (ebook), 978-1-4555-9415-3 (mass market)
E3-20160809-DA-NF