Carrie Butler

“All because I fell in love with a madman.”

“Cole radiated that cool, bad boy sort of confidence—the kind that left most women flustered and ready.”

“Maybe that was why another part of me--a very small part--had wanted to kiss Wallace then. Both sides of his mouth, between his brows, and every other place those stupid worry lines marred his expression. That part of me had wanted to hold him tight and give him the comfort I knew he couldn’t ask for.But that part terrified me the most.”

“Rena?” I looked up as a figure emerged from the white void of snowfall. The snow dusted his broad shoulders as he took long, measured strides toward me, his black coat flapping in the wind. As he neared, I made out his startled features. “Wallace?” His gaze burned with indiscernible emotion. “Are you hugging the lamp post?”

“It doesn’t matter what’s wrong with him. We’re not going to act like he doesn’t exist. Not anymore.”

“I mean, that was the code, wasn’t it? Single girls and taken guys weren’t allowed to be friends. The leash always got in the way.”

“My hopes for pie died on the sidewalk. There went my grin.”

“Well, why not just snap my damn olive branch and beat me with it? I was only trying to help.”

“One second she’s all timid, and then reeoowr! Hellcat.”