Josephine Herveaux is haunted with guilt over the death of her cousin. The traumatic event from her youth left an empty void she has tried to run from for the past twenty years.
Derek Owens has fought to come to terms with the love triangle from his youth. An OCD Dom, the only place he feels in control is in the safe room he has constructed to deal with his turbulent emotions. The slim thread is shattered when Josephine returns to town.
The past brings Josephine and Derek together once again, but the ghost of Josephine’s cousin refuses to remain quiet. Can Josephine and Derek come to terms with her cousin’s death, or will the ghostly voice in her head drive her to insanity?
A compelling story that will leave you craving more answers….
Josephine stood caught in one of those moments—the ones that sent her heart running a marathon and her sanity flying out the window. Why else would she have been driven to her knees with fright not from nearly being crushed to death by a two ton truck, but by the man jumping out of its cab? Derek Owens. Oh my.
Worse, she found herself staring back at him just as hard as he seemed to stare at her. Her gaze got lost in the dark amber pools. Golden sparks flared near the irises. Sweet Jesus, not even five minutes back in town. Technically, not even in town yet, and she’d managed to make him mad. Furious, even. Her teeth sank down on her lower lip. Guess I pushed his buttons.
“Do you have a death a wish?” he roared.
His voice, deep and rich, resonated in parts of her that had been left dormant for far too long, jostling her system in an unexpected way. Goosebumps formed under her skin. Bubbles of lava danced on her spine. The contrast between the creeping cold and invading heat felt disconcerting.
“C’mon Jo, don’t you remember what I always told you about this damn curve? You can’t just stop in the middle of it like that. Christ, I could have killed you!”
“You’re such a pompous ass idiot sometimes! Of course I know the damn road. You know what, Derek, you’re absolutely right. I planned for this, for my car to break down at the worst possible spot in the blind curve. Oh, I also planned for your truck to come barreling down and come crashing into me. That’s right, I planned it all. As my welcome back to town party—Right!” Jo rolled her eyes skyward and huffed aloud to let out the steam of frustration this man always seemed to evoke inside of her.
Some things never changed.
* * * *
Derek’s fingers twitched. He wanted to march up to her, take her over his knee and teach her the lesson she richly deserved. No female challenged him. He ruled. No one talked back to him. How dare she?
Pure lust gnawed his insides raw. He admired her strength, her spirit. It drove him wild the way she ran her mouth. As much as he wanted to spank her for it, it stirred up old tendrils of... could that be... friendship?
“Damn Jo, I am sorry. Of course you didn’t mean for your car to break down here of all places. It’s just...” his voice trailed off.
“It’s just you acted like a big jerk and put your foot in your mouth like you always do.” She put her fist on her curvy waist and cocked her eyebrow up at him, challenging him.
Every hair on his body stood on edge. His jaw locked. Damn, she knew how to push his buttons. And here he’d done for her something he never did—apologize. He’d actually said those words to her, I am sorry, and she’d called him a jerk. The bitter taste in his mouth reminded him why he never did this.
The need to dominate grew inside. This, however, was definitely not the right time or place. The only way he could gain control would be by towing her car to her summer house and getting her out of the road and out of his way—at least for tonight.
“Just get in the truck, Jo! I’ll get the damn cables and tow you up the rest of the way,” he snapped.
