PROLOGUE
“Hi, Natalie,” Davey said.
Natalie Bond turned her head from where she’d been sitting on a bench under a magnolia tree on Georgia State University.
It was her sophomore year and she’d been back for two weeks.
On a break between classes and reading for an assignment, she’d hoped no one would disturb her. She didn’t get that wish.
“Hey, Davey,” she said. “What are you doing on this side of the campus?”
She came here to avoid people. She had no desire to sit in her cramped room where her roommate was always blasting music, explaining it helped her think.
“Just walking,” he said, moving over and sitting next to her. “I know you like to come here.”
“So you sought me out?”
He sent her the same smirk he’d given her toward the end of last semester. His version of flirting.
He was cute. Nice to her. Sweet almost.
Gave her a lot of attention and hinted at wanting to get to know her more, but moved slowly.
Slow worked for her.
But then she returned home for the summer as he had and the communication halted. That wasn’t slow. That was uninterested.
In the weeks they’d been back, he picked up where he left off as if the time and distance meant nothing, and now they’d been on several dates and shared a few scorching kisses.
He’d been pushing for more and she was feeling it as strongly as him.
“Maybe,” he said, sliding his butt closer.
He'd better watch out or those white shorts he was wearing were going to come away with a stain if not a tear. The same with the pink polo shirt.
On the surface, he was totally not her type, but she was trying to be open-minded. Style aside, he’d proven he still liked her as much as a few months ago. Maybe he was busy this summer like she was working also.
Though she doubted it was the same as a summer job she’d had. He came from money and she didn’t.
She had a name many associated with wealth, but there wasn’t any on her family tree branch.
The fact he was interested in her had made her wary, but she was trying not to judge just like she’d been judged most of her life. When he brought up her last name, she was evasive as always. No one needed to know her background this early.
“Like stalking ‘sought me out’ or wanted to see what I was doing later ‘sought me out’?”
She was putting some flirt into it. Something she wasn’t used to doing. He laughed like she hoped.
She’d left Amore Island to see some of the world and what she was missing. This was all part of it.
Last year she’d been closed off and focused on the changes in her life. This year she was going to open up.
“The second one,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. He stood up, his hand out. “Come on. I’ll walk back with you and then we can get some dinner. Off campus if you want.”
“Sure,” she said, putting her hand in his.
He smiled as if he’d just won the biggest stuffed monkey at the carnival.
The minute their feet moved, he asked, “Are you rushing this year?”
