Broken: a bad boy romance novel by London Casey & Karolyn James

Author:London Casey & Karolyn James [Casey, London]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-03T18:30:00+00:00

15

CORA

I was outside, standing at my car when I heard someone yell my name.

It was Derrick.

I cringed for a second but something about his big and clean smile was almost comforting. But it was Derrick.

He ran toward me, his tie flapping up and over his shoulder. His perfectly placed hair bounced but never fell out of place once.

“Cora!” he yelled again. “Wait up.”

I waited.

“I just heard the news.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“I’m in shock. I mean, the building… but this, too?”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” Derrick said. “This is all happening because of some biker?”

“It’s not that simple, Derrick.”

“Then explain it. I’m a very knowledgeable person. I make sense of things. This doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Just leave it be, okay?”

“No,” he said defiantly. His nostrils flared. “I’m annoyed right now.”

“You’re annoyed? I almost got hit by a car just doing my job.”

Derrick took a step back. A sign of weakness. He could never push himself to test me.

“Right, sorry,” he said. “I’m just… nervous for you. This whole thing doesn’t make sense.”

“Derrick, I don’t want to talk about this right here. I have to go.”

“Coffee,” he blurted out.

“What?”

“Coffee. Let me buy you a coffee. We’ll go out for an hour. You can vent to me. Get all that shit out of your system.”

It was a good offer. A great offer. Derrick was a good guy. Stable. A great job. The right guy on the right path. And he looked at me with those eyes that told me he wanted me next to him on that path.

Call me crazy but there was a little swirl of guilt. I couldn’t stop thinking about Hudson. I needed to forget him, but trying to convince myself of that only made me think of him more. I felt like the mother trying to protect her teenage daughter. Except the battle was going on in my mind and I was losing it. Losing it willingly.

“Come on,” Derrick said. “Not even fancy coffee either. No ten dollar cups of coffee. A diner. We’ll get something to eat and just talk.”

“You have work,” I said.

“I can rearrange anything for you, Cora. I don’t know what’s actually going on here, but it’s not good. I want to help you.”

I swallowed hard. The offer was too good to refuse, but I knew I was going to refuse it anyway.

“Derrick, I can’t,” I said. “Please. Just understand. I’m not…”

Derrick shook his head. “Okay. I’m not going to pressure you. I’m not that kind of guy. You know how I feel about you, though. I care about you. I, uh, I like you, Cora. I’ve always liked you.”

“I know that,” I said.

This is not the time or place, Derrick.

Derrick took a chance and reached for me. That’s when I made my move and slipped out of the way and into my car. Derrick then stood with his right hand still outstretched, frozen like a statue.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I have to get home. Thank you for the offer, Derrick. You’re a really sweet guy.”

“A sweet guy,” he said.

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