EXCERPT
I open my eyes and look at her as I come yet again. She stares at me with that goddamn look and I can barely breathe. As I slow my movements, she asks, “Stay the night with me?”
I stop moving and cup her face with my hands. I don’t stay the night with my clients, no matter how much they pay me. I never have. But Abby is so different than the rest. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew I was doomed. Her calmness and beauty take over a room like a motherfucking hurricane. It’s what stuck out to me most when I bumped into her at the goddamn grocery store. After seeing her one time, I found myself going to the store all the time for shit I didn’t need, in hopes I’d run into her again. Knowing that her husband hasn’t been home in weeks, I respond, “Okay, but you aren’t paying me.” I kiss her gently, loving these times the most. The times after we fuck, where we can just be. I’ve hated taking her money, but it’s been the only way I’ve convinced myself that it’s okay to keep seeing her as often as I have been, since I don’t do relationships.
Laying my head against her chest, I hope that by doing this, I’m not opening either of us up to be too vulnerable. But with Abby, I do all sorts of things that I normally don’t.
The noise of her heart beats against my ear, and I own this moment of peace.
Then the alarm for her condo chimes that the front door has opened and we freeze, looking each other in the eye. She’s terrified.
It has to be her husband. I hate to see her scared; a girl like Abby deserves the fuckin’ world. And her asshole baseball playing prick of a husband doesn’t give it to her. “What do you want me to do?” I ask her.
“Go,” she whispers reaching for the collar to remove it, and without hesitation, I listen to her. Looking around the room, there is no way to gather my things, which are spread out all over the bedroom, or to help her.
“Abby?” he calls out and I spot my pants on the chair. Darting to them, I move with urgency and hit the window not even taking the time to get dressed. I look back at Abby as she’s shoving everything under the bed. “I’m sorry,” I tell her before opening the window, knowing it will chime through the alarm, but right now, I don’t have a choice.
The fresh air is freeing as I fly down the fire escape like a monkey, not caring that I’m fifteen floors up. Above me, I hear chaos coming from the window and then a loud bang. I know he is coming after me as the fire escape vibrates. I’m tempted to stop and fuck him up – he deserves it after all of the shit he’s put Abby through. But it wouldn’t change him. It’d just make it worse for her, which is exactly what I don’t want.
As I hit the ground and yank my pants up. I hear him jump to the ground too. I sense he’s gaining on me, so I push harder. Moving as fast as my legs will run. My feet burn against the road, but they don’t hurt as bad as the thought of never seeing Abby again. I can’t lose her. She means too much to me to just let go of. If I’m being honest with myself, she stopped being a client a long time ago.
In the next second a yellow taxi flies up the street and I take the opportunity to get away, flagging him down and hopping into the back seat. With my eyes on the floor, I command in a firm voice, “To Crown Heights, as fast as you can. I’ve got a hundred with your name on it!”
The driver doesn’t respond with words, just the tires squealing as I glance up to see his eyes on the rearview mirror. Abby’s husband makes it just in time and yells something, smacking the trunk. With my head hung down, my eyes are on my tattooed chest as it heaves. Goddammit, why did I let this happen?
Slowly the air comes back to me and I worry about Abby and what he’s going to do to her...
The official trailer for LATCH
From five time bestselling author, LK Collins, comes LATCH another emotional roller coaster of a story that will have you screaming at your kindle. LK writes an array of emotionally and sexy gripping Erotic Romance novels. She’s a lover of the oxford comma and everything in the writing world. Her stories are compelling and will draw you in from page one, and with twists and turns, she always keeps her readers enthralled 'til the end. When LK’s not lost in the minds of her characters, you can find her on the beach with her family, where her husband and writing partner, “The Prezident,” are sure to be plotting out her next tale.
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