Read Online Questing Heart: Fighting Heart Erotic Bad Boy Romance Series Book 2 by Nicole Hamilton - Free Book Online

that so wasn’t easy. His writing was personal. I was sure his writing was for me.
    “Having an affair? Jeez! That’s exactly it. I’m not having an affair with anyone whatsoever.”
    “Cody,” I softened my voice. “Cody. It’s fine. It’s none of my business. But we are still friends, right? Because I really need a friend right now.”
    He stood a little way back and appraised me. “What happened?”
    “It’s Brandon. Things have changed and I need your help to get away from him…”
    Cody nodded.
    “Of course, Ashley. Remember at the café? You told me everything and I’m telling you everything here. There is no affair.”
    “I saw that kiss, Cody. Please, just be my friend.”
    He was about to say more, but I saw him change his mind. “I’ll always be your friend, Ashley. Don’t ever doubt it.”
    “Good,” I said. I squeezed his arm.
    “Now, I was supposed to be signing books right now. I’d better go. Wait, okay?”
    “Yeah. And you should probably tell Joanna who I am. She looks a little jealous right now.”
    Cody nodded with an awkward smile. “She’s just a friend, Ashley.”
    “A very good one, I’d say,” I said. I tried not to be bitter, but my real feelings may have slipped out. Maybe he regretted things getting as far as they had with her now that I had shown up, or was I simply just flattering myself? Either way, I needed his help and I wasn’t going to be put off by Joanna. Maybe I’d failed in winning Cody’s love, but I certainly needed his help to rebuild my life. In fact, even if you included my own family, I felt Cody was the only one I could trust…

Nine
     
    Brandon Lynes sipped from his hip flask and looked at himself in the mirror. In one hand he held a paperback. A photograph of his own fine face was set into a square on the back cover. In his other hand was a silver hip flask. He looked into the mirror as he read, enjoying the quirks of his face and the timbre of his voice as he rehearsed the sound of different words. Should he lengthen that syllable, or lengthen the final one of the sentence? One way was cool, the other was cooler still. He laughed at himself and remembered the way Ashley mocked him with fondness. When she laughed - back in the earliest days when it seemed like she would love him - it made him melt and filled him with desire all at once. He remembered the playfulness of her laugh. He remembered the way her eyes squinted when she was happy. Then he recalled her softness, and the sweetness of her neck as he nuzzled and the warmth which overcame him as her arms drew him near. Brandon looked at his face in the mirror and his humour faded. He slung the paperback on his bed and left the room.
    In her room Amanda was studying, sitting on her bed surrounded by a mess of study books and novels. She heard the knock and put a pen to her lips and contemplated the visitor. The knock came again, and Amanda stood up from her bed. “Wait a minute,” she said, and swiped her hand across the duvet, dragging the books down the length of her bed until they spilt into the empty tub she kept to store them. She looked into the mirror, especially at her brown eyes, full of hope and sorrow all at the same time. She smiled so hard and she almost believed it. Her face lit up the mirror as if someone had turned on the lights. She teased the string of her vest down over her shoulder, exposing the soft skin. She changed her face to cutesy neutral and went to the door.
    She opened the door and pressed her body to its line, so her curves were emphasised. She had played this game before, and she knew what worked. Brandon stood blinking at her, and then his eyed roamed down her body. He saw the exposed shoulder, leaned and teased some of her hair in his fingers.
    “Look at you, Amanda. Just look at you. You will always be my best girl.”
    Amanda rolled her eyes, hoping Brandon didn’t see the effect his old lines had on her all the same.
    “So you tell me, Brandon but you