✰ Bianca ✰ Janeane ✰
• Repeat aka Larsen Brothers #2
• standalone
4.25 Stars
An unpauseable new romance from New York Times bestselling, Audie Award winning author Kylie Scott!
When Anna wakes up from a coma after a car crash, she discovers life has gone on without her. Her husband has been unfaithful—with her best friend—and she’s been long since replaced at work. While her old life is a distant memory, her new life feels like an empty shell. Then she meets the stranger who saved her life during the crash, and he changes everything.
Leif Larsen—tattooist, joker, and player—has his own scars thanks to the crash that put Anna in a coma. Helping her move on from her failed marriage, and create a new life, sounds like a perfect distraction. So when he needs a new roommate, he invites Anna to begin her new life with him.
Although their lives may have been put on pause, together they just might find a way to heal.
Anna + Leif
Friends with benefits? Nah, that never works ....
What will happen with Anna + Leif?
Will there be a Happily Ever After??
READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT!
Leif Larsen lives in a big old brown brick building with a
sprawling dogwood out front in a cool urban neighborhood. No one answers when I
press the buzzer. But according to the details on the scrap of paper the nurse
gave me, I’ve got the right place.
What to do?
The rational response would be to give up and go home.
Because hiding out in my childhood bedroom has worked out great so far (and
this would be sarcasm). It’s been months since I left the house for anything
other than a medical appointment. Weeks since I’ve heard from any friends.
Right on cue, my cell buzzes inside my tan Coach purse. I don’t bother to look.
Mom requests proof of life every hour on the hour. Not even dinner at the
country club can distract her, apparently. Her parental concern for me is well
past claustrophobic.
My hand clenches the iron railing against a gust of
unseasonably warm evening wind. It’s been a while since I stopped using a
mobility aid, but things can still feel tricky. The whole damn world does, if
I’m being honest. So many things I took for granted have now been turned upside
down.
This is the problem with living the supposed dream. With
having an airtight plan for your life. Meet Prince Charming and marry him. Find
the perfect job. Only problem is, if something goes wrong, when reality smacks
you upside the head and sends you reeling, then there’s no system for putting
the pieces back together. There’s no Plan B because it never occurred to you
that you’d need one. A lack of imagination on my part, perhaps.
A motorcycle pulls up to the curb and it’s like everything
happens in slow motion. Something about this long, lean man just makes time
want to stand still. A denim-clad leg is swung over the back of the iron beast.
A helmet is removed and shoulder-length hair tumbles free. High cheekbones and
perfect lips are framed by stubble and all I can do is stare.
I don’t know if I’m intimidated or turned on or what.
“Can I help y . . .” he begins. There’s the faintest spark
of recognition in his eyes.
I continue to stand there frozen.
“Fuck me,” he mutters, stalking closer. His gaze slides over
me from top to toe, lingering on the small scars on my left cheek from the
glass. There’s no attempt made to hide his curiosity. “It’s really you.”
Nichelle the nurse described him as being a nice young man.
Nothing more. Certainly nothing that would prepare me for this. And I dispute
“nice.” Ripped denim, battered leather, and a Harley-Davidson motorbike are not
nice.
“Never seen you conscious before,” he says, getting even
closer.
I just blink.
From beneath the collar and cuffs of his leather jacket
emerge colorful tattoos. Lots of them. Blue waves and black letters. Red flames
and white flowers. The man is a walking, talking piece of art. My parents would
be horrified. Ryan too, for that matter. Not that any of their opinions matter.
I need to forge my own path. Go my own way.
“How did you find me?” he asks with a faint frown.
“Oh. Ah.” I smooth down the front of my pale blue
midi-length linen summer dress. My dark hair is slicked back in a low ponytail
and my makeup is simple but perfect. It’s nice having some things I can
control. “One of the nurses from the ICU told me about you and I wanted to come
say thank you. But maybe an apology would be more in order?”
For a moment he pauses, then he asks, “Do you want to come
in?”
Good question. The fact is, I don’t know. Nor do I know how
to do this. Something made obvious when my mouth opens, but nothing comes out.
So much nothing for such a length of time that it’s beyond embarrassing.
Dammit. Whatever it is I came here looking for, it wasn’t this. Him. Whatever.
“We’ve never properly met, have we?” He holds out his big
hand. “Hi, I’m Leif.”
“Anna.”
While I’m tentative, he shows no such reserve. Strong, warm
fingers enfold my own stiff and cold ones. There’s no attempt at a dominating
handshake or groping. He gives my hand a squeeze, just the one gentle squeeze,
before setting me free.
“I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but that would be weird.” He
grins conspiratorially and oh my God. Everything low in my stomach wakes up and
takes notice. Shame on my lady parts, but the chemical pull of the man is
ridiculous. It takes me a minute to remember that I’m a married woman. Mostly.
Well, somewhat anyway. I certainly have no business smiling at him like I am.
My life is messed up enough without adding a crush. Perhaps it’s in reaction to
me, I don’t know, but the mirth disappears and his gaze becomes serious. A
little bleak even. “I still have nightmares about that day, you know?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
“I shouldn’t have come.”
“Don’t, Anna. Don’t look like that. I didn’t tell you to
hurt you or make you uncomfortable. I was just . . . sharing.” His expression
changes again, a more subdued smile taking the place of the brief hint of
trauma. Then he suddenly winks at me all flirty like. I don’t know how to
react. I can barely keep up. The man is a whirlwind. “Want to come in and have
a beer with me?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“I just . . . I don’t want to remind you of things you’d
rather—”
“I want you to come inside. I wouldn’t have asked
otherwise.”
Book #1
Kylie's YA dramance TRUST
#MustRead #StageDive Series!
BOOK #3
