Free Just the Way You Are (1) by Lexi Ryan Page A

can’t figure it out.” His eyes connect with mine and send a little buzz through me.
    I thought I’d lost that—the ability to get a buzz from the way a boy looks at me.
    This is no boy , my mind tells me. This is a man. I’m no stranger to older men, but when I came back to New Hope, it was with a promise to myself that things would be different. That I’d be different. And yet here I am, preparing to spend my evening with a sexy stranger who breaks all the New Me rules.
    “What’s making you crazy?”
    “I know you from somewhere…”
    I have to laugh at that. “That line? Really? If you’re trying to pick me up, can’t you at least amuse me by coming up with something unique?”
    He flashes that wicked, devil-may-care grin again and my goddamn stomach does a little flip. “Is that what you think I’m trying to do?”
    I shrug. “I don’t really know. It’s been a long time since I bothered with games.”
    He steps closer, looking down at me. “Because you get right to the point?”
    He guides me to the dance floor, and I let him.
    Etta James croons from the speakers as this beautiful bad boy pulls me into his arms, his eyes roaming over my face like this is foreplay. He’s a man who makes dancing easy, guiding me around so smoothly I could be walking on clouds.
    When he dips his head, his mouth brushes my ear. “You know, don’t you, that by dancing with me, you’re going to make people whisper about you all night?”
    I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. They are whispering about me, it’s true, but the whispers have nothing to do with some mystery man.
    It was a year ago, but my wedding to William Bailey is still the hottest kind of gossip. A wedding called off two days before the bride and groom were scheduled to say their vows? Young bride ran away to God-knows-where for an entire year? Hell, the people of New Hope usually have to steal the mayor’s cable to get stories that juicy.
    “It doesn’t matter,” I murmur. Over Asher’s shoulder, my three older sisters watch me with unhinged jaws. What’s with them?
    The song ends and the crowd on the dance floor shifts. Some couples return to their seats and others slide into each other’s arms.
    Asher grins. “I thought you didn’t dance?”
    “I don’t. Couldn’t you tell?” I shiver under his hot gaze. One dance and I’m contemplating bridesmaid clichés and one-night stands.
    The DJ transitions to another song, and I find myself moving into his arms again. We fall into the rhythm of the music, and I’m rethinking my aversion to dancing when I feel a vibration from his hip. He’s busy tracing my shoulder with the rough pad of his thumb and doesn’t notice.
    “Is that a cell phone in your pocket,” I whisper up at him, “or did I misplace my vibrator?”
    He pulls away and reaches for his phone. “You’re something else.” He glances at the number on the display. “I have to take this. It was nice to meet you, Maggie. Thank you for the dance.” He winks at me as he backs away, leaving me grinning on the edge of the dance floor, dumb with lust.
    My good mood vanishes when I turn and see Will and Krystal dancing.
    My Will, I catch myself thinking. Which isn’t fair, and I know that, but I keep remembering his arms wrapped around me and his breath in my hair as he whispered, “If you’re broken, I’ll fix you.”
    His thumb brushes her cheek, and he’s looking at her with such tenderness, I stumble over my own feet in my rush to get off the dance floor. Loneliness claws at me, digging into my flesh just deeply enough that my eyes wet with tears.
     
    I hope you enjoyed this sample of Unbreak Me, available now at most retailers.
     
     

A Note from Lexi
     
    Dear Reader,
     
    Thank you for reading Harrison and Stacey’s story. Sometimes accepting love from someone else is scarier than being alone—because love means putting ourselves out there, flaws and all. That was certainly the case for Stacey. I hope you enjoyed