Free The Beauty Series by Skye Warren

courtyard was marked by nothing but a curb leading onto a sloping street. During the day this was busy, but now the road was empty. She could see lights glittering from the downtown. Campus was indistinguishable from the rest of the city.
    A bench had been installed beside a stop for the city’s bus line. She sat down, feeling more contemplative than gloomy. The concrete reached through the thin fabric of her dress and chilled her.
    What was she doing, getting all wrapped up in a man, in a relationship? Stress and drama. That wasn’t why she was here. It wasn’t why her mom cleaned houses twelve hours a day back in Laredo. Not why Erin herself busted her back at Blake’s house and her other clients’, plus taking up extra hours cleaning the liberal arts computer lab when the custodial staff got overworked.
    She was here to make something out of herself and her life, to be someone powerful enough that no one could mess with her—or her mother—ever again. You and me against the world.
    When she and Blake had first made love, it had been amazing, sensual, unlike anything she had experienced before. A high in contrast to the low she felt now, when she shouldn’t be on the roller coaster at all.
    So what now? Avoid him? She wasn’t sure that was possible because she needed the income from that job. And they might run into each other at school anyway. Confronting him didn’t seem like the right choice either. She didn’t want to make him feel bad about any of this…but she’d have to do one or the other. She couldn’t continue in limbo. He deserved a fair accounting from her.
    With a sigh, she pushed herself up. Her skin had goosebumped while she sat, and now she ran her numb fingers up and down her arms, trying to rub some warmth back into her. Her nipples had tightened in the cold, pressing through the thin material of her bra and dress. She crossed her arms and ducked her head against the wind as she slowly hobbled back.

Chapter Five
    B lake knocked his head back on the brick wall. The wind howled softly, starting to pick up speed as the night wore on. The small alcove in front of her door blocked most of its bite, but he couldn’t feel it over the coldness inside.
    Dread had built inside him, from the first expression of shock on Erin’s face, to watching her flee down the hallway, him helpless to stop her, through the long, agonizing day of watching his new students whisper about what was wrong with his face. And he hadn’t cared about the last part as much as he’d thought he would because he was too worried he’d screwed things up with Erin.
    She was always cautious with him. Even when they were making love, a part of her remained guarded, waiting for him to lash out, and he wanted to beat the shit out of whoever had made her feel that way.
    He tried to keep things as light as possible…which wasn’t all that light where she was concerned, because he was crazy about her. So they made vague plans to meet up, and thankfully she’d pulled through every time.
    Except tonight. He’d known something was seriously wrong when she’d left his office today. He had hoped to explain about Melinda…at least, as much as he could. Not the whole story, which would embarrass them both. Just enough so he and Erin could go back to the way things had been. But when she’d been later than usual, he’d known things weren’t right.
    He’d said fuck it to playing it cool and come to see her instead, except she wasn’t here. He’d caught her roommate—he hadn’t known she had a roommate—on her way out the door. At least he hadn’t freaked the girl out too much. Courtney, she said her name was. She’d taken one look at his face and said, “Hi, Blake. Nice to meet you.”
    He raised his eyebrow. “My reputation precedes me.”
    “It does indeed.” She winked. “But Erin’s not here.”
    He ran a hand over his face, disappointed but ready to turn around when she stopped him.
    “Wait here,” she said, an