Reading Online Novel

River of Love(7)



“On what? My left leg?”

“On. Now.”

As Faith stepped into the miniskirt, Vivian looked through her suitcase.

“Perfect.” She held up a cream-colored, slightly see-through cotton shirt. “It’s rock chic. The boatneck will show enough skin to look hot but not slutty, and paired with the leather miniskirt and wedge sandals, you’ll look like you wear this shit all the time.”

Faith pulled the loose shirt over her head and it immediately slid off of her shoulder. She kicked off her heels and glanced in the mirror.

“Wow. I feel good in this. Hot. No wonder you dress like this. It’s insta-confidence in a slinky little outfit.”

“Want to really kick up the sexiness?”

Faith looked down at her outfit. She was a little out of her comfort zone, but not so far that she wouldn’t wear something like this. If Vivian wasn’t there, she’d probably pair the shirt with her jeans, but the skirt definitely gave her a confidence boost.

“If I kick it up any higher I’ll be showing my you-know-what.”

“Wear your black-framed glasses. You look so hot in them anyway, and with this outfit? You’ll look like a smart sex kitten.”

“Do I want to look like a smart sex kitten?” She bit her lower lip, thinking about how she wanted to look. The glasses weren’t even prescription. They’d bought them just for fun last summer.

“Yes, so you can be ogled by a club full of guys and forget about Sam.” Vivian fluffed Faith’s dark hair. “You could wear a Hefty bag and you’d look sexy. You’re gorgeous. This outfit just amps it up. And your glasses give you an edge we normal gals don’t have.”

Faith laughed. “Normal? You’re a dead ringer for Julianne Hough. I’ve got nothing on you.”

“You have glasses that say ‘back off’ but a body that says ‘climb on.’ Plus, if we’re getting technical about it, you’re smarter and you have a better job.” Vivian worked in the marketing department of a clothing store in Oak Falls.

“You could have bought the exact same pair,” she reminded her. “You love your job, too, and I’m not smarter. I just spent more time in school than you did. Anyway, let’s just say we’re both hot, even though you’re hotter.” They played this one-upping compliment game all the time, as Faith assumed all women did. “None of that matters. What matters is that you and I make a great team, and because of our excellent planning skills, everyone had a good time today.”

Vivian followed her into the bathroom, where Faith fixed her makeup and slipped on her sexy-librarian glasses. She’d only worn them twice last summer, but Vivian was right—with the outfit, they definitely gave her a little wicked edge.

“Lira asked if I knew of a free therapist, and I was thinking about expanding WAC’s resources.”

Vivian looked at her over her mascara brush. “You can’t hire a therapist, if that’s what you’re thinking. That takes a lot of money. The kind of money you don’t have. It’s a free forum, remember?”

“Not hire one, but maybe we can connect with other groups that help women and find therapists who might be willing to give one free phone consult and then offer reduced or group prices.” Every thought sparked another angle. “Or maybe we can find a therapist who’s willing to do Skype sessions, individual or group.”

“You’re serious?”

“I think so. I mean, not everyone can afford help. Poor Lira barely had gas money to come to the event, and she doesn’t even have health insurance. I would really like to help her find a job.”

“Now you’re getting way ahead of yourself.” Vivian put her makeup away and said, “How can you do any of that? She lives in another town.”

Faith couldn’t quell her excitement at the prospect of growing the forum into something much bigger and more helpful. “How can we not try to help? Imagine how many others on the forums are in the same situation, or worse? I’m not talking about making a big organization or anything, but maybe we can create a resource page on the site and offer listings for jobs in each state. I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I think I’m onto something.”

Vivian pulled her out of the bathroom and grabbed their purses from the table. “You have that ‘I’m doing this no matter what Vivian says’ look in your eyes. Let’s talk on the way.”

A night out with the girls and her new project might be exactly what she needed to forget about Sam.





Chapter Five


WHISPERS WAS LOUD and crowded, just the way Sam liked it. It was exactly what he needed to get his mind off of Faith. He hated the way they’d left things earlier. After making an online donation to her cause—because he was sincere in wanting to help the girls he’d met at the car wash and, equally as important, to help Faith—he’d spent the better part of the evening trying to convince himself that he should back off, that Faith didn’t need him in her life.

It had been hours, and she was still front and center in his mind. The feel of her smooth skin remained on his palm, as if she’d branded him.

Sam tried to concentrate on the band playing at the far end of the dance floor. He and Ty had been there only a few minutes before they were barraged by a group of friends. Now, packed in a booth like sardines, Sam was squished between Jennifer, a mouthy brunette, and Tia, one of her equally mouthy friends. He was dying for a drink, but there was barely enough room in the booth for everyone, and his arms were stretched out along the back of the bench.

“Dance with me, Sam?” Jennifer ran her finger down the center of his chest.

He wasn’t in the mood to dance with anyone but the one woman he wasn’t supposed to be thinking about, which put him on edge, but it would get him out of that tight booth.

With an arm around Jennifer, Sam pushed through the crowd to a spot closer to the band. Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck and swayed her hips, brushing against him, despite the fast beat of the music. Normally Sam would be into her seductive moves, but Faith had gotten under his skin. The things she’d said had punctured his gut like jagged little pills. It doesn’t change who you are or what you do.

Goddamn it. What was wrong with him? She was one girl out of a million.

One sexy, smart, ambitious girl who’d probably used her pain to drive her to create WAC. He hated thinking about someone hurting her. Faith wasn’t like Jennifer or Tia or the other girls he hooked up with. They put themselves on the line with no expectations. Offered themselves up expecting only one thing in return. Sex for sex. And they couldn’t hold a candle to Faith.

Faith was classy. She valued and respected herself. She was the type of girl a guy married. The others were the types of women a guy fucked. Which was exactly why Faith was staying away from him. Marriage had never been on his radar. Yet since he’d seen her at the wedding he’d wanted nothing to do with any other woman.

Could he talk himself further into a frigging black hole? He was supposed to be getting Faith out from under his skin, not wanting her even more.

He wrapped his arms around Jennifer’s sexy body and tried to lose himself in her. She was warm, soft, and curvaceous. But she had on too much perfume, and she was a tall woman, at least five ten, which normally wouldn’t bother him. It put their mouths closer together, which was always hot. But after holding Faith, so petite, so feminine, so perfect, everything about Jennifer felt wrong.

Someone bumped him from behind, and he glanced over his shoulder, then down to the woman who had consumed his thoughts, in the arms of another man. Sam’s gut fisted. She wasn’t his to claim, but just knowing she was there, close enough to touch and looking hot as hell, made him want to do just that.

“Sorry.” Faith lifted her beautiful dark eyes and gasped. “Sam.”

Even her voice did weird shit to him. Made him think. About the things she’d said and what he felt when he’d held her. And she wore a pair of black-framed glasses, which might detract from most women’s appeal, but on Faith? They looked rebellious and sexy as sin.

“Faith.”

“I didn’t mean to…”

Jennifer’s hand crawled up Sam’s cheek, drawing his face back toward hers.

“Sam, I’m over here.”

He was all too aware of the woman in his arms as she forced his face away from Faith. He looked over his shoulder again, registering the back of the guy’s head Faith was dancing with. Faith peered around the guy’s shoulder, meeting Sam’s gaze. He could barely restrain himself from cutting in on her dance. But Jennifer was in his arms, and Faith’s guy—Date? Boyfriend?—turned, sizing him up.

Sam wasn’t in the mood to piss off some dork or the clingy chick in his arms. When the song ended Jennifer continued swaying against him, which Sam would normally be totally into. But Faith was disappearing into the crowd, and he quickly lost the battle of trying not to care, boyfriend or not.

He took Jennifer by the hand and led her toward the table.

“I wasn’t done dancing,” she complained.

“I’m sorry, Jen.” At the table he caught Ty’s eye. “Ty, buy Jen a drink?”