Laguna Beach: Lost in Laguna
(Kindle Worlds Novella)
The rich girl from Laguna Beach.
The Yorkshire boy who stole her heart and went off to war.
A love story that knows no boundaries.
Isla Maxwell wanted nothing more than to return home after a bitter break-up. With her parents disowning her, she has no one to turn to but her best friend in Laguna Beach. A fresh start is all she needs, and time to mend her broken heart.
What she didn't expect was to return at the same time as Garrett Thorne--not only her first love, but someone she believed to have died while on active duty in Afghanistan. His return sparks a passion she never thought could be rekindled. While once lost and without hope, can they both face their inner demons and fears and finally find themselves again...this time, together?
From award-winning #1 international bestselling author, K.N. Lee comes a steamy contemporary romance with deep emotional themes.
ISLA RAN FROM THE parking area and across the empty beach toward
the water, snatching her cover-up off as Garrett chased her.
In a pink
bikini, she screamed and laughed when she glanced behind her to see that he was
right on her heels. She quickened her speed, the hot sand burning the soles of
her feet as Garrett left his flip flops behind and took off his shirt.
She splashed
across the shore and dove into the ocean once she could no longer feel the
bottom, the rush of cool water swarmed around her.
She pulled her
long brown hair from its ponytail and dove into the water. She smiled as
Garrett followed her, reaching for her legs as she swam away.
When he grabbed
her left leg and tickled her foot, she emerged from the water and gasped. She
laughed into the air, closing her eyes against the bright sun that beamed down
on them in the still crystal clear ocean. Life was perfect when they were
together.
“Okay! Okay,”
she said in between hysterical laughing as he continued tickling her. She ran
her hands through his wavy brown hair and tugged at it. “You win!”
Garrett pulled
her closer by her thighs and she wrapped them around his waist as he held her
chest to chest in the water.
Breathless, Isla
smiled at him, her cheeks reddening at how close they were.
“Say it,” he
said, pressing his lips to hers.
Isla’s eyes
closed as he kissed her. There was something about Garrett Thorne that made her
forget her thoughts and words. Maybe it was the hint of a Yorkshire accent or the sexy tattoos that intrigued her.
He was completely different from all of the other boys in Laguna Beach.
Her heart still
raced from running but now melted as he
let his hands lace into her hair.
“Say it,” he
repeated in a whisper, holding her bottom lip between his teeth as his tongue
traced her lip.
A shiver ran
along her naked flesh and up her spine. She could feel his heart beating
against hers as she opened her eyes. His olive green eyes peered into hers
giving her butterflies.
Water dripped
onto her lashes as she looked at him. “I love you too,” she said, her smile
fading. The gravity of that statement slammed into her.
Isla didn’t say
those words often. Her family wasn’t one for displays of affection of any sort,
in public or in private, and the love word didn’t belong in their daily
vocabulary.
So, saying it to
the handsome young man that she’d been dating exclusively for most of her
senior year scared her beyond belief. He scared her, but also made her feel
things she’d never thought possible.
Garrett was
different from the guys at her private school or the ones her father kept
trying to set her up with. The Maxwell image was more important to her parents
than Isla’s heart, and her heart belonged to a man who’s house cost less than
her car.
Isla already
knew that she’d give all of her wealth away to be with him.
He grinned and
kissed her again. “Was that so hard?”
She clung to
him, her arms around his neck. “Yes,” she said. “It was.”
“Why, Isla?” he
asked in a whisper.
“Because love it
dangerous,” she said. Her heart was open, more open than it had been since she
was a child. She’d been hurt so much by her parents, boys, and the girls at
school that she feared what someone as special as Garrett could do.
“Being in love
makes you vulnerable. I don’t want to get hurt. Not by you, or anyone else.”
Garrett pulled away
to face her. “I will never hurt you. You have to believe that.”
She tilted her
head. “How do you know? You’re only nineteen and I’m about to turn eighteen.
There are a lot of years ahead of us for you to hurt me.”
“True. There are
a lot of years ahead for me to love and cherish you.”
Isla grinned.
“You English boys and your poetic words.”
He chuckled.
“Every word I say is true, and I’ll show you.”
“I’ll hold you
to that.” Isla nodded, and pushed away, swimming back to shore.
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