Read A Fresh Start for Two for Free Online Page A

like that. You need to get away from him. His behavior will only escalate.”
    Her voice echoed in the quiet building. Thankfully, there was no one else nearby. “I can’t. My mother would kill me.”
    “Don’t listen to your mother. There’s a lot I don’t know about your situation, but I know you have to stand up for yourself. I’ll help you in any way I can.”
    She gazed into his eyes and she was lost in their green depths. He placed a delicate kiss on her soft lips, but then backed away. For some reason, she didn’t want it to end. She leaned forward and kissed him, taking the lead this time, knowing it was wrong, but powerless to fight her attraction to him. Jake was like a beacon in the dark to her, pulling her toward him. His hand caressed her cheek, and the heat of his touch branded her, making her want to throw everything away for him. His tongue mated with hers until she gave a small moan, so he jerked back. “Did I hurt you?”
    “No, no.” She stared at her books. “I know you would never intentionally hurt me.” She gathered her books and stood up to leave. Before she left, he whispered, “Meet me at the race track, the old race track behind the quarry.”
    “What?” She paused, uncertain.
    “I want to spend more time with you. Come to the race track in two nights. Eight o’clock, I’ll take you for a ride. My friend has a car you should see. The track is deserted, but it’s been in his family for years. No one is ever there except for my friend and me.”
    Without saying anything, she turned to leave. He started to follow her, but she stopped and swung around. “Please, no. If he sees you, he’ll kill me. He can’t know I am working on the project with another man…especially you.”
    She spun back toward the door and ran after she glanced at her watch. Had he really asked her out? In a way, yes. And she wanted to go more than anything.
    But if Vincent ever caught her, she wasn’t sure what he would do…
    ***
    Julia got up the next morning and trudged down the stairs after her shower. Her sleep had been troubled and full of vivid dreams. There were three that she couldn’t get out of her mind. One was of Vincent beating and beating her until she screamed. As much as she tried to erase it from her thoughts, it would not leave her. Second, she had dreamed of the opening day of her store on Main Street in Summerhill. The shop had looked just like it did on her Pinterest board.
    The last dream had been about Jake Ramsay. He had kissed her again and more—much, much more. He had made the sweetest love to her she could ever imagine, cradling her in his arms as if he had true feelings for her, as if he really were her knight.
    Her footsteps echoed through the house as she made her way to the kitchen, still in a hazy cloud as she thought about Jake—both his kiss last night and the dream. So she ignored everyone and everything, plodding along wrapped in her dreams.
    Of course, her mother broke through her euphoric state the instant she poured herself a cup of coffee.
    “What’d you do this time?”
    Julia squeezed her eyes shut and scrubbed a hand down her face. “Mama, can we just leave it alone until I’ve had some coffee?”
    “No. I want to know. You must have really pissed him off.” She sat at the kitchen table, probably on her third cup of coffee by now, running her fingers across the plastic tablecloth worn from years of use. Her mother refused to remove it because the table was old and dated, like most of the house.
    Julia sat down across from her. “Fine. He’s pissed because I’m taking an accounting class instead of an English class.”
    “So why are you taking accounting?”
    “Because. You know my dream has always been to have my own shop. I need to know how to do the books if I want a business.”
    “Business, books, shop, horse shit. Just marry the man and do as he says. Then you can buy whatever you want. What is the big deal, Julia?”
    “The big deal is that I