Briar Rose by Jana Oliver Read Free Book Online Page B

forward Mrs Quinn had begun a personal vendetta against the Rose family,
blaming her for what could have been a personal tragedy.
    With the memories dragging her down, Briar halted abruptly. ‘Ah, I don’t like being near the water.’
    Pat turned and studied her. ‘You can’t swim?’
    ‘No.’ He didn’t need to know her past. She didn’t want him to pity her.
    ‘Then relax, will you?’ he said. ‘I was thinking of us doing something else.’
    The boy of her dreams stepped closer, cupping her face with his strong hands and then kissed the end of her nose. Briar smiled up at him, caught up in his spell. This really was like a fairy
tale. The moon, the prince, the princess. All they needed was a white horse and a castle.
    The next kiss was full on her lips. It was genuine, not the half-hearted kind Mike had always given her.
    Briar found her heart pounding when it ended. ‘Wow,’ she said, her eyes widening.
    ‘Yeah,’ Pat replied, smiling. The next kiss lasted a lot longer, his hands sliding round her waist and pulling her tightly against him. His body reacted to their closeness and Briar
found herself blushing. This was so perfect.
    When it ended, Pat kept his arms around her as if he couldn’t bear to let her go. He angled his head towards the mill. ‘We could go in there,’ he suggested. ‘No one would
know where we were. We could be all alone.’
    The mill part didn’t sound that good, but the
all alone
part did. Unless . . .
    ‘Umm . . .’
    He gently touched her cheek. ‘I promise I won’t tell anyone. Not like Mike.’
    Her ex’s name broke Pat’s intoxicating spell. ‘What’s Mike got to do with this?’
    ‘Nothing. Come on,’ he said, taking her hand. ‘We have some time before anyone misses us.’
    When he tugged her forward towards the mill, he didn’t realize he’d triggered more of her memories. Saralyn had pulled her along in much the same way only a short time before Briar
had fallen into the river.
    ‘No,’ she said, sliding her hand out of his. ‘Let’s go back to the party, OK?’
    ‘Why?’ he said, stepping close to her again. His hand caressed her cheek. ‘It’ll be fun.’
    Briar stepped backwards, suddenly aware that there was no one else around. Still, her reaction made no sense. Pat wasn’t a threat. He was too cool.
    ‘No, I gotta go,’ she said, turning away. Pat quickly caught up with her.
    ‘What’s going on?’ he asked, catching her by the wrist. Then he suddenly broke his grip and stared at his hand. His finger was bleeding. ‘That damned bracelet of yours
bit me.’
    ‘Sorry. The axe is kinda sharp, I guess.’
    He sucked on the wound, and then wiped his finger on his jeans. ‘Look, I thought we were good together. Why can’t we just hook up tonight?’
    Briar blinked. ‘Hook up?’ He nodded. ‘You mean like . . .’ Pat gave another nod, a slightly irritated expression on his face.
    This wasn’t just a kissing expedition – he was talking about going all the way.
    ‘It’d be good. I promise,’ he said, deploying that devastating smile of his. As if that would be reason enough to take that final step.
    For a few precious seconds Briar actually considered it. This was Pat, and she liked him a lot. If the curse was for real, what would it matter? She deserved some happiness.
    No. Not this way
. It felt too needy. Desperate even.
    ‘I can’t. I’m not like that, Pat. I don’t know why you thought I was.’
    He frowned now. ‘You’ve already done it with Mike, so it wouldn’t be like it was a big deal.’
    There were so many things wrong with that statement she didn’t know where to start. ‘Who told you Mike and I hooked up?’
    ‘It’s all over his Facebook page. He didn’t use your name, but everyone knows it’s you.’
    It can’t be.
She’d unfriended Mike when they’d broke up, but he wouldn’t say things like that about her.
    ‘You’re lying!’ she said, growing angry.
    Grumbling under his breath, Pat dug out