All of Me

“I tagged some bridesmaid dresses. You can tell me what color you like, Gi

“I’ll leave you guys alone for a bit.”

“No, stay. I want your opinion, too. Please,” Lacey urged when Faith hesitated.

“Shouldn’t you be doing this with Mia? Maybe you should wait until she gets back.” After all, they were sisters-in-law and friends. What did Faith know about this stuff?

“Oh, there’s plenty to do. But August will be here soon, and the dresses take the longest to order.”

“Okay,” she sighed, sitting on the couch next to her. Gi

For the next two hours, they went over colors and styles. Lacey decided to let Gi

Lacey wasn’t who Faith had expected. With the money and power the Covingtons had, Faith had anticipated a royal snob who ordered her minions around, like her former students and their families at St. Ambrose. Lacey wasn’t like that at all. She was warm and kind and fu

After going over tuxedo options—and Faith imagining how good Alec would look in one—Faith stood. Bea was off this week with Mia and Cole out of town, so she needed to get lunch started.

“Would you like to stay for lunch?”

“Oh, I can’t. I have to meet with the caterer while Jake takes his lunch break. Maybe some other time. We can go shopping?”

“Sure. I’d like that,” Faith said, surprised she meant it.

Lacey turned to Gi

“Yeah!”

When Lacey left, Faith made some quick sandwiches and a salad for her and Gi

She smiled, pride welling inside that she’d been able to help him work through it. The lack of productivity had obviously bothered him.

Rubbing her forehead, she watched Gi

“You know what, Gi

“Yeah!”

Faith gri

They headed into the living room where they went through the CD collection by the stereo. Gi

“Now what?” Gi

“Now we dance.”

Since no one else was around to hear them, Faith turned the music to blasting and grabbed the girl’s hands. Gi

*   *   *

Alec hadn’t slept more than four hours in two days, but hell if he’d ever felt better in his life. The words flowed. Chapter after chapter. Through the night, bleeding into the day. He was back. Sanity maintained.

Leaning back in his chair, he gri

He threw a frozen pizza into the oven and went to shower while it baked. Thoughts scrambled for purchase in his head as he stood under the spray. Plots morphed and characters screamed. Grabbing a bar of soap, the manuscript played out in his head until the end while he lathered.

The book was not coming out exactly how he’d first charted it in his timeline. Instead, the female lead was quickly becoming the heroine. The Nightmare demon had kidnapped her, and her brother searched in vain, losing a bit of his own self along the way. But it was the girl who broke free and escaped, using her own hidden strength and wit. Alec was about halfway through the manuscript, about to reach the peak where everything crumbled to shit and Nightmare grew fierce with fury. This part of writing a book was always a rush like no other. The exact moment when he knew conflict collided with action and the reader would be glued to the page, hanging on to every word.

Stepping out of the shower, he dried off, dressed, and headed to the kitchen, head still in the story. He’d have to rework books two and three to accommodate this change. If he kept the childhood tie between the three female victims, he could keep the motive behind Nightmare’s desire for them. Instead of the brother saving them, though, Faith would do it.

Alec’s head reared back and the slice of pizza fell from his fingertips to the counter. Christ, he hadn’t even realized he’d been eating. Half the pepperoni pie was devoured.

Faith.

She’d wormed her way into his head, under his skin. He’d based his female lead off her physically and emotionally. Wavy brown hair and quizzically sad eyes. Quiet strength, brilliant mind. Because of her, he’d been writing again. And holy shit, it was the best book he’d ever punched out. Even not having finished yet, he knew. This story was different. Girl power. Danger. A little romance. Fear unlike anything in his previous series.

All due to Faith.

Jake was right. She was different than the others. Not a distraction, but a destination. Part of him wanted to grasp that shred of hope for a future, for something permanent and real. Try his hand at normal again. But that wasn’t possible and never would be.

Still . . . she stayed there, trapped in his mind as a maybe. As potential. Alec shook his head and tossed the leftover pizza in the fridge.

He absolutely shouldn’t go over there and see her. It wasn’t fair to Faith to ping-pong back and forth between brooding and flirting. So far, he’d kept himself in check. But if he kept drawing himself toward the temptation of her, he’d do nothing but tear apart her life the way he’d done to Laura. Faith was kind. She was devoted to helping others, and genuinely enjoyed it.

And for the love of God, what was it about her? What was the damn draw? She wasn’t a gorgeous supermodel with pouty lips. She didn’t even wear makeup most of the time. Her body didn’t sport curvy hips and a full chest. In fact, she was so damn wispy thin he could probably bench-press her with one arm. Half the time she didn’t seem to want him around. She’d brushed off that kiss instead of trying to rope him into a marriage proposal like every other woman he’d encountered.

So, yeah. What the hell?

Still worked up into a mild irritation, he lifted his hand to knock on the front door and froze. He sighed with dramatic flair into the humid afternoon heat. Whatever. So she was on his mind and he’d unconsciously walked over. It meant nothing.

Music boomed from inside the house, all but rattling the windows. That wasn’t like her. In fact, every time he’d popped by, the house had been quiet. She and Gi

Testing the knob, he found the door unlocked. He strode in and made his way toward the living room where the noise seemed to originate. What he found had his jaw dropping.

Gi