up from her, and she couldn’t contain it, nor did she want to.
Felicity: Is Layla still at your apartment?
Jared: Yeah…why?
Felicity: Tell her she’s dead. I’m gonna kill her for giving you my number.
Jared: Haha. Will do. Did you get your paper turned in?
She paused. Her heart skipped a few beats, then rushed to catch up. He wanted to know how her day was? A guy like him was taking time out of his day to ask her if she got her paper completed?
Felicity: It was good, I think. My research and assertions were well thought out.
Jared: I’m sure you nailed it.
The text made her smile, bite her lip, and then she smiled again. He thought she did great. Just thinking about that made her feel good. She didn’t dwell on how pathetic it was that she responded so much to his praise.
Jared: You’re still a nerd, btw.
The smile on her lips stretched even wider. She would have been offended by anyone else calling her that. But after this morning she could only grin.
Jared: What? No witty comeback?
Felicity: Give a girl time to come up with one.
She tucked her phone in her jeans pocket and headed toward the street so she could hail a cab. It was too cold to make the long walk back to her place. Jared’s money still filled her pocket. She hadn’t used it, even though she’d been tempted. Boy, had she been tempted. At the curb, she stepped off a step and raised a hand. One of the many yellow cabs waiting for fares skidded into place in front of her. Climbing in, she settled her backpack on her lap and gave the driver her address.
Her phone buzzed again. Another message.
Jared: You have lunch plans?
She rolled her eyes and tapped her phone’s keyboard.
Felicity: Don’t you have work or something, Mr. Big Shot Lawyer?
Jared: Mr. Big Shot Lawyer. That’s your comeback? I gave you plenty of time to think of a good one.
She snickered and then typed.
Felicity: Seriously?
Jared: Seriously. I’m a lawyer. I’m dead serious. And you didn’t answer my question.
Felicity: What question?
Jared: Do you have lunch plans?
Why was he asking her that? Did he want her to come over and get her costume during lunch? Probably would be easier for her to do that so he could make it to his own important lawyer lunch or whatever it was lawyers did during lunch.
Jared: Still waiting…
Felicity: No plans. Why?
Jared: Good.
She waited for him to explain. No more texts came through. Disappointment slithered into her, bit by bit. The strange elation she’d experienced during their brief and very odd conversation deflated. It was the first real interaction she’d had with a guy her age—well, close to her age. Jared was a little older, but in a good kind of way.
The cab ride was fifteen minutes long, and yet Felicity was so lost in her thoughts that she only noticed they’d stopped when the cabbie tapped his fare machine and coughed loudly. She handed him her money, even though she was tempted to give him Jared’s. They were even, though. And she didn’t like taking handouts.
As she got out of the cab, she stared at the eyesore of an apartment complex in front of her. The red brick was chipped and crumbling, and the plaster in the halls was peeling. Inside she knew aromas of urine and booze would linger in the halls. The cracked sidewalk leading up to the building was a clear reflection of the tenants inside.
Home sweet home. After leaving Jared and Tanner’s apartment, she felt like a mortal returning from a brief night on Mount Olympus. Back to reality. Her steps slowed when she reached the elevator. A “Broken” sign was taped to the orange-painted metal doors. Three months and the thing had yet to be fixed. She climbed the three flights of stairs to her floor. The overhead lights flickered, buzzing like enraged bees in a low hum.
A tall figure leaned against the wall next to her door at the end of the hall, his back to her. A pool of shadows formed by the lack of hall lights above him made it impossible to see him clearly.
Crap, that wasn’t good. Last week the man who lived two doors down from her had gotten jumped by a guy who’d followed him into his apartment and knocked him out. The man had robbed her neighbor and left him bleeding from a nasty head wound for two hours before someone found him and called the police. Ever since then Felicity had been sleeping with one eye open and her cell phone at the ready.
Please, please don’t be here to rob me…
* * *
Want to know what happens next? Grab Felicity and Jared’s story HERE!
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Other Titles by Lauren Smith
Historical
The League of Rogues Series
Wicked Designs
His Wicked Seduction
Her Wicked Proposal
Wicked Rivals
Her Wicked Longing
His Wicked Embrace
The Earl of Pembroke
His Wicked Secret
The Wicked Earls Club
The Earl of Pembroke
The Seduction Series
The Duelist’s Seduction
The Rakehell’s Seduction
The Rogue’s Seduction
The Gentleman’s Seduction
The Sins and Scandals Series
An Earl By Any Other Name
A Gentleman Never Surrenders
A Scottish Lord for Christmas
Standalone Stories
Tempted by A Rogue
Bewitching the Earl
* * *
Contemporary
Ever After Series
Legally Charming
The Surrender Series
The Gilded Cuff
The Gilded Cage
The Gilded Chain
The Darkest Hour
Her British Stepbrother
Forbidden: Her British Stepbrother
Seduction: Her British Stepbrother
Climax: Her British Stepbrother
Forever Be Mine (Coming soon)
* * *
Paranormal
Brothers of Ash and Fire
Grigori
Mikhail
Rurik
The Lost Barinov Dragon (coming soon)
Dark Seductions Series
The Shadows of Stormclyffe Hall
The Love Bites Series
The Bite of Winter
Brotherhood of the Blood Moon Series
Blood Moon on the Rise (coming soon)
* * *
Sci-Fi Romance
Cyborg Genesis Series
Across the Stars (coming soon)
About the Author
USA TODAY Bestselling Author Lauren Smith is an Oklahoma attorney by day, who pens adventurous and edgy romance stories by the light of her smart phone flashlight app. She knew she was destined to be a romance writer when she attempted to re-write the entire Titanic movie just to save Jack from drowning. Connecting with readers by writing emotionally moving, realistic and sexy romances no matter what time period is her passion. She’s won multiple awards in several romance subgenres including: New England Reader’s Choice Awards, Greater Detroit BookSeller’s Best Awards, and a Semi-Finalist award for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award.
To connect with Lauren, visit her at: