From the #1 New York Times
bestselling author of the Ella and Micha series comes a gripping story of
passion, pain, and the courage to love . . .
On the surface, Lila Summers is flawless: good looks, expensive clothes, and a big, beautiful smile. But a dark past and even darker secrets are threatening to bubble over her perfect façade. She'll do anything to keep the emptiness inside hidden-which leads her into situations that always end badly. Whenever she hits bottom, there's only one person who's there to pull her out: Ethan Gregory.
Ethan set the rules a long time ago: he and Lila are just friends. He doesn't do relationships. Although his tattooed, bad boy exterior is a far cry from Lila's pretty princess image, Ethan can't deny they have a deeper connection than he's used to. If he's not careful, he could be in serious danger of becoming attached-and he's learned the hard way that attachment only leads to heartbreak.
When Lila falls farther than she ever has before, can Ethan continue to help as a friend? Or is he also getting close to falling . . . for her?
On the surface, Lila Summers is flawless: good looks, expensive clothes, and a big, beautiful smile. But a dark past and even darker secrets are threatening to bubble over her perfect façade. She'll do anything to keep the emptiness inside hidden-which leads her into situations that always end badly. Whenever she hits bottom, there's only one person who's there to pull her out: Ethan Gregory.
Ethan set the rules a long time ago: he and Lila are just friends. He doesn't do relationships. Although his tattooed, bad boy exterior is a far cry from Lila's pretty princess image, Ethan can't deny they have a deeper connection than he's used to. If he's not careful, he could be in serious danger of becoming attached-and he's learned the hard way that attachment only leads to heartbreak.
When Lila falls farther than she ever has before, can Ethan continue to help as a friend? Or is he also getting close to falling . . . for her?
“Why is this bothering you so
much?”
“It’s not,” she snaps, turning
her back to me. “I was just wondering why. That’s all.”
I stare at the back of her head
as she rests her chin on her knees, staring out at the desert land. “It seems
like you’re bothered,” I point out.
Her shoulders lift and descend
as she shrugs. “If you leave, then I’ll be alone.” She mutters it so quietly I
can barely hear her.
I’m silent for a while, unsure
what to say or if there’s anything I can say—want to say. “You can come with
me.” It slips out and I want to smack myself on the head. Taking her with me
would defeat the purpose of escaping the noise and people, yet at the same time
I know I’d miss her if I left her behind.
She glances over her shoulder
with skepticism on her face. “Could you imagine me living in your truck,
because I sure as heck can’t.”
“Why not?” Again, what the hell
is wrong with my mouth? Why can’t I just let it go? She’s giving me such an
easy out to a huge commitment I shouldn’t be taking.
“Because.”
“That’s the silliest reason I’ve
ever heard.”
“Because I don’t understand why
anyone would want to take off from a city where you have everything at hand and
live in a truck where you have nothing but a backseat. It’s pretty much like
being homeless.”
I kneel behind her, inching
close to her, then hesitantly place my hand on her shoulder. “Shut your eyes.”
She leans away, like I’m scaring
her. “Why? ”
“Because I’m going to prove
what’s so awesome about my idea.” I wait for her to do what I ask and she
stubbornly drags it on for longer than necessary, then finally surrenders and
turns around.
“Fine.” Her voice softens a
little. “Show me what’s so great about a backseat.”
“There’s a lot of great things
about a backseat,” I joke in a low voice, and then dip my lips toward her ear
and whisper, “Now shut your eyes.”
I expect her to argue, but she
very willingly obeys, shutting her eyes the second I utter the words. I shut
mine, too, but only because being so close to her, breathing in her scent,
feeling the warmth emitting from her body is driving my body into a frenzy.
“Now picture nothing but
mountains,” I say softly, picturing it myself. “No city. No noise. No crazy-ass
parents who act like children and treat their children like shit. No nothing.
Just the quiet.”
“It seems like an awfully lonely
place, if you ask me,” she tells me. “Just me and the dirt and the quiet.
Although I wouldn’t mind the being without the parents part.”
“You wouldn’t be completely
alone.” I sweep her head to the side and rest my chin on her shoulder. “You’d
be with me.”
She pauses for an eternity and
her breathing is ragged. Or maybe it’s mine. “What would we do at this mountain
place together?” she says.
“Anything we wanted.”
“Hike?” There’s disdain in her
voice.
“Maybe,” I say. “Or maybe we’d
just sit and enjoy each other’s company in the quiet.”
She shifts her weight and
situates her hands underneath her legs, leaning back against my chest. “That
kind of sounds nice.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
As strange as it is, and as much
of a pain in the ass asLila can be, I can actually picture us sitting together
up on the mountains in the noiselessness, living in my truck, driving anywhere
and everywhere. Together. And the comfort in the idea is kind of frightening
because it means I’m thinking about
our future. Together. Shit.
I think about moving away from
her, putting a little space between us because obviously I’m heading down a
road I shouldn’t be headed down. The dream of living on the road has always
been one I’d planned to live out alone and now suddenly I’m telling Lila she
should come with me. God knows what would happen between us if we lived in a truck with one
another. We’d either grow really close or end up hating each other. Or maybe
both. But I can’t bring myself to move and break the peaceful moment. So
instead I sit down and wrap my legs and arms around her and we just sit there
in the sun, enjoying
each other in the quiet.
Both Lila and Ethan have pasts that they would love to forget. Lila a life of being the stepford child and never living up to her parents standards, never receiving the love a child should get. So she looks for that love in all the wrong places. Ethan has a pull towards Lila but he tries to keep his distance. Never really getting over London, the girl who broke his heart but was never good for him to begin with.
This book will have you going through the range of emotions. You'll be mad, happy, sad and joyful at times. That's great thing about one of Jessica's books. It's takes you on a journey, sometimes a tough one, but in the end it's a journey well worth the ride.
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling
author, Jessica Sorensen, lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she's
not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.
Website http://jessicasorensensblog.blogspot.com/
twitter username jessFallenStar
Goodreads Book Link https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16055479-the-temptation-of-lila-and-ethan?from_search=true
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