Title:
The Thirty-Eight Series Box
Set
Author:
Len Webster
Release
Date: Sept 2015
Find on Goodreads
Nolan Parker and
Clara Lawrence never saw eye to eye. In fact, if you asked Clara she would tell
you that Nolan hated everything about her. They never shared any form of
connection beside Alex
Lawrence.
She was
Alex’s bratty sister and he was Alex’s best friend, they
never stood a chance.
That was until the
very moment Clara opens her front door to find Noel at her
doorstep.
Falling in love
with each other was the last thing either of them
expected.
But then it
happened.
And sometimes, you
just have to love for all your days and all your
reasons.
Clara’s
squinted her eyes at Noel, and he stopped his laugh
immediately.
“What?”
he asked.
“If we
are going to enjoy the sun and this day then you need to take that shirt off...
now!” Clara ordered before she stood up and looked down at him with a
raised eyebrow.
“What
have you done with my Clara?” Noel sarcastically
asked as he, too, stood.
“Yours,
you say?” Clara tilted her head and a smile spread across his face.
He wrapped his arms around Clara’s waist, bringing her closer as she
circled her arms around his
neck.
“Yes, but
you should know that it’s you who completely owns me. Clara Lawrence,
you own the one thing no woman has ever come close to holding and
that’s my heart. I may have been with other
women before you, but they don’t matter. You should know that if you
take off, I won’t make any promises about watching you walk away. I
plan on running after you and making you change your mind. I plan on begging
you until my very last breath to stop running from
me.
“I
don’t want you to feel another inch of sadness again. Not when
I’m around, because I intend on making you happy for the rest of your
days. I promise, Clara, I’ll count every grain of sand on this beach
if it makes you happy. I’ll do what it takes, because it was always
you, and it took me a stupid amount of time to realise it.” Not a
single lie came from his mouth.
She looked stunned
at his words. Her eyes filled with unshed tears. Clara removed her arms from
his neck and placed both hands on his cheeks, running her thumbs along his
cheekbones.
“What
happened to the jerk?” she asked. Clara’s unshed tears
glistened her big brown eyes. She blinked, and they fell
freely.
“The
jerk?”
“Yeah,
the jerk that stood at my front door and called me a brat. Said he’d
rather swim with sharks than be around me, who teased me and pranced around my
apartment naked. I kinda miss him. What happened to him?” Her teasing
smile had Noel smirking.
That
stupid jerk fell in love.
“Is that
so? You miss me being a
jerk?”
“Correction,
you’re still a jerk, but you’re a sweet jerk,”
Clara teased, and he let go of her waist.
“That’s
it!” Noel yelled as he grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it
over his head, dropping it on the sand. Clara’s eyes made their way
down his solid chest before returning to meet his; he could see the
anticipation shining through, but then Clara
frowned.
“You
wouldn’t.” She cocked an
eyebrow.
“You
better run.” He watched her contemplate if he’d deliver on
his unspoken warning of throwing her in the water, like when they were kids.
When Clara looked at Noel’s smirk, she bolted towards the lifeguard
house and away from the
water.
He counted to three
before he ran after her. It didn’t matter how many seconds
he’d give her. He’d always catch her; he’d never
stop until he did. Noel reached out and grabbed her by the waist to stop her
running. He pulled her in close, bent his knees, and swept her in his
arms.
“No!
Please, Noel! Don’t!” She fought in his arms and started to
squirm. When she realised that he was going to dump her in the water, she
wrapped her arms tight around his neck. He carried Clara closer to the shore;
she breathed in and out as her arms tightened around him. When his feet touched
the water, Clara’s eyes widened. Noel let out a
chuckle.
He concentrated on
making sure he didn’t lose his balance with each step he took. Clara
squeezed her arms around him and her lips touched the spot on his neck just
below his earlobe. He tried to ignore the feel of her ghosting kisses up and
down his skin, but they were hard to ignore. Each small kiss igniting the fire
inside of him, and each one felt like little shots of electricity that raced
through his veins.
It
didn’t take long until the water reached just under his ribcage. The
water had darkened, and he couldn’t see the sand below. Trying to
concentrate while having Clara kiss his neck was extremely hard, considering
all he wanted were those soft lips on his. It seemed like Clara knew what he
wanted as she maneuvered herself in his arms and placed a lingering kiss on his
lips that sent his balance flying out the
window.
“Noel!”
Clara squealed before the both fell into the water. The coolness of the water
washed over Noel’s body and provided him with the relief he
desperately needed. Even when they fell in the water, he didn’t let
go of her; in fact, he held her tighter and emerged from the water still
holding her.
“You
okay?” he laughed. Noel set Clara on her feet and watched droplets of
water shimmer against her hair and
skin.
“You
didn’t lie when you said you’d chase me,” she
replied, trying to dry her face with her hands.
“Not a
promise I’m willing to break.” Noel winked and slowly swam
around to Clara’s back. He stood up in the water, wrapped his arms
around her waist, and placed a kiss on her cheek before resting his chin on her
shoulder.
“I
believe you,” Clara replied as she tilted her head slightly and
snuggled into his embrace. The sound of children laughing and the busy beach
slowly started to fade away as he held Clara in his arms, lost in their own
world.
Len Webster is a
romance-loving Melburnian with dreams of finding her version of ‘The
One.’ But until that moment happens, she writes. Having just
graduated with her BBusCom from Monash University, Len is now busy
writing her next romance about how a boy met a girl, and how they fell
completely and hopelessly in love.
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