Chasing Bliss (Bliss Series Book 3) SAMPLE CHAPTERS ONLY

Dysania

Dysania: (noun) the state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning.

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The bed hadn't felt like a boulder last night. All the same, I couldn't get myself to leave the warmth under the blankets.

My muscles cried and whined as I stretched my arms. Every crevice was sore. My eyes snapped open when I realized what I had done, and with whom.

I did it. I had sex with Alex. So much for staying away and standing my ground. What was it with that man that had me squirming? I thought I was stronger than that.

Groaning against the back of my hand, I felt the throb in my head. I blamed it all on the alcohol. How much had I consumed? Probably half the entire vineyard, and then some. This was all Levi's fault.

First, he swooped in and took my best friend away from me. Then he conveniently made up with his brother and brought that beautiful piece of man San Fransisco. And he owned a vineyard! Who owned vineyards? The Laurent brothers, that's who.

I could hear Nica's voice in my head, tut-tutting me. And she was right. This wasn't Levi's fault. I hated to admit it but I knew he'd take care of my bestie. He better or I'd string him up by his balls. Speaking of balls...

Feeling and glancing around, I knew I was alone in bed. Did that bastard leave? Dined and dashed? Screwed and skedaddled?

I was sore even just to turn my head and my body. My head from the booze, my body from... I wasn't entirely sure. My mind was fogged up. The memories of what had happened last night was a big blur. A brilliant effect of drinking too much. All I knew was there were kissing, clothes-ripping, and a whole lot of skin. Pumping and pounding. Tons of those too. But there was also laughter and fun.

I couldn't help the smile from spreading on my face. Ugh, thank god I was alone. I knew that if I gave myself time, every single moment of the previous night would come knocking on my brain.

As I sat up, or rather, slid my heavy ass off the bed, I felt tenderness in places I had forgotten existed. I wasn't the reserved kind. I had a reputation after all, although the rumors weren't always true. Let me rephrase that: the rumors were never true. I did not sleep around. I made out with people in public, then I flew before anything got too heavy.

Nica knew. I suspected a lot of the people in the office knew as well, even though none of them had said anything out loud. Not that they would dare. Nica had tried to talk to me about correcting what people were saying about me, but at a certain point, it was beyond fixing. So I'd let it ride.

A memory flitted in. I had kissed someone last night. And not Alex! Ugh. It was that James Franco kid. My friends had witnessed it too. They would not let me live that down for a while. I'd only done it to entice jealousy from Alex who'd been sucking someone else's neck. It had bothered me a heck of a lot than it should have. At the end, it hadn't even mattered, because I'd ended up in bed with him.

Now, he was gone. Anger built up in me. I would wring his neck next time I bumped into him. But... I rubbed sleep off my eyes. I shouldn't have been doing anything with him in the first place. He'd only made things more complicated.

Another distinct feeling crept in. Guilt.

I hoped that whatever it was that had nudged me to hop in the sac with Alex was now far gone. I couldn't let this happen again. If I did, people could get hurt. Me, for one.

As I looked around the room- one of two in the guesthouse -I was surprised. I expected a mess. Alex had been staying in this guest house for the past three days. I assumed this was Alex's room, but the absent of mess unhinged me. It was spotless. Even the dress that I'd worn last night hung neatly over a chair. I could have sworn Alex had dropped that on the floor by the door. Did Levi hire a cleaner? Had the cleaner been here while I was asleep?