The perfect recipe for procrastination includes the following: a church, a category two hurricane, and an irresistible ex-con. Said ex-con is smarter than he looks, and as it turns out, he's also an incredible kisser.
There would be no studying thi...
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Syden reared back and her head snapped up. "Oh, come on!"
She scowled at the toddler who had inadvertently kicked a cup of blood red cool-aid all over her study papers. In horror, she watched as the artificial liquid seeped into several pages, rendering them almost useless. She ripped her headphones out of her ears and sighed.
This was what usually happened to procrastinators, to people like her.
And where in the world were that child's goddamn parents?
The boy lifted his small shoulders in an apology. "I'm sorry."
Her heart melted at his sweet tone. She waved him off, sat up on her sleeping bag, and then did her best to tap the papers dry with a napkin that she had taken out of her bag.
"Everyone!" Stephen, the volunteer shouted over the din of crying children and chattering adults. "The eye of the hurricane is almost over. We ask that everyone get back inside so that we can wait out the second half. This will all be over before we know it."
Syden looked out the window with its iron bars. The gray sky and the dense cauliflower clouds resembled something right out of an end-of-the-world kind of movie.
A commotion to her left made her turn her attention back to the front of the conference center and impromptu hurricane shelter belonging to the Salvation Army. The banging on the wooden double doors got louder and desperate as whoever stood outside demanded to be let in.
Stephen lifted the heavy wooden lock latch and then reopened things up with his key.
And in walked the man of her dreams. Like no kidding. She had no clue who he was, but he was yummy. From his curly hair, straight down to his expensive looking shoes.
The ugly sweater he wore did nothing to diminish his good looks. Strong jaw. Bushy eyebrows. Skin the color of pecans.
Swoon.
She tracked him with her eyes as he navigated the crowd of about fifteen people in search of a spot to settle down on. As he got closer to her, she pretended not to notice. And that was hard to do, when he had without any doubt, sucked all the air out of the room with his presence.
His large duffel bag landed hard on the empty spot next to her. Oh shit, this wasn't happening. She didn't need his kind of distraction in her life right now. Focus. Focus. Fo–
