Victoria
Blisse – Her Secret Past Blog Tour
Blurb:
A past she wants to forget, a secret that will change
everything and a hunky guy who should have known better.
It’s no secret that Katrina Quinn has been caught having an
affair with her hunky co-star. Hounded by the press she has escaped to Yorkshire , England
For odd job man Ryan Taylor, being hired to clear clutter
while ogling one of Hollywood
A stolen beat-up suitcase is going to change
everything—secrets will be revealed, hearts will be broken all over again and
the biggest mystery of all will finally be answered.
Excerpt:
“Right, buckle in, Janie; we’re off for an adventure.”
There was no conversation for a while. I sat in silence, taking it in. I was in Ryan’s car, and he wanted to take me on an adventure. Ryan might have been the source of many of my problems through school but he was also my biggest crush. I just couldn’t stop fancying him. He was my teenage idol. Messy dark blond hair that he had to flip from his face at regular moments, and ivy green eyes that sparkled with mischief. We’d been playmates as kids and the best of friends. I’d never seen him as anything other than my mate Ry until puberty had hit and suddenly, whenever I saw him, my stomach would feel hollow and would rattle as though it was filled with dried rice.
Ryan had gone from cute to handsome in his teenage years. Whereas I had gone from plain to chubby with visitations from acne and the greasy hair fairy along the way. My eyesight had worsened so I needed glasses and my curly hair would not be tamed by hair products. I was frizzier than a bear cub. So as Ry joined the cool gang, I became the geek everyone laughed at, Including Ry.
“It’s nothing personal,” he’d told me once back in the first year of sixth form. He’d accidentally found me in the bushes at the bottom end of the playground crying. He’d just chased in after the football. “I still like you, Janie, but I’ve got to keep in with Eve and that lot or I’ll get bullied too.”
There was some kind of weird teenage logic there, but I never saw any indication that he liked me. He was as cruel as the rest.
“I’m hungry,” Ryan announced, pulling me from my thoughts. “Shall we stop at the chippy for something?”
“Sure.” I nodded. “I’m hungry too.”
We pulled in at The Golden Fry. Ryan told me to stay in the car and he went out to get us some food. It was the chip shop just up the road from school, where kids would go for a sneaky bag of chips on the way home. It didn’t feel as though we’d got very far on our adventure at all.
Ryan came back with a carrier bag in hand and two cans in the other. He passed them to me and started the engine again.
“I know a good lay-by to stop in not far from here. Don’t want to be caught before we’ve even started, right?”
“Okay,” I acquiesced again. I would have agreed to anything, I was that besotted with him. We drove through town and headed out on the A road towards
Ryan took the bag from my hand and passed me a paper-wrapped parcel. We opened them and ate the cooling chips in silence.
“So, why are you leaving?” I asked, growing brave.
“Well, what reason is there for me to stay? My parents are pricks, they grounded me just because I was out late last night with the guys. I’m fucking eighteen, Janie. They need to treat me like an adult. So what I busted the tractor and ruined half a field with my late night drive out with the lads? I said I was sorry. Then Eve was just as unreasonable. Told me I needed to grow up! She was just jealous I wasn’t out with her. She’s so fucking controlling, Janie. I just want to break away, make a new start. Because where am I going otherwise?”
“Aren’t you going to uni, then?” I asked naïvely.
“Oh, Janie”—Ryan leaned over the hand brake and covered my hand with his—“you’re so sweet. But surely by now you know I’m completely thick. I can’t go to university. I’m just going to end up working for Dad.”
“You… You… You… You’re not thick,” I stuttered, my body humming with his touch, my voice fighting to break through the earthquake of emotion. “You’re really bright. And good with your hands. I’ve still got the jewellery box you made me for my tenth birthday.”
“You still have that?” Ryan asked, eyes widening, mouth softening into a smile. His hand was still over mine, heating my fingers to boiling point.
“Sure, it’s beautiful. Actually, it’s in my bag now.”
He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.
“I’m running away too.”
“No,” he exclaimed, “really? Why are you running away?”
“Maybe you are thick, Ry,” I scoffed gently. “Can’t you guess? My dad left us, my mum’s not been the same since and I’m the butt of everyone’s joke at school. I can’t take all that anymore.”
I swallowed hard—a lump had formed in my throat. My skin felt electrified and there was a waterfall of tears pressing at the backs of my eyes.
“Oh, Janie, it’s been really tough for you, hasn’t it?”
His strong, soft hand cupped my cheek, and as a tear slipped down he gently wiped it away with his thumb.
“I still think you’re the best girl in the world,” he whispered, his breath caressing my lips he was so very close.
“And you’re not bad, for a boy,” I replied with a wry smile, remembering back to the first argument we’d ever had. Ryan hadn’t wanted to play pretend mummies and daddies with me even though I’d told him he could be a builder for his job and I’d let him play with my Lego. I’d run off crying and he’d followed me and told me he was sorry and that he thought I was the best girl in the world.
I had still been mad at him, so I had just said, “You’re not bad, for a boy.”
We’d laughed then, like six-year-olds do, and had got back to playing.
I snapped back to the present, his lips so close to mine, his hand on my cheek. I felt as though I was shaking, my whole body taken by a quake of shock and lust. His lips met mine and I stilled. Quiet peace reigned for a moment. I was at the pinnacle of bliss, everything was perfect and light. Then he moved his lips and the agitation returned. I burned deep in the pit of my stomach, my skin itched for his touch and I burned up, waiting for more.
He was my first kiss. I didn’t know what I was doing but instinct pushed me forward. I reached out to grab at his biceps, needing to feel more of him—he kept me grounded. I’d fall away into a chasm of darkness if I let go. I wanted to know it was real. Could I get him to pinch me to make sure I wasn’t dreaming?
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