Stronger
by Janet Nissenson
Series: Inevitable, #6
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 10, 2017
Cara has an admitted problem with hot men, falling so deeply and so quickly under their spell that she loses a little bit of herself with each toxic relationship that always seems to end badly. Every man in her young life thus far has let her down – her high school sweetheart, a college fling, and most of all her self-centered playboy father. She’s determined not to be a sucker for a handsome face and a hard body any longer, and has stuck to her guns for more than two years. And then she meets Dante.
Dante knows he has no business messing with cute little Cara. For one thing she works for his best friend, and more importantly she’s all kinds of wrong for him – too young, too innocent, too kindhearted. And given the mood he’s in these days – after the woman he was ready to propose to chose her career over him - a sweetheart like Cara should be running as fast as she can in the opposite direction.
But the only place Cara wants to run is right into Dante’s arms and stay a good long while. Will he wind up being the one for her – or is she destined yet again for another heartbreak?
Dante’s assistant had already left for the day, and since it was a Friday the office was more or less deserted as he headed for the elevators. During the descent down to the lobby, he steeled himself anew to keep things as casual as possible tonight, to make it very clear to Cara that this was a one time thing, and that their dinner together wasn’t even a real date.
But all of his good intentions got shot to hell real quick when he got his first look at her as she waited for him in the lobby. The girl – correction, woman – who hovered somewhat nervously near the front doors bore little resemblance to the Cara he’d seen at Nick’s office over these past few months. That Cara had looked even younger than her twenty-two years, like a fresh-faced high school student, and he couldn’t truthfully recall what she’d been wearing yesterday except perhaps that it had been black and white.
The young woman who waited anxiously for him to arrive now was stunning – there was really no other word for it. And Dante knew he’d remember quite well what she was wearing this evening, perhaps for months to come.
The red dress hugged her lush curves closely without being too tight or revealing. The vivid color was perfect for her skin tone, and the style of the garment gave the illusion that she was a little taller than she actually was. She’d taken some pains with her makeup, so that those twinkling golden brown eyes looked enormous in her small, heart-shaped face, and her full-lipped mouth with its defined cupid’s bow was glossed over in vivid scarlet. Her dark brown hair fell in tousled waves over her shoulders and more than halfway down her back, the sheer volume of it nearly overwhelming her petite frame.
For the first time since meeting her six months ago, he thought of her as a full grown woman, and not someone who’d barely left her teenaged years behind. And not just any woman, but a sexy, sultry one who reminded him of a young Sophia Loren, calling to mind the old Italian movies he’d once watched with his grandparents as a child.
Cara glanced up and met his eyes at that particular moment, and the smile on her face froze in place momentarily when she noticed the way he was staring at her. It was only when he smiled at her reassuringly that she seemed to relax, and the familiar sparkle returned to her eyes as he began to walk her way.
He took her hand in his, surprised to realize how small it looked clasped in his much larger one, and also to notice that she was trembling a little. And she gasped out loud when he brought that same hand to his lips and pressed a light kiss to her knuckles.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he greeted with a mischievous grin. “I barely recognized you. This isn’t your usual office attire, after all.”
Cara’s cheeks flushed becomingly. “Um, no, that’s for sure. And you aren’t the only one who noticed. For example, Nick asked me who my hot date was with tonight. I, ah, told him it was with someone I met at school.”
Dante nodded in approval. “Good move. Because the last thing I need is for Nick to kick my ass. Which he would threaten to do in a heartbeat if he knew I was taking you out to dinner to night.”
But all of his good intentions got shot to hell real quick when he got his first look at her as she waited for him in the lobby. The girl – correction, woman – who hovered somewhat nervously near the front doors bore little resemblance to the Cara he’d seen at Nick’s office over these past few months. That Cara had looked even younger than her twenty-two years, like a fresh-faced high school student, and he couldn’t truthfully recall what she’d been wearing yesterday except perhaps that it had been black and white.
The young woman who waited anxiously for him to arrive now was stunning – there was really no other word for it. And Dante knew he’d remember quite well what she was wearing this evening, perhaps for months to come.
The red dress hugged her lush curves closely without being too tight or revealing. The vivid color was perfect for her skin tone, and the style of the garment gave the illusion that she was a little taller than she actually was. She’d taken some pains with her makeup, so that those twinkling golden brown eyes looked enormous in her small, heart-shaped face, and her full-lipped mouth with its defined cupid’s bow was glossed over in vivid scarlet. Her dark brown hair fell in tousled waves over her shoulders and more than halfway down her back, the sheer volume of it nearly overwhelming her petite frame.
For the first time since meeting her six months ago, he thought of her as a full grown woman, and not someone who’d barely left her teenaged years behind. And not just any woman, but a sexy, sultry one who reminded him of a young Sophia Loren, calling to mind the old Italian movies he’d once watched with his grandparents as a child.
Cara glanced up and met his eyes at that particular moment, and the smile on her face froze in place momentarily when she noticed the way he was staring at her. It was only when he smiled at her reassuringly that she seemed to relax, and the familiar sparkle returned to her eyes as he began to walk her way.
He took her hand in his, surprised to realize how small it looked clasped in his much larger one, and also to notice that she was trembling a little. And she gasped out loud when he brought that same hand to his lips and pressed a light kiss to her knuckles.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he greeted with a mischievous grin. “I barely recognized you. This isn’t your usual office attire, after all.”
Cara’s cheeks flushed becomingly. “Um, no, that’s for sure. And you aren’t the only one who noticed. For example, Nick asked me who my hot date was with tonight. I, ah, told him it was with someone I met at school.”
Dante nodded in approval. “Good move. Because the last thing I need is for Nick to kick my ass. Which he would threaten to do in a heartbeat if he knew I was taking you out to dinner to night.”
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Janet is a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, and currently resides on the northern California coast with her husband Steve and Golden Retriever Max. She worked for more than two decades in the financial services industry before turning her focus to producing running events. She is a former long-distance runner, current avid yoga practitioner, is addicted to Pinterest, likes to travel and read. She has been writing for more than three decades but Serendipity was her first official release in December 2013. There are a total of six full-length books planned in the Inevitable series, along with the upcoming “spin-off” Splendor trilogy.
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