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Say You Need Me

Chapter One

When she saw him, Serena Childs very nearly choked on her mouthful of succulent, medium-rare sirloin -- the best darn steak she'd had in a long time. Her eyes first bulged with stunned disbelief, then narrowed with bitter realization, while the morsel of beef lodged in her throat. He'd seen her, no doubt about it, and as if he were some stranger casually flirting with her from the restaurant bar, the bastard had actually had the nerve to smile.

Somehow, Serena managed to swallow her food without gagging. "That shameless son of a bitch!"

Startled by Serena's outburst, Kiana, Serena's younger sister by a year, flinched and dropped her silverware. The knife and fork clinked as they landed on her plate. Her eyebrows bunched together as she regarded Serena with concern. "What is it?"

Serena and her sister were at a restaurant on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive, seated at an outside table. Until now, Serena had been enjoying the lovely March evening. Just a hint of a breeze floated off the Atlantic Ocean, and the lively sounds of a salsa band made the atmosphere festive. Just the type of ambiance Serena had been looking forward to after a very stressful week.

Now, one look at the slime ball who had made her last few weeks a living hell, and the evening was ruined.

Kiana looked over her shoulder, following the direction of Serena's gaze to the restaurant's outdoor bar. She turned back to her sister and frowned. "What?"

"I don't believe it," Serena replied, her gaze never leaving the lying jerk's face. "It's Cecil."

Kiana's jaw dropped to the table."Cecil Cecil? As in--"

"Cecil Montford."

"Oh, my God." Kiana whipped her head around, scanning the crowded outdoor patio and bar. "Where is he?"

"He's on the far side of the bar. Dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans."

After a moment, Kiana said, "Oh, yes. There he is."

Serena scowled at the back of her sister's head. Kiana's voice was dreamy, as if they were talking about Cecil the sweetheart, instead of Cecil the world-class prick. Having met Cecil once when they'd all gone out for dinner, Kiana had been very impressed with him. Afterward, Kiana had crooned on and on about how gorgeous and charming Cecil was, how he definitely knew how to treat a woman right. She'd been as smitten by him as Serena had.

Clearly, Kiana was still smitten.

Not that Serena could completely blame her. He was drop dead gorgeous fine, which was why Serena had been so flattered by his attention. Most of the time, Serena dressed in comfortable, roomy clothes when she went to work at the library -- far from glamorous. She didn't own a mini-skirt, and the only time she wore tights was when she worked out -- and even then she wore an oversized T-shirt to cover her hips and thighs. Usually, she opted for her glasses over her contact lenses, which helped contribute to her dull librarian image. So, at first, she hadn't been able to understand what such a gorgeous man would want with a woman like her. Men like him didn't give her a second look. But as she'd spoken with him time and time again when he'd come to the library, making it clear with his kind words that he was interested in her, she'd slowly let down her guard.

After witnessing her parents' wonderful love affair, Serena had held out her whole life for Mr. Right, and Cecil had finally seemed like he could be The One.She gritted her teeth at the memory. She couldn't have been more wrong if she'd thought she was going to marry the Pope.

Kiana turned back to Serena, her short braids swaying as she moved. Instantly, her large brown eyes grew wide with alarm. "Serena! God, what are you trying to do? Strangle the wineglass?"

Startled by her sister's comment, Serena's gaze dropped to her hand. Her fingers were tightly wrapped around the wineglass's stem as though she planned to snap it in two.

Not a bad idea...if it was Cecil's neck.

Again, Serena looked at Cecil. How could he sit there so casually, eyeing her as if he hadn't done a damn thing wrong? Seeing her staring at him, Cecil raised his wineglass and smiled.

"Oh, no. He did not do what I think he just did. Did you see that?" Serena asked incredulously, flitting her eyes between Kiana and Cecil. "I can't believe he's...he's flirting with me!"

"Hmm." Again, Kiana's voice got dreamy. "Yeah, he's a charmer. Too bad he turned out to be such a jerk. Damn, he really is good looking."

What was wrong with Kiana? Serena had expected nothing less than outrage from her overprotective, worry-wart-by-nature sister. Instead, she seemed to be off in la-la land, still unable to escape Cecil's charm, despite what he'd done.

Casting another glance in his direction, Serena lifted her wineglass and took a liberal sip of her cabernet sauvignon, needing something to wet her throat. No doubt about it, Cecil was fine. Even now she couldn't help noticing his striking brown eyes, his I'm-gonna-make-you-love-me smile. And maybe it was the restaurant's lighting, but he actually seemed more attractive tonight than she'd remembered.

That had been her problem from the beginning. Falling for his pretty boy good looks and charm had gotten her into this mess.

Still, it was hard to reconcile the reality that the attractive man twenty feet away from her could have done something so heinous.

As if reading her thoughts, Kiana commented, "With that mmm baby look he's giving you, you'd never think he'd split town with all..."

Say You Need Me. Copyright © by Kayla Perrin. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.