James: Part One: 15 Years Earlier

After I slammed my locker door shut, I turned to join the sea of people meandering the halls of Harbrook High. Another day in the life with kids I'd known since birth. Shuffling through the crowd, I made my way to second period without so much as lifting my head. The voices that said hello, and the familiar pats on the back never changed. Every day was just like the last. There were never new faces, and I'd grown bored with the old ones somewhere around junior high.

Until today.

I hovered over the desk I'd sat at since the year started, but instead of it being empty—waiting for my ass to grace its presence and warm the seat—there was a girl where nothing should have been. The light streaming through the window behind me cast my shadow over her tiny frame. I'd been prepared to kick her out, until she lifted her gaze and tossed my world on its side just before it sent me spinning.

The way her eyes caressed my body until she found my gaze, the soft-pink glow on her cheeks, her long, dark hair falling over her shoulder to cover her breasts…it all stole the air from my lungs. I'd never seen eyes so green or skin so smooth. There wasn't a flaw on her perfect face, and her lips—holy hell, her lips begged to be kissed.

When my heart resumed beating and my chest filled with air once again, I finally managed words. "Hey, I'm James." Smooth, Carpenter, really fucking smooth.

"Hi." She waved her delicate hand in greeting. "I'm Cora." Her name rolled off her tongue like a song, pure and angelic, but sultry and seductive.

Before I could ask her to switch seats with me or decide to sit next to her, an unwelcomed interruption barreled into my shoulder. "Carp, looks like your ass is relocating to the back."

My head jerked to the side to find my best friend, Neil Samson, with a wicked grin plastered on his face. He was moments away from embarrassing the shit out of me if I stood here like a lost puppy a second longer. I allowed him to move me as he proceeded to his normal hiding place in the last row, but then my eyes held hers until they were forced away.

"What the hell was that, man? You act like you've never seen a new kid in class." Neil's voice carried around the room. "And since when are you into nerdy-chic chicks, anyhow?"

Backhanding him across the chest, I found a seat as close to Cora as possible. "Dude, shut the hell up. What's your problem?"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Nothing. Chill out."

Mrs. Johnson stood in front of the board, anticipating the sound of the bell to start teaching. This had been my least favorite class all year. I sucked at chemistry and struggled to maintain a C in order to keep my spot on the basketball team, but my desire to skip this period all changed in one introduction.

"Why go for the brainiac who looks like a loud noise would make her jump? I wouldn't be surprised if she was afraid of her own shadow." Clearly, Neil didn't see what I saw when Cora came into view.

There was nothing nerdy about her; quiet maybe, but that was quite possibly the fact that she was the new kid in town. She might be a star athlete, smart, and gorgeous, too. Neither of us knew a damn thing about her, but I planned to find out everything I could.

All through class, my focus stayed trained on her, wondering what she was like and where she'd come from. No one showed up here who hadn't been born in the county limits, ever. People either grew up in this town or they retired here. Geneva Key was home to more money than Fort Knox and fewer and fewer younger generations. Those of us who grew up in this blip of a community left the first chance we got, and I didn't know a soul who'd escaped and came back. There was no way to earn a living on this island—either people owned property that had been handed down through family lineage with hefty trust funds, or they'd found the tiny town after making their millions elsewhere and decided to call Geneva Key home.

I was part of that first group, as were most of the kids in this school. My parents ran organizations I couldn't tell anyone the first thing about, but none of them were located on the island, and most of their work involved international traveling. At least that was the story I was told when they'd left me with nanny after nanny growing up, and then alone when I'd hit an age that I started getting busy with the hired help. The idea of their fourteen-year-old son having sex with the au pair was more than they could handle. And if they hadn't caught us, I never would have complained. There was something to be said about an older woman teaching a teen the ways of the world…or the bedroom. And Sofia had done just that—prepared me to be a man.

I'd been so lost in my thoughts—that had veered off on a rabbit trail about my au pair—I'd missed the opportunity to find out how the raven-haired beauty had landed in our beach cocoon. My plan was to be at her desk when the bell rang and escort her to next period, maybe ask a few questions along the way, but that didn't happen. And my attempt to find her in the halls proved futile—not that the five minutes between periods offered me much chance to learn anything of substance.

When lunch rolled around, I strolled into the cafeteria with my horde of friends in tow. The basketball team was a tightly knit group of guys, and we owned this school and this town. I'd managed to make captain my junior year, and they were like my flock. I loved every one of them and had since pre-school. Today, my sights were set on something far more attractive than tall guys who belched too much and had a tendency to smell like they'd just finished a grueling practice.

There she sat, alone, at a table against the far wall in the corner. She'd chosen a spot away from the bustling of teenagers in favor of a quiet nook. Even if she hadn't been sitting by herself, the tray in front of her would have given her away as a newbie. No one who'd been here any length of time ate food made in the cafeteria.

I turned to Neil, who'd almost run into me when I'd stopped to admire her. "I'll catch you guys later."

His head moved with mine to the girl with a book in her hand and her food untouched. "Seriously, Carp, do not get sucked into whatever that is."

"Thanks, Dad, but I think I'll be all right." I didn't wait for his reply or bother listening to the grumblings of my teammates as we parted company.

With each hello directed at me or invitation to join a crowd I'd never sit with, I just threw my hand into the air or gave them the James Carpenter award-winning smile the ladies all loved to see and kept moving.

I didn't bother asking if the seat in front of her was taken; it wasn't. And by the looks of things, I didn't have to worry about anyone trying to move in on the fresh meat. My backpack slid down my arm and onto the table as I sat across from her. She watched me silently while I retrieved my lunch from inside my book bag, but I acted like I didn't see her until I was ready to face her. I could feel the stares from around the lunchroom, and when I glanced up, I saw girls who'd spent years trying to get my attention gawking with their mouths slightly ajar, taking in the sight.

"I guess no one told you not to buy lunch?" I scoffed at the sight of the gray hamburger on an even duller-looking bun. I speculated those were fries next to it, but I wouldn't have bet money on that guess.

"Not much of a choice. I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for a new school." Even the sadness in her words didn't take away from the smile in her voice.

"Unexpected move?"

Her head bobbed slowly.

"Where are you from?"

"White Plains." She took a sip from the bottle of water in front of her. "New York."

"Why the hell would you leave New York for Geneva Key?" My teeth sank into the bright-red apple I'd missed eating between classes.

"I didn't have much of a choice." Her head cocked to the side when she'd repeated herself, and she studied me for just the briefest of seconds.

I wouldn't be surprised if she were memorizing the crystal-blue eyes watching her or the way my brown hair sat perfectly messy on top of my head, or possibly, the way the muscles in my jaw tensed as I chewed. Girls had found far less interesting things to adore about me.

Cora returned her attention to her book and dismissed me as quickly as she'd answered.

Unsure of what to do with a girl who didn't fawn all over me, I tried again. "Your parents move here for some odd reason?"

"No."

Her response wasn't cold, more like vacant. I couldn't help but notice people had resumed their meals and no longer gave us any attention.

"So you wanna tell me what brought you here?" It came off more agitated than I had intended. I wasn't irritated with her, just the situation. She clearly wasn't aware of what opportunity sat in front of her.

Cora closed her book and pushed her tray aside to set down the novel. I didn't recognize the title, nor did I particularly care. I was more interested in why this gorgeous girl was sitting alone in an unfamiliar town not wanting anything to do with anyone around her.

"My parents were killed in a plane crash last week. My grandparents brought me home with them after the funeral. We got here last night."

Holy shit.

That was not on my radar.