Diamonds in the Rough. Michelle Madow

put distance between them, his eyes pinned her in place. “Because after I met you, I knew you were the one for me. I’ve known it every day since. You’re smart, caring, selfless, kind, understanding, and I can talk with you for hours. You’re beautiful inside and out. No one else has ever come close to comparing to you, and to be honest, I’m not sure anyone ever will.”

      His words sent her head spinning and her heart racing—they were everything Courtney wanted to hear. She couldn’t imagine anyone ever comparing to him, either.

      But if they were meant to be together, why would fate have made it so they were about to be step-siblings? If she gave in to Brett and was with him in secret, it would eventually come out. Then she’d be a disappointment to Adrian and Rebecca, just like, for reasons she’d never known, she’d always been a disappointment to her mother. The only person who appreciated her for her, who had no expectations for her to be perfect, was Grandma. She touched the key necklace Grandma had given her for her birthday last year, hoping it would give her strength.

      No matter what she did, she and those she cared for would end up hurt. So she fought the war waging inside her and focused on the one thing Brett had said that she found truly shocking.

      “Madison Lockhart wanted to sleep with you, and you turned her down?”

      Brett’s eyes dimmed. “I just poured my heart out to you, and that’s how you reply?”

      “I’m sorry.” Courtney bit her lip, hating how disappointed he sounded. “I do care about you, Brett. But we’ve already been through this—we can’t be more than friends. Although I am glad to hear that you turned Madison down. I don’t think most guys would have done that.”

      He watched her closely, but something in her eyes must have warned him not to push her any further. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said. “But I don’t think Madison wanted to sleep with me. She’s a virgin. I think she wanted a relationship, but she wouldn’t even say hi to me in front of her stuck-up friends, so I told her I wasn’t interested. We haven’t talked in weeks, and I still don’t know why she fixated on me in the first place. Maybe because I don’t worship her like most guys at school do.”

      “Madison’s a virgin?” Courtney didn’t like to gossip, but talking about Madison was a distraction from her own emotions. “No way.”

      “Yeah.” Brett shrugged. “Guys are always joking about what they would give to be her first. I don’t know what Madison hinted to you, but we only kissed once. If I’d already met you, it never would have happened.”

      Courtney’s heart flipped at his confession, and every muscle in her body begged her to crush her lips against his, to feel his arms around her and to tell him to never let go. But then she would be a goner. And her ultimate decision would still be the same, so she would only be hurting both of them.

      She stood from the sofa and grabbed her bag. “Thanks for being honest with me,” she said, surprising herself by how level­headed she sounded, when inside her emotions were tearing her to pieces. “You didn’t have to tell me anything, since we’re not dating, but I appreciate it. And I’m sorry we can’t see where anything goes between us. I wouldn’t blame you if you started avoiding me again. It might make all this easier….”

      “I’m definitely frustrated.” Brett stood and stepped closer so that he was right in front of her. He lifted his arm slowly and pushed her hair behind her ear, his finger brushing against her skin, leaving heat in its wake. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t still care about you. I meant everything I said to you. I know this is complicated, but I also know you care about me more than you’re saying. Be with me, Courtney. We’ll keep it secret for as long as we can, and then we’ll deal with any consequences together. I promise.”

      Her heart pounded so hard she swore he could hear it. And he must have sensed that she wasn’t going to move away, because he stepped closer, his nose grazing hers. Every molecule in her body urged her to give in; this felt so right. But then images passed through her mind—the disappointment that would surely be in Rebecca’s, Adrian’s, Peyton’s and Savannah’s eyes when they found out she’d been lying to them—and with a will Courtney didn’t know she had, she pulled back.

      “I can’t.” She shook her head, her cheeks hot, and she stumbled to the door. “I wish this wasn’t so complicated, but it’s about more than what you and I want. It’s about my family, and the family that we’re all about to become. If we were together in secret, I would have to lie to them. And as much as I care about you, I couldn’t live with the guilt of doing that.”

      His hand dropped to his side, his eyes pained, as if she’d taken a knife to his heart. She turned away and hurried out into the hall, slamming the door shut behind her. Everything she’d said was true, but as she fumbled in her bag for her key, she wondered if she was making a huge mistake. Brett cared about her and wanted to be with her, and she cared about him, too.

      But there were so many ways it could go wrong, and that positively terrified her.

       Chapter 3: Peyton

      As much as she hated to admit it—and she still hadn’t to Adrian and Rebecca—Goodman wasn’t as awful as Peyton had anticipated. Back at Fairfield High, each school day had been excruciating, having to sit still all day and listen to teachers drone on and on from the textbooks, talking down to the students when they asked questions. But at Goodman, instead of listening to lectures all day, they had discussions. The teachers treated the students like equals, most of them even going by their first names.

      Her favorite teacher was her English teacher, Hunter Sterling. He was in his mid-twenties, and with his shaggy brown hair and dark eyes, he looked startlingly similar to Damon from The Vampire Diaries. His Australian accent only added to his hotness. To impress him, Peyton even tried reading the books for class instead of looking them up on SparkNotes.

      She still wasn’t over Jackson, but her deliciously sexy bodyguard—who was also in his mid-twenties—had made it clear since the night they’d kissed in the elevator during the grand opening of the Diamond that they had to keep a professional distance. Peyton had tried to fight him on it—she knew she hadn’t imagined the connection between them—but he refused to budge. And as her bodyguard, he was around her nearly all the time, which made it impossible to not think about him. A distraction like Hunter was just what she needed—for her own sanity, and to maybe respark Jackson’s interest.

      Which was why on a Saturday in late September, when she was walking through the Diamond after spending all day at the main pool, luck was on her side when she spotted Hunter sitting by himself at the bar. She reapplied her lip gloss and pulled down her sheer cover-up so that it showed off her cleavage. A glance behind her verified what she already knew—Jackson was on her tail. Perfect. This had to break his wall, or at least make a crack in it.

      “Hi, Hunter,” Peyton said, sliding into the seat next to her teacher. Her skirt rose up her thighs, and she crossed her legs toward him, not bothering to pull it down.

      “Peyton,” he said, clearing his throat. “I didn’t expect to run into one of my students here.”

      “I live here,” she said, figuring he already knew that. Most everyone at Goodman had known who she was from day one, since Adrian Diamond was famous around this city. “I was just coming inside from doing some reading at the pool.” Strangely enough, it was the truth. If she had to do her reading, she might as well be outside instead of cooped up in her room. And sure, she’d only read for fifteen minutes before she’d gotten bored, but Hunter didn’t have to know that.

      “For class or for fun?” he asked.

      “For class.” Peyton never read for fun in her spare time—that was all Courtney.

      “And how are you liking One Hundred Years of Solitude?”

      “It’s okay,” she said. “There are parts that confuse me, but I’m doing