Nailed Read Online Free PDF Page A

his parents. River was different. He admired her courage and her determination to succeed.
    He’d noticed her long before that fateful spring day—she had a pretty face and an alluring figure—but she wasn’t the kind of girl someone like him would hang out with. And she certainly wouldn’t fit in with his friends or be accepted by his family looking the way she did. He hadn’t really cared about that kind of thing except for the practical aspect that she’d be uncomfortable not fitting in, so why start something with her that was bound to end?
    But that day, he’d been challenged. And he’d found the challenge to be well worth the effort.
    First year of college—Spring semester
    Kane opened his apartment door and led River inside. Her eyes widened.
    “Wow.” She glanced around his place, taking in the clean lines of his contemporary black wood furniture, his sixty-inch plasma TV, the white leather furniture, and colorful art on the walls.
    “Is this your parents’ place?” she asked.
    “No, this is my place.” He tossed his keys in the drawer of the bureau in the entryway then walked into the living room. “Do you live in the dorms?”
    She shook her head. “I rent a room in a house off campus.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t it be easier to live on campus?”
    “Sure, but … I can’t afford that.”
    Her answer confused him. He wouldn’t want to live in the cramped, crowded dorms, but he thought living on campus was the cheaper alternative to off-campus housing … yet she couldn’t even afford that.
    “Would you like something to drink? I’ve got wine, beer, hard lemonade?”
    “Lemonade, thanks.”
    He walked into the kitchen and retrieved a can of hard lemonade from the fridge, and poured it into a glass with ice, then grabbed a beer for himself. When he walked back into the living room, she was sitting on the couch with her chemistry textbook lying on the table.
    She really had come over to study.
    She took the drink he offered and sipped it, then frowned and pushed it aside as she opened her book.
    For the next two hours, he went over the chapters with her, reviewing and querying her to test her knowledge. The whole time he was aware of her closeness … her warmth … the sweet vanilla scent of her hair and the curve of her body.
    “Let’s take a break,” he said.
    “But we still have another chapter to go over.”
    “I know. We can do that after.” He stood up and walked to the kitchen, then returned with another drink for each of them.
    He set her lemonade in front of her, then sat down again.
    “There’s a party after the exam tomorrow. Would you like to go with me?”
    “I’m not much for parties.”
    “But it’s your last exam. You want to celebrate, don’t you?”
    She frowned. “I don’t get it. Why are you asking me? Why did you even start talking to me today?”
    A barrier had gone up and he feared he’d lose his chance with her.
    He smiled. “Why are you so surprised that I want to go out with you?”
    She stared at her glass. “I’m not like the girls you usually go out with.”
    “Maybe that’s part of the attraction.”
    And he was attracted to her. Much to his surprise. While they’d been studying, whenever he explained something in the textbook, she’d leaned in closer to see the page and every brush of her thigh against his sent heat to his groin. Whenever she’d stroked her hair behind her ear, he’d wanted to brush his fingers through the soft strands … to feel her soft skin under his fingertips.
    Her gaze locked on his, her green eyes serious.
    “Are you slumming it with me? Getting some kind of strange kick from asking out the weird chick?”
    A prickle of anxiety emanated from her and he wanted to quell her unease.
    “You’re different, that’s true, but that’s a good thing.” He sent her his most disarming smile. “I really like you.”
    The barrier seemed to fade and she looked uncertain.
    Vulnerable.
    He leaned forward