Pretty Toxic - A New Adult Romance (Imperfectly Yours) Read Online Free PDF Page A

It’s real.
    I have my first time all mapped out in my head. I have since I was thirteen. Candles. Rose petals. The perfect guy. Not a romp in the back of a van somewhere like Ciara Skanley during our sophomore year. She bragged about that for weeks. I want it to be perfect.  Maybe that’s why I’m the last virgin in Seaside, but that will change soon.   Very soon.  And after last night, I can’t get Dane out of my head.
    My night was filled with fantasies of his warm, radiant skin against mine.  His naked torso leaning against my pounding chest and me longing for another kiss.  Just one more.  But I woke up to a dinging doorbell and a drool stained pillow.  No matter.  Tonight my dream will be real.
    My chest is still racing just thinking about the conversation we had.  Dane is the one.  He was my first kiss and my soon to be first everything else.   I stand next to my mirror, staring at my baggy pajama top.  I’m not exactly the type of girl he’s used to.  His ex, Paige’s friend Maggie, is a foot taller with liquid gold for skin.  I run my fingers through my dark locks and take a long breath.
    A loud knock followed by another ding of the doorbell startles me.
    “Aunt Scar!”
    No answer.  
    “Are you up?”   Guess not.
    I roll my eyes, jogging to the front door and unbolting the lock.  The coffee table is cluttered with magazines and used tea cups from this past week.  Today is mine and Scarlett’s cleaning day but I’m in too much of a daze to do chores. And I have to pack. I don’t have anything sexy. Not like the lace nighties girls wear on TV. Is it too late to get one of those?
    “Mikki Copelun?” A tall police officer stares right at me. I bite the side of my lip.
    “Yes,” I gulp.
    “Are you Mikki Copelun?”
    “That’s me.” My chest feels heavy.   No.  Please don’t say there’s been an accident.   “Is something wrong, Officer?”
    “Yes,” the officer responds. “If you don’t mind I have a few questions for you.”
    “Um.”  My eyes dart to the sofa just beyond the doorway.  “Do you want to come in?”
    “No.”  He shakes his head.  “This won’t take long.”  He hasn’t smiled once.  My head starts spinning.  What is he getting at?
    “Okay.”  This is my first conversation with an actual police officer that involves more than a ‘ hello sir’.   It isn’t going so well.
    “Can you tell me where you were last night?”
    My chest freezes and I feel a bit faint.  It won’t surprise me if my face is chalk white right now.  I clasp the side of my collar bone.
    “Just relax Miss Copelun.”  He responds by lowering his voice so it sounds slightly more friendly.  “It’s only a question.  Where were you last night?”
    “I was with my Aunt Scarlett . . . at the Haskell’s place.  She catered their event last night.  Well, sort of. I was one of the servers.”
    “What time did you leave the Haskell residence?”
    “I don’t know.”  My mind jumps back to Dane’s deep, entrancing eyes.  The way he grabbed me and pulled me into his muscley arms. I can feel my breathing getting heavier and heavier.  “Midnight maybe?” Quit lying, Mikki. He’s a police officer. “Or earlier? I can’t really remember the exact time.”
    “And you came straight home?”
    The truth, Mik! The truth.
    “Yes,” I quickly answered.   No.  Dane and I went to Riptide Park.
    “And at the Haskell’s last night,” he continued.  “Did you speak with Dane?”  More heavy breaths.
    “No,” I swallow.  “I didn’t even see him.”
    “You’re sure?”
    I raise my eyebrows and rub the side of my shoulder.  “Does it matter?” I reply.  “What’s with all the questions anyway?  I haven’t done anything wrong.”
    “It is very important that I know what was said,” the officer goes on.
    “Why?”  I don’t see how it’s any of his business.  The things Dane said to me last night, the things we planned, those are private.