The Fabrizio Bride

Alternate Opening

This was was my original opening for The Fabrizio Bride – from Rafe’s POV (point of view). He hasn’t seen Sarika since he dumped her about a year ago, and he’s in the doorway watching her from the shadows, trying to compose himself before he steps out and greets her.

* * *

Squaring his shoulders, Rafael Fabrizio quietly opened the patio door, stepped into the warm summer night, and came to an abrupt halt when he saw Sarika, wearing that old, striped bikini he remembered so well, alone in the pool. The bathing suit had been tiny when she was seventeen, causing him to break into a cold sweat and curse his pervy mind every time she sauntered past – hips swaying, eyes sparkling, as if she knew his racy thoughts. Now the suit was more than tiny, it was miniscule against her more womanly curves and he was still sweating and cursing…even though he knew exactly what was underneath.

The Gateway To Heaven.

Gritting his teeth, he melted into the shadows of his family’s mountain-side chalet on Big Bear Lake in Southern California and closed his eyes, but the image of her undulating through the water had been burned into his retinas: dark hair streaming down her back, the curve of her ass cresting the moon-lit water, long legs propelling her forward. Behind her the full moon hung low in the sky and glinted off the tiled deck, illuminating the lake as it spread out beyond the cliff like a swathe of black velvet streaked with diamonds.

A stunning sight…but it didn’t hold a candle to the woman in the pool.

Nothing, and no one, ever did.

Scowling, he opened his eyes and shoved a hand through his hair, knowing he had to speak to her about Ana Lisa as soon as possible. And he would, just as soon as his heart stopped thumping like it was making a break from his chest.

Pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, he took a moment to clear the unwanted emotions from his body. He was over her – he hadn’t missed, he didn’t need her. Their time together last year had been nothing more than a fling.

He had moved on. And he knew for a fact she had, too.