Hard Time (Hard as Nails #1) Read Online Free

from. I found out where she worked, and where she lived. I found out she’d left her boyfriend, and that she’d had a baby.
    Then the plan changed to keeping my distance, only not quite so much distance. I couldn’t resist getting closer to her. Watching her from afar.
    Just like I used to do in prison, where my fantasies were wilder than any reality could ever be. But given freedom outside those walls, I hadn’t been able to control myself. I suppose it was just a matter of time. Really, what harm could come from going inside the bookstore? All I’d wanted to do was see her up close, maybe talk to her, even as I pretended I didn’t know who she was, but somehow I screwed that up.
    I suppose that was just a matter of time too. Because I know exactly what she is to me.
    An unobtainable obsession. For almost three years, I fantasized about everything I wanted to do to her. I wanted to be inside of her, and to feel the warmth of her flesh around my hard cock. I wanted to tear her apart from the inside and make her mine.
    I still want all of that, and that’s the fucking problem. The closer I get to her, the more the walls between fantasy and reality shatter, and the more I want her. It was easier back then, when my wants and desires seemed next to impossible.
    But on the outside, I’ve been lured into her trap.
    I’m still shocked she didn't run screaming from the store when I walked in. It was obvious she recognized me instantly, and just as obvious that she truly thought I didn’t recognize her. I’d almost barked with laughter at the lunacy of it.
    I could never forget her. Not those beautiful hazel eyes, not that angelic body, and not her chocolate brown hair that rains across her face like tapered curtains giving teasing glimpses of all the beauty underneath.
    When I walked into that store, I had no intention of applying for a damn job. I have a job pumping gas. But once I’d gotten close to her, close enough to touch her, to see her tremble when I recited poetry to her, all my good intentions had vanished like smoke. I saw the Help Wanted sign and jumped at the opportunity, cutting through all the bullshit and letting her know I remembered her. Because if she reacted in fear to that revelation, I’d leave immediately. But if she didn’t…
    She didn’t. She fucking argued with me about how I deserved a second chance, about how she’d put in a good word for me with her boss. She’d literally chased me to the door and handed me an application, her eyes sparkling and her chin tilted in defiance. And I’d been drowning in all the possibilities of what that meant.
    If I get the job, I’ll finally be able to get closer to her without breaking any rules. Instead of watching her from afar, I’ll learn everything there is to know about her up close.
    I’ll make her mine, and my fantasies will cease to be fantasies, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll become something I only used to ever dream about—a reality so good it wipes away the sting of all the shit that came before.
    The only question is whether I’m willing to put Katie at risk for a chance at it.
    She said there’s good in me, and that I can turn my life around. She believes I’m worthy of a second chance, but she’s wrong. She doesn’t know anything about me. After all, she hasn’t spent nearly the same amount of time watching me as I’ve spent watching her.
    Some people can’t be saved, but it’s an intriguing idea. I’m not the worst man in the world, but I’m certainly not all that’s good and holy. I’ve done things. Reprehensible things. Some of those things, I did for Katie, but mostly I did them for myself, for my own reasons at various points in my life.
    So, can I change? Can I be redeemed? Only the future can tell, but for now, I’m drawn to Katie like a moth drawn to a flame. I’m going to get burned, and it’s going to feel fucking orgasmic.
     
    * * *
     
    I can’t shake thoughts of Katie as I wrestle the key to my shitty