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Back First Comes Love Save as PDF
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

I nod and, still equally randy and embarrassed, I make my way to the bathroom, glad I don’t have to hurry. Julia called dibs on first use and showered and did her makeup while I was at Blair’s. So I can take my time to style my hair with the blow dryer and flat iron and to carefully do my makeup. I pause only when I have to choose the lipstick. I’m about to go for my usual nude shade when one of Diego’s remarks about my grooming habits pops into my head: “…You like to paint your nails in the most obnoxious, shocking colors, but you’d never use a lipstick shade other than nude. Pity, because a bold red would look killer on you…”

I stare down at my nails, which are painted black. Not a shocking color, but still a fierce one. I raise my gaze back to my lips in the mirror. Could I really pull off red lipstick? Why not? Today, I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do. Only problem is, I don’t own a red lipstick… but maybe Julia does. I shuffle through her beauty case until I find an almost new stick of Dior Addict lip gloss in a cherry shade.

Bingo!

Red takes longer than usual to apply. With natural shades, I can get away with sloppy technique, but with the red, I really have to be careful how I contour everything if I don’t want to end up looking like a clown.

Once I’m done, I study the result in the mirror and almost don’t recognize myself. Between the short hair, lips that look ten times plusher than mine, and a healthy glow that probably comes from not having spent the last few days stuck in front of a monitor—but could as well be the consequence of a night of adolescent making out—I’m a different person. Confident, sexy, and edgy.

That’s exactly how I feel as I walk down the stairs. I stop with one step to go when Diego comes out of the living room, splinters of wood clinging to the fabric of his sweater. He freezes mid-step and stares up at me, wide-eyed.

I reach for the largest chip of bark on his chest and pull it off. “Be careful,” I say. “You’ll ruin your sweater.”

“The only thing in ruins by the end of the day will be my sanity. Are you trying to kill me with those lips?”

“I thought you liked the red?”

“I like it too much.” He pulls me closer and brushes his nose against mine. “I want to kiss you.”

“You can’t; it took forever to apply, and I don’t have time to re-do it.”

“See?” He kisses my forehead instead. “You’re killing me.”

“I’ll make up for it later,” I whisper.