The Crush

<p><strong style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)><em>From</em> New York Times <em>bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new standalone second-chance story of forbidden love...</em></strong></p><p><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)> </span></p><p>It's natural to want the one you can't have. And for as long as I could remember I'd secretly wanted my brother's best friend Jace.</p><p>He was six years older and always treated me like the sister he never had.</p><p>Fast forward a decade.</p><p>We were all in our twenties now. Jace had moved in with my brother Nathan and me to help us make ends meet after our parents died.</p><p>It was just the three of us-an odd family dynamic.</p><p>Living under our roof Jace was as bossy and protective as ever.</p><p>But he certainly didn't <em>look</em> at me like a sister anymore. That was what made things so complicated.</p><p>I was pretty much hot and bothered twenty-four-seven.</p><p>And he was torn.</p><p>The signs were subtle at first. Like on movie night I'd casually rest my leg against his and he wouldn't exactly shift away.</p><p>Still I assumed he would never...<em>go there.</em></p><p>Nathan would kill us.</p><p>The knowledge of that wasn't enough to stop the inevitable though.</p><p>Eventually our slow burn exploded.</p><p>But more than the physical attraction we'd developed a strong connection.</p><p>We just couldn't get caught right?</p><p>That sounded simple.</p><p>Until it wasn't.</p><p>This is a story of forbidden love broken trust and an unexpected second chance.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>