Page 1 of Skin Deep

Chapter1

Harrison

Bells rang in the distance. I looked at my watch, even though I knew what time it was.

Time to go.

My brother, Lachlan, had been in the church for over an hour. How long did a wedding take?

I blew out a breath, and smoke purled from my mouth. It was cold in Boston. The heater wasn’t an option because Lachlan hadn’t filled up his tank and the E light was on. I didn’t want to run out of gas. I wasn’t familiar with this area and had no idea where the nearest station was. Even if I knew, pushing during what seemed like the polar apocalypse didn’t seem all that appealing. Neither did freezing my balls off.

I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jacket. My fingers curled around the box stuffed into the left one. I pulled it out and lifted the lid. Closed it on a snap. Lifted it again. Closed it. Lifted it once more.

Tucked inside the black velvet was a ring I’d saved for since I was eighteen. Most people considered a grand nothing, but to me, it was everything.

The ring was white gold with a small round diamond. Another round of diamonds created a halo around it. Along the sides, two butterflies.

It wasn’t so much the ring that made me grin, but what it stood for.

The rest of my life.

I knew the girl it was meant for wouldn’t care about the price, but the meaning. Her name, Mariposa, meant butterfly.

I dug in the opposite pocket and pulled out my list.

Get a decent job

Finish school while working decent job—make good grades a priority

Buy ring

Get a good paying job right out of law school—reference good grades

Buy house

Ask her to marry me

Live

Seven steps to having everything I ever wanted in life.

I’d thought about adding kids in after the proposal, but it didn’t matter if we had them or not, if we were married and living together.

That was what she had the biggest problem with.

Living.

I would have died to see her have that. A good life. It was the reason why I’d made so many sacrifices.

Even if she didn’t know they were for her, someday she would. I wouldn’t tell her, though. I’d let our life speak for itself as time moved forward.

My phone went off. I looked down at the passenger seat where I’d put it after Lachlan had stepped out.

Yeah, that was about right. If anyone could ruin my quiet moment with the ring, it was my sister, Keely. She and Mariposa were as close as sisters. If Kee found out about my plans, I might as well throw my old, tattered sheet of paper into a fire and watch it burn. That was exactly what my sister was. A fire. She’d tell me that I was being ridiculous and that I spent my entire life living so someone else could have a life one day.

Keely wouldn’t understand. Maybe she would someday, when things went as planned, but that day was not today.

Her call went to voicemail. She had an uncanny ability to see past the things I wanted to keep to myself. It wasn’t a conversation I was ready to have with her. Or anyone. My brothers—Lachlan, Declan, and Owen—had a clue. Lachlan was the only one with the balls to bring it up. We were close in age. He respected me as his older brother, but the gap wasn’t wide enough that he kept his mouth shut.

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