Cover Reveal ~ The Color of Us ~ by ~ Laura Ward & Christine Manzari

Eighteen year old Alexis Sinclair is lost in the darkness of grief. Since the death of

her sister in a car accident, she can’t find the will to get out and enjoy life again. When

she’s forced to face her biggest fear and take a summer Driver’s Ed course, she’s

surprised to find hope in the most unlikely person.

Liam O’Connell is trouble. He isn’t proud of his dark past, and he

knows Alexis is the one girl he has no business pursuing. Doing the right thing has never been easy for

him, but this time, it just might be impossible.

The perfect girl and troubled boy are all wrong for each other, but as Liam helps

Alexis cope with her grief, they realize nothing has ever felt more right.

That is, until Alexis uncovers a secret about Liam that breaks her

heart.

Liam knows he can’t allow the one good thing in his life to walk away

without a fight, and he’s determined to convince Alexis they can find their way out of the

darkness together.

Can he prove he’s worthy of her, or is some love too tainted to be

saved?

He took a deep breath. “Our lives are completely different, Lex.” He

raised his hand in a loose fist, running the backs of his fingers along my jaw. My breath caught in my

chest as his thumb stroked over my skin in slow, gentle circles. “So different.” He stared

into my eyes, and I leaned forward, mirroring his posture. I placed my hand on his jaw. His chin was

rough with stubble and tight with worry.

“Help me understand.” My voice was needy, begging, but

that’s only because I was desperate to figure him out, to unlock the secrets he kept close. I

wanted to know how he could be the sweet, patient boy who taught me to drive and then beat the

living hell out of his friend a few days later. It didn’t add up for

me.

He reached up to grab my fingers that were still touching his cheek, and he

adjusted them so that he was holding my hand. “I didn’t grow up the way you did. The

only thing I could ever depend on were my fists. That’s how I protect myself and those I care

about. Yeah, Adam’s my boy, but he crossed a line. Said something he shouldn’t. And in

my world, when that happens, you teach a lesson. That lesson usually means

blood.”

I cringed at his bluntness and then felt guilty about it. He’d said our lives

were different, but that didn’t mean mine was better than his. I had no right to look down at

him. Too many people already did that. In my world, there were lessons and punishments too. They

were more calculated and less physical, but they were no less vicious. Like Melissa’s threat to get

her father to have Liam fired from the country club. When I thought about it, I wasn’t sure which

lesson was more cruel—fists or social war.

“What did Adam do to make you so mad? Was it because you wanted to

hang out with me instead of going to the levees?” God, I hope not.

That’d be the overreaction of the century.

Liam shook his head and traced patterns on my jaw with his thumb.

“It’s not important, angel. Just know that when you’re with me, you’re

safe. No one hurts you. No one touches you.” He leaned forward, letting his lips hover next to

mine. “If anyone tries to hurt you, I’ll make them pay. I mean

it.”

A chill skittered down my spine. The passion in his words was so strong that the

air around us was charged with unspoken promises. Why would Liam feel such a fierce need to protect

me? It frightened me that I enjoyed it so much. I swallowed. “Why did you call me

angel?”

He tilted his chin up and pressed his lips to my forehead and then trailed kisses

down my face, stopping to press his mouth to the corner of mine. He leaned back to let his eyes scan the

length of me, head to toe, as he grinned. “It’s hard not to think of you as an angel when

you’re dressed all in white and looking so goddamn perfect. You’re so…

good.” He shook his head with a sad smile. “I have no right to want you as much as I

do.”

His eyes darted to my lips, and then his mouth was on mine again, stealing the

words I wanted to say—I’m not perfect… I’m not good… I want

you too. He sucked on my lower lip, pulling it into his mouth with such gentleness I thought I

might melt into a puddle on his floorboards. How could so much rage be wrapped up in this much

tenderness?

My hands snaked around the back of Liam’s neck, and I moved to bring his

mouth back to mine, grazing the tip of my tongue against his. I could faintly taste the smoke of his

cigarette, but I could also taste the sugar of the funnel cake we’d shared. He was a heady mix of

danger and sweetness that was so uniquely Liam it made me crave more. I slid my tongue against his

again, and Liam’s groan was the only warning I got before his mouth was devouring mine,

demanding kisses from me that I was only too happy to return.

“You even taste good,” Liam murmured against my lips before

dropping his face to the curve of my neck where he nibbled along my skin, leaving goose bumps in his

wake. “I want to taste every single inch of you. I think I’m

addicted.”

His lips pressed against my pulse point, and I was sure he could feel the frantic

beating of my heart. My entire body felt like it was vibrating for him. I couldn’t decide what I

wanted more—for him to keep whispering his precious thoughts against my neck, or for him to

go back to worshipping my lips.

As if he knew my inner turmoil, Liam trailed a slow pathway of kisses up my neck

toward my greedy mouth.

“You look like an angel,” he said, whispering a kiss under my ear. His

quiet words trickled down my neck in a delicious shiver. “You act like an angel, too good to be

true.” He left a kiss on the side of my jaw before turning my face to his, his lips hovering over

mine with so much heat I thought he might burn me when he finally kissed me. “You’re

my angel, Lex. And I think you just might save me.”