HEARTBEAT An Everyday Heroes World Novel Georgia Coffman This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead are entirely coincidental. © 2020 KB WORLDS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Published by KB Worlds LLC. Cover Design by Kari March Designs Editing by Marion Archer, Making Manuscripts Proofreading by Marla Selkow Esposito, Proofing With Style Formatting by Jill Sava, Love Affair With Fiction Published in the United States of America Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Introduction Dedication Prologue One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen Twenty Twenty-One Twenty-Two Twenty-Three Twenty-Four Twenty-Five Twenty-Six Twenty-Seven Twenty-Eight Twenty-Nine Thirty Thirty-One Thirty-Two Thirty-Three Thirty-Four Thirty-Five Thirty-Six Thirty-Seven Thirty-Eight Thirty-Nine Forty Forty-One Forty-Two Forty-Three Epilogue KB Worlds About the Author Subscribe to Georgia’s Newsletter Also Written By Georgia Coffman Acknowledgements Also Written By K. Bromberg Introduction Dear Reader, Welcome to the Everyday Heroes World! I’m so excited you’ve picked up this book! Heartbeat is a book based on the world I created in my USA Today bestselling Everyday Heroes Series. While I may be finished writing this series (for now), various authors have signed on to keep them going. They will be bringing you all-new stories in the world you know while allowing you to revisit the characters you love. This book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it. While I allowed them to use the world I created and may have assisted in some of the plotting, I took no part in the writing or editing of the story. All praise can be directed their way. I truly hope you enjoy Heartbeat. If you’re interested in finding more authors who have written in the KB Worlds, you can visit www.kbworlds.com. Thank you for supporting the writers in this project and me. Happy Reading, K. Bromberg To my mom, A strong woman, a major romance fan, and my forever cheerleader. Thank you for everything. Prologue Clara “I feel so stupid.” Dax holds the door open for me. Taking my hand, he leads me away from the music. Away from my date, Hunter, and the line of women waiting to dance with him. My eyes blur as the cool breeze fans my flushed cheeks. I grip Dax’s hand, and we make our way to his car in the sea of trucks and sedans littering the parking lot and field. I try to hold my dress up as Dax walks faster, his lean muscles angry against his dress shirt. With my free hand, I clutch his coat tighter over my shoulders, but my long dress gets in the way. I gasp, tripping over it, and curse myself for listening to my mom. She insisted I buy this puffy dress instead of the short, sassy one I wanted. “Freaking dress,” I mumble, falling into Dax’s arms. His strong arms. “You shouldn’t feel stupid,” he whispers. He doesn’t seem to mind that I’m gripping his forearms like I’m falling off a ledge instead of tripping over my prom dress. His gaze bores into mine, his jaw set. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Hunter’s just an ass.” Of course, he’s comforting me once again. He’s always there for me, sticking up for me as I date asshole after asshole. “Besides, we got Mr. Davis back for shushing us during class when it was really Sarah who has a loud mouth.” He chuckles, and his warm, minty breath soothes me. His lips are close. My laugh gets caught in my throat. His ghost of a smile transforms into a firm line as he searches my face, like he wants an answer to a question he never asked. The air around us shifts. We’re not supposed to be gazing at each other like this, with fire in our eyes. We’re friends. We’ve been best friends since we were six. Even so, I suddenly wonder what his lips taste like. What he sounds like when he kisses a girl. If he wraps her up and consumes her. The longer we stare at each other, the more I forget my date. Prom. Going home. I lean in, just an inch, my mouth falling open. “Clara,” he strains. I stare up at him as his tongue slides across his bottom lip in slow motion. What am I doing? I clear my throat and try to shake myself out of this trance, but he holds me in place. My fingers are splayed across his chest, and underneath his thin button-up, his heart thunders against my palms. He dips his head, and my eyebrows furrow in anticipation, need, and a little surprise. We’ve never crossed this line. When his lips touch mine, I still. He moves his lips across mine more firmly, and I forget everything before this moment. All the douchebags I’ve gone out with. The stress of graduation in a few weeks. College in the fall. It’s just Dax and me underneath the stars, in our own corner of the world. My breath hitches, and he rests his forehead to mine like he needs a minute. He smiles, then kisses me again. Commotion from the gymnasium breaks us apart. Students file out, howling and shoving each other around. Dax and I face each other with matching surprised grins. “I promised your parents I’d take care of you and get you home safely. I don’t think this is what they had in mind.” He chuckles, then exhales, scratching the back of his head like he’s suddenly shy. “I should get you home.” “Okay,” I whisper, my heart fluttering. He pauses, then dips his head again to steal one more kiss, and it makes me smile the whole way home. At my front door, I close my eyes as he kisses my temple. “I dreaded going to this dance,” he says. “But it ended better than I could’ve hoped for. I’ll call you first thing in the morning.” I nod, touching my fingertips to my lips. They’re still tingling from his kiss. From my best
