Leif by Celina McKane

Leif:

It all started with a misdirected letter. I shouldn’t have done it, but from the time I read that first letter from Karli, I was obsessed. The letter had my name on it…but it was meant for another soldier…another man named Leif Thompson…the same name as mine. Before I could stop myself, I wrote her back, pretending to be the other Leif. And she sent me another letter and included a picture of her and her young son, the mystery Leif’s son, the by-product of a one-night stand.

Karli was the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen, and I knew—right then and there—that I had to meet her. We exchanged letter upon letter…until it was finally time for me to take a few weeks away from the army and go on leave, and of course, I went to find Karli.

A lot of time has passed since that first encounter—and surprisingly fate keeps bringing Karli and I together…over and over again. Like now—after not seeing her for years—I’m finding myself standing in her family’s house, hired to protect her stepfather, her mother, her son, and her from a veneful gang member.

If only she’d look at me. If only she’d talk to me. If only she’d give me a chance.

Karli:

The one thing I can’t stand is a liar. When I met Leif, I thought it was by chance. He was a soldier on leave…and the man I loved, the father of my child, was a soldier as well. I offered to show him around town, and it was actually…fun. And then I found out that he’d lied to me. He had been writing me letters, getting me to bare my soul to him—all while pretending to be someone he wasn’t. When he came clean, I knew that I could never forgive him for that.

I just can’t seem to get him out of my head. And to make matters worse, every so often, I run into him. Everywhere. In New Orleans. At a funeral in Texas. In my parents’ house. Everywhere.

I think he’s incredibly handsome. And he’s so kind to my son. But I just can’t get past the fact that he lied to me about who he was. If only he hadn’t lied…