Count Me In (River’s Run Duet #3)

Prologue

MAGGIE

People say that beauty is only skin deep.

And that’s probably true. I’d never call myself a scholar by any means, so it’s not like I have the facts and figures to back it up, but for placing such little value in the concept, people sure chase beauty around until their bank accounts run dry and their bodies break.

My whole life circled around the idea that I needed to be beautiful.

I had to look a certain way and attract a certain kind of attention.

My mother drilled it into my head from the moment I could speak.

And beauty of any kind wasn’t worth it unless others noticed.

You had to have a man validate your beauty or it just didn’t count.

But no matter what I did, their validation never made me feel beautiful.

From beauty pageants to makeup tutorials, I tried it all.

It didn’t matter what I had to do to get a boy’s attention.

My life depended on it the way an addict’s depended on their next fix.

Girls with reputations like the one I developed in high school didn’t get any respect in a small town like River’s Run, Georgia.

People looked at me differently. They called me everything from “boy crazy” to “slut.” Names that hurt from people I cared about, which only fueled the need to have someone validate my worth.

But no teenage boy alive could’ve done that, no matter how quickly and easily he charmed me out of my panties.

I was a wreck on the inside and that bled into my outward appearance quickly.

By the time I realized the damage I had done to my mind, heart, and body, I was too far gone.

I lost myself until the person staring back in the mirror was no longer my own reflection.

It took a long time for me to recognize the darkness surrounding me, and when I finally clawed my way out, I felt like I finally breathed air for the first time.

I wouldn’t wish that feeling on my worst enemy.

I changed. And it saved my life. But all changes come with a price.

I’m not sure exactly when the sting of disappointing my mother ebbed away, but I know it only happened because of Zeke Hayes.

He was the first person in my life to see me—the real me—hiding underneath all the layers of makeup, hair color, and insecurity.

Somehow, without even really trying, he salvaged what was left of my fractured soul and gave me the courage I needed to love the pieces back together.

Beauty might only be skin deep. But love? In its purest, unfiltered form? That shit seeps into your bones, right down into your very being.

And finding that kind of love with a man like Ezekiel Hayes? Well, you could count me in.