Inside Out

Inside: Tracey never fit in anywhere as a child, so she works hard to make college different. Out in the world, she doesn't talk about her parents, or her travels, or the languages she speaks. She doesn't talk much at all because it frequently leads to black people asking why she talks "white" and white people asking where she's from. No one believes she is a native Southerner.

            But the people she meets in grad school aren't satisfied with knowing her only on the surface and Garrett Atkins--well, he isn't satisfied at all because, even though she can't help falling in love with his Southern charm and overall gorgeousness, Tracey isn't about to be "that girl" who ends up with a white husband.

Out: Entering his last year in law school, Garrett Atkins can't complain about his life. At graduation, he's guaranteed a job in a prestigious firm... and a wife. But one mix-up on campus introduces him to stubborn, snide and sexy Tracey McAlpine. She may not be what's best for him, but God help him, she's what he wants, and Rett has never been a man who has accepted being told he can't have what he wants, no matter the consequences.

And then she saw Garrett again, as if she'd summoned him. He was coming towards her. He was running towards her. She was shaking. Her whole body quivered from the inside out. Hot blood rushed and she imagined she could feel it--actually feel it--surging from one place to another in her veins. From one place to another. She swallowed but the lump growing at the back of her throat only got bigger. Her vision blurred.
He had her by the arm. He wasn't saying anything. His eyes were just locked with hers. His breath was coming so fast that hers became more labored. She struggled to let the air in and out deep and steady but it came out sputtered and erratic. Tears streamed from her eyes, mixing with the burning haze around her. She couldn't focus. His broad hand wrapped all the way around her upper arm and she could feel him squeezing. He wouldn't release her, not from his grip and not from his eyes. And he still stood there silently. He didn't even know he was hurting her.