Take This Regret

First published by The Writer’s Coffee Shop, 2011

Copyright © Amy Lichtenhan, 2011

The right of Amy Lichtenhan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the
Copyright
Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

The Writer’s Coffee Shop

(Australia) PO Box 2013 Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635

(USA) PO Box 2116 Waxahachie TX 75168

Paperback ISBN- 978-1-61213-050-7

E-book ISBN- 978-1-61213-051-4

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the US Congress Library.

Cover image by: Melissa Cantrel

Cover design by: Jennifer McGuire

www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/alichtenhan

Amy Lichtenhan first discovered her love of writing during her days as a young mother and col ege student. She fil ed the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life.

Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends, and with their encouragement, this story became her first ful length novel,
Pulled
.

Amy resides in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three beautiful children, and feels blessed to have the freedom of working from home. Her favorite pastime is spending time with the ones she loves.

Dedicated to my family, Chad, Devyn, Eli, and Braydon And to my sweet inspiration, Parker

September 2004

“Christian, let go!” Elizabeth struggled to untangle herself from the arms wrapped around her waist. Christian tightened his hold. She giggled and pushed against his chest.

His words came muffled into the crook of her neck where he pressed his mouth against her soft skin. “No, stay.”

“I wish I could, but I have to get to class.” She pul ed back, her golden-brown eyes smiling into his intense blue.

He pretended to pout but released his hold, al owing her to rol away from him. A faint smile tugged at his mouth as he turned to lie on his stomach, watching as Elizabeth dressed in the late evening light filtering in through the blinds of his bedroom window. She leaned down to pul her jeans onto her long, toned legs. Locks of dark-blond hair cascaded in messy waves over her shoulder, obstructing her smal , heart-shaped face, though every line, dimple, and curve had been burned into his mind. Everything about her made him think of honey, the honey tinge of her eyes, the sun kiss of her skin, the sweetness of her mouth.

He’d known the moment he’d met her that they were perfect for each other. They’d been paired in a study group four years ago during their freshman year at Columbia University. When he’d walked through the door of the smal café and had first seen her, she’d taken his breath away.

Then when he’d sat down and talked to her, he found she was not only beautiful but one of the most intel igent, compassionate people he’d ever met.

Like Christian, Elizabeth wanted to be an attorney though for entirely different reasons. While he planned to become a real estate attorney so he could one day be a partner in his father’s law firm, Elizabeth was going into family law, focusing on children’s rights. She wasn’t in it for the money. She thought it was the best way for her to become an advocate for those who could not protect themselves.

The passion that came from Elizabeth’s mouth that first day had made Christian question himself—what he

believed in and what he lived for. Even then, he’d been sure she would make him a better person. What Christian had found most appealing was how laid-back she was through it al . So many of the girls he’d met when he’d come to New York City had either been stuffy and boring or were only interested in partying on the free ride their wealthy parents had given them.

But not Elizabeth. She was serious about school and committed to her future, but she stil took time to enjoy every day of her life, something in which Christian had had a hard time finding a balance. He’d always been pushed by his father to do the best, to be the best, and somehow he’d lost himself along the way. He’d become arrogant, conceited, and completely wrapped up in himself. Elizabeth had chal enged his self-serving attitude from the very start.