Emergence (Awakening Series Book 2) (23 page)

Acknowledgements

A huge thank you to Regina Alves and Meredith Mitchell for stepping in at the last minute to help with editing! I truly cannot say it enough - you ladies ROCK!

A big shout out to my brother who helped me wade through all the fishing terms and made sure I didn't sound stupid talking about things I don't know much about.

Thanks to the wonderful ladies at Bare Naked Words, Wendy Shatwell and Claire Allmendinger, for their help promoting this and all my other books. You ladies are the bomb!

Finally, thank you to Louisa Maggio at LM Creations for the beautiful cover design for Emergence. You're a true talent and I am looking forward to working with you on future projects.

Read on for a sneak peek at my next novel, Vesper.

Vesper

Chapter 1

Vesper

I knew it. I knew this day would come. My palms are sweating and I can feel heat creeping into my cheeks. I smooth my paper napkin across my lap as I try to blend into the booth. Hopefully he won't see me.

That's ridiculous, of course he's going to see me!

I close my eyes and breathe in a shaky breath, trying to calm my nerves, before opening them to meet his piercing green ones.

My heart stops.

Nash McKinley is standing just inside the door of the diner. He's paused mid stride, watching me as I sit in the booth we used to call ours. It's been a while since we've seen each other, a little more than three and a half years, and it feels like a lifetime ago, but at the same time it feels like it's only been moments.

He still looks amazing, more chiseled and bulkier, but amazing. My pulse starts to race at the memory of how his body fits against mine. I can feel the same magnetic pull to him that's always been there. I can't fight it no matter how hard I try.

But I still try.

He takes a step towards me just as my best friend Lindsay emerges from the bathroom with three year old Andrew by the hand. They slide into the booth across from me when Lindsay sees my face.

"What is it?" she asks.

I tear my eyes away from Nash and try to focus on Lindsay. "Na- Nash," I stutter and then clear my throat. "It's Nash."

Her eyes widen and then she turns to find him, her dark hair falling over her shoulder. Once she's seen him she whips her head back around to me.

"What are you going to do?"

I stare at her for a moment, swallowing hard, before glancing at Andrew and then back to Nash, who hasn't moved but is still looking right at me.

Every emotion I can think of is bursting through my body. Lust, longing, betrayal, sadness, desperation, forgiveness, insecurity, misunderstanding... love. I swallow again, audibly, and slide out of the booth, carefully folding my napkin and placing it on the table. I wipe my clammy palms on the thighs of my jeans and square my shoulders before walking towards him.

I stop about a foot in front of him, my senses assaulted by his familiar scent. I wait a beat to gather my strength before raising my eyes to his, trying to read him like I used to do so well. The moment our eyes meet I can't think of anything to say. He doesn't seem to have the same problem.

"You're here?" he breathlessly whispers, and I realize he didn't come looking for me. Relief and disappointment rush through my veins. Relief that my secret has been kept, and disappointment that he didn't seek me out. He's just as shocked to see me as I am to see him.

"I moved back," I manage to get out.

"When?"

"After graduation."

"You've been here all that time?" he asks, searching my eyes for the truth and finding it as I nod. "Why didn't Bud tell me?"

"I asked him not to."

I watch as he clamps his mouth shut and his jaw starts to tick the way it always did when he was aggravated with me. "I looked everywhere for you. I wanted to explain and apologize. Why would you do that Ves?"

There are so many answers to his question, none that I can speak at the moment. "I just didn't want to be found," I utter instead. "I visit Bud regularly; we're still close. I know it was hard for him not to tell you, but I convinced him it was best for all of us."

"All of us?" he asks.

I press my lips into a thin line, having said too much already. "I heard about things with Stephanie. I'm sorry, for what it's worth," I divert.

He waves his hand as if it's a trivial thing that his wife was an unfaithful liar. "I never should have married her in the first place."

Shocked I can't stop myself from asking, "Why?"

"You," he says as my eyes snap to his. "I never should have let you go."

My heart swells to almost bursting before I'm able to rein it in and tamp it down to a dull roar. I've heard it all before. Why should anything be different this time around?

"Nash, I... I can't do this again," I say, tears slipping down my cheeks. I move around him and out the door, digging my car keys out of my pocket and fumbling to open it. Once inside I rest my head on the steering wheel and sob loudly into the quiet of the car.

My memories of Nash come rushing at me from all directions, and in spite of myself, I can't help but let them seep into me like rain on a dusty dirt road.

I think back to the first time I saw him. Things were so much simpler then. There were no secrets, no lies. We both wanted each other, and that's all that mattered. I have no idea where everything went so wrong, but the bottom line is, there's been too much pain for both of us, and I can't risk putting myself through it again.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I don't know if I have the strength for a third time.

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