Authors: S. E. Brown
The Shore (28 page)
Madison woke with a start. She was laying on her stomach, her red curls covering her face. Her mouth was as dry as the Sahara and her head was pounding. The sound of little ice pellets hitting the window echoed in her ears.
Without looking, she knew she was naked, but at least she was in her own bed. She rolled to her back refusing to open her eyes. The light would hurt too much.
The body beside her began to move. Madison had a strict rule that guys didn’t spend the night so she wasn’t entirely sure who was beside her.
Images from the night before flashed in her mind. The club. Dancing. Drinking. A
lot
of drinking. A tall, sexy, blue-eyed, blonde-haired guy she recognized but couldn’t place.
“Oh. My. God. FUCK!” she yelled, immediately grabbing her head at the pain.
“Babe, we already did that,” the body groaned. “But if you wanted to go again, I could be up for that.” An arm reached around her waist.
“No, no, no, no…” she said out loud, pushing the arm away. “I can’t believe I did this!”
She grabbed the sheet and quickly got out of the bed, wrapping the sheet around her.
“What’s the matter? I thought we had a good time,” he said, raising his head to look at her.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Jaxon? You need to leave!”
This book was an endeavor. Not knowing what I was going to say or how any of my ideas would turn out, I leaned on a few people who gave me constant love and support. To say thank you isn't nearly enough, but it’s a start.
Mom and Dad – You didn't laugh when I said I wanted to write a book - oh, and finish my degree and work full-time and do all the traveling I was doing. Instead, you encouraged me, listened to ideas and badgered me to read the next chapter. Thank you … for everything. I love you.
Janet – You have been a rock: listening to ideas, helping me decide names and storylines, sharing your feedback and questioning weird turns. There is no way this book would exist without you. Thank you for letting me wallow, telling me to “suck it up and move on” when it was warranted and always, always, having my back.
Lindsey – You never shot down an idea, or a call for help, or brainstorm, and you let me text you questions you knew I never really wanted you to answer. Remember Nashville? Yeh, well, there is no way I could have done that without you. I love those brass balls of yours, girl!
Jen, Laura, Theresa, Jillian, Christina and Kim – You all jumped at the chance to be my beta readers and what you came back with was encouragement, constructive criticism and ways to make the book better. Thank you for your time, fabulous ideas and friendship.
Lori – You jumped at the chance to wield the red pen for me. Thank you for your time and critique.
Peg, Marina and Jana – You never made weird faces when I asked you totally obscure questions completely out of the blue. Okay, that isn't true, but I love that you were willing to answer each and every one of those questions without needing to know the full story. You helped with this book so much more than you'll ever know. Never forget Woodward Avenue, Caribou Coffee and I love you and you're pretty!
Many friends knew about this book, and while they didn’t have a direct impact on its creation, knowing I had their love and support meant everything to me. Thank you to each and every one of you.
The readers – I don't know you yet because we have not yet met. But if you've gotten this far, you must have read the whole dang thing. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it.
S.E. Brown is a left-handed, dog-loving, Apple-touting girl that believes in true love. Raised in Northwest Wisconsin, the land of beer and brats and cheese, she’s lived in Metro Detroit for nearly 20 years and has her own furry baby, Siany.
I have loved hearing how much everyone has enjoyed
The Shore
. Would you do me a favor and help spread the word? Having your support, in your words, means so much to me and would help
so
much. Please take a moment to create a review and let others know what you thought. It doesn’t have to be lengthy, just a little something about what you liked. It would really help … and I would
really
appreciate it.
Thank you! Happy reading!