Undecided (33 page)

I shake
my head. “You do the sweetest things. And then you ruin them by talking.”

I feel
his chest rumble as he laughs. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

I moan.
“My gift is not going to compare to this.” We weren’t supposed to get presents,
so I’d only picked up something as a gag.

He lifts
his head to peer down at me. “No? What is it?”

“A new
copy of
Hustler
and then…some sex?”

“Both are
acceptable,” he says, patting my shoulder. “Also, ‘new copy of
Hustler
’
implies I have an old copy, and I think we both know I don’t.”

“My
mistake.”

He sits
up. “All right. Let’s go inside and start knocking boots.”

I sit up
too. “You’re so romantic.”

He grins
at me, sexy and unapologetic and everything I never knew I wanted. “The last
time we were up here, I desperately wanted to kiss you,” he says, surprising
me. “I’d wanted to for a long time, and this seemed like the perfect place.
Then the next thing I know I’m pointing out guys for you to hook up with—”

“You
suggested absolute losers.”

“Yeah,
well, I have my methods. Now look around.”

I study
the empty street, the dark houses, all the parties hosted at sororities on the
other side of campus. There are no cars, no people, no distractions.

“What am
I seeing?” I ask.

“Nothing,”
he replies. “You see what you want to see, and sometimes you see what I want
you to see.”

“We’re
probably on the same page with this one.”

“We both
want you to see me,” he confirms.

I stroke
his bicep. “How could I not see you? With all these huge muscles…” I sling a
leg across his thighs and slide a hand under his jacket, over his stomach. “And
this six pack…”

“It’s an
eight-pack,” he mutters, eyes sliding shut.

“And this
adorable messy hair…”

“Don’t
ruin it with the wrong adjectives.”

“Fine, no
more compliments. Just facts. I love you, Crosbie Lucas.”

“I love you too,” he replies. He smiles and
opens his eyes, his gaze trailing over my temple, my brows, my nose, my mouth,
my chin. Just looking at me.

Seeing me.

Only me.

Thank you for reading
Undecided
. I hope you enjoyed
it!

·
       
Would you like to know when my next book is available?
Sign up for my newsletter at
www.juliannakeyes.com/newsletter.html
,
follow me on Twitter at @JuliannaKeyes, or like my Facebook page at
http://facebook.com/juliannakeyesauthor
.

·
       
I post deleted scenes, pictures, and insider
information about each book on my website. Check out
www.juliannakeyes.com
for more.

·
       
If you’re so inclined, I’d love for you to write a
review
! Positive or negative, I
appreciate them all and they help other readers find my books.

·
       
Undecided
is my first foray into New Adult
Romance. I also write contemporary romance that’s more adult, a little bit
grittier, and a lot sexier. My standalone titles are
Just Once
and
Going the Distance
. I also
write the Time Served series, which includes
Time Served
and
In Her Defense
. The third
book in the series,
The Good Fight
, comes out in July 2016. They can
also be read as standalones.

·
       
Do you think Kellan should get his own happily ever
after? Let me know! You can reach me at any of the links above, or email me at
[email protected]
.

Julianna Keyes
is a Canadian writer who has lived on both coasts and several places in
between. She’s been skydiving, bungee jumping and white water rafting, but
nothing thrills—or terrifies—her as much as the blank page. She loves Chinese
food, foreign languages, baseball and television, though not necessarily in
that order, and writes sizzling stories with strong characters, plenty of
conflict, and lots of making up.

In addition to
Undecided,
she
is the author of four contemporary romances:
Just Once
, the story of a world
weary socialite and a stubborn ranch foreman;
Going the Distance
, a love
story set in China between a kindergarten ESL teacher and a former army
interrogator;
Time Served
, the tale of an ambitious young lawyer whose
perfect world is jeopardized when she reunites with her ex-con ex-boyfriend;
and
In Her Defense
, in which a ruthless young lawyer realizes there’s
more to life than being the best…right?

For
more details on these and any upcoming books, visit her online at
http://juliannakeyes.com
, or sign up for
her free newsletter
here
or at
http://juliannakeyes.com/newsletter.html
.

To
learn more about Julianna, follow her on
Facebook
or
Twitter
.

If there’s ever a time to realize how truly smart and
talented your friends are, it’s when you’re trying to self-publish a book for
the first time. Their help and encouragement has resulted in a final product of
which I am very proud, and though I’ve thanked them privately, they deserve
much more public praise than I can find words for. But I’ll try.

Khoi Le: Friend, photographer, and graphic designer. I told
him about my concept for a cover, sent him a dreadful mock up, and he made
magic happen. He’s also helped out with a bunch of images for my website, and
never complains that I can’t figure out how to determine what size a picture
should be. This kind of friend (and graphic designer) is a rare and wonderful
thing. He took the picture, made the cover, and outdid all my expectations. You
can contact him through his website:
http://khoistory.com
.
Thanks, Khoi.

Natalie Perret: I’m from Canada, Natalie’s from New Zealand,
and a long time ago, we met in China. Our friendship has traversed continents,
oceans, and many years, and she is one of the few friends who is actually brave
enough to read my books. This is her first time seeing an unpolished version,
and she was generous enough to volunteer her time and her smarts to proofread
for me. She was incredibly thorough and helpful, and without her you’d be
reading things like “in appropriate” and “freeze booze.”
Xie xie
,
Natalie.

Elan Cross: How fortuitous that I made a new writer friend
just as I embarked on this self-publishing journey. Having another writer to
talk to and brainstorm with is something I have done without for a very long
time, and Elan’s editing hand helped get a lot of unwieldy sentences under
control. Her vacillation between Team Kellan and Team Crosbie also told me I’d
picked the right name for the book. Victory! Oh, this isn’t about me? Thanks,
Elan.

Naomi Hughes: Back cover copy wrangler extraordinaire! I
knew my copy needed help and I was lucky to stumble upon Naomi through a series
of fortunate coincidences. She helped whip the text into shape and the final
product is something of which I am very proud. You can find her at
www.naomiedits.com
.