Love on the Rocks (Love on Tour #1) (19 page)

Play Me (Book 2 of the Love on Tour series)
Excerpt from Play Me:

“I don’t understand, Hank. How did this happen exactly?”

Really? She’s going to drill me about this now? I am sitting in an airport, barefoot, in terrible need of a shower, and I’ve just lost the best thing that ever happened to me.

“It’s a long story,” I grumble.

“Well, my flight landed early and my stupid brother isn’t here to pick me up yet. So you might as well tell me.”

I was just sitting here in the baggage claim when she showed up. I had completely forgotten that Stacey was flying in this morning for a week long visit with her brother and his wife.

I hadn’t come here looking for her. I’d come here on a doomed mission. Her finding me was just a huge coincidence. The fact that she’d somehow managed to spot me in the middle of LAX was something of a miracle. 

I was feeling very alone when I’d first sat down in this uncomfortable chair. But now Stacey is here. She’s practically family, so I take a little comfort in her presence. The truth is, I probably need a shoulder to lean on right now, whether I am willing to admit it or not.

“Why are you such a mess?” She looks me up and down, taking in my crazy mussed-up hair, sweaty t-shirt, and workout shorts.

I don’t answer her. I just hang my head in my hands. When she’d first sat down next to me I’d told to her that I’d run through the airport like a madman, but despite my efforts I’d missed the damn plane, and now I’m waiting for my ride.

But she wants to know how I’d gotten into this fucked up situation in the first place. Explaining it to her seems almost impossible. How can I put into words how badly I’d screwed up? How can I tell her all the stupid I things I’d done, things that had led to this very moment.

“Hank?”

I look at Stacey. She is a beautiful woman. At one time she’d tried to get me interested in her. And it would have worked, too, if she wasn’t my best friend’s little sister.

“Don’t worry about Sean coming to get you. We’ll take you to his place.”

“Okay.” She clicks away on her phone for a second. “I’m texting Sean.” When she’s done she slips the phone into her purse and looks up at me expectantly. “Done. We have plenty of time.”

She leans back in the plastic airport chair and folds her arms. It’s a move Sean pulls all the time. It usually works, too. When he stands like that, arms crossed over his chest, intimidating look on his face, people spill all their secrets.

I run my hand through my hair and sit back in my own chair. “I don’t know where to start.”

Stacey had been touring around the country with her play, so she’d missed everything that had happened over the last two months. Sean or his wife had probably told her a few things on the phone. But I was sure that she didn’t know the half of it.

“Well, while I’m dying to know where your shoes are,” she glances at my bare feet, “I suspect that part of the story comes near the end. So you might as well start at the beginning.”

“Fine. I’ll tell you the whole story,” I say. “It all started with your stupid brother…”

You got to Me (Book 3 of the
Love on Tour
series
)
Excerpt from You got to Me:

How the hell did I let myself get into this situation?

This was the question that kept running through my mind as I watched him sleep. He was curled up on the tiny bed, his legs tucked up to his chest, his arms tucked under his chin. He might look like an angelic little boy, if he weren’t a hot hunk of man.

My bladder reminded me of my original purpose for this little trip to the back of the bus. But I didn’t open the door to the bathroom. I kept staring at him. It was something I had to be careful about when he was awake. But right now, I could look my fill and no one would know.

Except me… Damn, I suck.

He moved, and I jumped, bolting into the bathroom and shutting the door behind me. I laid my head on the door and took a couple deep breaths.

I am an idiot. I should have just said no. But how could I? I had no excuse to give. I wasn’t going to teach a summer class just to get out of it. I have no freaking life. I couldn’t think of a single good reason not to come on this tour, except that I have a serious crush on my sister’s husband.

When I got of the bathroom, Sean was still asleep. But I resisted temptation, and instead of staring at him some more, I made my way back up to the front of the bus. Thirty-five days, I had thirty-five days of this hell.

I looked at Hank and Bell cuddled up on the couch, before plopping down in the booth across from Mike. These were my companions on this trip. Hank, who I was not so fond of, Bell, who I liked, but who was crazy insane for Hank, Mike, who I really enjoyed, and Sean, my sister’s insanely hot husband. There was also Tony the bus driver, but he was silent and slovenly.

And here I was, 34 and divorced, with a ticking biological clock. But my little sister, the very sister who begged to me come on this trip, is at home with her beautiful baby, who she got by sleeping with the most gorgeous, considerate, kind, and downright amazing man I have ever the pleasure to know. Fuck my life.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to thank a few very good friends who took the time to be beta readers for me. They put up with my experimentation and loved my characters as much as I do. A big thank you to: Josie Peralta, Rhonna Brown, Annie Kennedy, and Sarah Bobier Geralds. I love you ladies! I also have to thank Jalisa Hines, a talented writer I met in a class who agreed to help me out.

I also want to thank all the people who nominated this book when it was up on Kindle Scout in February of 2016. Your support helped to give me the confidence to self-publish this book.

I also want to express my deep gratitude to reviewers who took the time to provide honest critical reviews, including Rosie Malezer, who reviewed the book for Readers’ Favorite, and batkinson6490, who reviewed it book for Online Book Club.

A big thanks to Marianne Nowicki who created an amazing cover for this book.

Finally, I have the greatest family in the world so I have to acknowledge them for all their love and support in everything I do.

And…YOU!

You are the reason I write. If you enjoyed the book, please take the time to review it on Amazon.
Click here to go to the Amazon page.