Matt's Mistake (3 page)

After all, there had been no formal
introductions. They didn’t know for certain who or what he was.
Even though Beard County was a small town, the odds were pretty
good that they’d never run into each other again.

“Hey, Reign?” Red called back.

Matt stopped with his hand on the door handle
shocked by the man’s use of his last name - so much for
anonymity.

“Don’t let yourself make the same mistake I
did,” Red warned.

It seemed futile to ask how Red knew who he
was. Matt had already wasted enough time on the couple today.

“Since it’s obvious you already know who I
am, then you should know that there’s nothing on this Earth that’ll
stop me from taking back what’s mine,” Matt vowed.

“I’m counting on it, bro,” Red smiled.

With a simple nod, Matt turned his back on
the man and ran down the steps, finally free of the small
cabin.

“ ‘
Cause there’s a lot riding on it for
all of us if you fail, my friend.”

Even half-way to his truck, Matt’s canine
hearing picked up the man’s hushed warning. He fought his instinct
to turn back and demand answers from the man. Unfortunately, any
more time wasted added to the risk of losing Maggie, and that was a
risk Matt couldn’t take.

He needed every precious second he could get,
because not only did Matt need to arrive in time to stop Breeder’s
engagement claim on Maggie, he also needed time to win her back.
Lots of time.

What most people didn’t’ know was that
Matthew had purposely shattered Maggie’s heart before he left all
those years ago. He'd made sure she knew she meant nothing to him,
joked that he’d never loved her, made fun of her lack of
experience, and vowed he’d never return.

It had been the hardest thing he’d ever done,
knowing even then that she was his one and only mate. He doubted
his methods every day for the last six years, but ultimately he did
it for her. He only hoped he would have enough time to convince her
of that before it was too late…

I have loved romance books since the 7th
grade when I was finally able to borrow books from the
Young
Adult
section of the school library. Over
the years I've spent more time than I care to admit writing half
stories and then trashing them; thinking no one would want to read
what I like to write.

I have finally found the courage to share my
first story with you the reader – “Matt's Mistake.” I hope you
enjoy it.

When I'm not reading, writing or daydreaming,
I'm doing the mundane - working, grocery shopping, laundry, cooking
and cleaning for my three amazing kids and my always supportive
husband. These days I spend a lot of my time trying to keep our new
psycho puppy from destroying our home in the suburbs of
Toronto.

I encourage readers to connect with me via
email:
[email protected]
or on
Smashwords, Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks for taking the time to read my
story,

Julie

Look for other books by Julie Raust coming
soon to Smashwords.com