One of my favorite romance authors, Jessica Scott, has a new book releasing tomorrow and she's shared an exclusive excerpt with the Nook. "Break My Fall" is the second book in her new adult romance, Falling.
Jessica Scott is an Iraq war veteran, an active duty army officer and the USA Today bestselling author of novels set in the heart of America’s Army. She is the mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs, and wife to a retired NCO. She and her family are currently wherever the army has sent her.
She's also written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View Regarding War, and IAVA. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/New Dawn and has had the honor of serving as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas twice.
She's pursuing a graduate degree in Sociology in her spare time and she's been featured as one of Esquire Magazine's Americans of the Year for 2012. Jessica is also an active member of the Military Writers Guild.
Find Jessica online:
website
All business. That's the only way through this interaction. I have to keep some distance between us. I’ve worked too hard to get where I am to risk screwing it up over a guy. Again.
He looks at me silently, letting the quiet wrap around us until I'm sure we're the only two people in the world. Now that I'm closer, his eyes change from dark and hidden in shadows to light, light green. So light they're almost clear. I've never seen a man's eyes change color before. It's fascinating. They stand out even in the dim lighting of the Baywater. And he's got ridiculously dark lashes. He probably doesn't even realize what that does to the ladies.
I take that back. He probably does. Guys like him always end up with girls like Parker throwing themselves at him. They’re both lucky enough to have those options. And yeah, I’m a little jealous over the carefree way I imagine him having sex. With Parker.
His penis probably never lacks for company.
I almost smile at the decidedly not business train of thought. But then I realize that he is watching me, silent and unmoving.
"Are you going to speak?" I finally ask. "Or are we going to stare at each other until one of us blinks?"
His lips twitch, and I really don't need to focus his bottom lip again.
"You never stand at the bar and bullshit with the other waiters. You're always busy." His voice is warm and smooth, not rough and slurring like that night at the bar. Nor is he fierce and solid like he was in class. No, he is something different now.
"Aren't you the observant one?" I brace my hip against the solid wood door. The cut above his eye is almost healed. "No bar fights tonight?"
“Almost.” He tips his chin. "Tried getting a drink, but the company at my usual watering hole isn’t very appealing this evening."
"Sounds like you were avoiding unpleasant company."
His mouth curves into a smile then and it's kind of overwhelming how it transforms him. The hard edges melt away and his eyes crinkle at the edges.
"Pretty perceptive, aren’t you," he says.
I frown but I'm smiling when I shake my head. "It goes with the territory."
He lifts one broad shoulder and I can't help but notice the way his neck moves. I've always been attracted to strong men. Which is part of the problem, because guys who spend too much time in the gym are generally overcompensating for either a underdeveloped sense of self or a small penis. Sometimes both. It’s hard to decouple which way the causal arrow goes.
But I should not be letting the butterflies in my stomach entertain ideas about Josh Douglas. He's trouble. He might be dark and compelling and incredibly sexy, but he's trouble nonetheless.
And wow, can I think about something that is not tangentially related to my lack of a sex life? Graham would be so proud.
Josh swallows but says nothing. Again his neck moves, and all my attention zeroes in on the way his skin slides over the muscles.
Down, girl.
***************
Violence.
I’m addicted to it. It’s how I feel alive. It’s the only thing that’s real any more.
And now I have to sit around and discuss it like it’s physics or calculus.
I can’t do it. I can’t pretend that it’s some sterile academic topic.
Violence isn’t sterile. It isn’t calm. It’s pulsing. It’s alive.
It’s my drug.
Until I met Abby, I never wanted anything beyond the next fight. Never considered that I might finally find a way back to the land of the living.
Now? Now I find myself dreaming of a woman with golden eyes.
But I can never be with her. Because I am not whole. And I never will be again.
But I cannot stay away. And loving her might finally be what breaks me. (less)
Series: Falling #2
Publisher: Jessica Scott
Release Date: February 16, 2016
Formats: ebook, paperback
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks* |
* associate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.
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