Awakening (36 page)

He’s cleaning my fridge? I’m speechless.

He throws some cartons away with a flourish and shuts the door.

“Let me just toss this in the bin. Are you almost ready?” He holds up the trash bag, bulging from God knows what.

“Yeah. I’ll just turn off the lights and lock up.” I check the windows and turn off all the lights. Just as I’m wheeling my suitcase out the front door, Ryan is back to help me.

It feels good, the two of us. I’m excited to be going to his house. I’ve never been there. He takes my case and kisses me briefly on the lips.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hey,” I say back.

I shut and lock the door.

We leave my car there for the time being; maybe we’ll pick it up later tonight. All my stuff fits nicely in Ryan’s Jeep, and it’s more comfortable anyway. I snuggle into the seat while he drives.

“So. I’ve never been to your house, you know,” I say, almost shyly.

“You haven’t?” He seems a little taken aback.

“No. You never invited me over before now.”

“Well. Sorry, my error.” He waits a minute or so, focusing on driving.

“So. Anything else happen this last week I should know about?” he asks, almost cynically.

“Oh yeah, one other thing. I’m quitting my job and applying for internships at law firms. Know of any?” I say, as nonchalantly as possible.

He doesn’t speak, he just looks at me for longer than he should, then back to the road. Then his face splits into a huge grin.

“Yeah. I see that you’re the kind of woman who needs constant contact to keep up with,” he says, amused.

“Well, a lot can happen in a week, you know.”

“Well, not for normal people,” he scoffs.

“Who says I’m anywhere near normal?” I laugh at him. “And last week was not a normal week! Thank God!”

“Oh, so this kind of thing won’t happen again? You know, where in less than week you make a series of life changing decisions?” he asks, sarcastically.

“Oh, no. I would never promise such a thing. It was sort of cathartic, it all happening at once like that. I liked it. That may be my new modus operandi.” Now I’m really laughing.

He puts a hand on my thigh as we wind our way down the back streets of Atherton. I don’t know where we’re going, but wherever it is, it’s going be nice.

“You know what, Young. You’re fun,” Ryan says, squeezing my leg.

I close my eyes and take in the moment.

“Thanks, Cole. Back atcha!”

THE END

~ ~ ~

AWAKE
—
Coming Fall 2014

A Note from the Author

Thank you for reading Awakening. I hope you enjoyed Ryan and Nora’s story as much as I did. My first big thank you is to you—the readers!

Ryan and Nora used to wake me up at night, whisper in my ear during they day and generally pester me until I finally sat down and let their story unfold. A lot had to change to make that happen. My wonderful family has been nothing but supportive and loving through it all. I love you guys.

My first editor, Susan Cole, was amazing to work with. She gave me just the right amount of encouragement and constructive feedback to keep me going and point the book in the right direction.

And, Valerie from Loud Lit Chicks, gave me her two cents and made the book that much better as well as adding all those commas. Thanks Valerie, your work was invaluable.

Karen not only designed the cover and everything else, but she has been my greatest champion from the very beginning. Thanks Karen, what would I do without you?

Of course, I wouldn’t be here today without my husband. Somehow I married the most amazing man on the planet. Words cannot express my love for you and all you do. Thank you from the recesses of my heart.

I would also like to thank all my fellow writers out there. The community of romance writers is one of the most amazingly supportive industries out there. Everyday I am blown away at how many writers are willing to take time out of their day to help each other out and support one another.

And last but not least, I need to thank my friends from RWA! Without you I’d still be wondering what to do next!

Meet Sydney

Sydney Holmes writes contemporary romance with an erotic flair, or as she likes to say, “Hot and spicy romance that keeps you up at night!” She believes there is nothing more exciting than reading a hot, sexy tale about two people searching for themselves and getting lost in each other.

Sydney is married to a wonderful man and they have two children. Sydney graduated from The George Washington University with a BS in Political Science and holds a Master’s Degree in Education. She lives near the ocean in California and travels as often as she can.

To learn more about Sydney, please visit her website at
www.SydneyHolmes.com

Or, check her out on Facebook
www.FaceBook.com/SydneyHolmesAuthor

And, follow her on
Twitter @SydHolmesAuthor

For periodic updates, news, events, book releases, and sneak peaks please join Sydney’s mailing list at
www.SydneyHolmes.com/contact-sydney

Excerpt from

Escape

by Sydney Holmes

Chapter One

ROWAN

Sweat dripped off her skin and slid down her back. The rising heat made her head swoon but Rowan stood her ground ticking off the seconds.
Water
. She really needed more water but now wasn’t the time. The smell permeated her nostrils and burrowed into her brain. Never again! She would never be able to eat meat again.

“Two more cheese burgers and a corn dog,” Tami yelled in her direction.

Rowan nodded and watched as the burgers oozed their juices over the grill and the meat turned from soft pink to brown. The deep fryer to her left bubbled rapidly sending yet more grease and heat into the air. Even with only a pair of shorts and a thin tank top, Rowan’s face was hot and her skin reeked of fried food. The thick apron somewhat protected her clothes from the grease and slim, but nothing could protect her from the stifling heat.

“You get that, Rowan?” Tami asked her.

 
Tami was one of the teenagers she supervised. For an extra buck fifty an hour Rowan agreed to be the manager of the local pool’s Snack Shack. In the cool offices of the Community Center, it seemed like a really good opportunity, but now, sweating like a pig and working the grill because none of the teenagers wanted to get greasy, she was questioning that decision.

“Yeah, thanks Tami. Can you please check the fries? We don’t want to run low on them.” Rowan called back, flipping the burgers and throwing two more on the grill. Reaching down to get the buns, she noticed they were out.
Shit
. She’d have to make one of the girls work the grill while she went to the stock room.

“Julie, after you start that corn dog, you need to cook these for me while I run to restock.” Rowan called toward the other side of the tiny kitchen.

“Ohhhh Rowie. Do I have to?” Julie whined back to her.

Rowan wanted to slap her. Never in all her life had she heard a sixteen-year-old girl whine so much. That would have never been tolerated back home. Hell, that never would have even happened. No one whined—ever.

“Julie, get an apron and don’t burn these burgers. The lunch rush is just starting,” she scolded as she walked toward the door pulling off her apron.

“Fine. Yuck. I hate it back here. It’s so hot.” Julie reluctantly slipped on an apron and picked up the spatula.

The sun hit Rowan harder than the happy screams of the swimmers as she opened the door. The Community Pool was busy this time of year. She had no idea there would be so many kids with nothing to do but go to the pool and swim every day. Not like her childhood, if you could even call it that. Wasn’t Justin’s either she thought with a pang of guilt.

Why they thought keeping the supplies to the snack bar in the office building was a good idea she would never know. But it did allow her out of the kitchen every once in a while to breath some fresh air, albeit chlorinated, but still better than what she was breathing near the grill.

Making quick work to gather the supplies, she did several trips back and forth restocking everything that was low. On her last trip back, she noticed the condiment stand was a mess. Taking a deep breath she ran to get a wet rag and went back to clean up what Julie and Haley were supposed to keep clean. Those girls were serious slackers.

After cleaning the condiment stand, she checked the rest of the front set up to make sure there weren’t any disasters looming. Satisfied she headed back toward the back.

“SHANE!” Tami called out an order ready to be picked up.

“I’ll get it Tami. What do they look like?”

“Tall, dark hair, slight beard, cut like you’ve never seen, red trunks—with three kids.” Tami reported searching the tables. “Over there.” She pointed.

Rowan grabbed a tray and piled on the burgers, corn dog, large French fries and four drinks and walked over to the table.

“Is anyone hungry over here?” she asked the kids. All three kids jumped up with shouts of, “me, me, I am!” She started passing out the burgers, drinks and fries. Once all the kids seemed to have their food, she had one corn dog left.

“And this must be…” she started to say to their dad, but Rowan’s heart almost stopped when his dark green eyes locked with hers. For the first time, Tami was accurate in her assessment. He had short dark hair, almost spiky, with a smattering of a beard, and sitting there in his wet shorts he was cut like a God. His abs alone made her mind go places she hadn’t been in years. His shorts were riding low enough to see a happy trail run along his flat stomach straight down his perfect V ducking down underneath the waistband of his shorts. For a second, she wanted nothing more than to follow that trail straight down into the depths of him.

Clearing her head, she realized she was holding her breath. He looked familiar, but then she wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment. The exquisite male before her reached up and gently lifted the corn dog boat from her hand and placed it on the table.

“Thanks. That would be mine.” His voice was deep and rich and slithered across her skin causing her arms to break out in goose bumps.

Rowan froze. Her throat was dry, that was to be expected in this heat, but goose bumps could only be explained by her sudden and intense reaction to this man.
Damn, I really need to get out more.
Embarrassed, she tried to pull herself together.

“If there is anything else you need, just let the girls know.” She turned and went back to her place by the grill.

Humiliation crept into her veins, she could feel the heat of it crawling up her neck and blossoming on her face. Drooling over fathers spending a day with their kids. That was a new low for her. After all this time, working so hard to fit in out here and act like a normal woman, with a normal back ground and history, and yet one good looking man and she felt like an awkward teenager with too many hormones.

She knew she couldn’t give up. No, that would never happen. She would never go back, but the outside was, in fact, a lot harder than she thought. She knew Jolly was evil and cruel, but maybe he did know a thing or two. Out here was confusing and hard with too many rules and expectations.

Rowan took a long drink of ice water and a deep breath. She may only be thirty-one with no outside skills at all, but she was fierce and determined to make it. She was already running the Snack Shack for the community pool—HA! Proof that she could handle it out here. Rowan smiled at the thought. Besides, she had Justin to think about, failure was not an option.