by Fiona Cole
Shane leaned over and kissed me long and hard, sending chills all over my body.
As soon as we each rounded our sides of the car, we linked our hands back up and made our way into King’s. Everyone was already sitting at the table and froze at our entrance, falling completely silent. My eyes sought out Jack as I gave Shane’s hand a supportive squeeze and was met with flared nostrils and a snarling lip.
“You have a lot of nerve showing up here,” Jack said, rising from his chair and taking angry strides toward Shane.
Before he could make it very far, I held up my free hand to halt his progress and gave him a fierce stare of my own.
“I love him. And he is part of this family. So you better love him too. He makes me happy. Period. The end.”
“You go, Glen Coco!” Evie shouted from her position at the table.
“What?” Jack asked exasperatedly, jerking his head around toward her.
“Sorry. Mean Girls reference to cheer my girl on.” She waved her hands in a rolling motion. “Proceed. But if you could forgive him soon, that’d be great because I’m starving.”
Luella laughed as Jack turned back to glare at Shane. I turned to look at him to find nerves etched all over his face. His chest rose high before he let out a heavy sigh.
“Look, man. I’m sorry. I never meant for it to happen, but I’ll never regret that it did. I love her.”
Jack said nothing as he let Shane’s words sink in.
I stepped into Shane’s side, wrapping my arm around his waist, needing to be close after his proclamation.
“You ever hurt her, I will fucking murder you.”
“Duly noted.”
“Praise hands. Let’s eat,” Evie shouted.
I smiled up at Shane, and we moved to take a seat at the table. Jack continued to level dubious glares in Shane’s direction, but quickly turned away when I whispered in Shane’s ear and then nibbling my way down his neck.
“Ugh,” Jack grunted.
“What?” I turned to Jack with raised eyebrows. “I’ve watched you and Lu all the time. Let’s not even talk about the time I walked in on you and saw your pasty ass.” I shuddered, and not for effect.
“Ahh, good memories.” Evie smiled up at the ceiling like she was seeing it all over again. But when Jameson nudged her, a questioning look on his face, she stopped and gave him a peck. “But not as good as you, Jamie-boy.”
“Or the time in the bathroom,” Shane murmured under his breath.
“What?!” Jack and Luella’s shocked voices asked in unison.
I leveled a death glare at Shane for even reminding me of that horrifying moment.
He just laughed and said, “Nothing,” before leaning down to kiss me softly, erasing my irritation.
As everyone moved on talking about anything and everything, I curled into Shane’s side, with our hands clasped tightly on top of the table for anyone to see.
This was my life. My family. And it was more than I ever could’ve imagined.
Acknowledgments
As always, there is no way I could have done this without my family. My girls drive me to be better than I was yesterday and to be someone they can look up to. And my husband, my biggest supporter, the man that would move heaven and earth and sacrifice it all just to make me happy. I will never forget when I thought you were supposed to have gone back to base and I kept imagining how excited I’d be if I was wrong and you were at the party. It was all my imagination, right? But there you were, waiting for me so we could rock this world together! I love you.
Karla, the only woman who can make me ridiculously happy and also make me want to plot her death. Haha! I couldn’t make these books what they are without you asking the hard questions. The ones that really suck and are hard to answer. But they make the book something I can be confident in. Your friendship gives me life and I couldn’t survive without our endlessly rambling voice messages. I love you.
Rachel and Georgeanna, my ride or die sisters. I wouldn’t survive life without you ladies by my side. I cherish our day drinking adventures and late night get togethers, full of laughter and the best support a woman can ask for. I love you both so much and hope to God that the Army never separates us. Even if it does, I know no distance will keep us apart.
Becca, my champion. My goodness I have never had anyone believe in me quite like you do. I never would have made it as far as I have without you forcing my book on everyone. Without the support and care only you are capable of with your amazing heart, I’d never be where I am now. God blessed me when He placed you in my life.
To Linda, from Foreword PR. Oh my goodness, you have become so important to me. I couldn’t imagine any of the success I’ve stumbled upon without your help. You were so amazing to take me under your wing and guide me through this. Thank you for taking me on, and thank you for being so amazing and kind.
To my amazing beta readers. Serena, your messages and GIFs were everything. I love that you loved Shane so much and took a chance on reading Imagine Me. Your feedback was perfectly on point. Thank you! Julia, I’m forever grateful that you took the time to message me. You gave me such perfect feedback that really made me think about Shane and Juliana’s story. I couldn’t have done it without you. I will await the day that we can finally meet and ramble awkwardly together in person! Haha! #RamblersUnite
Karen, there are no words for how grateful I am for your editing. It is thorough and lets me feel confident about how clean it is. I hope to keep you forever because I can’t imagine ever putting another book out without your talented eyes on it. Thank you!
Alexis, my go to proofreader. I love your honest feedback and always trust your comments. I could never not have faith in someone who loves Original Sinners just as much as I do! I’m so glad we connected. You have been more than just a proofreader to me, you have guided me through this community and always supported me. Thank you for being my friend.
Najla Qambar, you are by far the most talented cover designer ever. How can you not be when I only send you vague answers and complete indecisiveness? And yet, there you are, making the cover I couldn’t even imagine. They are always gorgeous and everything I could want.
To all the awesome ladies in my reader group. I love talking music with you and your feedback on excerpts and teasers give me the fire I need to continue. Thank you for all you support and faith in me.
To all the author, readers, bloggers, and bookstagrammers. I have to fight the urge to list all of you off because you all just blow me away. Every time I get a chance to talk to an author or they share something of mine, I’m floored. I’m in so much shock that you can even see me. Haha! I will mention Sierra Simone, because you may not know this, but when you messaged me about Shame Me Not, I was in tears of joy. I was so honored by your comments. Especially from someone who writes ridiculously sexy as hell sex scenes. Whew! Thank you for taking the time. I’m forever grateful.
Bloggers and bookstagrammers, I would be nothing without you. Literally. You spread the word, you take time out of your busy lives and share my work just out of your passion for reading. Your pictures are gorgeous and your words are kind. You make this community go around and I see every post and share, and I love all of them.
Readers, you are the most phenomenal people and I’m always humbled by all your feedback. Every time someone messages me about a book, I am blown away. I know how hard it is to reach out and possibly not get a response, and you do it anyway. I have loved and reread every single message. Thank you for taking a chance on my stories. There are so many amazing books and never enough time to read them, so I’m so happy that you picked up one of mine. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Other books by Fiona Cole
Where You Can Find Me
http://mybook.to/WhereYouCanFindMe
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Luella King has experienced loss all her life. After losing her parents and the most important person in her life, she hesitates to open up to anyone and instead plays i
t safe. One night, she throws caution to the wind and gives into her desires with a sexy stranger.
Fearing her sudden and unexpected loss of control, Luella runs away from him. A chance second encounter pushes her to open her eyes and give the stranger a chance.
There’s something about Jack MacCabe that makes her feel safe enough to lower her guard. Despite how busy he is with his job as a security specialist, they continue to spend more time together and with each date and late night message she finds herself falling in love.
When a serial killer wreaks havoc on their city, Jack's dangerously close proximity to the case reignites Luella's fears of losing someone important to her. Surrendering her fears in order to keep Jack by her side challenges Luella to her limits, while Jack is under pressure to catch the serial killer before it's too late.
As Jack and Luella draw closer to one another, the killer closes in on their next victim. Soon Jack and Luella find themselves entrenched in a mystery they never saw coming.
**Warning: This book may contain minor triggers due to sensitive topics.
Deny Me
http://mybook.to/DenyMe
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Jameson King.
My best friend’s brother and the person who could make an Olympic sport of ignoring my relentless teasing and taunting.
I was a live-in-the-moment girl flirting with a man who always looked to the future. He was traditional, carrying the weight of his whole family on his broad shoulders, and I had been taught to never fall in love, focusing on my career instead of a future with anyone.
He tried to deny me, tried to deny the passion simmering between us, bubbling under the surface of every game we played.
But all that changed during one week in Jamaica.
Falling into bed with Jameson was easy, but falling in love was out of the question.
Shame Me Not
http://mybook.to/ShameMeNotKindle
Free on Kindle Unlimited
Shame. Panic. Desire. Dominance. Disgust.
All feelings that I was familiar with from the age of sixteen. That's when I met Ana. The girl next door who became so much more. Until her, I was alone in the dark desires that I didn't understand, that I couldn't reconcile.
My best friend, she accepted me. Helped me see that there was no shame in the things that we both craved. Her submission was a drug, my dominance over her a high that I'd never experienced. When we were together, I was at peace for the first time in my life.
But it was too good to last. Our own guilt over our feelings, of our appetite for pain and pleasure, destroyed us.