“Hey Poppy,” he greeted lovingly, holding the young woman close to his side. The sight was rather funny; her tiny petite frame squished to her brother’s massive body. “This is my new friend . . . ” he trailed off, waiting for Emily to fill the gap with her name.
When Penelope approached her brother she hadn’t noticed that he was talking to anyone, so his introduction made her peel her eyes from him to look at the woman standing in front of him. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized who Taylor’s new “friend” was.
“Miss W, nice to see you again.” Her voice was slightly shaky.
“Hi, Penelope,” Emily greeted with a smile.
She would never admit to it, but Emily had some favorites amongst the kids in both the study group and the book club, and Penelope was definitely one of them. Until that moment she hadn’t made the connection between the two siblings, despite the clear alikeness. They shared the same chocolate colored straight hair and expressive brown eyes.
“I’ve told you, out here there’s no need for the Miss W nonsense. I actually hate it—it makes me feel really old, just call me Emily, please,” Emily asked. “Will I be seeing you this summer?” she continued kindly.
Penelope’s lips broke into a smile. “Yes, we’re traveling with our family for the first two weeks, but I’m coming back here right after and then I’ll be in every meeting.”
Taylor was stunned into silence knowing that the woman he’d been talking to for the past few minutes was the head of his sister’s book club. So that’s what she meant by “kind of” working here. Once he understood that part, he remembered telling her that his sister described the woman as an awesome blogger chick—and he’d suggested that she was hot! He also remembered Emily saying that the woman was both. In retrospect, he could hear the joking tone in her voice as she said that, which further proved to convince him that she really was awesome.
Lost in his own thoughts, he nearly missed the conversation that was happening between Emily and Penelope.
“Well, I’m happy I’ll be seeing more of you. I have to get going. Besides, your brother said you guys are going to lunch, and he looks hungry.” Emily smiled at Taylor. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Taylor. You guys have a great weekend and a great vacation. Good luck on your final tomorrow, Penelope. See you when you get back.” She waved at them and walked away.
Taylor mumbled a goodbye and watched her walk away with the most pathetic look in his eyes, a look that didn’t go by unnoticed by his younger sister.
“No way in hell, Taylor,” Penelope began forcefully, grabbing her brother’s arm and pulling Taylor’s attention back to her. “You. Stay. Away! I love this book club and Emily has the job I dream of having. I can learn a lot from her. You’re not screwing it up for me by screwing her. No! I’ll . . . I’ll . . . I’ll tell Mom, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll tell Mom that you’re jeopardizing my academic future. And I’ll kick you out of my apartment and send you packing back to New York.”
Her protests grew more and more hysterical as she went on. Not fully tuned into her words, Taylor’s brows pulled together in confusion and his long fingers pinched her lips together. He’d done that to her whenever her confused babbling had started since she was a little girl. Placing his other hand on her shoulder he asked, “What are you shrieking about, Poppy?”
She waited until he released her lips and, in a calmer tone, repeated herself. “I saw you drooling, but you are not going to sleep with Emily. I forbid you! If you do it, I’ll kick you out of my apartment and tell Mom that you’re screwing up my academic life.”
Taylor shook his head and laughed, not at all the response his sister was expecting. “When exactly did she ask me into her panties? Please, tell me, ‘cause I must have missed it.”
Penelope glared at him humorlessly, making him laugh even harder. “You worry too much, Poppy. I’m not Gabe, and you know it. We just talked—but I have to admit she’s as great as you told us.”
“Yeah, she is . . . ” she agreed, smiling at her eldest brother. “Now that you’ve been warned, take me to lunch, because we have a lot of studying to do this afternoon.” Curling her thin arms around his middle, she giggled and allowed him to pull her towards the parking lot.
To continue reading, check out EXCEPTION at Amazon
A lot happened during the seven months in which I wrote THE REASON I STAY, and through the good, the bad and the awful, I had the love and support of some really extraordinary people. Here they are:
Alex, how did I get so lucky in life that I ended up married to you? You are my best friend, my biggest cheerleader and the inspiration for every male lead I write. Through your encouragement, guidance and enthusiasm I find the motivation to follow my passion; through your love I find the strength and courage to transcend my own flaws and limitations, and become the best version of myself. For that, I’ll be forever thankful to you. Thank you for teaching me all I know about the cosmos, logotherapy and Taoism, and for finding the quote I wanted. But above all, thanks for riding the VW bus with me and making this crazy ride interesting. I love you from January 1st to December 31st on the cosmic calendar, and I’ll continue to love you all through next year.
Jen, OMK, where do I even begin? Sharing this book with you, in all its versions, titles and drafts, has been one of the most special and heartwarming experiences of my life. There’re no words that could ever explain what your critiques, edits, comic relief, advice, teasers and hands on help meant to me. More than that, there’re no words to explain what your friendship means to me. You’re the sister of my soul, the bestest best friend in the history of ever and the most amazing NLW I could dream of. There’s no one more deserving of a book dedication than you, SS. Thank you for always being there. I can’t wait until we’re neighbors and I get see you everyday. Love your face, guts and all the rest.
Anna, Stephenie and Anitra, meeting you guys has definitely been one of the best perks of becoming an author. Thank you for all suggestions, cheesy lines, feedback and all the laughs during our group chats. You guys are amazing and I love all three of you to pieces.
Lauren, you are undoubtedly the best and most understanding editor in the world. Writing and editing this book was eventful and stressful, but, as always, you made the process fun, relaxing and all-around awesome. Thank you so much for pushing me to use all of my senses and for making all my words polished and pretty.
Sarah, I said it once and I’ll say it again: you’re a cover design genius. Also, I’m now convinced that you’re psychic—I told you nothing and you gave me exactly what I wanted. Thank you for creating a cover so full of pretty and for being such a joy to work with.
Emily, thank you for beautifying this baby and giving me all the different fonts, graphics and whatnots I wanted. Also, thank you for going above and beyond to help me figure out this publishing business. You’re amazing!
Giselle, thank you for being so competent in what you do and so fun to work with. I never thought the marketing side of this industry could be so enjoyable, but it is with you. Xpresso Blog Tours has a client for life!
Last, but not least, I’d like to thank you, my dear reader. I absolutely love what I do. Creating stories and making fictional people fall in love is a blast, but without your eyes to read it and your support to keep me going it wouldn’t be as much fun. So THANK YOU for giving me a reason to do what I love. I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that you enjoyed The Reason I Stay—it was written for you!
Hopeless dreamer, tattoo enthusiast, Disney addict and hoarder of nail polishes and vegan recipes. Patty lives with her husband, her crazy cat, two dogs and elderly bunny in a house frequently visited by wild birds and chipmunks.
Visit my website
Follow me on
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
This ebook was designed and formatted by
www.emtippettsbookdesigns.com
Artisan ebooks for discerning authors and publishers.
Copyright © 2014 by Patty Maximini
Cover Art: Copyright © 2014 by Sarah Hansen (Okay Creations)
Editing: Lauren McKellar
Formatting and Interior Design: EM Tippetts Book Designs
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Quote
Chapter One – Matt
Chapter Two – Lexie
Chapter Three – Matt
Chapter Four – Matt
Chapter Five – Lexie
Chapter Six – Matt
Chapter Seven – Lexie
Chapter Eight – Matt
Chapter Nine – Lexie
Chapter Ten – Matt
Chapter Eleven – Lexie
Chapter Twelve – Matt
Chapter Thirteen – Matt
Chapter Fourteen – Lexie
Chapter Fifteen – Matt
Chapter Sixteen – Lexie
Chapter Seventeen – Matt
Chapter Eighteen – Lexie
Chapter Nineteen – Matt
Chapter Twenty – Lexie
Chapter Twenty-One – Lexie
Chapter Twenty-Two – Matt
Chapter Twenty-Three – Lexie
Chapter Twenty-Four – Matt
Chapter Twenty-Five – Matt
Chapter Twenty-Six – Lexie
Chapter Twenty-Seven – Matt
Epilogue – Lexie
EXCEPTION excerpt
Acknowledgements
About the Author
About the Book Designer
Copyright Notice
The Reason I Stay Page 29