by Amy Patrick
“Sheldon Santos.” He extended a beefy hand toward Reid. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Mancini.”
“Call me Reid.” My ex-boyfriend set his food bag on a nearby table and clasped Sheldon’s hand firmly. He gave him a cautious smile and glanced warily at the camera slung over Sheldon’s shoulder. “That thing’s not loaded is it?”
Sheldon’s face took on an affronted frown. “No, man. I wouldn’t do that. No legitimate photog would shoot you when you weren’t aware of it.”
Reid lifted a dark brow. “You’d be surprised what people would do with the right amount of motivation. I hear there’s a pretty good price on my head these days.”
“Forget what I said about not being arrogant,” I said, tilting my chin up to him and arching a brow.
Reid’s face broke out into a real smile, reminiscent of the ones he’d worn almost perpetually when we were younger. He gave me a deferential nod. “Well, naturally, I wasn’t suggesting that you wanted anything from me. I believe you made your position on that quite clear, Miss Neely. It is still Miss, isn’t it?”
“Yes. And I understand you’re single as well. How is it that the world’s most successful matchmaker is still alone?”
Reid’s refusal to do interviews combined with his immense wealth and celebrity-level good looks had caused the national media to pursue him relentlessly. And the fact that he was famously hard-to-get only fanned the flames—among the press and among women of all ages. My own friends had made lecherous comments about him whenever a long-distance lens managed to capture his shirtless image on a private beach or his tuxedoed form at some hoity-toity high-dollar charity event.
Reid smirked in response to my question. “Well, as you know, my business is devoted to reuniting true loves. And one must have had one of those to be reunited with one. So, I’m afraid it’s not of much use to me personally.” He gave a slight head nod and lifted his to-go bag from the table. His voice took on the same formal tone he’d used this morning with the legislators on the finance committee. “Sheldon, nice to have met you. Mara—welcome home. I’m sure we’ll run into each other from time to time professionally.”
And then Reid walked past us out the front door.
“Not if I can help it,” I muttered to myself, my face still burning from the casual insult he’d delivered in that nothing-personal tone of his.
“Well—that was interesting.” Sheldon blew out a loud breath. “I can see why you broke up with him. That guy’s kind of an ass.”
“Yeah,” I agreed as we left the restaurant and headed toward the news car parked a few blocks away. Except he wasn’t. Reid Mancini had been the best guy I’d ever known.
“And, for the record, dude,” Sheldon continued, “No matter what he said—he was blown away by seeing you. No guy looks at a girl like that unless—”
“I know,” I interrupted, not wanting Sheldon to finish his thought. It didn’t matter. I knew it anyway. When we had last seen each other five years ago, I would have bet everything I’d owned, would’ve bet my mother’s life that Reid had loved me. I knew that because I had loved him, too. Madly, passionately, with every fiber of my seventeen-year-old being.
And that was why I’d made sure after our high school graduation night, I would never see him again.
So much for that plan.
STILL YOURS will be available for purchase in September 2014. Click here to sign up for Amy’s newsletter if you would like to receive news on upcoming 20 SOMETHING series books and release dates.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
One little page isn’t enough to hold all the gratitude I feel for those who made CHANNEL 20 SOMETHING possible, but I’ll try. First, thank you for giving this book a chance and spending your valuable time reading it.
I owe so much to my brilliant critique partner McCall Hoyle, who reads me first and never fails to find the flaws, to the rest of the Dauntless girls and the 2014 GH Dreamweavers for their enthusiastic support, and special thanks to my Lucky 13 sisters for their friendship, advice, virtual Prosecco, cupcakes, and cabana boys. My undying love and gratitude goes to my Savvy Seven girls, Sheri Adkins, Holly Bodger, Kari Edgren, Kim MacCarron, Bonnie Staring, and Darcy Woods.
A special thanks to my lovely editor Judy Roth, whose sharp eye and gentle delivery make me eager for her edits every time, and to the world’s most patient cover designer Gabrielle Prendergast—your amazing attitude is only surpassed by your artistic talent.
Most of all I want to thank my incredible family. To Mom, my very first and biggest fan, who convinced me from an early age I really could do anything I wanted to in this life. To Daddy, who’s always there, my brother Richard for his love, and my sister Bethany for her unwavering support and willingness to read whatever whenever, and to Joanne and Larry, the greatest in-laws who ever lived. Thank you, Chelle and Margie, for always listening about book stuff and life stuff, and to the Westmoreland Farmgirls, friends for life. I love you all.
The biggest thank you goes to my amazing husband for never once complaining about all the things I let slide in favor of writing, and for always, always believing in me. Thank you to my boys for understanding why Mommy spends so much time glued to the laptop and for willingly eating whatever I can whip up in twenty minutes or less. The three of you make my life wonderful every single day.
A final thanks to the rest of my friends and family for your interest (real and feigned), cheers, and commiseration all along the lengthy path to publication.
Okay, so I didn’t do it in one page. I did try. I am too blessed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amy Patrick grew up in Mississippi (with a few years in Texas thrown in for flavor) and has lived in six states, including Rhode Island, where she now lives with her husband and two sons.
Amy has been a professional singer, a DJ, a voiceover artist, and always a storyteller, whether it was directing her younger siblings during hours of “pretend” or inventing characters and dialogue while hot-rollering her hair before middle school every day. For many years she was a writer of true crime, medical anomalies, and mayhem, working as a news anchor and health reporter for six different television stations. Then she retired to make up her own stories. Hers have a lot more kissing.
Amy loves to hear from her readers. Feel free to contact her on Twitter https://twitter.com/AmyPatrickBooks or her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AmyPatrickAuthor
Or sign up for her newsletter here.
The 20 Something Series
CHANNEL 20 SOMETHING
(Book One—Heidi and Aric)
STILL YOURS
(Book Two—Mara and Reid)
STILL ME
(Book Three—Kenley and Larson)
STILL BEAUTIFUL
(Book Four—Cinda and Blake)
STILL WAITING
(Book Five—Hale and Jillie)
Read the back cover blurb of each of my 20 SOMETHING novels by visiting my website at: www.amypatrickbooks.com
For the latest news on release dates, sign up for my newsletter at: http://www.amypatrickbooks.com/latest-news.html
Table of Contents
Chapter One One-Woman Band
Chapter Two Perfect Candidate
Chapter Three Dance with the Devil
Chapter Four Start Saying Yes
Chapter Five Unwanted Invitation
Chapter Six Family Dinner
Chapter Seven Rescue in the Rain
Chapter Eight Snake Bites and Beards
Chapter Nine Comparison
Chapter Ten Tears and Cheers
Chapter Eleven You’re Starting To Relax
Chapter Twelve Station Policy
Chapter Thirteen Victory Kiss
Chapter Fourteen What’s Your Number?
Chapter Fifteen The Wrong Thing to Say
Chapter Sixteen Cold Shoulder
Chapter Seventeen The Whole Sordid Story
Chapter Eighteen What Are You Waiting For?
Chapter Nineteen Guess Who’
s Coming to Dinner
Chapter Twenty Say It
Chapter Twenty-One Declaration
Chapter Twenty-Two Have a Nice Dinner
Chapter Twenty-Three Date with Disaster
Chapter Twenty-Four Strange Bedfellows
Chapter Twenty-Five Major Life Decisions
Chapter Twenty-Six The Ultimate Stand Up
Chapter Twenty-Seven Hire Him
AFTERWORD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR