Tell Me How This Ends
Page 25
“He’s coming over for dinner tonight.” Lizzie’s voice contains a twinge of nervousness.
“What’s wrong?”
Lizzie looks down at her hand and plays with her nail. “I know you weren’t thrilled about the Ryan-and-Jude situation.”
She’s not wrong; I don’t love that Lizzie is dating her ex-boyfriend’s brother. I met both brothers last time I visited, and Jude seems like a handful. Plus, even though Ryan gave Lizzie and Jude his blessing, I can’t help but feel that situation will get messy once Ryan gets home from wherever he is.
“I sure as hell shouldn’t be giving you advice about relationships. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
“I really am.”
There’s a whole world in Lizzie’s smile, and a lot she’s not saying: that she loves Jude, that she wants to jump in with both feet and never look back, that he’s the one. I know my sister.
“That’s written all over your face, baby girl.”
“Yeah, probably.” She blushes a little. “I’m bringing Jude home during spring break.
Our father is extremely traditional. He had a shotgun propped up by the door every time Lizzie brought a new guy home—just in case. I used to think that was excessive, until Lizzie’s college boyfriend. I know he hurt her in some way; she won’t tell me the details, which is how I know it was bad. “Let’s hope Dad doesn’t shoot him.”
She shakes her head. “That would be a shame.”
We both laugh, but the sound dies in my throat when the door opens and Sam walks in. She is as beautiful as I remember. Her magnificent ass is encased in yoga pants, and she wears a sports bra that accentuates every curve. Honestly, that’s all secondary to her huge doe eyes, which are her best feature. But I can’t look at them right now. I can feel my heart stuttering to a grinding halt, so I take a deep breath and remind myself that we don’t like each other. Or I think that’s what we decided. Hard to know, because at the time, I was spilling my guts like a baby and putting my tongue down her throat. Must have been temporary insanity.
Maybe she’s softened toward me since then.
“Hi, Jeff,” she says, beating me to the punch. “Good to see you again.” Her smile is ice cold and 100 percent fake. So her opinion of me hasn’t changed.
“Hi. Nice to see you, too,” I say with the brightest smile I can. Two can play this game.
“You just go for a run?” Lizzie asks her.
“Yeah. I’m going to jump in the shower. We doing dinner here?”
My brain is stuck back at the word “shower.”
“Definitely. I’m going to take Jeff to look around, but we’ll be back by six.” Lizzie motions toward me, which snaps me out of my fog.
“Cool. I hear you’re staying with us for a little while.” Sam’s looking in my general direction, but not right at me.
“Yep. Thanks so much for offering to let me stay.”
My exaggerated tone is not lost on her. She’s observant, this girl. Her eyes flash for a second, because she and I both know she doesn’t want me here. Maybe it was because I sounded like a total idiot the night we met. Or maybe it was that kiss. Either way, I’m not going to bend over backward to be nice to her if she’s still holding a grudge.
How nice it is not to have to be nice for a change.
She recovers quickly and gives me that beauty-pageant smile again. “Oh, anytime.”
As she walks away, I swear she shakes her ass at me. What kind of mixed message is that? My jaw goes tense. I may be an easygoing guy, but she just waved a red flag, and right now, with this woman, I feel like a bull.
She wants a challenge? I’ll give her one.
Acknowledgments
First and always, I have to thank my husband, Dan, for believing I could do this years before I believed it, and then helping every single day to make it happen. And my kids, who took it as a given that I would succeed.
To my real-life heroine, Sue, who told me to get off my ass and write, and who read and reread this book until she knew and loved it as well as (if not better than) I did.
To my beta readers: Natalie, Ness, Patricia, Valerie, and Wendy. Scott, for sending tearful photos of himself reading the book, and Angie, for being a super fan and friend.
To Bernadette, for explaining nursing programs. Any and all mistakes are my own.
To all the judges, writers, editors, and agents who offered feedback, advice, or encouragement, including Layla Reyne, Seana Kelly, Katharine McGee, Sonali Dev, C. C. Humphreys, and the Silicon Valley RWA chapter. Most especially my tell-it-like-it-is, donut-loving agent, Laura Bradford, and my talented editor Eileen Rothschild, for falling in love with the book.
And to Jude. He may be fictional, but like Frankenstein’s monster, he wouldn’t let me rest until I created his Elizabeth.
Finally, to everyone who takes the time to read the book, cheer me on via social media, or support this journey in ways big and small: No words in my vocabulary can describe the impact you make on my life.
About the Author
Author photograph © Toni Bird
Victoria De La O is the award-winning author of the Tell Me romance trilogy, including Tell Me How This Ends. A native of California’s Silicon Valley, she spends her time raising two kooky kids with her husband, arguing about films, and partaking in chicanery. Find her online at www.victoriadelao.com.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
Excerpt: Tell Me Not to Go
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright Page
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
TELL ME HOW THIS ENDS. Copyright © 2016 by Victoria De La O. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover photographs: couple © Tetra Images—Yuri Arcurs/Getty Images; boy © Halfdark/Getty Images
ISBN 978-1-250-12208-7 (e-book)
First Edition: November 2016
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