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EXCERPT:
Shaking the memories from my mind, I pull three shot glasses onto the bar. I need a reset after that little moment. I mix three of my favorite shot—chocolate cake—and place three lemons on the edges. “Bottoms up,” I say to my two friends and go to hand them each one.
Before I can grab them, fingers circle the tiny glass, and my eyes remain on the ink on the forearm which belongs to the hand. “Don’t mind if I do,” the voice I know better than my own says.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I whisper to Shawn, “Please tell me there isn’t really a man with blue eyes standing in front of us.”
The voice interrupts my conversation with Shawn. “Oh, chocolate cake. Shoulda known, Cookie. You always needed your chocolate.”
I open my eyes and glare at him.
Nate Fucking Pearson.
God, why does he have to be so damn good-looking? If I were the type of girl to go weak in the knees, now would be the moment for that. But I don’t have the capacity to indulge in moments like this. He’d stolen that ability from me.
Behind me, Hailey laughs. “Did he just call you Cookie? Oh dude, that’s not going to end well for you.”
I feel Shawn inching away from me, and I grab his hand, pulling him close. There is no way I can make it through this conversation without other people around. I can’t be trusted alone with this man. Even after all these years.
He’s a man. When did that happen? Last time I saw him he was still a boy. I mean, I’d been twenty-seven and thought we were grown-ups, but the man before me is different. He’s hardened. The scruff on his face is light but it makes him seem older. Sexier.
Fuck.
And the lines around his eyes. They’re new. There was a time when he couldn’t get a pimple without me knowing. I knew every inch of that face. But not anymore. The years we’ve been away from each other are written all over his face. I wonder what he thinks of how I look.
Dammit, Amelia, no you don’t. You don’t wonder anything about him because he’s nothing to you.
Nate chuckles as he puts the shot glass back down and looks up at Hailey. “I’d call her my wife, but she’d probably throw something at me. So, Cookie sounds safer, right, wifey?”
My chin stiffens, and my knees begin to betray me. Not now, I tell my inferior body parts.
Keep it together.
The hardest words to mutter burn my tongue on the way out. “That’s ex-wifey to you.”
Author Bio:
Brittanee is an author and practicing lawyer who lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two children. Her town is a character in itself in all of her books. When she is not writing she enjoys spending time outdoors by the water with her children, reading at the beach or by the pool (or really anywhere), dancing with her friends, singing Karaoke, spinning, bike riding and boating. Some of her favorite authors are Sophia Kinsella, Elin Hilderbrand, Liane Moriarty, Mary Higgins Clark, Meghan Quinn, Daphne Elliott, Amy Alves, Claire Kingsley, Melanie Harlow, Christina Lauren, Sally Thorne and Sarah Adams. Clearly, she has a problem and can't pick favorites.
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