Finding Love – Learning to Love 1
Abbey felt like
her life was torn upside down when she discovered her husband cheated on her
and then filed for divorce. After a yearlong pity party, her friends think she
needs to get her life back in order, so she decides it's time for some changes
and that includes finding a job.
She is so proud
of her son, Brian, for starting his first summer job as a camp coach for the
local Parks and Rec department. Summer is going well until her ex-husband flips
because Brian doesn’t want to see him. Luckily for her she has met Seth, former
soldier and owner of S&C Security. He is gorgeous with a tall, muscular
build and bright green eyes, but Abbey fears he will not accept her son.
Will Seth stick
around and protect Abbey and Brian or will he run when he realizes just how
crazy Abbey’s ex really is?
Siren Classic: Erotic Contemporary Romance, HEA – Adult
content
STORY
EXCERPT:
I am about to
point out a cute guy to Sarah, when I realize who I am looking at.
“Oh, my God, oh,
my God! It is him!”
“It is who?”
Sarah asks.
“The guy from
outside the store the other day.”
She responds
with a, “No way!”
I tell her to
scope his eyes. They are the most perfect green eyes I have ever seen.
Tracey sees who
we are talking about and says, “Damn, girl! He is hot!”
He must feel me
staring at him because he turns right to me, and I instantly turn around,
embarrassed to be caught. He starts over to our table with a sense of purpose,
and I am mortified, and beet red in the face. Tracey is hitting my arm and telling
me to pull it together because he is almost here. I suddenly hear, “Hey,
ladies.” I close my eyes. What
a sexy-ass voice!I can smell his cologne, and it is heavenly.
I turn around
and say, “Hey.”
“What are you
ladies up to tonight?” his sexy voice asks us.
Tracey responds
with, “Oh, you know, just a girls’ night out, a few drinks, and some dancing.”
He looks right
at me and says, “Nice. Maybe I can get a dance, later?”
“Sure,” I
respond back with a smile.
Then I realize
my panties are soaked, and it reminds me of just how long it has been since I
have had sex. I am not even referring to good sex, just sex in general. I don’t
dare tell the girls that, but excuse myself, and go to the ladies’ room. When I
return, there is another round of drinks at the table, and the music has gotten
a little louder. I grab my seat, and enjoy my next drink. I catch myself
scanning the bar looking for him, and realize he didn’t even tell me his name.
I probably won’t even see him again tonight. I mean, if he really wanted to
dance, he would have introduced himself, right?
Sarah must
realize I am thinking too much, because she grabs my hand and pulls me on the
dance floor. “Dark Horse,” by Katy Perry is playing. There are not a lot of
people out here, but that never bothered us; we are known for getting the dance
floor started.
I tell her that
I feel like someone is watching me, and she responds with, “That’s because he
is watching you.”
“Are you
serious?”
She smiles and
nods at me, and I just start laughing like she told me a funny joke. We dance
another song together, and Tracey joins us, filling us in that Melissa is going
to hang out at the table, as usual. I see him head over to the table, and the
feelings I have are not good. I am feeling a bit angry as I watch him talk to
Melissa. Did I misread the
situation? How could
he have looked right at me, and asked me to dance, yet he is talking to
Melissa? Still watching the scene unfold at our table, Melissa notices, and as
soon as he walks away she gives me a thumbs-up to let me know they were
probably talking about me. I instantly regret getting angry, and will myself to
gain some control. I don’t even know his damn name!
I shake him out
of my head, and start dancing again. Sarah taps me on the arm, and points to
our table. He has bought us a round of drinks, and I realize I am not sure how
I feel about this.Coming on a bit strong, no? I decide to head back to the table,
and of course Sarah and Tracey follow.
As we arrive, he
turns around and says, “This round is on me.”
I say, “Thanks,”
with an attitude.
Sarah looks at
me like, What the fuck? and I shrug my shoulders.
He walks off
with a slightly hurt look in his eyes, and I instantly feel bad. What is my problem? It is just a
round of drinks! Why am I mad? I
knew coming out was a bad idea. After a few sips of my drink from Mr. Hottie, I
decide I need to hit the ladies’ room so I can try to change my mood. I leave
the table walking with my head down because my mind is reeling, until I smack
right into what feels like a brick wall. I look up to apologize, and it is Mr.
Hottie himself. I roll my eyes at my clumsiness and apologize. He looks me dead
in the eyes and says, “Maybe I should be apologizing. It seems I’ve upset you,”
as he takes his hand and removes a piece of my hair from my face. His touch
sends a wave of shock through my body, and I break out in goose bumps.
“No, you didn’t
upset me. Thank you for the drinks. It’s just that…I …um… It’s complicated.”
“Like you have a
man complicated?” And I want to laugh and tell him I was once married, but he
was no man.
“Ex
complicated.”
He smiles and
says, “Ex complicated is way better than man complicated.”
This time I do
laugh. I hold out my hand and say, “Abbey,” by way of introduction. He returns
the shake and says, “Seth.”
“It is nice to
formally meet you, Seth!”
“Trust me, the
pleasure is all mine.” I realize I am no longer in need of the ladies’ room,
and I invite him to join us. He declines but tells me he will be around for the
dance I promised him. I smile and say, “Great, see you soon.” When I get back
to the table my friends all have their mouths hanging open, and they beg for
details. I fill them in on his name and our conversation and how he has
promised to stop back over for a dance, and I realize I haven’t stopped smiling.
Copyright © 2015 by Alison Mello
Five
questions for the author
Q: Every book is special to an
author. What is it about this book that
makes it special for you?
A: It’s my first! This was a book
I just sat down one day and started writing. I asked a few people to read it
once I was a few chapters in and they all said ‘keep going!’ so I did and that
is how the Learning To Love series was born.
Q:
Sometimes things happen when you are writing a series that wasn’t
expected at all. Have you had this
happen to you?
A: All the time! I am not good at
writing a book that is planned out because I NEVER stick to the plan so it I
sit and write as things come to mind! This series has a fourth book I never
planned on writing originally but as I was writing each book Michael’s
character grew to be a part of everyone’s lives so I decided to give him a
story and so the fourth book was born!
Q.
Is that why you always include a danger element to your books?
A. The danger part is what keeps
me wanted to read. I add them because when I decided to start this journey part
of my purpose was to keep in mind what I liked and didn’t like about books I’ve
read. I like the wonder of what will happen next if there is a little danger
involved.
Q.
What are you working on at the moment?
Well I am working on the idea for a new project. The four books of the
Learning to Love series have been written and you will see them all out soon,
however I am working on a standalone that will probably be out early 2016.
Q.
Do you have anything to say to your current readers or to those that
haven’t yet read you work?
A. There are a lot of people who
have not read my work because this is my first book and so if you are
purchasing this book and giving me a shot I thank you so much! I have fallen in
love with writing and hope to provide readers with many books they will love
and enjoy. I think I have grown a little with each book I have written so I
look forward to hearing what you all think about each book in the series as
they come out.
Author
bio:
Thank
you for choosing to read my book. I am a stay-at-home mom to two children who
are my world. My husband has a very tough job so I work part time and take care
of the kids. I live in a small town in the state of Massachusetts where I was
born and raised. As a child and young adult I was never a big reader but fell
in love with it after having my son and built up quite the collection of romance
novels. As I started to read more and more I started to notice things I really
enjoyed in a book and things I didn’t. One morning I woke up and decided that I
wanted to write my own series keeping those thoughts in mind. I was frustrated
over the lack of hours with my job and decided if there was ever a time to give
this a go it was now, so I pulled out a tablet and just started writing. I hope
you enjoyed my first book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
