Release Day Launch: How to Say Goodbye. Teaser and Giveaway
Amy has a secret: no one’s ever held her hand. She doesn’t
even know how to hug. Everyone thinks she’s smart, but straight As are way
easier than making friends. Then she meets Dane, a golden-haired surfer whose
easy charm and hot touch teach her what she longs to know.
Dane lives for the salty breeze and a sweet wave, because
that’s all he has. He’s been on the streets since he was fourteen. A drifter.
Homeless. Then he meets Amy. Smart and accomplished, she’s everything he’s not.
He wants to be the sort of man who deserves her.
Except that means facing down his past—and that past might
very well swallow them both.
EXCERPT:
He
smiled with the barest hint of irony. “Guess you have better things to do than
build a sand castle.”
She
hated how his words echoed her thoughts, how they put him down. Didn’t he know
how much she would give to be like him? Relaxed. Confident. God, she didn’t
want to be afraid anymore.
“I’ve
got time.”
He pointed behind the castle.
“There’s an enchanted forest right there.”
She
knelt down. “Here?”
“No, over. A few inches to the
left. Don’t you see it?”
He
was…teasing her. It took her a second to understand just because it had never
happened before. Not that she could remember.
She
looked down to hide her smile. “I think I’ve got it now.”
He grinned. “Then get building,
Cornell.”
Her
first attempt was more like a molehill with a pointed top. By her second she’d
learned to pack the sand more tightly, earning a brief nod from him. After that
she worked steadily, forming the little conical pine trees in varying sizes. A
vision sketched in her mind, of lush trees and woodland creatures, of fancy and
imagination.
Kneeling
in her oh-so-practical shoes was impossible, so she took them off. Her skirt
hiked up her thighs as she scooted around the forest. Sand squeezed between the
mesh of her stockings.
She
hoped it would never come out.
When he finished carving arched
windows, he stood back and dusted the sand from his palms. She trailed a finger
down the last tree—this was how he’d feel, gritty and soft—before standing up
to join him.
He
was tall. His height shouldn’t have been a surprise; she was often the shortest
one in the room. But she’d been equal to him on the ground, both of them dirty
and eager in the sand. Now he was the tall, handsome stranger, and she the shy
girl who hardly spoke.
She’d
aced fluid mechanics, for God’s sake, so why should this matter? It didn’t, it
didn’t. But her heart double-timed when she asked, “What do you think of the
forest?”
With
mock solemnity he studied the trees. They lined up neatly in rows like a
Christmas tree farm she’d passed once in rural New York.
“It’s
pretty,” he said, repeating her words. Then he smiled, almost shy. “Very
pretty. Do you want to grab some dinner?”
Her
breath caught. Had he just asked her out? It had sounded like that. Exactly
like that. Her heart beat a rapid pace.
Daylight
traced tiny lines radiating from his eyes, from the corners of his mouth. A
smattering of blond hair covered the tanned skin of his chest, highlighting
lean muscles beneath. Even the tips of his eyelashes were bleached, every part
of him touched by the sun. A golden boy, a rippling-surface stereotype, while
hidden depths lurked beneath. What would it take to dive under? In that moment
she wanted to find out. Right then she wanted to drown.
But
she’d had a lifetime of treading water, of survival. Only one answer made
sense.
“I’m
sorry.” Her voice sounded hoarse with disuse, as if she hadn’t spoken in years
instead of seconds. “I’m not going to be here long. In Florida.”
She
kicked herself. He hadn’t asked her to marry him, for God’s sake. He’d only
wanted a date, and she should be able to do that. If she were more normal, she
could have.
Fleeting
emotions flickered across his face. Disappointment first, followed by others
she couldn’t understand. But resignation—that one she recognized like an old
friend.
“All
right. Take care then.” His voice rang with finality. They would part now. She
wouldn’t see him again, because she didn’t know how to be close to another
human being. No textbook had ever taught her. No monthly phone call had told
her how to feel.
Her
face heated.
“You too,” she murmured. “I’ll see
you around.”
But
even that presumed too much. A slight shake of his head said no, she wouldn’t.
His lips curved in a cold shadow of his former smile.
“Bye,
Cornell.” He crossed the beach, heading for the water.
He walked right past the frothy
edge and dived underneath, leaving only ripples in his wake. His head came up
once for air, and again, and again, growing smaller, farther away.
She
waited for hours. Or seconds, really. She stood with sand caked to her hands
and her knees, feeling abraded and raw. Every other time in her life, she’d
pretended not to want this. Friends and laughter. Easy camaraderie. Touch.
Standing on the cooling sand, her stomach grumbling with hunger, she could no
longer pretend.
Amber Lin Bio:
Amber Lin writes edgy romance with
damaged hearts, redemptive love, and a steamy ever after. Her debut novel,
Giving It Up, received The Romance Review’s Top Pick, Night Owl Top Pick, and 5
Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies. RT Book Reviews gave it 4.5 stars, calling
it “truly extraordinary.” Since then, she has gone on to write erotic,
contemporary, and historical romances. She has been published by Loose Id,
Carina Press, and Entangled.
Buy Links:
Links:
1 comments
Aw this sounds like a beautiful story!
ReplyDelete