So, definitely a pleasure to participate in this EXCERPT REVEAL. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Sneak Peek Excerpt
Rage
bubbles up inside me full force.
“Now?”
Melanie keeps asking me.
I.
Loathe. Him.
“Now?”
she asks again.
I loathe him. He’s the only boy I’ve ever
kissed. He took kisses that meant everything to me and turned them into a joke
of a fucking song. A song that turns me into some sort of Eve, torturing and
teasing him to sin. He is the sin. He
is the penitence, the hell, and the devil, all in one.
I reach
into my bag, nicely tucked under my poncho, and grab the first thing I find.
“Now,” I
whisper.
Before
Mackenna knows what hit him, Melanie and I have sent three tomatoes and a
couple of eggs flying through the air.
The
orchestra music isn’t enough to drown out his muttered “fuck,” audible through
the microphone.
His jaw
clamps and he yanks the mic down over his chin as he jerks his eyes around to
find the source of the attack. I feel delirious when I see the genuine anger on
his face. I squeal, “The rest!” and grab the remaining things we brought and
just keep throwing. Not only at him, but at anyone who tries to get in the
way—like the stupid dancers who rush to protect him. One of them makes a
whimpering noise as an egg hits her face, and Mackenna jerks her back by the
arm so he can take the hits himself, his furious eyes trying to find us in the
crowd.
Then I
hear Melanie shout, “Hey! LET GO, asshole!”
My arms
are yanked behind me, and I’m suddenly shoved and pulled out of my place and
down the aisle.
“Let go
of us!” Melanie cries, struggling as two burly guards drag us away. “If you
don’t let go of me right now, my boyfriend’s going to find your home and kill
you in your sleep!”
The guard
yanks me back harder, and I catch my breath as pain rushes up my arm.
“Asshole,”
I hiss, but I don’t even bother to struggle. Melanie’s getting nowhere and I
know it.
“She knows them! She knows the band! Who do
you think he was singing about just now, asshole?” Melanie kicks into the air.
“She’s Pandora! Let us fucking go.”
“You know
Mr. Jones?” one guard asks me.
“Mr. Jones!” I scoff. “Seriously! If
Mackenna’s a mister, I’m a unicorn!”
They seem
to chuckle among themselves as they lead us past more security, around the
stage, and to a small room in the back. One guy starts speaking into a radio as
he unlocks the door.
Melanie
struggles and tries to kick out, but the enormity of what could happen starts
settling on me, and I grow quiet.
Holy. Shit. What have I done?
“You
don’t have to look so happy, dickface. My boyfriend will find your home too and
kill you next!” she tells the other guard.
They yank
a door open and shove us inside. I stumble as I take a step, fighting for some
dignity as I wiggle free of his grip. “Let go,” I grit, and he finally releases
me.
The radio
transmitter on his hip emits a sound. A voice says something I can’t make out,
but it sounds a lot like cursing.
“Remove
these,” one of the guards commands, pointing at our ponchos.
I pry the
plastic off my body and Melanie does the same, then we watch helplessly as they
strip us of the bags we’d hidden underneath the ponchos.
Melanie
groans when they set our things on a table to the side. Cell phones. Two more
tomatoes. Car keys.
“Wow. You
guys can’t take a little joke now, can you?” Melanie asks them with a haughty
little scowl.
I close
my eyes and try to quell the panic rising in me.
Fuuuuck. What was I thinking?
I haven’t
done anything this reckless in years.
And it
felt good.
Also wrong. Very, very wrong.
But good.
Great, in fact.
Hell, I
can still picture the pissed, disbelieving look on Mackenna’s face. It gave me
intense pleasure. Orgasmic pleasure. But now the intense feeling I’m
experiencing is more along the lines of paralyzing fear.
What if
the guards call him into the room to ask if he does, indeed, know me?
What if I
have to stand here in this small stuffy room and look at him from thisclose!
I feel
sick to my stomach. Later, Melanie’s going to want explanations. Big-time
explanations; more than what I’ve told her so far. She’s going to have to tell
Greyson what happened, and he’s going to want to know everything, because these
stupid security guards messed with his girl. I don’t even know if I can explain
to her the kind of past Mackenna and I share. January 22: the day I unfailingly
get drunk and don’t bother to even see the light of day—I’d sworn to myself I’d
never discuss that day. But Melanie and Greyson? They will want me to open my
box of secrets. Of me and Mackenna Jones.
Hot, wet
mouths melding . . .
Him,
pushing into me, stretching me, taking me, loving me . . .
Promises.
Lies.
Loss.
Hatred.
The kind
of hatred that’s only born of an intense, out-of-this-world love that went
woefully wrong.
What am I
going to say to him if I see him?
What am I
going to do?
Please
god, don’t punish me by making me look at him thisclose.
I pace and pray, pace
and pray while Melanie studies her nails, the wall, and me, sighing with the
bored confidence of someone who knows she’s getting out of here intact. If I
see Mackenna, I really doubt it'll be so easy. My stomach’s already in knots,
and I’m having the most awful urge to vomit right now.
The concert seems to
last forever. One of the guards comes and goes while the other opts to stand a
few feet behind Melanie, standing all military-like, as if waiting for
something.
Oh god, please let that
something not be Mackenna.
I’m wearing off a layer
of my boots’ soles when, a century later, the door swings open and
a chubby man in a suit and tie steps in. My blood pools in my feet from my
nervousness. Lionel Palmer, the band manager, also known as “Leo.” I saw his
face and interview in this morning’s
paper, but I have to say he looked much happier in that picture.
He glares
at us—Melanie glaring back, me standing motionless—and his hands make meaty
fists at his sides.
“Have you
any idea what you just did?” he grits out, chubby cheeks blazing red. “How long
we could keep you two cozy in a fucking lady prison? What kind of fucking fans are you?”
“We’re
not fans,” Melanie says.
The door
swings open and the twins, in all their male glory, join the melee. They look
intimidating all the time, but now—with their blond hair, odd-color eyes, and
perfectly pissed-off scowls—they’re a force to be reckoned with.
I can’t
breathe.
“Who the
fuck are these bitches?” the one with the snake tattoo demands.
“I’m
getting to that, Jax,” Lionel says.
So the
other one must be Lexington. He charges forward and looks at me, eyebrow
piercing and all, then he looks at Melanie. He points his index finger,
swinging it from her to me. “I hope you two have a lot of money, because one of
our dancers is injured. If she’s screwed up for Madison Square Garden—”
“Don’t
worry, Pandora, Greyson will take care of this,” Melanie says easily.
“Pandora,”
Lionel repeats suddenly. He grows still, his eyes sliding back to me. “Your
friend called you Pandora. Why?”
“Because
it’s my name? Duh.”
I’m in
the middle of rolling my eyes when the door swings open and a
figure fills the space. I don’t think my heart is beating anymore. I feel like
someone is strangling me and punching me on the inside.
Mackenna.
A few
feet away.
In the
same room as me.
Bigger
and manlier than ever.
He kicks
the door shut behind him. He’s wearing aviators, so I can’t see his eyes, and
ohmigod, I hate him with a passion. I came here to hurt him, but I’m so
overcome by my anger, I can’t seem to do anything but stand here with my breath
getting trapped in my lungs, my heart squeezing in my chest, my body trembling
as all my suppressed anger bubbles up inside me.
He is
tall and dark, and the remains of a red gooey liquid trickle down his chest.
But what
a perfect chest, with its thin trail of hair that leads the way from his navel
to his dick. Tight leather pants mold to his bulging thighs. A bulging cock
too. I swear girls might think he sticks a loaf of bread down his pants, but I
can assure you that fucker is real. As huge as his fucking ego, and I remember
it used to get as hard as his fucking head.
Not
everyone can pull off a buzz cut, or a diamond stud earring, but he has a
perfectly shaped head that makes you want to curl your hands around it and
trace the curves with your lips. The diamond glints almost menacingly in his
right ear, and when he takes off the sunglasses with an angry jerk, I see his
brilliant, furious silver eyes, and I swear that it feels like coming home.
To a home
that was wrecked, and burned, and there’s nothing left, but it’s still your
home.
How
fucked up is that?
God,
please let him not be real. Let this be a nightmare. Let him be on the other
corner of the world while I hate him safely from my corner in Seattle.
“She’s
fucking Pandora?” Lionel asks
Mackenna.
When
Mackenna’s hard jaw only tightens, Lionel turns slowly around to study me. My
brain is a tangle of confusion because Mackenna is staring straight at me like
he can’t believe I’m standing here.
I can
barely take his steely gaze. I thought this night would give me closure. That I
could make him feel in front of his fans like I felt when he left: humiliated.
Instead he stands there, every inch the rock god, even with tomato puree on his
chest. He owns the room, carrying that unnamable X factor that nobody can
pinpoint but that he has in spades, that tells you he owns this room and
everyone in it.
And that
fact only serves to piss me off further.
“Lionel,” he says in a low, warning tone.
Just one
word makes Lionel ease back. Now nothing stops Mackenna from staring straight
at me.
My face
burns as I remember how I loved him. Deep, hard, completely.
Don’t think about that. You hate him now!
“Nice
hair.” He shoves his glasses into the belt loops of his pants.
His
voice, oh god.
His eyes
run down the length of my hair, and Melanie offers, “I suggested she add a
little spirit to her hair, so at least she looks
happy.”
He
doesn’t even look at Melanie. He looks at me in the most intense way,
specifically the pink strand in my hair, waiting for me to answer. I loathe
that pink strand, but not as much as I loathe him.
“Nice
tights,” I return, and gesture to his leather pants. “How’d you get into them?
From the top of a building and with a pound of butter?”
I refuse
to let his chuckle move me, but I feel it run down my legs as he starts
approaching. “No need to use butter anymore. These pants are a part of me.” He
holds my gaze helplessly trapped. “Like you were a part of me once.”
He’s
coming closer, and every step affects me. My cheeks burn. The gall of him to
remind me. I’m so angry. Years of hurt simmer in me. Of loneliness and
betrayal.
“Fuck
you, Mackenna.”
“Already
done, Pandora.”
PRE-ORDER
AVAILABLE
Amazon
US: http://amzn.to/1Bfzsis
Amazon
UK: http://amzn.to/1yia714
Barnes
& Noble: http://bit.ly/11X9CAG
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1ynQ9FV
RELEASE DATE: December 9th
Blurb
A ripped rock star with attitude. An ex-girlfriend with a reckless plan.
Pandora assumed getting her
heartbroken by her bad boy ex could only happen once--until Mackenna Jones
comes back to town for the biggest concert of his career. They say girls are
getting pregnant just thinking about the Crack Bikini tour and it's destined to
be a huge hit.
Oh, it'll be a hit
alright--when Pandora comes out swinging. She and her friend Melanie are
determined to humiliate him onstage. But when they're caught by security and
her ex is summoned, Mackenna decides not to press charges if she'll join him on
tour and follow certain conditions--rules designed to give him the upper hand
and keep her in close contact with him once again. Soon, the passion they once
shared is reignited, and no matter how much Pandora wants to hate him, her hard
exterior starts to crack.
And worse: Mackenna knows it, too. But he
hasn't uncovered all her secrets...
Series Reading Order
Real (bk 1)
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1CHl6sS
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1w35g8N
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1zT7J31
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1tHrTct
Mine (bk 2)
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1I2nbzy
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1tHrdns
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1zmq1cT
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1yhymBF
Remy (bk 3)
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1vOn8T2
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1w35lcN
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1ynVnBv
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1vlqhom
Rogue (bk 4)
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1vOnjh8
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1FOFfJy
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1wvpqI6
iTunes: http://bit.ly/12xnylU
Ripped (bk 5) 12/9
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1Bfzsi
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1yia714
Barnes
& Noble: http://bit.ly/11X9CAG
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1ynQ9FV
About the
Author:
Hey! I’m Katy Evans and I love
family, books, life, and love. I’m married with two children and three dogs and
spend my time baking, walking, writing, reading, and taking care of my family.
Thank you for spending your time with me and picking up my story. I hope you
had an amazing time with it, like I did. If you’d like to know more about books
in progress, look me up on the Internet, I’d love to hear from you!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKatyEvans
Email:
authorkatyevans@gmail.com
THANK YOU!
~Leftie
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