Title: Back to
You
Author: Natalie-Nicole Bates
Publisher: Bradley Publishing
Length: 26,000 words
Sub-Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Bradley Publishing
Length: 26,000 words
Sub-Genre: Contemporary
AVAILABLE AT:
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Back-to-You-ebook/dp/B007384GOS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328794975&sr=8-1
Bradley Publishing - http://shop.bradleypublishings.com/Back-to-You_c4.htm
BLURB:
On the
surface, Lynsey Reznor seems to have it all. She is beautiful, brilliant, and a
successful true-crime writer who has been living the past decade in Miami. But
what Lynsey lacks is what she needs the most—a family.
After the
death of her mother, and yet another failed relationship, Lynsey makes an impulsive
decision to return to her hometown of Unity. But Unity will present its own
bittersweet memories, most notably, her first love, Nick Lincoln.
Twenty years ago, Nick broke
teenager Lynsey’s heart when he decided to marry another. He had his own private
reasons—reasons he never explained to Lynsey. Now she is back, along with a
chance to reclaim her love. But Lynsey wants answers from him that he may never
be able to give out of duty and guilt.
EXCERPT:
When he heard
her, he came to her, took her into his arms, and kissed her. It was a comfort
that he wasn’t regretting their lovemaking. She didn’t think she could handle
being rejected by him twice in her lifetime.
“Do you have
to leave soon?” she asked.
“I’m sorry. I
don’t want to, but I have to.” He went to the stove and prepared her a cup of
coffee. “I think we should start planning our wedding. We could be married at
Christmas.”
She was taken
aback. Is this his proposal ? This was
supposed to be so romantic and memorable, not talk about planning a Christmas
wedding while he stirred a cup of coffee.
“Do you even
want to get married?” She took the coffee mug he offered. “I mean, it wasn’t
that long ago that you told me you weren’t sure you ever wanted to be married
again. You said you didn’t see fatherhood in your future, and Nick, I want a
baby…more than one. I grew up as an only child and I was so alone. I don’t want
my child to have to experience that.”
“Well, I
didn’t use a condom last night. You could be pregnant right now,” was his
reply.
Heaviness
descended upon her heart. This was so not how she wanted this morning to be,
and certainly not the marriage proposal she had dreamed of. “I’m on the Pill—I
won’t get pregnant if that’s all you’re worried about.”
“I’m sorry,
that’s not the only reason we should get married.”
“Then why?”
she asked suspiciously.
He let out an
exaggerated sigh. “Lynsey, I don’t have time to get into this with you right
now. What do you want me to say in the five minutes I have before I leave for
work?”
She couldn’t
believe his glib attitude. “How about
saying something to me like…‘I love you, Lynsey, and I made a tremendous
mistake by not marrying you twenty years ago?’ That would take you less than
thirty seconds to say, and you could have easily gotten to your precious job on
time.”
Suddenly his
jaw set and his eyes narrowed. “I didn’t make a mistake by not marrying you
twenty years ago! I let you go to become a success in life—and you did. I can’t
regret that!”
“So, what I
thought all these years was correct. I was nothing to you but a quick and easy
way to shed your virginity.” Just saying the words was devastating.
“That’s not it
at all,” he vehemently insisted. “You were always so intelligent. I mean, you
were a sixteen-year-old senior in high school! Just how many grades did you
skip over, anyway?”
“Two,” she
answered in a low voice.
“Do you know
what would have happened if I hadn’t married Kelly?” He didn’t wait for her
reply. “I’ll tell you what. You and I would have been ostracized by everyone in
this town! We would have had to be married right away, and we would have had to
live with your mother, because I had no money.”
“My mother
loved you. She would have been happy to have us live with her,” she
interjected.
“And we were
so naïve, Lynsey. You would have graduated high school with either a big belly,
or a baby in your arms…if you had graduated at all.”
She crossed
her arms over her breasts and looked at the floor. She was too afraid that if
she looked at him she would break down. “Some of the girls in school were married.
A few of them had babies.”
He lifted her
chin and forced her to make eye contact with him. “And you were too smart to be
stuck in this town, and just another housewife. You would have become bored and
resentful.”
“I wouldn’t
have known the difference,” she countered.
“I had serious
doubts then. I still have doubts now,” he admitted.
Her dark
lashes flew upward. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I believe that you will become bored and
restless in Unity and will want to go back to Florida or maybe California. I
have a job and a family here, Lynsey. I don’t ever want to give that up. I’m
afraid that we’ll have a child, and you’ll take my baby and leave. I can not
allow that to happen.”
She couldn’t believe what he was saying.
Nothing was further from the truth. “Do you think I would have sunk so much of
my savings into that house just to abandon it? I would never, ever do what
you’re saying. But if circumstances changed, I would expect you to support what
was best for our family. Couples who are committed make sacrifices for each
other!”
It was becoming clearer and clearer that
things were rapidly falling apart between them.
“Lynsey, didn’t what happened between us last
night mean anything to you?” he asked.
She chuckled unpleasantly. “I suppose that
with us living in such close proximity, last night was inevitable. But don’t
worry about it happening again, Nick. When you get home this evening, I won’t
be here.”
“Where are you going to be?”
She wanted to hurt Nick like she was now
hurting. “I’m sure that Caleb wouldn’t mind me bunking down at his house for a
week or two.”
“Over my dead body,” he seethed. “I will drag
you away from him kicking and screaming if it comes to it. I’ll handcuff you to
my bed if need be. Believe me, Lynsey, I’ll do it!” He flopped down into a
kitchen chair and buried his face in his hands.
“I have to go
now, Nick. I’m meeting your sister for breakfast. Listen to me. You need to
pull yourself together. In your line of work, bad things happen when you lose
your concentration.”
When he didn’t reply, she let out
a sigh of resignation and headed for the door. At the last minute she turned to
him. “Thanks for almost making it happen between us.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Natalie-Nicole Bates is a book reviewer and author. Her passions in life include books and hockey
along with Victorian and Edwardian era photography. Natalie contributes her
uncharacteristic love of hockey to being born in Russia. She currently resides in the UK where she is
working on her next book and adding to her collection of 19th century
post-mortem photos.
Website - http://www.natalienicolebates.com
You Tube - http://www.youtube.com/natalienicolebates
Twitter - @BatesNatalie
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/natalienicole.bates
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