Exposed: Laid Bare (Laid Bare #1)(20)

I gestured to the trail. I was intrigued, I was thrilled. I threw caution to the wind. Living recklessly had never felt so good as I said, “Let’s get going then.”

Lucien took my hand. “Wise choice,” he murmured.

We began to walk again toward the mansion, and the craziest thing was I could have sworn I heard Lucien mutter under his breath, “Although a choice was never an option anyway.”

What that meant, I couldn’t begin to imagine.

But I couldn’t wait to find out.



Unveiled: Laid Bare (Volume 2) ~ available June 2015. Unveiled will contain Dahlia’s point-of-view, and due to popular demand Lucien will be heard, as well.



Read other books by S. R. GREY





The biggest “thank you” goes out to the readers. Thank you for taking a chance on this departure for me. I am learning novellas are their own brand of special. It’s fun to dole out a little bit of a larger story one bit at a time. I hope you’ll be brave and stick with me throughout Lucien and Dahlia’s story. I think you’ll enjoy their journey.

As always, thank you to family, friends, bloggers, and the most awesome street team ever. Much appreciation also goes out to Hot Tree Editing, Cover It! Designs, and the formatting team at E.M. Tippetts.

Thank you!!!





S.R. Grey is an Amazon Top 100 and Barnes & Noble Top #1 Bestselling author. She is the author of the popular Judge Me Not series, the Inevitability duology, A Harbour Falls Mystery trilogy, and the new series of Laid Bare novellas. Ms. Grey’s works have appeared on Amazon Bestseller lists and Barnes & Noble Bestseller lists in multiple categories.

Ms. Grey resides in Pennsylvania. When not writing, Ms. Grey can be found reading, traveling, running, or cheering for her hometown sports teams.



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Read the first chapter of S.R. Grey’s newest New Adult/Romantic Suspense novel, Inevitable Detour

Inevitable Detour





Chapter One


I stare at the computer screen. It’s my last exam of spring semester, and there are only five questions left on the Strategic Management final before me.

My eyes are glued to words, forming a single question. I know the answer. Yes, I do. But then my vision blurs, and I think, ugh, whose idea was it for me to major in business?

Not mine.

The cursor on the screen blinks over answer choice B. Like I said, I know the correct answer, and it sure as hell isn’t B.

What to do…what to do…

With a sly grin, I choose B and hit next.

I am feeling particularly defiant today. My parents left me a voice mail this morning, telling me in no uncertain terms that any thoughts of heading up to New York City this summer with my best friend and roommate, Haven Shaw, are best put to rest. So much for thinking it’d be fun to hang out in the Big Apple with Haven while she worked on finding an agent, making acting contacts, and generally just doing whatever it is a person needs to do when preparing to land a part in a play someday.

And not just any play.

“Broadway, here I come,” Haven said the other day when we were discussing her big-city dreams.

She’s a bit theatrical, but that’s to be expected. She’s a theater major, after all. Her goal is to eventually make it as an actress on the Great White Way.

Conversely, my dreams are much smaller. My primary longing lately is for something—anything—to happen in my mundane life. I thought New York would be a promising start. Guess not. Thanks to my parents and their aversion to anything fun for Essa, there will be no excitement in my life this summer. Nope. Just like the two previous summers, I’ll be lulling away the time here at Oakwood College. Excitement for me will consist of chilling in the coffee shop on the edge of the tiny Pennsylvania town my small college is located in. My after-class afternoons will include exciting activities like staring out at cows and farmland, sipping on a mocha, and wishing and hoping for something more.

And that’s just not right.

I’m a damn straight-A student, for God’s sake. I don’t need to spend the summer at Oakwood, taking stupid summer classes. Unfortunately, my parents don’t care about my wants and needs. They believe their only child should apply herself year-round. Forget that I’m already a model daughter.

Well, more or less. But that’s neither here nor there.

Bottom line is that my parents will not, as they put it in their terse message, have me “veering off course.”

Oh, really? So they think…

My defiance hits full throttle, and I purposely choose the wrong answers for the next four questions.

I hit submit and think, take that, Mr. and Mrs. Brant.

Despite my actions, I’ll still receive a solid A for the class. My GPA will not suffer in the slightest. Still, it feels kind of good to be bad.

That’s sad, Essa, that choosing a few wrong answers on a final is the best defiant act you can come up with.