Pull (Seaside #2)(73)

Alec

The group was all together. Evan and Alesha, Alyssa and Demetri, Angelica and Jaymeson, and finally Nat and me. I cringed for the twentieth time that day.

Seaside was officially the hot spot to be, and we were the show to watch. Nobody was nervous but me. Why was I the only one? I was stressed, pissed, angry, worried. Damn, I felt like a parent. I just wanted to protect everyone, especially Nat. I loved her so much and now it felt like I was really exposing her to the life Demetri and I lived on a day to day basis.

Before it wasn’t so bad. I gave Nat a bit of Hollywood in small doses. After all, AD2 was still technically on hiatus.

Not now. Why did it suddenly feel like I brought the depths of hell into this sleepy town? Camera crews were everywhere. A makeup artist touched up Nat’s lipstick for the third time while I watched. Could they have at least gotten her a female makeup artist? By the looks of this guy, he wasn’t gay. And if he kept lingering, my fist was going to end up in his face.

I scowled and looked towards the ocean. It was like I had just hatched hundreds of baby turtles and was now waiting in horror for them to be eaten by birds before swimming free in the ocean.

Note to self: You know your life is going to shit when you start using reptiles as allegorical examples of how bad things suck.

“Enough!” I finally said as the guy hovered over Nat’s face adding more powder. He scurried off as I showed him the finger.

Nat glared in my direction. I blew her a kiss and managed a smile.

Six weeks. I could do six weeks of filming, and then I was going to propose and whisk her away from Seaside, away from Hollywood, away from everything. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could balance everything before I broke. All things considered, I was already on borrowed time. Nat and Demetri had no clue. I gripped the chair until my knuckles turned white.

I wanted her far away from everything when it hit the fan.

Author Note:

I honestly don’t know where to start with this author note! I have so many people to thank! First and foremost, I’m so thankful that God has blessed me with this incredible JOB! I love writing. I honestly would write all day if I could… oh, wait. Most days I feel like a complete nerd. I stare at my computer, I sigh loudly, I cry, I yell at my characters and somehow everything always gets finished without me killing any of them off… so far. MUAH HA HA! Note the craziness factor here! Clearly I need to get out more!

Thank you to all the readers out there that gave this genre a chance. I know I typically write regency romance, so doing a New Adult series was a bit of a stretch for me. Thank you so much for sticking with me and for supporting me. Fans on Goodreads that helped spread the word about this book, I can’t thank you enough!

You know who you are! It would take forever to list you guys, but I appreciate you more than you will ever know!

Liza Tice, wow, girl. You’ve been there since the beginning when I said, “Hey, I may write a New Adult book, you think it would suck?” You are the greatest beta reader. EVER! I really appreciate all of your comments and notes on this manuscript.

Laura Heritage, aka best editor and cover artist —EVER! Thank you for all your hard work. You make masterpieces of my jumbled thoughts. Kristin Vayden, thanks for your continued support and beta reading. Love you like a sister…oh wait, right you are my sister.

Astraea Press, quite possibly the best indie publisher around — thank you for allowing me to do my own side projects and still supporting me when I decide to do something crazy like self-publish! And of course I have to say thanks to the hubby who has to put up with my insane questions and weird habits while writing.

I swear, every time I write a kissing scene I ask him to kiss me so I can show rather than tell. He thinks I’m just trying to get a kiss.

Well, it’s possible I am. But he’ll never know because he doesn’t read romance, HA! Sneaky, I know.

Finally, I just need to say thank you again to all the readers.

Your support makes it possible for me to be living my dream. I truly love you all and am so blessed to have y’all in my life.

As always, if you loved or hated the book, leave a review on Amazon/Barnes/Goodreads. I love to hear from readers and am ALWAYS on Facebook. Hit me up on the social media of your choice and we can hang and talk book boyfriends and Starbucks.

Maybe I’ll bring some Swedish Fish.