Side Trip(97)
He can’t wait for Joy to meet Billie. He can’t wait to bring her home. He hasn’t asked yet, but he wants her to live with him in Santa Monica. And if she thinks his two-bedroom condo is too small, no problem. He’ll sell Jack’s Malibu pad and buy a house on the beach. Joy can surf each morning and they can watch the sun set over the Pacific from their back deck every evening.
Joy’s eyes sparkle when she catches him watching her. “What?”
Dylan shakes his head with a smile. “Nothing. Just thinking about home.”
“Miss it?”
“Now that I know you’ll be there with me? Big-time.”
She sets aside her beer. “I’ve been thinking.”
Dylan arches a brow over his cup rim. He lets a mouthful of ale slide down his throat, then sets his cup beside hers.
“We need a new deal.”
“We do?” He nuzzles her neck. Nibbles her earlobe.
She nods. “How does this sound? We don’t make promises that we shouldn’t keep.”
He lifts his head and hums positively. “Agreed. Can I add to it?” He tucks a wisp of hair behind her ear. When she nods, he says, “We own our mistakes and never regret an opportunity missed.”
“That’s a good one. Makes me think of something else someone once told me.” She hooks a finger in his belt loop and tugs. He fits himself between her legs and she lifts her face. “We live our best life.”
“Absolutely, so long as we get to enjoy the side trips along the way.”
“Side trips are the best when they’re with you.”
He couldn’t agree more. He lowers his mouth to hers. “Dance with me, Joy,” he murmurs against her lips.
“Only if you’ll sing to me.”
He kisses her. “Always.”
JOYRIDE
I knew a girl once Away from home.
She’s coming undone Heading east from the sun.
She’s been on the run.
Oh, her heart has been broken, Lost in her labyrinth mind.
Now she’s going on a joyride.
Sixty-six is where you’ll find The girl with her hand wrapped in mine.
Naked lips with eager sighs For a simpler life she has tried.
She lives a lie,
Yes lives a lie.
But it’s her I see.
Now it’s up on the wall, All my love.
I knew a girl once Treated unfairly, Thought she was for me.
Patience, you see, It’s a bitter thing.
Oh, she’s taking asylum, Living someone else’s life.
Now she’s going on a joyride.
Sixty-six is where you’ll find The girl with her hand wrapped in mine.
Naked lips with eager sighs For a simpler life she has tried.
She lives a lie,
Yes lives a lie.
But it’s her I see.
Now it’s up on the wall, All my love.
COMING SUMMER 2021
No More Words
Book One in the No More Series
AUTHOR NOTE
Route 66 is a historic highway many of you have traveled. Quite a few landmarks and locations referenced in Side Trip are sites (and side trips) along the route. Others, such as Rob’s Diner, Desert Adventures, all of the bars Dylan sang in, the swimming hole and campground south of Oklahoma City, and any other place mentioned in the story where you might be scratching your head wondering how you missed it on your own road trip, are figments of my overactive imagination.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Where Last Summer had been my most challenging project to write (and plot) to date, Side Trip was the complete opposite. I’d heard tales from authors about story concepts that appear to them in dreams and they’ll outline the entire plot in a notepad before their morning coffee. That magic had yet to happen to me, until Side Trip. I was doing floor exercises in my garage gym when the entire concept—the beginning, middle, and end—literally dropped into my head. By the time I finished, I had character names and backstories. Nothing like an ab workout to light the creative spark. This is not to say the editing and rewriting were easier than my previous projects, but Side Trip became that book I had to write before I could write anything else. Joy and Dylan were so real to me, more real than Aimee and James from the Everything series, and I needed to flesh them out ASAP. I hope you fell in love with them and their story as much as I did.
Every book takes a village, and this one not only took one but needed its patience and support because of my own personal health battle that hit me right before we launched into edits. I’m unceasingly grateful for my agent, Gordon Warnock, and Fuse Literary Agency for truly being there for me. You’re incredible! To my team at Amazon Publishing—Chris Werner, Danielle Marshall, Gabriella Dumpit, Laura Barrett, Kellie Osborne, Ashley Vanicek, Dennelle Catlett, Kyla Pigoni, Jacqueline Smith, Hai-Yen Mura, Mikyla Bruder, Jeffrey Belle—I couldn’t ask to work with anyone better in this industry.
To my family, friends, and online communities who’ve rallied for my books and, later, rallied for me: I’m blessed to have you in my life. To my developmental editor, Tiffany Yates Martin, who adjusted her schedule to work around my turtle pace, along with my copyeditor, Cheri Madison, and all my proofreaders, for working tirelessly to make Side Trip shine and sparkle. I love working with each one of you.