I hit the play message button, then listened to the brief but life-changing message. When it ended, I let my hand fall to my side. Fuck. This wasn’t going to be good, and it was going to make Carrie cry. I didn’t want to make her cry ever again.
But I couldn’t hide the truth from her. Not again.
The door opened and she came out wearing my favorite red shirt. The same one she’d worn twice already. I tossed my phone aside and plastered on a smile. “Damn, babe, you look better in that than I do.”
“You think?” She posed in the doorway, bending one perfect leg and shooting me a come get me smile. “I might just keep it. It smells like you.”
I stood up and swept her into my arms, hugging her as tightly as I could. “If you want it, it’s yours. Anything you want.”
“Well, then.” She lifted her face and smiled up at me, her eyes shining with tears. Happy tears. “All I want is you.”
I swallowed hard. “You got me.”
“I did,” she whispered, rising up on tiptoes and kissing me. “And now you need to feed me.”
She skipped toward the kitchen, and I followed her with a smile. After dinner, I would fill her in. Give her the news. But we could be blissfully happy for a few hours, right? Because right now, I was too busy being fucking happy that I’d gotten the girl of my dreams. The girl I loved, and who also loved me.
Imagine that.
Watch for book two in 2014
OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR
Written as Diane Alberts:
Play Me
Love Me
Try Me
Faking It
Divinely Ruined
On One Condition
Captivated by You
One Night
First and foremost, I’d like to thank my family. I crammed in the time to write this book for Carrie and Finn, but in turn, my family got to see me hunched over my desk as I did so. Thank you for your love and understanding. Without your support, I’d never have gotten this done.
To my agent, Louise Fury, and her wonderful pit crew, thank you so much for your advice and editing help! And all your guidance and advice and the support. Oh my God, the support! You are all like magical unicorns in the publishing world. You’re the bee’s knees, and I heart you all.
To my wonderful publicist with InkSlinger PR, Jessica Estrep, thank you for all the unwavering support and dedication you gave to this book and to me. I’m so, so happy I signed with InkSlinger PR, and even happier I got you!
To Heidi McLaughlin and Caisey Quinn, thank you for listening to me panic, whine, bitch, and moan as I learned the ropes of this crazy new adult world. And thanks for all the tips, pointers, and help, too. You two are the best friends a girl could ask for! Lots of hugs and kisses!
To my beta readers, thank you! You all gave me invaluable advice and support, and you helped shape Out of Line into what it is today. I’ll be sure to send book two your way once I, you know, write it.
To Casey Harris-Parks, Jessica Estep, Louise Fury, and all of her pit crew—thank you for the hours and hours and hours spent deliberating over the perfect title for Finn and Carrie. I couldn’t have done it without you! Seriously!
And to all of the readers out there, keep on reading.
Jen McLaughlin writes steamy New Adult books for the young and young at heart. Her first release came out September 2013. She also writes Contemporary Romance under the pen name Diane Alberts. She is a multi-published, bestselling author and is represented by Louise Fury from the L. Perkins Agency. Since receiving her first contract offer under the pen name Diane Alberts, she has yet to stop writing.
Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, a cat, and a Senegal parrot. In the rare moments when she’s not writing, she can usually be found hunched over one knitting project or another. Her goal is too write so many well-crafted romance books that even a non-romance reader will know her name.
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Copyright © 2013 by Jen McLaughlin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form of by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes, if done so constitutes a copyright violation.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.
Manufactured in the United States of America
The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Coke, University of California San Diego, Girls Gone Wild, Marines, TMZ, Hollister, Glock, M-16, iPhone, Motrin, Swarovski, Converse, Harley Davidson, Discovery Channel, Islands, McDonald’s, The Hangover, Conan, Apple, Wonder Woman, Richter Scale, and Pepto-Bismol.
Edited by: Hollie Westring
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One - Carrie
Chapter Two - Finn
Chapter Three - Carrie
Chapter Four - Finn
Chapter Five - Carrie
Chapter Six - Finn
Chapter Seven - Carrie
Chapter Eight - Carrie
Chapter Nine - Finn
Chapter Ten - Carrie
Chapter Eleven - Finn
Chapter Twelve - Carrie
Chapter Thirteen - Finn
Chapter Fourteen - Carrie
Chapter Fifteen - Finn
Chapter Sixteen - Carrie
Chapter Seventeen - Finn
Chapter Eighteen - Carrie
Chapter Nineteen - Finn
Chapter Twenty - Carrie
Chapter Twenty One - Finn
Chapter Twenty Two - Carrie
Chapter Twenty Three - Finn
Chapter Twenty Four - Carrie
Chapter Twenty Five - Finn
Chapter Twenty Six - Finn
Other Titles by this Author
Acknowledgements
About the Author
About the Book Designer
Copyright Notice