AT LAST, YOUR SNEAK PEEK OF A JUNE WEDDING IS HERE! And have a listen to my interview with Author Platform as we talk about my strategies that helped me emerge from being a humble writer facing rejections, to rising up to release almost 80 books.

Thanks so much for your patience as this summer somehow slipped away from me, thus delaying the releases of some upcoming titles including this one--your FREE short story, A JUNE WEDDING. But guess what happened? Your FREE short story turned into a book!  But as the summer winds down and the kids head back to school, I'm managing to divert all distractions one by one, checking them off my list and I plan to spend all of September in my pajamas writing!  So get ready for a month packed of new releases!  In the meantime I hope you'll enjoy this excerpt from the forthcoming Parker Sisters book which will be available this week. 

________

“Well, are we going in, or are we going to stand here all day?” Cameron said, his hand resting on her lower back. She took in her tall, incredibly handsome man. He was the whole package, the totally hot guy that women wanted—that she wanted. He was all lean muscle, and just looking at him beside her had her wanting to pinch herself, tell herself he was real and hers.

She still felt all his hardness and remembered what it had been like to wake up curled against him. It was more than she’d ever expected. Even now, though he’d tried to dress down in blue jeans and a white T-shirt, he still looked as if he’d stepped off the cover of GQ, with his short amber-brown hair and his green eyes. The way they looked at her, she figured she could drown in them.

She took a breath, then pulled in another, feeling the breeze rustle her light blue sundress on this incredibly hot evening, the first day of June. The screen door squeaked, and she turned to see her dad stepping out, wearing workpants and a graying T-shirt spattered with grease. His dark hair was in bad need of a cut, and he likely hadn’t shaved that day, but his blue eyes softened as he took her in. Then they flashed with something a little harder as he glanced over to Cameron, who was standing right beside her.

“Didn’t know you were coming by,” Robert said before dragging his gaze over Cameron again. “Cameron.” That was all. Great! He still didn’t like him.

“Mr. Parker,” Cameron replied.

Naomi could feel her shoulders start to bunch up as if they had a mind of their own, feeling the stress and wondering when her father would ever give Cameron a break and see him as the amazing guy he was. She felt Cameron’s large warm hand press against her again as he angled his head, his green eyes imploring as if she needed a reminder of why they were there. Right. Come on, Naomi. You can do this.

“Cameron and I have some news we wanted to share—good news,” she added, leaning in as if she needed to emphasize the point before her father would ease up.

He didn’t smile. In fact, the way he glanced between the two of them dashed any hope she had that he would welcome Cameron into the fold. He rested his hands on his hips and then sighed. “Well, come in. Don’t stand out here. We were just finishing up supper. Did you both eat?”

Then he was pulling open the screen door and stepping in. She could hear voices again, and her dad said something when her mom appeared. Naomi found her hand slipping into Cameron’s as she started up the steps. The squeeze from his was supportive, loving, before he pulled it away and slid it around the small of her back, then patted her ass as she held the door. She paused and had to look up at him, taking in the humor and something else in his expression, knowing he knew well how her dad hated him.

Well, maybe “hate” was a harsh word. Disliked? Robert had already slotted him into the category of wrong for his daughter, and there was nothing about who Cameron was, the way he lived his life, or his past and all the bad news that had plagued him and tarnished his reputation in the minds of many, all for something he didn’t do, that could change that.

Cameron nodded toward her parents. “You know, I can tell them if you’d rather not,” he said in a low voice, and she wondered whether the horror she was feeling was showing in her eyes and could possibly be the reason for his wide smile and the fact that he was chuckling under his breath.

“No, I think not,” she said. “It would be best coming from me.”

He flashed another smile as Susan approached them.

“Naomi, your dad says you have some news to share?” she said, wearing faded blue cotton shorts and a blue and white striped T-shirt. Ivy was also making her way over, her hair pinned up, looking the happy newlywed, wearing a loose yellow tank over jean shorts.

Naomi could feel beads of sweat starting to form on her back, excited about the news but at the same time dreading telling her parents, because she didn’t expect the same joy she was feeling to be returned, and that would crush her.

She spotted Chris shoving a bun in his mouth in the kitchen, chewing, and he lifted his hand in a wave. Then there was Mason, her hair now dark red, who was still eating at the table, shoving a forkful of food into her mouth. Justin was across from her, and though he tossed Naomi a glance over his shoulder, he didn’t get up. Evidently, she had her answer: They were back on again.

“I do,” Naomi said. “We do, actually.” She felt Cameron tap her ass again, likely because of the way she was stalling. She rested her hand over her stomach, and her mom’s eyes widened and her mouth gaped.

“Oh my good God! You’re pregnant, aren’t you?” Her expression bordered on something akin to this being the worst news ever.

“Ah, no!” Naomi dropped her hands and then fisted them, hearing the scrape of chairs from the kitchen and seeing Mason heading straight for her in her peripheral, but she couldn’t look away from the confusion and then relief on her parents’ faces. “Geez, Mom and Dad, as if that would be the worst thing?”

She glanced again to Cameron, who had an odd look on his face as he looked over her head to her parents and family, but, to his credit, he said nothing, and neither did her parents. Their expressions were still guarded.