COVER REVEAL
CHASING SERENITY
BY
EDEN BUTLER
Graduate student Autumn McShane has had her share of heartbreak. She’s been abandoned and betrayed and she lost her beloved mother in a tragic car accident five months ago. That loss damaged her body and fractured her spirit but she’s just learning to recover both until her emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend returns to town, intent on making her life miserable.
Declan Fraser hates her ex as much as Autumn does, but the last thing she needs is to put her trust in the hands of another man, especially one like Declan: his hard body and lulling Irish accent makes more than few girls weak-kneed. The talented rugby player is rude and sarcastic, with tattooed, muscular arms and a cocky attitude, but he's the only one who can help Autumn win an ill-advised bet that, if lost, could cost her more than she's willing to pay. The reluctant alliance between Declan and Autumn stirs up cravings she doesn't want to admit, but Declan is a hard man to resist.
Just when Autumn starts letting down her carefully constructed walls to the sexy bad boy, he betrays her in her moment of greatest need. Autumn suspects Declan has dark secrets, and she is determined to uncover what drove him away from her, even if that means fraternizing with the enemy. But will the truth return Declan to her arms or add to the scars on her heart?
EXCERPT:
My
godmother’s lip print is stained on my cheek. Wiping the color off is
impossible. It is thick, expensive I’m sure, and doesn’t budge regardless of
the efforts I make against it. The cool night breeze floats against my face and
despite the unsettling news from earlier, I smile when the delicious scent of
the bakery on the corner invades my senses. Cavanagh is safe, that’s true of
most small towns, and I enjoy being able to walk from my apartment to campus
and into the quaint easy bustle of downtown without worrying about being
attacked. The rugby pitch, apparently, isn’t as safe.
My reflection is fractured, disjointed in Donoghue’s
Hardware store window and the handkerchief from my bag is warm next to my skin.
Distracted by the task of scrubbing my cheek clean, I don’t notice the form
behind me until he speaks.
“You tattled, did you?”
Cavanagh is safe, but I’m not an unprepared idiot. My hand is around the mace
in my pocket and extended outward before I see Declan standing in front of me.
He stretches his long fingers in surrender, but his face is deadpan, curious.
When I lower the mace, Declan slips his fists into the pockets of the thin,
brown jacket. I know an argument is brewing. My impression of him in my
classroom earlier today is likely correct: smug, condescending, vulgar. His
eyes are narrowed, his mouth stretched into a firm line and he looks at me as
though I am a stubborn spot on the top of his boot. I’m not in the mood for
him, for his annoying little grumbles so I shake my head and walk away, but
typical of every insufferably stubborn man I’ve ever known, he follows me.
“Not going to deny it?”
Ava’s news about my father has my nerves on edge. I’m anxious that I’ll turn
the corner and see him waiting for me. I really don’t need Declan to add to my
bad mood by picking a fight with me. He pulls on my elbow and spins me around
and the small thread of patience I held breaks completely. I hope that my angry
expression is vicious enough to make him realize just how stupid it would be to
piss me off.
“I am not the girl and this is so not the night. Back
off.”
He lifts one dark eyebrow underneath his shaggy hair and
looks mildly impressed, but a second later, a board frown appears to accentuate
the dimple in his cheek. “You were with the president.”
“And?”
His frown deepens and his cheeks have taken on a pink
hue, as though he’s either very annoyed or slightly drunk. “Did you not say you
didn’t want anyone in a mess?”
“I did.”
“So what did you say to Winchell? Did you tell her about
last night?”
I shouldn’t be surprised by his self-serving attitude.
It’s been my experience that most men are solely focused on things that concern
them and them alone. I release some of my anger, eager to put this bullying Irishman
in his place.
“You know, it must be lonely living in a world that
revolves solely around you.”
He smirks again. I’m starting to believe this guy has one
superior, arrogant expression. “Insult me all you like, McShane, I’m not
fussed.”
The casual use of my surname bothers me. It seems that
hearing my first from his lips would require an exertion he can’t be bothered
to manage. “Clearly you are. If you aren’t, why are you bugging me?”
“Just trying to see how deep the well of shite is I’m
in.”
I walk away, pulling my arms across my chest to keep off
the chill in the air. Naturally, he follows at my side. “Get over
yourself, Declan. Dr. Winchell is a family friend. We were just having dinner.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that, am I?”
What an unbelievable prick. “I really don’t give a shit
what you believe.”
I don’t want to give this jackass the satisfaction of
knowing he irks me, but I can’t stand on the sidewalk arguing with him all
night. I also can’t hold back the litany of filthy oaths I muttered under my
breath.
“What else am I to believe then? You and nancy boy Tucker
are doing your best to piss me off.”
“Oh and how are we accomplishing that very easy task?”
Once again he stops me. He holds onto my arm longer than
it takes to make me pause. His grip is snug and I feel a flush run over my
chest, up my neck.
“A book sale?”
I jerk my arm free from his hold. “He thinks you could
stand to be taken down a peg or two.”
“A what?”
“It’s an expression. Tucker didn’t buy your apology.
Neither did I. Working on the book sale will help you learn humility.”
He arches his neck into a frustrated shake. “It’ll piss
me off. And I don’t give a shite what Tucker thinks I need. I’m not here to
kiss arse. I’m here to play.”
“All that playing you’re doing is what got you into
trouble in the first place, isn’t it? Besides, Tucker said—”
“Oh sod Tucker Fecking Morrison.” I frown. It’s not like
I haven’t said something similar about my ex in the past year, but Declan’s
anger at Tucker seems extreme. It can’t just be the ridiculous amounts of
testosterone I know fills the rugby pitch and Declan being pissed about having
to apologize to me. Whatever it is, he ignores for a moment and his irritated
frown and curled lip disappear. “That’s right. You fancy him, don’t you now?”
“Hardly.”
His smile is wide, incredibly condescending and I can
only sigh at what I’m sure will be more sarcastic jibes. “Well now that’s
a shame.”
“And why is that?”
He shrugs. I don’t like the ridiculous grin on his face
or the way his eyes light up with humor. “I just think it might be good for you
to have a nice ride, even if it is with Morrison.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re wound so bleeding tight it’s a wonder you don’t
pop.”
This guy really is full of himself. A five minute conversation
and he thinks he knows me? “And how would you know that exactly?”
“I did kiss you.” Declan takes a slow step in my
direction, his eyes narrowed and unflustered as he stares down at me. There is
a crinkle of electricity in that stare and I my throat constricts. “Drunk as I
was, I could tell you liked it. You weren’t all frigid, not for the whole of
it. I felt your…a…” he looks down at my chest and his eyes linger between my
two top buttons, “bits that
were keen.”
He can’t be serious. For a moment I can only manage to
stare at him, pausing to measure the expressions on his face, to see if he’s
joking. Declan wets his bottom lip and I can do nothing but laugh. I didn’t
realize men were really this obnoxious. He doesn’t seem to like my reaction.
His face hardens, becomes guarded and severe and his cheeks grow an even deeper
shade of pink.
“You think you rocked my world?”
“I did in fact, I’m guessin.”
I’m about to lie to a complete stranger. I have zero
plans for getting back with Tucker. Besides, by his comment, I get that Declan
knows nothing about our history. I move in for the kill and Declan doesn’t jerk
away from me when my fingers touch his face. His green eyes darken and he bites
the inside of his lip. The crackle of energy returns, but I know it is forced,
that my slow, intimate movement has elevated the tension exactly how I intend.
I lift my hand, rub my thumbnail across his bottom lip and he swallows, the
sound of his throat working is audible.
“Funny, because I recall my world getting rocked a lot
harder those few minutes Tucker and I were alone in my classroom.” I drop my
hand and step back, just a bit smug when I see Declan’s flustered gape and
curled lip. As I continue down the sidewalk, I know he’s watching me. I know
he’s frustrated, likely angry that I got to him. My heels click against the
pavement, but the sound is drowned out by Declan’s low curses echoing behind
me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, thinking up impossible plots, Eden edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.
Author Contact Info:
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/EdenButler_
Blog: http://edenbutlerwrites.wordpress.com/
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/21011324-eden-butler
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