Under My Skin
J.M. Stone
Re-release and new cover reveal
Presented by Sassy Savvy Fabulous PR & Marketing
Synopsis
One
little piercing. That’s all Allie wanted when she dragged her best friend into
Skin Deep. She never imagined that it would result in a busted lip and an
engagement ring for Emma, or that it would come with a double side of six-foot
plus, tattooed, sexy-as-sin, H.O.T. maleness for her! Now she’s torn because
Brandon and Jackson have both let it be known that they want her. And both are
used to getting what they want. But what about what Allie wants?
Brandon is hot for Allie. So is Jackson. Neither of them are willing to step aside for the other and they’re tired of Allie running. So they hatch a plan…
Add in wedding bells, a dog named Doug, and you’ve got a recipe for a good time. Or a disaster.
*Recommended for readers 18+ due to HOT sexual encounters, adult situations, and language.
**This is book two of the Skin Deep Series; recommended to read after Skin Deep, book one of the series.
Brandon is hot for Allie. So is Jackson. Neither of them are willing to step aside for the other and they’re tired of Allie running. So they hatch a plan…
Add in wedding bells, a dog named Doug, and you’ve got a recipe for a good time. Or a disaster.
*Recommended for readers 18+ due to HOT sexual encounters, adult situations, and language.
**This is book two of the Skin Deep Series; recommended to read after Skin Deep, book one of the series.
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***Under
My Skin is ON SALE for $1.99!!
Bonus
Excerpt from Skin to Skin (Book 3…coming soon!)
Chapter 1
“I kissed Brandon.”
The words exploded from my mouth,
following a whispered apology, before I could even think about stopping them.
Horrified, I clapped my hand over my lips, squeezing my eyes shut as I imagined
Allie’s fist meeting my face. That was so not how I envisioned finally getting
this off my chest.
When nothing but silence met my
comment, I risked peeking over at her. She was standing beside me, her hands
frozen over the flaps of the box we were unpacking that had just come into her
store. She stood like that for just a second before she smoothed her hands down
her swollen stomach and nodded decisively.
“You know, I was going to ask you why
there was some kind of tension between you two. Guess I don’t have to do that
now, huh?”
She chuckled wryly, the corner of her
mouth tilting up in a half-smile.
My heart stopped, but my face crumpled
and my mouth started running of its own volition.
“I…I don’t have any excuse, really,
Allie. I’m sorry. I’m so, so completely sorry, and I really never meant for it
to happen. We were just on that road trip and I got drunk one night when I was
feeling sorry for myself and…I just kissed him.” I threw my hands up, shaking
my head as I felt tears threaten.
Soft, small hands cupped my cheeks and
brought my face around. My eyes clashed with the big, bright blue ones of my
future sister-in-law.
She sighed, her thumbs gently wiping
away the tears that had just started to fall. “Chloe, don’t cry. You didn’t do
anything wrong. Brandon and I were done at that point. I’m marrying your
brother, and I’m having your nephew. I’m not mad…I won’t lie to you and say it
doesn’t hurt a little…but I’m not mad.”
The tears began flowing faster down my
cheeks. How could I have done this to the amazing person standing in front of
me? How could I have hurt the person who has done so much for me ever since I
showed up unannounced and buried under a mountain of personal baggage?
A sob bubbled out from my chest and I
choked it back, not wanting to break down completely. I didn’t deserve to break
down in front of Allie…she was the one who was hurt. I deserved nothing more
than an ass kicking.
Allie groaned and pulled me into her
arms, hugging me tightly and the dam broke. She just held me tighter, letting
me cry on her shoulder, literally. And as shitty as it was for me to do, I let
her do it, and I cried. Hard.
When the storm of sobs had finally
slowed, she pushed me back and looked me over as I stood there, struggling to
catch my breath and wipe my face.
“Okay. I think that this is a perfect
time to just close up shop, head over to your house, and have some special
sundaes.” She paused, rubbing her belly again before shaking her head and smiling
as she said, “Well, you’re gonna have a special sundae and I’m just
gonna eat the frozen yogurt.”
I gave her a watery smile and nodded.
We shut down the store and headed to Allie’s, er, my house. It was still
so weird to say my house, and even weirder to hear Allie say it, too,
especially because not too long ago, it was Allie’s house. I guess I’m
even more flabbergasted at the generosity of Allie…I mean, I had nowhere to
stay when I showed up on Luke and Emma’s doorstep, looking for my brother. I
knew he was building a house and I could always crash with him, that went
without saying. Instead, I ended up at Allie’s house in her spare room, and
when she moved into Jackson’s house, she’d handed me a piece of paper that
turned out to be the deed to her house. I tried to refuse, but…I finally gave
in a took it for what it was worth; a chance to start over fresh on my own two
feet, which is exactly what I came here for. I just didn’t expect it to happen
so quickly.
I left L.A. a broken and battered mess,
running to the little town of Phillus, Ohio where my brother had decided to
relocate. Initially, he’d come to see his best friends, Luke and Brandon, but
one look at Allie and his mind was made up. He bought land, started building a
house, and now he and Allie are engaged and expecting my little nephew in a
little over two months. Of course, their story was a little more complicated
than that, but…you get the idea.
Half an hour later we were sitting on
my couch after a slight detour to the store to grab special sundae items. The
first time they’d handed me one, I was a little skeptical. Strawberry daiquiri
wine cooler over strawberry frozen yogurt? Yeah, not a combination I ever
really thought would be good. But lemme tell ya, it is yummy!
I took another bite of my sundae and
laughed at the yearning, pathetic look Allie shot my bowl as she spooned up her
own bite of boozeless fro yo. She scowled as she shoveled it into her mouth on
a huff.
We ate in silence for a minute before
Allie broke it on a sigh. “Look. I know I said it hurt earlier when you told me
you kissed Brandon. It’s true…it does hurt. But I have no right to be mad at
you, and like I said, I’m not mad at you. Brandon made his choice to
walk away from what we had, and I made the choice to let him. I gave up, didn’t
fight for him, and do you know why?”
I shook my head, my own eyes beginning
to brim with tears as they started falling from hers.
“I didn’t fight for him because I
realized that, deep down, I knew the love I had for Jackson was so much deeper
than the love I have for Brandon. But I’m selfish, I guess, because if he
hadn’t walked away, I would have kept him with me, and honestly, that would
have probably ruined us...someone would have ended up unhappy and, in the end,
we wouldn’t even have the friendship that we do. I couldn’t bear that. Besides
Emma, he’s my best friend.”
She paused for breath and to wipe away
the tears falling unchecked down her cheeks. “I was so jealous of you, Chloe,
when you showed up. Brandon was always running to help you, sleeping in your
bed. You knew it…I mean, hell, you apologized every five fucking seconds. And I
think my jealousy stemmed from the fact that you guys were close…you’ve known
each other and been friends for years. Not only that, but…you’re fucking
gorgeous!”
She laughed and I just shook my head at
her. She held her hand up when I would have voiced my protest, and I shut up,
allowing her to continue.
“In the long run, Brandon did what was
best for him, and for me and Jackson, too. And yes, God, it still hurts
and I’m still so pissed off at him at times, so much that I just want to throat
punch him! But, again, he did do what was best. For all of us.
Regardless, I love him, and I always will. He’ll always hold a special place in
my heart, and the woman who finally lands him is just gonna have to deal with
it, because I’m not letting go of his friendship. I can’t. Trust me, I’ve went
back and forth about this whole thing many times since he walked away. Emma was
ready to castrate him because of it; she kept saying that he had made such a
big deal about making it work and everything…and then just left it all behind
when things got hard.”
“But, he didn’t!” I interjected loudly,
shocking both myself and Allie.
She quirked her eyebrows at me and
cocked her head. “Well, yeah, Chloe, he kinda did,” Allie said softly.
I shook my head,
still unsure as to why I was forcing the issue, but…I just couldn’t let her
think differently. Unable to stop, my mouth opened and the words poured out,
memories overtaking me…
Skin Deep (Book #1) is also on sale for
a limited time
About J.M. Stone
J.M. Stone is a legal assistant by day, and a writer by night. She
started writing at a young age, mostly poetry and song lyrics, some of which
were published. She currently lives in Ohio where she's lived for most of her
life, and enjoys spending time with her other-half, their mouthy daughter, two
spoiled and crazy dogs, and the rest of her abnormal family. (Don't worry,
abnormal is good!) In her spare time, she loves to read, write, sing, and make
people laugh, which usually happens at her own expense!
She loves to hear from her readers, so drop her line at
jadelynna23@yahoo.com or connect with her online!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorJMStone
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