Sample Sunday: Because My Heart Said So

Hey everyone! So we're creeping closer and closer to the release date for Because My Heart Said So! The book releases on June 15th but it's now available for pre-order! I'm really excited about this collection of friends-to-lovers stories from some of my favorite writers—Nia Forrester, Lily Java and Rae Lamar. Don't forget to join our Facebook group to get cool, exclusive content and have a chance to win free stuff!

In the meantime, check out a sample from Blind Expectations, my novella from Because My Heart Said So. This scene takes place after a heated argument between my characters,  next-door neighbors, Trevor and Leah. Hope you dig it! And don't forget to pre-order for a special, discounted price!

From Blind Expectations:

:: "Did you get my message?” she pressed when it was clear he wasn’t entertaining the question she already knew the answer to.
“I did.”
“And you didn’t respond because, why?” She leaned her back against the front door because the room was spinning slightly, and crossed her arms over her chest.
“It was late.”
“Bullcrap. You’re ignoring me.”
“We talked the other day, Bright Light.” His use of her nickname made her feel better for a split second before she remembered her mission.
“We only talked for like forty-two seconds before you mysteriously had to get off the phone!”
His full lips twitched. “Mysteriously? It was one in the afternoon. I was at work, and I had a meeting.”
“I don’t like this.”
“You don’t like what?” He cocked his head a little, leveling his gaze on her. Trevor had the most magnetic eyes. They were hypnotizing really. He’d never used them on her, but she understood why women were left fully surrendered to him. They were so dark brown, they appeared almost black. His extra long eyelashes made his eyes even more arresting. She fidgeted beneath his unwavering gaze now.
“You don’t like what, Leah?” he prompted.
“This,” she whispered.
He bit his bottom lip, not breaking his gaze, and her heart started thumping in her chest. She couldn’t get a handle on what his expression meant, or what he was thinking.
“I don’t like for us to not be… us.”
“Maybe we’re not who we were anymore,” he said, his voice low. “Maybe it’s time for us to be something else.”
She furrowed her brow and looked at him. He was talking in Morse code, but his eyes were serious.
“I miss you, Trevor. You can’t leave me.”
She saw his chest heave and the glint in his eyes shift.
“C’mere,” he said, beckoning her with a short head nod.
She closed the short space between them without hesitation, letting him wrap her in his arms. He felt familiar and safe. Trevor always smelled so good, like warmth, and man, and home.
 “You don’t ever have to miss me.” He pulled back and looked at her, his arms sliding to her waist. “I’m always right here. I’ve been here.”
“I can’t take your rejection. It hurts my insides.”
His eyes softened and he chuckled.
“Leah. After all this time, you know I want you.”
 The way he was looking at her, so intently, made her breath catch. And suddenly, she was hyper aware of him in a way that was dangerous. He slid his hands into the front of her hoodie and pulled her closer, so that if she wanted to, she could tilt her head up and reach his lips.
Where did that come from?
She’d spent a long time suppressing her instant attraction to Trevor. He was too important to let herself go there with him. So she swallowed her desire. She acknowledged the constant hum in her body every time he was near but didn’t let herself fantasize about his dark chocolate skin, or his full lips, or his sleepy bedroom eyes. But now, with him standing so close, smelling so good, the liquor charging her system, her resolve was fogging.
She licked her lips and noticed when his gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered there before he met her eyes again.
“Are you going to church tomorrow?” she asked suddenly, her voice a little breathier than it should’ve been. Her heart rate certainly hadn’t slowed.
“Are you going to church tomorrow?” he countered, grinning. “You’re not gonna be too hung over?”
 “I don’t get hangovers.”
 He cocked his head to the side and eyed her.
 “Often,” she amended.
 His hands were in her hoodie, and he pulled her closer, surprising her because now she was almost flush against his sturdy chest. She could feel his body heat, could feel her own temperature spiking, matching her increased heartbeat.
 “I thought you were fasting from liquor too.”
 “I was but...I failed. I’m not disciplined like you.”
“I think I’m a little too disciplined sometimes.”
She blinked up at him. He was staring at her mouth again, and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. This entire situation was dangerous. But she couldn’t move. She didn’t want to.  He dropped his head to the space between her collarbone and neck, drawing in a breath she felt him release softly against her skin. His beard, which he’d just recently grown out, was tickling her neck, and heat circled to her stomach and lower until she was literally pulsing. Oh my God.
“Trevor?” She breathed, her brow furrowed as if she expected him to answer why her body was suddenly reacting to him this way.
“You’re drunk, Leah,” he said, his deep voice in her ear now. “And you have no idea. No idea.”
He pulled back and looked at her. “Or maybe you do.”
 She looked up at him, her heart thudding in her chest. “What’re you… what?”
 He drew in a breath.
 “You gotta go home,” he exhaled, pulling her by the elbow toward his front door.
He slipped on his sneakers by the door without releasing her and pushed her outside, closing his door behind them. He reached and pulled her hood over her head as they walked the few short feet to her apartment.
“C’mon, Lee, you didn’t lock your door?” he said when they reached her door, and he pushed it open.
She shrugged.
“I told you; you can’t start feelin’ yourself just because you have that little baby piece. It’s like a staple gun; it’s barely gonna stop anyone. And it won’t do anything if you can’t get to it anyway.”
“Stop lecturing me,” she pouted.
He shook his head, mumbling, as he headed quickly to the bathroom, then her bedroom, no doubt checking for an imaginary intruder. He came back still shaking his head at her.
“I’ll be by at ten for church,” he told her once he reached the front door, which she was still leaning against.
 “I don’t want you to leave yet.”
  He’d stopped right in front of her and was staring down at her with that intense look again.
“I miss you, Trevor. And I feel like you’re pulling away or something. Like, we’re not the same. And you can’t do that--switch everything up on me like that.”
He looked at the ground and shook his head.
“Because things aren’t the same. I can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing, Leah.”
Her heart was hammering in her chest and she felt tears threatening. She licked her lips, and his gaze dropped there before he met her eyes again.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
 “I think you know why.”

Because My Heart Said So, Coming 6.15.16
Available for Pre-order now.