Stalk Me

   Kiss me with your tongue.

   Take my shirt off.

   Attack me already. Please! I can’t take it anymore.

   But I don’t say any of that. I just savor each and every slow, amazing, and tongue-free kiss.

   Maybe he was born without a tongue, I think for a brief second, but then I realize that I am dumb because he wouldn’t be able to talk if he didn’t, now would he?

   He stops kissing me and looks deep into my eyes. I seriously should have guzzled a few shots the second I got here.

   But I had no idea he would be here!

   The way he’s looking at me is sorta u

   And I take in every curve and angle of his face.

   The way his jawline is flexing slightly. How his eyelashes are a dark, dark brown and curl upward. How he has a sexy teeny freckle just to the side of his left cheek. How his textbook lips are the exact color of the pale pink roses Tommy gave Mom for their a

   He slides his hands up into my hair and leans in to kiss me again. My body is trying to be good, but I can’t stop it from leaning into him. Melding to his. I could stay this way forever.

   He stops kissing me, looks deeply into my eyes again, and tells me he loves me.

   Oh, wait.

   He didn’t say that.

   I just thought that.

   Well, I thought his eyes told me that.

   Shut up! It’s what it felt like.

   And what the hell is with the going so slow? Does he not want to make out with me? Is he gay?

   Finally he says, “You should probably go back and check on your friend. Those guys will get her drunk and take advantage of her.”

   “We didn’t drink before we came. She can’t be drunk yet, and you promised me a drink.”

   “Also, I don’t want people to notice we’ve been gone very long. They’ll think we’re having sex. We don’t want to ruin your reputation on your second day.”

   “I think maybe you just don’t want to be alone with me. I don’t understand. You act like you’re all into me, but then we barely kiss.”

   I get irritated and frustrated by this, but no way am I going to be the one to move things along.

   And I thought he was a player.

   So why isn’t he trying to play me? To use me? To take advantage of me?

   I shoulda pretended to be drunk, maybe?

   He doesn’t really say anything to me, just shakes his head and says, “You just don’t get it, do you?”

   And I’m thinking, no, I’m obviously not getting it tonight.

   “Apparently not,” I say. Then I storm past him, across the hall, and back into the party.

   But I don’t really feel like partying anymore. I want to go home and cry. And what the hell don’t I get?! I mean, besides a good make-out session with the god of all Hotties.

   I look around for Katie, find her swigging whiskey straight from the bottle and sitting on Tyrese’s lap.

   They start to make out.

   Oh, sure.

   Dawson gets up off his chair, practically knocking the girl that was sitting on his lap onto the floor, stalks over toward me, grabs me, and pulls me into a kiss. A big, sloppy, wet kiss. An all-sorts-of-tongue kiss. A kiss I was totally not prepared for and am not enjoying in the least.

   I pull away from him and run out the door.

   Then I sit out in the hall and start to cry a little.

   What am I doing here? I just want to go home. But I can’t. Maybe not ever.

   Aiden slides down next to me. “Why are you crying?”

   “Because he ruined my lips.” Oh. Why did I say that?

   “How so?”

   And I can’t lie to this boy. “They don’t taste like you anymore. They taste like whiskey and cigarettes. He’s a horrible kisser.”

   “He’s drunk and sloppy.”

   “You’re not.”

   “Let’s get your friend, and I’ll walk you both home.” He seems like such a gentleman.

   Or does he want to get me back to my room? Sneak in with me? No. We were alone. And he didn’t try anything. I don’t think he likes me.

   He just wants me gone.

   I guess he figured it out quick, like he said.

   “You don’t have to do that. I can get us home. Plus, I get it. You already figured it out, right?”

   “Figured what out?”

   “You know. What you were saying about the one.”

   “You’re so cute, and you’re making no sense. Come here.”

   And I do. Straight to his lips. And get another long, slow, delicious kiss.

   “Better?”

   “Much better.”

Acknowledgements

If you are reading this book, thank you. The publishing industry has changed and readers are now the ones with the power. They have the power to take a self-published unknown author, like me a year ago, and turn her books into Amazon best sellers and a Top Rated Romance Series. I’m very grateful and can’t thank you all enough for your wonderful emails, messages on Goodreads, tweets, and facebook posts. And most of all, for telling your friends about my books. That is the ultimate compliment for an author.

A huge thank you to Tameri Etherton and Jessica Miremadi for spending a day exploring Malibu with me. We visited the places Keatyn would shop, ate at restaurants described in the book, got to see a few celebrities, snuck onto the beach in the private Malibu Colony, talked to surfers, and drank cocktails over looking the ocean. Jessica also gets special kudos for being an amazing beta reader and for becoming as obsessed with Polyvore as I am.

Because this is the first in a six book series, I relied heavily on feedback from beta readers. Thanks so much to Jessica Miremadi, Jaymie Ly

I also want to thank a few groups that have been so supportive. You know who you are, and I can’t thank you all enough for your advice, support, hot guy photos, and love of reading: Destiny Makers, Hot Damn Sexy Authors, and Bookaholics Anonymous. I also want to personally thank authors Abbi Glines, Tammara Webber, Diane Capri, Steena Holmes, Lani Wendt Young, and Tracey Garvis-Graves. You are amazing women who I greatly admire. Thank you for always replying when I ask for advice! Y’all are rockstars! A big thank you also goes out to my writer’s group: Nigel Blackwell, David N. Walker, Tiffany A. White, Mary Morgan, and Charity Kountz. I love our laid-back Saturday mornings at B&N.

And my support team: Rebecca Peters-Golden, I hit the jackpot on editors when I met you. Thanks for making this book professional and curbing my exclamation point and CAPITALS habits!!!!!!! Doug Henke-Miller, for fighting internet piracy and converting my books into e-formats. Steena Holmes for designing the pretty covers. And my daughter, Kenzie, who is the best assistant ever. My social media, blog, and life in general would fall apart if it weren’t for all you do.

And lastly, to my family. As always, you mean the world to me.