Book Blitz: Me & Mr. Jones by Lindsay Marie Miller
Title: Me & Mr. Jones
Series: Jones #1
Author: Lindsay Marie Miller
Genre: Romance, New Adult, Suspense, Thriller
Release Date: October 7, 2015
Finley O'Connell is a shy, reserved college student, who has no
intention of ever trusting another man. At nineteen, Finley spends
her Friday nights alone, studying clinical psychology to ease her
mind of the abusive childhood she has yet to overcome. Her new
professor, the young, charismatic Cabel Jones, begins to take an
interest in Finley, whose first instinct is to run. But when an
ordinary experiment turns to bloodshed, Finley must rely on Cabel, as
the two hide away in a rustic, secluded cabin in the wilderness.
Plagued by deception and fear, Finley soon finds herself in the arms
of the one man on campus who can never truly be hers.
A couple of weeks later, I was due for the second experiment,
though it was really my first. As I waited in the third floor lobby,
my mind flooded with strange visions of what the experiment could
entail. I remembered studying the long-term effects of child abuse,
as they translated into adulthood, for the last exam. Surely, that
wouldn’t be a potential topic for the experiment.
I
didn’t want anyone delving into that part of my psyche. Ever.
As
I got tangled up in my daydreams, the remaining students were called
away for their own experiments. Before too long, I was the last one
left. Again. An uneasy feeling flowed through my system, because the
déjà vu felt all too expected, all too planned.
Sighing
aloud, I carried my satchel over my shoulder and rose from my chair
in the lobby. I trudged across the carpet with my head down,
desperate to go back to my apartment and sleep. Nightmares of my past
had tormented me the night before, but I didn’t want to revisit
them now.
“Miss O’Connell,” a cheery voice called.
I looked up to find Cabel with a pen and clipboard in his hand.
“Ready?” He turned on his heel as I followed, letting him guide
me down the hallway.
“For what exactly?” I searched
for the nearest elevator, intent on heading home and curling into a
ball on the couch. But when Cabel grabbed my elbow, I gave him a
second glance.
“Your experiment,” he answered,
furrowing his brow in frustration. “It’s today.”
“I
know it’s today,” I snapped back, already irritated. “My
experimenter didn’t show up.” I brushed past him and continued
down the corridor, desperate to find a place to rest my head.
“I’m
your experimenter.” The strength of his voice followed me,
traveling down the hall.
I slowed my feet and turned
back around, not believing a word he had said. “What?”
Cabel
stepped towards me, his icy blue eyes dilating at the pupil. I
thought that was odd, considering the bright fluorescent lights
overhead. “Come with me,” he pressed, his steady gaze
authoritative and haunting, “unless you want to fail.”
I
forced myself to swallow, then followed Cabel down several long,
winding corridors, until he finally led me into an empty room and
shut the door behind us. Cabel flipped the light switch on, to reveal
a small rectangular table with two wooden chairs on either side of
it. I glanced around the room, spotting a couch against the left wall
and a sink by the lone window at the back of the room. The blinds
were drawn.
I flinched when Cabel shut the door, and
then jerked one of the chairs out from the table. “Have a seat,”
he ordered. Obedient, I tossed my satchel onto the couch and took a
deep breath.
“Yes, Mr. Jones.” I sat down with my
feet flat on the ground, my hands gripping the seat.
“When
are you going to stop calling me that?” Cabel stood in front of me,
hovering.
“When are you going to stop calling me Miss
O’Connell?” I countered.
The edge of Cabel’s mouth
lifted into a smirk, though he didn’t allow the smile to linger. I
held his gaze, looking up at him through my eyelashes, playful and
coy. Cabel narrowed his eyes at me in return, but not out of malice.
He was thinking, wondering, considering.
“Roll up your
sleeve,” Cabel instructed, staring at my black long-sleeved
t-shirt.
“What?” I stared up at him in confusion,
while Cabel merely sighed. All at once, he leaned forward, grabbed my
left wrist with one hand, and pushed my shirtsleeve back with the
other, until the fabric became a bunched mess around my elbow. I held
my breath at the touch of his skin against mine, while Cabel rocked
back on his heels and placed his hands on his hips.
“Put
your arm on the table,” he said, alarming me further. I rested my
left arm on the table beside me and turned my palm up towards the
ceiling. When Cabel collected a black box from the TV stand and
placed it on the table, I began to sweat.
“Don’t I
have to sign a disclaimer first?” I piped up, questioning his order
and method of experimentation.
“We’ll get to that,”
Cabel confirmed.
Just as he unlocked the box and opened
the lid, our eyes met with frantic delight. I forced myself to
swallow, my gaze shifting from Cabel to the table. What was inside of
the box?
Suddenly, an alarm sounded overhead, sending a
violent ringing through my ears. Cabel shut the box and returned it
to the TV stand, then jerked me out of the chair. Before I could
react, an announcement came over the PA system.
“Attention
all students, faculty, and staff. Please evacuate campus immediately.
This is not a drill. Find the nearest exit and leave now. All classes
are cancelled until further notice.”
The announcement
played on a continuous loop, while the alarm rang on and
on.
“Cabel, what’s going on?” I tried to swallow,
but there was no more than a hard, relentless lump in my throat.
Distracted, Cabel released me and moved to the door, deftly clicking
the lock in place. “Cabel?” He grabbed the chair I had been
sitting in and pushed it in front of the door, then snatched the
table and remaining chair off the floor and did the same.
Cabel
weaved his fingers through his hair, those blonde locks becoming
disheveled and unruly. His head snapped back when someone began
pounding their fist against the door. I looked intoCabel’s eyes and
noticed that his soft blue irises had thinned around two deep circles
of black.
Without any warning, Cabel grabbed my arm and
steered me towards the window. He drew the blinds back, and then
pushed the window open to reveal our only way out.
“No!”
I protested, struggling against him. Cabel grabbed my shoulders and
shoved me towards the window. I stomped his foot with my shoe and
kicked him in the knee, but Cabel wrapped his arm around my waist and
leaned his head on my shoulder.
“Climb down the
railing and go next door,” he whispered. “Take the stairs to the
third floor and wait for me in the second room on the left. It’s
the janitor’s closet.” I felt his warm breath in my ear, his
words more comforting than the vice-like grip he had around
me.
“What?” I whimpered, tugging at his arm. “But,
I don’t understand.”
“Trust me,” he pleaded in
earnest.
The banging against the door only grew louder,
as I tried to rationalize, tried to think, tried to decide what to
do. I didn’t know if I could even trust Cabel. I hardly knew him.
But in that moment, I realized how badly I wanted to.
“Is
this part of the experiment?” I craned my neck around to look back
at him, my eyes dancing across the planes of his strong, chiseled
face.
“No,” he mouthed, his lips so close to mine that they nearly
touched. For the briefest moment, Cabel looked at peace with the
world, gazing into my fearful brown eyes. But then the door burst
open, and Cabel picked me up and tossed me out the window.
LINDSAY MARIE MILLER was born and raised in Tallahassee, FL, where
she graduated from high school as Valedictorian. Afterwards, Lindsay
attended Florida State University and graduated Summa Cum Laude with
an English Literature major, Psychology minor, and Specialized
Studies in Markets and Institutions. Lindsay is the author of the
romance novels: Jungle Eyes, Me & Mr. Jones, and Emerald Green.
Jungle Eyes is the beginning of a new romantic action/adventure
trilogy. Emerald Green is the first installment in a four-part series
of Young Adult romantic thrillers. And the New Adult romantic
thriller, Me & Mr. Jones, will be accompanied by a sequel. In her
free time, Lindsay enjoys singing, playing the piano and guitar, and
writing songs. The author resides in her hometown of Tallahassee, FL,
where she is currently working on her next novel.
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