Excerpt Reveal: Until June by Aurora Rose Reynolds
The Boom is real!
Meet June & Evan in Until June
releasing on May 24th!
Now available for Pre-order!
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1T8B4ns
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1TRbaVd
Barnes & Noble:
http://bit.ly/1QNOL4n
June Mayson and Evan Barrister’s
whirlwind courtship resulted in a secret marriage right before he
left for boot camp. Evan knows deep in his gut that June is too good
for him, but after getting a taste of the beautiful life they can
have together, he’s unwilling to let her go. June promises to wait
for him, knowing neither time or distance will ever change her
feelings for Evan—that is until she’s served with divorce papers
while he’s overseas and she’s forced to let him go.
Her marriage and divorce a well-kept
secret, the last person June expects to run into when she moves back
to her hometown is Evan. Angry over the past, she does everything
within her power to ignore the pull she feels whenever he is near.
But how can she ignore the pain she sees every time their eyes meet?
How can she fight the need to soothe him even if she knows she’s
liable to get hurt once again?
Is it possible for June and Evan to
find their way back to each other again? Or will they be stopped by
an outside force before they ever have a shot?
Prologue
Looking at my reflection in the mirror
across from me, I cringe. My hair is a disaster, there are bags under
my eyes, and the nightgown I have on isn’t even one of the cute
ones I normally wear. It’s the one my sister, December, got me as a
joke, but I wear it occasionally, because its comfortable, even if it
was made for a woman three times my age. Resting my elbows on the
desk in front of me, I run my fingers through my hair, pulling the
strands back away from my face.
“I hate men,” I whisper into the
empty interrogation room, where I was told to wait over an hour ago
after the police kicked in my door and dragged me from my bed.
Lifting my gaze, I look at myself in the mirror again and vow that
whenever I get out of the mess my ex-boyfriend has gotten me into,
I’m going to learn how to be a lesbian, even if I’m not sure
that’s actually possible.
“June Mayson.” Turning my head, I
look over my shoulder at the now open door behind me, and my eyes
meet those of a man who reminds me of my dad. He looks to be in his
mid-forties, and is one of those men time has been kind to. He’s
built, with dark hair that’s cut short and parted on the side. His
eyes are a blue that stands out against his dark lashes and tan skin.
“I’m Officer Mitchell, and this is Officer Plymouth.” He nods
behind him and is followed in by a man who must be playing the roll
off ‘Bad Cop’, judging by the frown on his face and the look he
gives me when our eyes meet. Time hasn’t been as kind to him; he
looks like he has enjoyed one too many beers. His middle is soft, and
his skin doesn’t look healthy.
Nodding, I cross my arms over my chest
and run my hands down the bare skin of my biceps that’s chilled
from the cool air coming from the vent above me.
“Would you like something to drink?”
Officer Mitchell asks as he walks fully into the room.
Shaking my head, I mutter, “No, thank
you.”
“Hot chocolate?” he offers, and I
feel tears burn the back of my eyes. Since I was little, whenever I
was having a bad day, my dad would offer me hot chocolate. His hot
chocolate has magical powers that always make everything seem okay,
but I doubt police station hot chocolate would have the same effect.
“No, thanks. I’d just like to know
why I’m here,” I tell him as he takes a seat in the metal chair
across from me and places a thick folder on the table between us.
“We may be here awhile, Miss Mayson,
so I’d like you to be comfortable,” he says gently, and I look at
Officer Plymouth, who is leaning against the wall, then back to him.
“I don’t mean to be rude, Mr.
Mitchell, but I’d really like to get to the point. I have class in
a few hours and I’d really like to make it on time.”
“I’m afraid you’re probably going
to miss your class today, Miss Mayson.”
Closing my eyes, I open them slowly and
ask, “Can I get a sweater?”
Surprisingly, Officer Plymouth slips
off his suit jacket and walks it over to me, placing it around my
shoulders.
‘Thank you,” I whisper up at him,
and his eyes soften around the edges. Pulling my eyes from him, my
gaze goes back toward Officer Mitchell.
“How long have you known Lane Diago?”
Officer Mitchell asks, and I sit up a little taller.
“I don’t know anyone by that name,”
I tell him, and he opens the file folder, fanning out a few pictures
of my ex-boyfriend, Aaron, and me directly in front of me. Each of
them were taken while we were a couple, showing we had been followed
more than a few times. Him coming to my apartment…him kissing me
outside my car…at the store, walking hand-in-hand down the
aisles…at the movies…out to dinner…both of us doing normal
couple things.
“You mean Aaron?”
“That what he told you his name was?”
he asks, and I nod looking up at him.
“I’ve known him for about a year,”
I whisper, dropping my eyes to the pictures again, realizing I
actually didn’t know him, since his name isn’t even Aaron.
“How long have you two been dating?”
he inquires, and my eyes drop to the pictures once more.
“We dated for about four months. I
broke up with him a month ago,” I tell him truthfully as a feeling
of sadness hits me unexpectedly. I wasn’t in love with Aaron—or
Lane. Not even close. But I cared about him, and believed he cared
about me as well. That was, until he sent me a text to meet him at
his house. When I got there, one of his roommates let me in, and I
found him up in his room with Susie Detrei’s mouth around his cock,
proving I was wrong about him.
“You were close,” Officer Mitchell
states, and I nod because we were, or I thought we were. “Can you
tell me who this man is?” he asks, pulling out a picture of
Aaron’s—Lane’s cousin, or at least the guy he told me was his
cousin.
“Aaron…I mean Lane’s cousin Cody.
He lives in Mississippi,” I tell him.
“Did you ever overhear them talking?”
“Overhear them talking?” I ask,
looking at a picture of Cody and Lane sitting in what looks like a
bar, Lane with his favorite beer in his hand, and Cody with a short,
wide glass with dark liquid and ice on the bar top in front of him,
and his hand wrapped around it while he laughs at something.
“Overhear them talking about anything
out of the ordinary?”
“No.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Maybe if you told me exactly why I’m
here, I can give you the information you’re looking for.”
“Lane Diago’s uncle is one of the
biggest distributors of illegal narcotics in Alabama, Kentucky,
Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina.”
“What?” I whisper as my eyes focus
on one of the pictures of Lane and me standing outside my apartment.
I was wearing a short colorful summer dress and gold strappy sandals,
and Lane had on a pair of black cargo shorts and a plain white tee.
His head was bent toward mine, my hand was resting against his chest,
and his was wrapped tight around my hip. It was our third date and
our first kiss. I had waited forever to even go on a date with him,
because I wasn’t ready for a relationship. I finally gave in to
him, because he was so persistent. He asked me out every time we saw
each other, and he was always dramatic in the way he did it.
“Did you ever see—”
“I never saw anything,” I cut him
off. “Lane didn’t even smoke pot, and almost everyone I know
smokes pot,” I whisper, pulling my eyes from the picture to look at
him.
“You two were together a lot. He
would have you drop him places. My men saw you on more than one
occasion.”
“To friends’ houses,” I tell him,
suddenly finding it hard to breathe. “If he asked me to drop him to
a friend’s or to run him somewhere when we were going out, I would
do it, but I never saw him do anything illegal.”
“Do you understand you can go to
prison if we find out you spent any of the money he earned from
selling drugs on things for yourself.”
Laughing, I cover my face with my hands
and lay my head on the table while I try to pull myself together. I
probably shouldn’t be laughing right now but its either laugh or
cry.
“What do you find funny about this?”
Officer Plymouth asks, and I lift my head to look at him.
“I paid for us to do things more than
once, and he even asked me for gas money a couple of times. I never,
not once, took money from him, not even for a coffee,” I tell him,
and his eyes go to Officer Mitchell, who mutters, “Fuck.”
“He cheated on me a month ago, and I
haven’t talked to him since then,” I tell him, and he shakes his
head.
“We have time stamps for phone calls
between the two of you over the last month.”
“Did you ever look at how long those
calls lasted?” I ask, knowing that if he did, he would know we
didn’t actually talk. “He called. He called over and over.
Finally, I had to pick up to tell him to stop calling me. I didn’t
want anything to do with him a month ago, and I sure as hell don’t
want anything to do with him now.”
“Another fucking road block,”
Officer Plymouth grumbles, and my head swings to him.
“I’m sorry. I swear that if I knew
anything, I would help you out, but I don’t. Lane never told me
anything, and I sure as hell didn’t see anything. If I had, I would
have talked to my uncle about it.”
“You’re sure you didn’t see
anything, hear anything?”
“I’m sure,” I tell him, wishing I
did know something, not because I’m a rat, but because I know what
drugs can do to people. I know not everyone dies from using drugs,
not everyone’s life goes to shit from using them, but my best
roommate freshmen year of college overdosed and died, and that was
only after she turned into a completely different person. Someone I
didn’t like much. Someone I couldn’t trust. So, there’s no way
I would ever protect anyone who is responsible for supplying those
drugs, no matter how much I care about them.
“Would you be willing to get back in
with Lane?” Officer Plymouth asks, bringing my attention to him. My
heart flips in my chest at the thought, but I don’t get a chance to
answer, because someone bangs hard on the glass mirror in front of
me, causing my image to go funny.
Aurora Rose Reynolds is a navy brat
who's husband served in the United States Navy. She has lived all
over the country but now resides in New York City with her Husband
and pet fish. She's married to an alpha male that loves her as much
as the men in her books love their women. He gives her over the top
inspiration everyday. In her free time she reads, writes and enjoys
going to the movies with her husband and cookie. She also enjoys
taking mini weekend vacations to nowhere, or spends time at home with
friends and family. Last but not least she appreciates everyday and
admires it's beauty.
Website: http://aurorarosereynolds.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/auroraroseR
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