I should have known by the tattoos that Sawyer was trouble. My mother always said to stay away from boys with ink, but she ignored her own advice. She also abandoned me and my little sister.
Life's been hard for the two of us, on the run and on our own, but I just turned twenty-one and started working at a bar in a new city. I wear a fake wedding band and a veil of lies.
My gold ring didn't stop Sawyer. He looked into me with his heavenly green eyes, and I nearly forgot my pretty lies. Now he wants to help me get my life together.
I should stay away, because he could blow my cover. When we get found—and I know one day we will—I want my sister to be old enough to handle the truth about our past.
I may be hanging out with Sawyer, but we're definitely not dating. I swear, he's not setting me on fire with every glance or casual touch. We're just friends. I'm not thinking about him wrapping those tattooed arms around me, every second of every day.
Excerpt
Aubrey's POV:
I tightened my arms around Sawyer's torso, feeling him sway left and right as we made turns, me moving in harmony with him. It seemed very intimate, this riding a motorcycle together. I had to trust him, but he also had to trust me not to throw off the delicate balance.
My hands were sweating, despite the wind rushing around us. Was it the feeling of his muscular stomach under my forearms? Or of his strong back pressed against my chest? His body was warm, and a light sweat was forming underneath the front of my shirt, where his heat was radiating into me.
After a few minutes of riding, I was calm enough to look around more and admire the scenery. The trees looked more lush as we approached the water, and the houses turned into mansions with large lawns and new fences.
The rumble of the bike drowned out everything, until its roar became equivalent to silence in my head, drowning out the sounds of the city, but more importantly, drowning out my thoughts. I wasn't thinking about the pile of laundry at home, or what I was going to pack in Bell's lunch, or what I was going to do if she kept having problems at her new school.
For the moment, I was just a girl on the back of a motorcycle, heading to the beach with a cute guy.
When we got to the beach, Sawyer pulled into the parking area and turned the bike off. The sounds of the world returned, muted.
I let go of him and jumped off the bike, quickly yanking the front of my shirt repeatedly to get some air in there.
He rested the bike on the kickstand and swung his leg over with far more grace than I had. Reaching back, he fanned the back of his T-shirt as well. “Man, you are so hot, Aubrey.”
“Sorry.”
“Do you have a fever? Should we take you by the hospital?”
I stopped fanning my shirt and pulled the helmet off. I shook my hair out and rubbed at the red marks on my forehead that I could see reflected in Sawyer's mirrored shades.
He licked his lips. “That looks good.” He nodded toward a woman with two kids Bell's age walking by with drippy cones.
I said, “Gimme back my purse and I'll buy you an ice cream.”
It was past dinner time now, and a double-scoop cone looked like it would hit the spot. The kids with the ice cream stopped walking and stared at Sawyer. Was it the swirling seascape tattoos all over one forearm like a sleeve, or the smaller tattoo looping across the wrist of the other arm? Or were they looking at the ladies' purse he was only now taking off?
The mother shot me a dirty look and rushed them on their way. Why me? I wasn't the one with the tattoos. And besides, weren't tattoos normal nowadays? Why did people have to be such judgmental assholes?
I looked around at the young families and silver-haired retirees on the boardwalk. There were a lot of those brown slacks rich people wore. Maybe tattoos weren't so common in this area.
Sawyer handed my purse to me and pointed to the row of shops across the street from the boardwalk. A third of them seemed to sell ice cream, but he told me the very best one was off the beaten path, just down a side street.
“You know this area well?”
“I might.”
“How? Did you grow up around here? In a la-dee-da mansion like that?” I pointed up at a house perched on the hill behind the shops. The house next to it was a glass box, but this house had a circular column with a peaked roof, like a turret on a castle.
“I did.”
“Is your family rich or something?”
Grinning, he said, “Yes, we're very rich with dysfunction.”
I gazed up at the beautiful houses again. “Must be nice to look out over the ocean.”
Mimi Strong / For You – Fun Facts!
- For You was originally planned as a trilogy, with a love triangle. Another love interest named Carson was introduced in the beginning of the first draft, but the story completely rejected poor Carson. (Sorry dude, maybe another book!) Toward the end of my draft, I decided against using a cliffhanger, and made the book a stand-alone novel rather than a series. I did this because all the possible options for a second book extending this particular story didn't seem very romantic to read, or fun for me to write. Sometimes you just have to go with your feelings.
- Sawyer's tattoos were inspired by a cute waiter who served me and my friend breakfast the day I started writing For You. I feel like a sponge sometimes, picking up details from the world around me to put into novels. I love writing in coffee shops, because if I need an idea for a side character, I can just look out at the sidewalk. For example, I left Sawyer's bike description blank for a few days until I saw a bike in real life that inspired me. I could have just looked something up online, but reality inspires me more.
- I don't get a crush on my leading men every time, but I sure fell for Sawyer. How bad was this crush? Let's just say there was a guilty confession made to my husband.
- Aubrey was a huge challenge for me. She's way more serious than I am. I found myself hitting the Backspace button to delete lines of dialog way more than I do when I'm writing a really smart-ass character. I actually published a book called Smart Mouth Waitress (as Dalya Moon) about a year ago, and while there are some parallels between the two books, such as the waitress dating an artist, I was very careful keep Aubrey the way I meant her to be. By the end of the book, I knew her a lot better.
Mimi Strong
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Wow couldn't put it down!
I was getting flustered with Aubrey and her holding Sawyer arm's length away when he clearly was a good guy. Aubrey's childhood was a mess to say the least but she is actually a bad ass when you see all she's been through. Throughout the book I was just hoping that she would totally let down her guard and let Sawyer in. Not sure how much Sawyer will take before he just gives up. Lots of Hot steamy juicy sex. Fabulous ending.
Quotes:
"Are you a happy girl with a sad face, or are you sad through and through?"
"Just call me the Redneck Whisperer."
"He's been watching you like you're HBO."
"You're argumentative, and tough like a microwaved steak"
"When I looked at Aubrey's eyes, so gray and pure, I could feel the pull of the moon."
"First the ice cubes, then ring the dinner bell."
CONTENT RATING
Romance: 5 out of 5
Kink: 3 out of 5
Raunch: 4 out of 5
Overall Hotness: 5 out of 5
