Blurred Lines by Jen McLaughlin will be releasing January 26th, but first we have some exclusive content to share. FINNClub team members will be sharing special details from the book this week, in order to share their excitement for the new novel.
Today we have the first chapter from Blurred Lines.
Blurred Lines – Chapter one
Riley
I parked my car in the driveway and just sat there, staring up at the house I shared with my fiancΓ©e, Sarah. It was dark outside, and somewhere in the distance, a dog barked. It sounded pissed as hell, but that wasnβt why I didnβt get out of the car. It wasnβt why I was sitting here, feeling empty as hell and just as lost.
The truth was, I wasnβt going inside because I knew my fiancΓ©e wasnβt in there alone. Iβd seen the car parked down the road, conveniently hidden behind large shrubbery. If I was any other man, it might have worked. I might not have noticed it when I drove by on my way to my next meeting. But Iβd know that fucking car anywhere.
It was Sarahβs ex-bossβs car.
The same one sheβd once dated.
When weβd met, theyβd been freshly split up. Heβd broken her heart, and sheβd sworn him off forever. Weβd dated a suitable amount of time before getting engaged. My parents had liked her, and so had I. It had been an arranged marriage of sorts, but in my circles, that wasnβt such a strange thing.
Our fathers were political affiliates. We were expected to marry. Once upon a time, Iβd hoped to have more. Iβd hoped to have the kind of love that consumed your soul.
I still hadnβt found it.
So, Iβd asked Sarah to marry me. Sheβd said yes. Iβd thought she loved me. Iβd been fairly certain I would grow to love her. But if she really loved meβ¦
Why the hell was her ex-boyfriendβs car outside my house?
Slowly, I opened my car door and made my way up the driveway. My heart thudded in my ears, and I knew what Iβd find when I opened that door. There was no doubt my fiancΓ©e was naked and having sex with another man.
And yet, I went inside anyway.
The door creaked when it opened, and I froze, half expecting to hear frantic shouting and retreating footsteps. Nothing moved. I crept inside the rest of the way, leaving the front door open. As I walked, I found a manβs sweater on the floor. I stepped on it. Another step and I scored a pair of menβs pants and a skirt.
There was no doubt anymore, if there ever had been, that my fiancΓ©e was cheating on me. I didnβt need to go any farther. I had confirmation. But stillβ¦
I kept going.
For some reason, I needed to see it with my own eyes to believe it. Iβd truly believed Sarah was an honest woman. One who wouldnβt sleep with someone behind my back. Iβd thought she would be a good partner for life. A trustworthy one.
I reached the couch. The couch Iβd picked out.
Sarah was kneeling between her exβs feet. She was naked, and so was her ex. The manβs bare ass was on my fucking couch. I didnβt know what upset me more: that, or the fact that she was giving the dude a BJ.
She never did that with me. Said it was undignified.
So was fucking a dude on my couch.
And, yes, I knew that the fact that those two things bothered me just as much as the actual betrayal did was fucked up. But I hadnβt loved her. Iβd wanted toβ¦
But I didnβt really know what real love felt like.
Fisting my hands, I cleared my throat. βIβm home early.β
Sarah shrieked and flew to her feet, grabbing the throw blanket off the arm of my couch and covering her body with it. Which was absurd, really. Weβd both seen her naked before, obviously. The man also stood, grabbing a pillow and covering his half-hard dick with it.
βYou can keep that now,β I said drily, not taking my eyes off Sarah. She was pale and shaking. I forced myself to remain calm. To act as if this hadnβt completely taken me off guard, even if it hadnβt broken me like it should have. βSo, I take it the engagement is off, then?β
βRiley, Iβm so sorry.β Tears streamed down her cheeks. βI didnβt want you to see thisβ¦β
βObviously,β I said. βCheaters rarely do.β
She shook her head, her blonde hair flying everywhere. βNo. Iβm not a cheater. I justββ
βSeriously?β I threw my arms out. βIf this isnβt cheating, what the hell do you call it?β
Her cheeks flushed. βI love him, Riley. Really love him.β
I froze then, absorbing the knowledge that sheβd felt the same way about me that I felt about herβand I hadnβt even known it. Iβd naΓ―vely thought she actually loved me, instead of just, well, accepting me as a suitable partner. How had I missed that?
βI thought you loved me,β I said softly, scratching my head. βI didnβt knowβ¦β
βI do.β She came up to me, resting her hand on my heart. The same hand that had been cupping another manβs balls moments before. That skeeved me out, so I stepped back from her touch. βI love you, Riley.β
βBut youβre not in love with me,β I said, swallowing hard.
I might not love her till my dying breath, but the reality of what was happening hit me pretty hard. We were together for three fucking years, and it was over now. Weβd just mailed the wedding invitations out last week.
And sheβd been fucking him.
βIβm sorry,β she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.
I had no doubt she was. She was always a nice person, which was why this came as such a shock. I never suspected this of her. Hell, weβd made love last night, and sheβd spent half an hour talking about wedding dresses and centerpieces.
I locked eyes with her bright green ones. βWhen did this start?β
βRileyβ¦β
βWhen?β
She crumbled. βA week ago.β
The dude finally spoke up. He took a step forward. βLook, man, Iβm sorry, butββ
Without thinking, I cocked my fist back and punched him right in the fucking face. Heβd broken her heart, and now he was going to do it again. She might think heβd changed, but any man who would fuck another manβs fiancΓ©e on his own couch was not a changed man. He was scum, pure and simple.
And sheβd fallen for him again.
βDonβt speak to me,β I snarled. I went after him, even though he stumbled backward and tripped over a fallen pillow. βDonβt you ever fuckingββ
βRiley, donβt!β Sarah called out, sobbing. βPlease. Donβt hurt him.β
I fisted my hands, my breathing coming out harsh. Sheβd cheated on me with this lowlife, and she was worried Iβd hurt him? I whirled on her. βIf you loved me, even if you werenβt in love with me, you wouldnβt have done this, Sarah. Not to me.β
She covered her face and cried. βIβm sorry.β
βYeah.β I shook my head. βYou made a big mistake, Sarah. I would have treated you right. I never would haveβ¦neverβ¦I wouldnβt have done this.β
βBut you donβt love me,β she whispered. βYou never have.β
βI care about you. I respect you.β I looked at her again. βI would have treated you right. Thatβs more important than love. And itβs safer, too.β
βI know,β she said, shrugging hopelessly. βI wanted more, though.β
And she thought sheβd find it with this guy? I looked at him again. He sat on the floor, butt-assed naked and shaking. Pathetic. Turning my attention back to her, I forced a calm smile. My lawyer smile, as I liked to call it.
The one that said: I have no problem with taking your ass to court and whooping it publicly, so you better enter a plea bargain. Iβd never given it to her before.
βWell, then, I wish you the best of luck. Goodbye.β
Sarah stumbled after me, grabbing my arm. βWait. What will we tell everyone?β
βTell them whatever you want.β I shook off her hold. βI donβt care.β
She grabbed for me again, but I pulled back. βButββ
βI said I donβt care, okay?β I held my hands up. βYou were right about one thingβI never loved you. So, I donβt give a damn what you say to them.β
She covered her mouth and cried. I felt nothing. Not really.
But I didnβt want her touching me. Not anymore. This was the second time Iβd found my significant other in bed with another man. The first time had been in college, and it had hurt like hell. Iβd actually loved herβ¦or Iβd thought I had, anyway.
Now I was starting to think I was incapable of love.
Sure, Iβd loved a girl once, but she hadnβt loved me back. Sheβd been in love with her now-husband, and they were the only couple I knew actually in love. Like, the kind you see in movies. Finn and Carrie had it, but I never would. Not in this lifetime.
I stumbled out the door, tugging on my tie as I went. It felt tight. As if it had come to life and decided to choke what little life I had left out of me. I was tempted to let it.
I was stuck in a job I hated, at a firm my father owned, and now I was single, too. And for the second time in my life, Iβd been duplicitously cheated on.
Was it something Iβd done? Something that was missing in me that made my women look elsewhere? Maybe I was broken. Maybe I should stop trying to find a partner and just accept the fact that I was better off alone.
Maybe I should just stop trying.
But first? Iβd call off the meeting that I was already late toβ¦and Iβd get drunk as hell as quickly as possible. Iβd get so drunk that Iβd forget all about Sarah and the naked man on my couch. So drunk that Iβd forget all about how broken I was, because instead of being heartbroken over her betrayal, I was angry that weβd have to deal with the mess sheβd made.
I was mad Iβd have to tell my mother that I was no longer marrying the woman sheβd handpicked for me, and deal with the drama that came with it all. But I wasnβt upset I lost herβ¦
Not at all.
BOOK BLURB:
Once burnedβ¦
Finding my fiancΓ©e naked on my couch mightβve been a good thing, if her ex-boyfriend hadnβt been with her. For the past eight years Iβve been a witness to the power of true love, but after getting burned Iβd decided there wasnβt any hope for me finding it for myself. Until I met Noelle Brandt in a hotel bar. Maybe it wasnβt the most romantic meeting, but the moment I met her I knew I had to have her. The more I learn about her, the more I know Iβll do whatever it takes to keep her.
Twice shyβ¦
Iβd already found the love of my life, but Iβd lost that love forever. And Iβd been lost ever since. But one night a wounded man makes all of that go away. He makes me laugh, live, and feel alive. When he tells me he has no intention of letting me go, I finally begin to believe in the power of true love again. That is, until I find out who he really isβ¦and by then, itβs far too late to correct the mistakes weβve already made. By the time we both know the truth, the lines have already been blurred beyond recognition.
Jen McLaughlin is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of sexy New Adult books. Under her pen name Diane Alberts, she is a multi-published, bestselling author of Contemporary Romance with Entangled Publishing. Her first release as Jen McLaughlin, Out of Line, released September 6 2013, and hit the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal lists. She was mentioned in Forbes alongside E. L. James as one of the breakout independent authors to dominate the bestselling lists. She is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency.
Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal-clear water. Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal-clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, and a cat. Her goal is to write so many well-crafted romance books that even a non-romance reader will know her name.
Website: http://dianealberts.com/
Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/DianeAlberts6
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianeAlberts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6921962.Jen_McLaughlin
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confusing sounding series
So psyched about this giveaway! I’ve only read the first book so far!