Excerpt Reveal: From This Moment – Melanie Harlow

Posted October 5, 2017 by Cocktails and Books in Excerpt Reveal, Social Butterfly PR / 0 Comments

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From This Moment, an all-new sexy and emotional standalone from USA Today Bestselling author Melanie Harlow is coming October 10th!

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From This Moment by Melanie Harlow

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publishing Date: October 10th, 2017

It was like seeing a ghost.

When my late husband’s twin brother moves back to our small town, I want to avoid him. Everything about Wes reminds me of the man I lost and the life we’d planned together, and after eighteen long months struggling just to get out of bed, I’m finally doing okay. I have a new job, an amazing support group, and a beautiful five-year-old daughter to parent. I don’t want to go backward.

But I’m drawn to him, too. He understands my grief and anger and loneliness like no one elseβ€”and I understand his. Before long, that understanding becomes desire, and that desire becomes uncontrollable.

We make excuses. We blame our sorrow. We promise each other it will never happen again.

But it does.

And when our secret threatens to destroy his family and my reputation, we’ll have to decide what’s more importantβ€”loyalty or love?

Excerpt:

β€œWant to go out in the canoe?” he asked.

β€œOkay.” I ditched my flip-flops on the small, beach-level deck, and we set our wine glasses and the bottle on the deck’s little round table. Wes was already barefoot. Together we dragged the forest green canoe from the tall beach grasses on the side of the deck down to the water’s edge and tipped it over.

β€œLet me rinse it out a little,” Wes said, frowning at the dirt and spider webs inside. β€œWant to grab the paddles? They should be in the shed.”

β€œOn it.” I went to the small shed on the embankment, opened it up and grabbed the oars, which stood in one corner. On the shelves were life jackets and sand toys and deflated rafts that probably had holes in them, and scratched into the wooden door among other graffiti was WP + CB. Huh. I’d never noticed that before. Who was CB? I glanced over my shoulder at Wes, who’d taken off his T-shirt and tossed it onto the sand.

My stomach full-out flipped.

Quickly, I shut the door to the shed and brought the oars down to the canoe.

Wes stood up straight and stuck his hands on his hips. He wore different sunglasses than Drew had worn, more of an aviator than a wayfarer. The body was similar, though Wes’s arms seemed more muscular, especially through the shoulder. Other things were the same and caused a rippling low in my bodyβ€”the soft maroon color of his nipples, the trim waist, the trail of hair leading from his belly button to beneath the low-sling waistband of his red swim trunks. In my head I heard Tess’s voice. Arms. Chest. Shoulders. Skin. Stubble. Muscle. The smell of a man. The solidity of him.

β€œWhat’s the law on drinking and canoeing?” he asked.

What’s the law on staring at your brother-in-law’s nipples? I wondered, swallowing hard. What was wrong with me?

β€œI think we’re okay,” I said, handing the oars to him. Our hands touched in the exchange. β€œLet me grab our glasses.”

β€œPerfect. If you hold them, I’ll take us out.”

I retrieved the wine glasses from the table and walked carefully across the sand to the lake’s edge, taking deep, slow breaths. A sweat had broken out across my back. I was wearing a swimsuit beneath my cover up, a modest tankini, but I didn’t want to remove it. Wading ankle deep, I attempted to step into the canoe, but it wobbled beneath my foot.

β€œWhoa.” Wes took me by the elbow and didn’t let go until I was seated at one end, facing the other. β€œOkay?”

I nodded. Despite the heat, my arms had broken out in goose flesh.

β€œAll right, here we go.” As he rowed us away from shore, the breeze picked up, cooling my face and chest and back.

β€œDrew and I used to have canoe-tipping contests.”

I snapped my chin down and skewered Wes with a look over the top of my sunglasses. β€œDon’t even think about it.”

He just grinned, the muscles in his arms and chest and stomach flexing with every stroke of the oars through the water. Momentarily mesmerized, I allowed myself the pleasure of watching him. It was okay if we were both thinking about Drew, wasn’t it?

In fact, it was only natural that I was intrigued by the sight of Wes’s body. He was my husband’s identical twin, for heaven’s sake, and I missed his physical presence in my life. I missed looking at him naked. I missed feeling the weight of him above me. I missed the feeling of being aroused by him, of my body’s responses to his touch, his kiss, his cock.

Deep in my body, the rusty mechanism of arousal creaked to life. My nipples peaked, my stomach hollowed, and something fluttered between my legs.

Oh, Jesus.

I sat up straighter, pressed my knees together, and closed my mouth, which I realized had fallen open. Hopefully I hadn’t moaned or anything. After another sip of wine, I turned my head and studied a freighter off in the distance. My heart was beating way too fast.

It’s only natural. It’s only natural.

Wes stopped paddling and set the oars in the bottom of the canoe, their handles resting against the seat in the middle. β€œWe’ll have to bring Abby out here.”

β€œDefinitely.” Did my voice sound normal? β€œShe’ll love it. Here, want this?” I held his wine glass toward him and he reached out to take it. His fingers brushed mine, and I pulled my hand back as if the touch had burned me.

β€œThanks.” He tipped the glass up then looked along the shore. β€œI’d like to find a place on the lake. Maybe not along this stretch of beach, though.”

I caught his meaning and smiled. β€œA little too close to home?”

β€œYeah. But I don’t want to be too far away. I’d like to get a boat too.”

β€œWhat kind of boat? Drew always talked about it, but we never quite settled on one.”

β€œNot sure. Maybe just a little fishing boat, something to ski behind.”

β€œThat sounds fun. Drew loved to ski.”

β€œWe’ll have to teach Abby.”

I laughed. β€œYou, not we. I managed to get up and stay up a few times, but I am not the expert.”

β€œYou can teach her to cook, I’ll teach her to water ski.”

β€œDeal.” Separate activities seemed like a good idea.

β€œBreakfast was incredible.”

β€œThanks.” I tucked a strand of hair that had escaped my ponytail behind my ear, but the wind blew it right back into my face. β€œI really like working there. I’m so glad Georgia suggested it to me.”

β€œHow long have you been there?”

β€œSince spring, when they got busy. I’m not sure what I’ll do this winter when it slows down. I’m dreading it, actually. Abby will be in school full time, and it will just be me at home alone.” This was something else I hadn’t talked about with anyone, how worried I was that the gray skies and cold weather and silent hours would set me spiraling into depression. β€œI always thought I’d have another baby to take care of, but life saw things differently.”

β€œYou’re still young, Hannah.”

I shook my head. β€œI’m really not. And I feel even older than I am.” Please don’t go Grief Police on me and tell me I’m being ridiculous, I begged him silently. This isn’t the life I chose. It was handed to me and I’m doing the best I can.

But he didn’t say anything more, just sipped his wine and looked out at the horizon. I was grateful.

β€œWhat about you?” I asked. β€œThink maybe you’ll get married now that you’re back? Have a family? Abby won’t have any siblings so she needs some cousins.”

β€œThat seems to be a popular topic of discussion around here,” Wes said, shaking his head, β€œbut I really have no idea.”

β€œSmall town. We like to know everyone’s business.” I smiled. β€œHey, what about CB? I saw your initials carved with hers on the door of the shed. Maybe she’s still around.”

He groaned. β€œIs that still there? Jesus. That had to be twenty years ago.”

Hugging my knees, I leaned forward. β€œFirst love?”

β€œNot even.” He hesitated, as if he were trying to decide whether to confess something.

β€œCome on,” I cajoled, carefully reaching out of the canoe, and splashing water toward him. β€œTell me. I’ve been spilling my guts for an hour.”

β€œFirst kiss.”

I squealed. β€œAnd?”

He cringed. β€œIt’s too embarrassing.”

β€œWes, I had a completely humiliating breakdown in front of you last night. I got snot on my arm.”

β€œThis is worse.”

β€œGet it out. You’ll feel better.”

β€œLet’s just say it was a very awkward, very fast experience.”

I gasped. β€œYou lost your virginity to her?”

β€œNo. Just my dignity.”

Laughing, I tilted my head back and felt the sun on my face, the wind in my hair, and something like joy in my heart.

It had been a long time.

 

 

FROM THIS MOMENT PREORDER

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Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2undwpw

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READ THE FIRST CHAPTER TODAY!

http://www.melanieharlow.com/from-this-moment-chapter-1/

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About the Author:

Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. When she’s not writing or reading, she gets her kicks from TV series like VEEP, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and Homeland. She occasionally runs three miles, but only so she can have more gin and steak. Melanie is the author of the HAPPY CRAZY LOVE series, the FRENCHED series, and the sexy historical SPEAK EASY duet, set in the 1920s. She lifts her glass to romance readers and writers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.

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Connect with Melanie:

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Twitter: @MelanieHarlow2

Website: http://www.melanieharlow.com

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