Chelsea M. Cameron is today’s “Book Bash featured author” and she sends us a tidbit from her upcoming release!
She says:
βIt’s an exclusive teaser/scene from my upcoming New Adult Contemporary Romance, UnWritten that comes out July 10.
I’ll be giving away 20 paper ARCs at Book Bash as well.β
π YAY book giveaways!
And the blurb? Intriguing indeed!
A tattooed children’s librarian by day. A romance novelist by night.
A British single father.
Someone else is writing this love storyβ¦
Ready for that teaser scene?
βI have been remiss on introducing myself and I wanted to remedy that. Iβm Declan Bennet,β Declan said, holding out his hand.
βNice to finally make your acquaintance, Declan,β I said, loving the way his name tasted in my mouth. I shook his hand and was relieved when he gave me a good grip, but not too hard. He wasnβt trying to prove anything, or treat me as an inferior female. I approved of that handshake.βShake my hand!β Drake said, jumping up and down so weβd pay attention to him. I crouched down and gave him a good handshake.
βDaddy taught me how to handshake,β he said seriously.
βI bet he did. Your daddy has a perfect handshake,β I said, not looking at Declan when I said it.
When I rose to my feet, Declan was speaking softly to Ada. Sheβd dropped her bitch face like a bad habit and leaned into him, resting her hand on his shoulder. Her fingers fluttered on the material of his jacket. Yup, she had it bad for her boss. Wonder if they were doing it.
His face was impassive, but that didnβt mean anything. He wouldnβt be the first guy to sleep with his hot nanny. Wouldnβt be the last, either.
βDrake, come,β Ada said, holding her hand out for Drake. He gave his dad a look of defiance but Declan gave him a stern look back and Drake complied, dragging his feet the whole way. Ada marched him over to the reading corner and made him sit on a beanbag. What was that about?
βSorry about that,β Declan said. What was he apologizing for?
βOh, itβs fine,β I said automatically. I went back to the books, but a hand reached around me and plucked one of the books off the cart.
βDrakeβs adorable,β I say, to fill the silence. Declan seemed much more comfortable with it than I.
βThank you. I canβt say Iβm entirely responsible for it, but thank you.β He flipped the pages of the book at random.
βIt must be hard, raising him on your own.β His eyes flew up from the book and stared at me. Sh!t. I wasnβt supposed to know that. Why did I read that dossier?
βI mean, Iβve never heard him talk about his mother and Iβve never seen her with him, so I just made that conclusion. Iβm sorry, thatβs none of my business.β I started pushing the cart so I could escape before anymore words came out of my mouth.
βNo, I do raise him on my own. That wasnβt a bad conclusion to draw. Itβs difficult, but I manage. Ada watches him and in another few years, heβll be in school and heβll be someone elseβs problem during the day.β He grinned as he said the last part. βI love him, but he can be a lot of work.β
βI can see that you love him. Thatβs obvious.β This felt like an intimate conversation, so I kept my eyes on the books. Declan moved closer to me, setting the book heβd been holding back on the cart.
βWell, we should probably be going. Drake is overdue for his nap and if he stays up all night again, I might strangle the lad.β Damn, he was so delightfully British.
βOkay, well, I should get back to work. Itβs story time in a little while, so I have to mentally prepare myself for an epic battle of who gets to turn the page. There may be casualties.β Why? Why was I saying stupid things?
Declan cracked a smile and leaned against the bookshelf.
βBut you love your job.β It wasnβt a question.
βYeah, I do. I wouldnβt want to do anything else.β Well, besides writing smut, but I wasnβt going to tell him that.
Heβd said he needed to go, but he hadnβt made any move to do so. The space between the shelves seemed to decrease, as if the shelves were pressing in on us. I fingered the spines of the books, waiting for him to say something.
Drake to the rescue again. He crashed into Declanβs legs, chattering about something or other. Like most little kids, Drake still had the tendency to slur his words together when he was excited, like a little drunk person. At least Declan could make sense of them.
βAnd that is my cue to make an exit. I hope to see you again, Blair.β Drake dragged at his fatherβs arm.
βIβll be here. With the books,β I said, pointing at the shelves.
βBye-bye, Blair!β Drake yelled and then Declan gave me a smile as he let his son drag him away.
I leaned against the shelves for support and closed my eyes.
That man did things to me.
Oh I love it. I want it. I need it. NOW!!!!!