Blog Post 12/27
This week I have a bit of free content for you. My next book is the first of a series titled Thoroughly Educated. The books will each focus on one couple, with the other couples appearing throughout. Book one in the series is Hudson, and here is a snippet of the first chapter.
Reagan stepped into her lit comp class and found a seat near the back. Despite having arrived on campus early enough to unpack and learn her way around, she felt disorganized. She’d hardly slept the night before, pestered by flashes of what she’d done the previous week. Maybe who she’d done was a more accurate term. She’d always been the good girl, focused on what was expected of her and not on having fun. She and her brother, Grant, were orphaned at the ages of twelve and seventeen, and Reagan had done her best to never give her brother a moment’s grief as her court-appointed guardian.
Six years later, it was still ingrained into her psyche to be cautious.
She was the studious type, earning straight A’s and a scholarship to the University of Maryland. Grant was incredibly proud of her, something he never failed to tell her. Unfortunately, he remained in their hometown in Virginia, unable to get enough time off from his job as a mechanic to accompany Reagan to school. She’d ended up stopping overnight at a hotel because of the pouring rain . . . and because of the stranger she’d helped on the side of the road.
As she sat in her first college class, she reminisced about that night, where she acted on her impulses and threw caution to the wind.
She was aware of the safety rules when it came to picking up hitchhikers and stopping for strangers, but that hadn’t mattered when she came upon a BMW pulled over to the shoulder of I95 with its hazard lights on. The downpour was so heavy Reagan could barely see a foot in front of her own car, but the flashing lights caught her attention on the darkened road. She’d pulled over and lowered her passenger window to ask if the person needed any help. The driver window on the two-door slid down and the occupant leaned away as the rain made its way inside his car.
“Could I borrow your cell phone?” He’d had to shout to be heard over the pelting on the roof. “Mine died, and my cord is buried somewhere in a box in the trunk.”
Reagan felt sorry for him. Unbuckling, she scooted over the center console and held her hand out the window, grateful in that moment that she’d gotten a hardy, waterproof phone. They both stretched out their windows until the gentleman had her phone. They rolled their respective windows up, and Reagan tapped her fingers on her thighs as she waited. A few minutes later his window went back down halfway and she did the same so he could hand the phone back over.
“Well?” she shouted.
“Nobody’s open right now.”
She heard the pained groan and felt a surge of sympathy for him. Feeling no danger from this man, she offered, “I guess I could give you a ride.” She thought about the pepper spray in her purse and even fished it out.
“That would be amazing.”
She hit the unlock button and rolled her window back up. She was soaked on the right side of her body as she shifted her way back to the driver’s seat. She shoved her purse in the back to the floorboard and clutched the pepper spray in her left hand. A minute later the passenger door opened and the man climbed in with a small overnight bag. He locked his car with the keyfob and settled into the seat.
“Thank you so much. I thought I was going to have to sleep in the car and flag someone down in the morning.”
His voice was smooth, rich, and made her think of expensive coffee. “I know what it’s like to need help. I’m going to the Bayview Inn, will that be all right with you?”
“Yes, absolutely. I really appreciate you taking a chance and helping me.”
They were silent as she pulled back onto the interstate. After a few miles of tense silence, the stranger spoke up again. “I’m Hudson, by the way. I can’t believe I forgot to charge my phone before I headed out.”
“My name is Reagan. Where are you headed?”
“To the new job I start next week.”
She nodded, spotting the sign for her exit and decelerating. They were quiet again until she pulled up under the portico of the hotel.
“Well, thanks. I’ll go get checked in.” He paused with his hand on the door. “Do you need help with your bags or anything?”
“No, thanks.” She watched him as he slid his long legs out and stretched to his full height. He appeared to be tall, as much as she could tell from her spot inside the car. His hair was dark, but that could have been because it was wet. He had a lanky build and his scent lingered in her car.
She shook her head and got out, grabbing her purse from the back floorboard and locking the car as she headed inside. The rain had let up, but it was still steadily falling. She got in line behind Hudson and then spent the wait time studying him. She was right; he was tall, maybe in the six feet range. His hair seemed brown and a little shaggy, falling over his ears after he ran his hand through it. He had a full beard that she found fascinating, and he was wearing a navy blue blazer that was currently covered in raindrops, leaving dark splotches throughout, and matching pants.
Reagan stepped forward as Hudson moved up to the desk. It was there again, his scent remaining after he’d moved on. It smelled of the rain over a spicy musk, something she couldn’t put her finger on.
He turned and flashed her a smile as he walked toward the elevator with a key card in his hand. She flushed at being caught staring, then recovered by moving up to the desk and checking in. The whole process only took a few minutes, and soon she was heading back out to her car to park it. The lot was illuminated by plenty of light poles, but Reagan felt a bit uneasy as she walked back to the entrance. The rain had slowed her progress, and she was later than she’d planned on being at check-in time. The clouds seemed to hug the sky, blocking out any light that might have come from the moon.
When she reached the elevators with her bag she breathed a sigh of relief. A shower to get warm seemed like the best idea. Dry, comfortable pajamas would be next on the list. As she stepped off the elevator on the fourth floor, she saw Hudson walking by with an ice bucket in his hand. She actually shivered at the idea of anything cold at that moment. His blazer was gone, leaving him in a white button-up dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
“Oh, hi, Reagan. Same floor, huh?”
“Yep, looks like it.” She smiled brightly at him and headed down the hall toward her own room. She couldn’t help but feel his eyes on her as she walked, and a tingling started at the base of her spine. By the time she made it to her door, the sensation had reached the nape of her neck and tickled her scalp.
She unlocked her door and slipped inside, leaving the door a crack to spy through. She watched Hudson disappear into the little anteroom with the ice machine, heard it churn out ice, and then watched him walk back to his room. She didn’t want to admit to herself that she’d purposely noted his room number, but that was exactly what she’d done.
I wonder what kind of trouble those two are going to get into? I’ll give you another bit of chapter one next week, but only in my newsletter! I have to warn you, these two are flaming hot!
I’d love to have help picking the covers for this series. I have two options that I can’t decide on for Hudson, so please help me out by commenting A or B on here or on the Facebook post on my author page. Thanks, everyone!
A B
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I like cover B. Closer up to the hotty! I can not wait for this series!
I like that one, too! It’s hard to decide.