About the Book:
Title: Out of Mind
Series: Out of Time #3
Author: Jen McLaughlin
Expected Publication: April 29, 2014
This scene takes place a few weeks after the end of OUT OF TIME, but a couple of weeks before the beginning of OUT OF MIND. It is from Finn's POV!
This is the FINAL book in the OUT OF LINE series!
Reaching for sunlight...
Reaching for sunlight...
Finn survived the ambush and came home to me, but in his head, the battle is still raging. He’s falling apart and I’m trying my best to pick up the pieces of him, to find the us we used to be. I love him as much as I ever did, but love isn’t enough to fix this. I thought telling my father about our relationship would be the hardest thing we’d ever have to face. I was wrong.
Lost in shadows...
All I wanted was to be worthy of Carrie. One mission, just one, and I’d be able to give her the future she deserved. Then everything went wrong, leaving me tainted and broken. Carrie wants me to be who I was, but all that’s left is what they made of me. I’m no good for her. No good for anyone like this. I have to figure out how to move forward. Alone.
Sometimes love isn’t enough…
Sometimes love isn’t enough…
Excerpt:
She did sneak into my room every single night, but we never acknowledged her visits. It was our unspoken agreement. Without fail, I would have a nightmare every night. Also without fail, she would come in and comfort me until I fell back asleep. Then, in the morning, we pretended it never happened. I could tell she wanted to talk about it, but she kept silent.
She just gave, without asking for anything in return.
She was too good for me.
“I’ll try tonight,” she agreed, stretching up on tiptoes to press her mouth to mine.
I tensed and pulled away. I couldn’t...she couldn’t really want me right now. Not when I looked and felt like this. She stepped back, the disappointment in her eyes way too fucking clear. “I’m going out to refill your prescription. Want to come with me?”
I’d love to, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready for the world to see me yet. “Nah. I’ll stay here.”
“O-Okay.” She watched me, her brow furrowed. “Did you see the sun is shining?”
My heart wrenched. We used to say that, back when I’d been overseas. It had been our code for “I love you.” Back when we’d been a secret. Back before her father found out about us. Before he’d threatened me if I ever hurt his baby girl.
I didn’t want to hurt her, and yet I was.
I needed to start acting happy better. I pasted a big grin on my face. I felt like a fucking clown. “I did. It’s so bright.”
She nodded, perking up a bit. “Are you sure you don’t want to go out with me? It could be fun. Maybe we could go out to dinner? Have a little date.”
I started to waver. A date sounded fucking fabulous. It had been so long since I felt normal. Since I felt human. We hadn’t had any alone time together, unless you counted stolen moments like this one, and it had been way too long since we acted like a couple at all. I was a fucking mess, and I knew it.
Could I pretend not to be, for her? I could try. “Well...”
I looked over at the nightstand. The mirror over the top of it showed us in perfect profile. She watched me with a hopeful look in her eyes. All red curls, gorgeous skin, and bright blue eyes. She was flawless. And then there was me...
Beauty and the Beast.
The wound on my head ran a thin line across my skull, extending down past my eyebrow. My shaven head was patchy at best, due to some lovely hospital clippers that had been used on me. I was told my hair would grow back in eventually, but I was supposed to go out with her like this? I could picture the looks now.
The disgust. The pity.
No. I wasn’t ready.
She just gave, without asking for anything in return.
She was too good for me.
“I’ll try tonight,” she agreed, stretching up on tiptoes to press her mouth to mine.
I tensed and pulled away. I couldn’t...she couldn’t really want me right now. Not when I looked and felt like this. She stepped back, the disappointment in her eyes way too fucking clear. “I’m going out to refill your prescription. Want to come with me?”
I’d love to, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready for the world to see me yet. “Nah. I’ll stay here.”
“O-Okay.” She watched me, her brow furrowed. “Did you see the sun is shining?”
My heart wrenched. We used to say that, back when I’d been overseas. It had been our code for “I love you.” Back when we’d been a secret. Back before her father found out about us. Before he’d threatened me if I ever hurt his baby girl.
I didn’t want to hurt her, and yet I was.
I needed to start acting happy better. I pasted a big grin on my face. I felt like a fucking clown. “I did. It’s so bright.”
She nodded, perking up a bit. “Are you sure you don’t want to go out with me? It could be fun. Maybe we could go out to dinner? Have a little date.”
I started to waver. A date sounded fucking fabulous. It had been so long since I felt normal. Since I felt human. We hadn’t had any alone time together, unless you counted stolen moments like this one, and it had been way too long since we acted like a couple at all. I was a fucking mess, and I knew it.
Could I pretend not to be, for her? I could try. “Well...”
I looked over at the nightstand. The mirror over the top of it showed us in perfect profile. She watched me with a hopeful look in her eyes. All red curls, gorgeous skin, and bright blue eyes. She was flawless. And then there was me...
Beauty and the Beast.
The wound on my head ran a thin line across my skull, extending down past my eyebrow. My shaven head was patchy at best, due to some lovely hospital clippers that had been used on me. I was told my hair would grow back in eventually, but I was supposed to go out with her like this? I could picture the looks now.
The disgust. The pity.
No. I wasn’t ready.
About The Author:
Jen McLaughlin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She writes steamy New Adult books for the young and young at heart. Her first release, Out of Line, came out September 2013. She also writes bestselling Contemporary Romance under the pen name Diane Alberts.Since receiving her first contract offer under the pen name Diane Alberts, she has yet to stop writing. 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. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, a cat, and a Senegal parrot. In the rare moments when she’s not writing, she can usually be found hunched over one knitting project or another. Her goal is to write so many well-crafted romance books that even a non-romance reader will know her name.
No comments:
Post a Comment