Pull

Chapter Thirty-five
Demetri
“I could seriously sleep for five years,” I grumbled once we
made it back to my beach house. I refused to let Alyssa out of my
sight. I may have lured her to my place under false pretenses. I told
her we had hot chocolate. I lied.
“Where’s this famous hot chocolate?” she asked. Damn
mind-reading women.
“Uh… Up there.” Shameless, I know. I pointed to the top
shelf. She walked over and stretched up against the counter. My
mouth went completely dry as my eyes burned wild shameless
circles around her body.
“Hmm.” She put her hands on her hips. “I didn’t see it.”
“Try again.” I was going to burn some place very hot for all
this taunting.
She stretched again, this time her shirt came up, revealing
her flat stomach and a cute belly button. I must have made some
sort of embarrassing moan or something because she froze and
then turned to give me an icy glare.
“There is not hot chocolate, is there?”
I smirked and then shrugged. “Um, I don’t know. Care to
look again?”
“You ass!” She charged towards me. I didn’t even put up a
fight as she pushed me against the counter. I just grabbed her and
lifted her into the air. She wrapped her legs around my waist and
kissed me across the mouth.
“I’m sorry…” I said between kisses. “To be fair… I just
wanted you alone… in my house… without any interruptions.”
“What about Nat and Alec?” she asked tugging my lower
lip.
“Damn, woman… I… um…” I tasted her tongue and
groaned. “They’re out.”
“Where?”
“What?” I nibbled her neck and moved lower pulling her
soaking wet shirt away from her shoulder.
“Where are they?”
“Who?” What the hell was she talking about? Her skin was
perfect. I wanted to both touch and then memorize every single
touch and how it affected her.
“Your brother. Demetri, are you even listening?”
“No,” I answered honestly. “I stopped listening the minute
you wrapped your legs around my waist, and if you don’t say stop,
I’m going to be laying you across the kitchen counter in five
seconds.”
“Five seconds, huh? That’s pretty fast. You improve your
time, bro?” My brother’s idiot voice echoed through the kitchen.
Slowly, I pulled away from Alyssa and set her on the floor.
Both Alec and Nat were standing in the kitchen, ridiculous
grins on their faces as they watched me struggle with my
embarrassment at nearly laying claim to my girlfriend near last
night’s ranch dip.
“Uhh….” I scratched my head. “Damn it! Just go away.
We’re busy.”
“We can tell,” Nat said triumphantly.
“And we can’t go,” Alec said, smug grin in place. Was it
illegal to strangle him in our house? I wondered if that was
assault…
“Our publicist and agent are taking a flight out to Portland
tonight,” he said, looking between me and Alyssa. “I take it she’s
in?”
“In what?” Alyssa asked, wrapping her arms around my
side.
“The show. It’s a go. We have to do it, and anyone who
hangs out with us has to sign a contract and stuff.”
Alyssa nodded. “I think I can do it. I mean, if it means being
with Demetri I have no choice.”
I exhaled in relief while giving Alec the glare he deserved.
Must we talk about this right now?
“There’s some other stuff…”Alec gave me the look that said
there was way more than some other stuff going on. Was he even
keeping Nat out of the loop? “Nat, why don’t you show Alyssa the
bathroom so she can change out of her wet clothes and take a
shower.” His eyes never left mine the whole time. Shit. This was
bad.
“Sure.” Nat looped her arm with Alyssa’s and they
disappeared up the stairs.
“What are you keeping from her?” I asked once they were
out of earshot.
“Everything.” Alec sighed. “They want another famous
couple for the show.”
“Don’t they have enough? I mean they’re going to be
stealing our privacy already. It’s you, me, Nat, and Alyssa.”
“And Jaymeson.”
“Pardon?” I had just taken a hug swig of water and began
coughing wildly. Alec thumped me on the back.
“Oh, that’s not the worst part.” Alec smirked.
“Great.”
“He’s bringing a girl. You know, to even the odds.”
“Who’s the lucky lady?”
Alec looked down and mumbled an answer.
“Care to repeat that?”
He mumbled again.
“What the hell! Just spit it out!”
“Angelica Greene.”
“Hell no!” I yelled and threw my hands in the air. “I’m
calling our manager right now. Hell will have to seriously freeze
the shit over before I allow that woman back in my life!”
“She’s just… Hollywood,” Alec said, defending her.
“She’s bat shit crazy. As in, the bat that feeds on the other
crazy bats and then smiles while she’s consuming their hearts!”
“Whoa, dramatic much?” Alec laughed. “What’s the deal?
So you hung out with her a bit when you were back in L.A. last
year. It’s not as if you guys hooked up.”
The room began to spin as I tried to calm my breathing. Not
her. Anyone but her. I couldn’t have her back in my life. She was a
manipulative bitch. She was poison, and the sick part was… she
was the one I had… Yeah, I couldn’t even say it or acknowledge it
in my head.
“No.” I repeated again. “And I’m sorry, but why aren’t you
freaking out? Jaymeson has a huge thing for both Nat and Alyssa.”
Alec shrugged. “He’s British.”
“Point taken.” Crap. “Has she been finalized for the show?”
Alec nodded.
“And the show’s been picked up already?”
“Without a pilot.”
“Impossible.”
Alec shrugged. “Apparently, thanks to your great summer
here at Seaside, they have all the pictures they need. People love
you, Demetri. You know that. There’s nothing the press likes more
than the bad boy turning good and then falling for a local girl. And
lucky us, it happened twice.”
“Yeah, lucky,” I said dryly. “When does the show start?”
“Filming starts in August. They’re going to do a few
webisodes for the first two filmings, and then it’s going to air on
cable.”
“Cable’s better than a huge network.”
“Dude, have you been living under a rock?” Alec laughed.
“Cable shows are huge right now. Mad Men? True Blood? White
Collar? Come on.”
He put his arm around me. “We’ve been to hell and back
this last year. It will be cake, and then we can take our women on a
long vacation before we start our tour.”
Alec looked doubtful. It was as if he was still hiding
something from me. I could see the stress etched across his face.
“Fine.”
“Fine.” He released me and grabbed a bottle of water from
the fridge.
“Besides, what’s the worst that can happen, right?” I gave
him a pointed look.
He paused, the water bottle lifted mid air to his lips. His
throat worked as he swallowed a few times and avoided my eyes.
“Right.”
See what happens next in the third installment of the Seaside series!
Shatter: A Seaside Novel
Shatter: A Seaside Novel
Alec
The group was all together. Evan and Alesha, Alyssa and
Demetri, Angelica and Jaymeson, and finally Nat and me. I cringed
for the twentieth time that day.
Seaside was officially the hot spot to be, and we were the
show to watch. Nobody was nervous but me. Why was I the only
one? I was stressed, pissed, angry, worried. Damn, I felt like a
parent. I just wanted to protect everyone, especially Nat. I loved
her so much and now it felt like I was really exposing her to the life
Demetri and I lived on a day to day basis.
Before it wasn’t so bad. I gave Nat a bit of Hollywood in
small doses. After all, AD2 was still technically on hiatus.
Not now. Why did it suddenly feel like I brought the depths
of hell into this sleepy town? Camera crews were everywhere. A
makeup artist touched up Nat’s lipstick for the third time while I
watched. Could they have at least gotten her a female makeup
artist? By the looks of this guy, he wasn’t gay. And if he kept
lingering, my fist was going to end up in his face.
I scowled and looked towards the ocean. It was like I had
just hatched hundreds of baby turtles and was now waiting in
horror for them to be eaten by birds before swimming free in the
ocean.
Note to self: You know your life is going to shit when you
start using reptiles as allegorical examples of how bad things suck.
“Enough!” I finally said as the guy hovered over Nat’s face
adding more powder. He scurried off as I showed him the finger.
Nat glared in my direction. I blew her a kiss and managed a smile.
Six weeks. I could do six weeks of filming, and then I was
going to propose and whisk her away from Seaside, away from
Hollywood, away from everything. I wasn’t sure how much longer
I could balance everything before I broke. All things considered, I
was already on borrowed time. Nat and Demetri had no clue. I
gripped the chair until my knuckles turned white.
I wanted her far away from everything when it hit the fan.
Author Note:
I honestly don’t know where to start with this author note! I
have so many people to thank! First and foremost, I’m so thankful
that God has blessed me with this incredible JOB! I love writing. I
honestly would write all day if I could… oh, wait. Most days I feel
like a complete nerd. I stare at my computer, I sigh loudly, I cry, I
yell at my characters and somehow everything always gets finished
without me killing any of them off… so far. MUAH HA HA! Note
the craziness factor here! Clearly I need to get out more!
Thank you to all the readers out there that gave this genre a
chance. I know I typically write regency romance, so doing a New
Adult series was a bit of a stretch for me. Thank you so much for
sticking with me and for supporting me. Fans on Goodreads that
helped spread the word about this book, I can’t thank you enough!
You know who you are! It would take forever to list you guys, but I
appreciate you more than you will ever know!
Liza Tice, wow, girl. You’ve been there since the beginning
when I said, “Hey, I may write a New Adult book, you think it
would suck?” You are the greatest beta reader. EVER! I really
appreciate all of your comments and notes on this manuscript.
Laura Heritage, aka best editor and cover artist —EVER! Thank
you for all your hard work. You make masterpieces of my jumbled
thoughts. Kristin Vayden, thanks for your continued support and
beta reading. Love you like a sister…oh wait, right you are my
sister.
Astraea Press, quite possibly the best indie publisher around
— thank you for allowing me to do my own side projects and still
supporting me when I decide to do something crazy like self-
publish! And of course I have to say thanks to the hubby who has
to put up with my insane questions and weird habits while writing.
I swear, every time I write a kissing scene I ask him to kiss me so I
can show rather than tell. He thinks I’m just trying to get a kiss.
Well, it’s possible I am. But he’ll never know because he doesn’t
read romance, HA! Sneaky, I know.
Finally, I just need to say thank you again to all the readers.
Your support makes it possible for me to be living my dream. I
truly love you all and am so blessed to have y’all in my life.
As always, if you loved or hated the book, leave a review on
Amazon/Barnes/Goodreads. I love to hear from readers and am
ALWAYS on Facebook. Hit me up on the social media of your
choice and we can hang and talk book boyfriends and Starbucks.
Maybe I’ll bring some Swedish Fish.
You can add me on Twitter @RachVD, follow me on
Facebook: Rachel Van Dyken Author, or check out my website:
www.rachelvandyken.com.
Other books by Rachel Van Dyken:
The Devil Duke Takes A Bride
The Ugly Duckling Debutante
Every Girl Does It
Compromising Kessen
Savage Winter
The Parting Gift
Waltzing With the Wallflower
The Seduction of Sebastian St. James
Beguiling Bridget
The Redemption of Lord Rawlings
Upon A Midnight Dream
Whispered Music
An Unlikely Alliance
Tear: A Seaside Novel
The Wolf’s Pursuit
Coming Soon:
The Bet
Shatter
Taming Wilde
Divine Uprising
Irresistible Terms
Elite
About the Author
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times and USA Today
Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When
she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and
plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her husband and their
snoring boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from
readers!
You
can
follow
her
writing
journey
at
www.rachelvandyken.com.