But, when people have the wrong information or the wrong idea about something, well that’s a different story. I have to put things right.

Ever since I announced that Grand Central Publishing was pushing back the release date of Shooting Scars to August 20th, I’ve gotten a hell of a lot of backlash. This was to be expected  - in fact I voiced this concern to my editor and she understood. But this was their decision, not mine and I stand by them because I believe they know what they’re doing (read to the end to find out what that is) and HELL they are MY publishers. This is my dream! Of course, they don’t deal with the backlash…I do.

And, frankly, in some cases like on Facebook or Goodreads, it’s been a bit…harsh. Like, you want to hurt me kind of harsh (and I am a fairly delicate flower, so…)

Look, I understand being disappointed. I’M disappointed. I’m used to the “press publish” method of self-publishing just as you’re all used to “one-click” buying. I’m used to finishing a book, editing it, publishing it. I’m a very fast writer and a very fast publisher and I like to get things out to you as soon as possible (hence why I’ve published thirteen books in two years). But, this isn’t how the real publishers do things. They take their time (and this is a good thing).

So you can be disappointed all you want and I’m right there with you. I GET IT! You can cry and scream and be sad about the book being pushed back and I’ll cry and be sad, too. Honestly.

But, and here’s where things get tricky; I’ve noticed some people getting really angry and some false information about me going around. Most notably, that I’m in charge of Shooting Scars release date, that I somehow have the power over the dates and that it’s my fault the book is pushed back– in short, I’m doing this on purpose.

I am not an asshole. I swear.

I like to think of myself as a fairly engaging and generous author. Aside from trying to publish a lot of books for people to enjoy, I also host a looooooot of giveaways. I try and answer all my emails. I provide teasers. I give away ARCs (essentially FREE books) to a boatload of people and not all of them bloggers. Some of them just ordinary people who love to read.

I try and keep people happy because readers are my everything. So it breaks my heart when people get the idea that I’m doing this to piss people off or to just fuck with people or I don’t care about my readers or I don’t know what.

Does that sound like something I would do? Look, I’ve pushed back release dates on my self-published books before and I’ve admitted it. I said “hey you know what, Come Alive is going to be published in June because I’m bumping up Shooting Scars till May.” I got some backlash on that too, but at least that was fair — I was in charge of the dates. It was in my control. That’s what self-publishing is all about.

But Shooting Scars is NOT a self-published book. The Artists Trilogy, starting June when GCP Forever releases it under their name, is no longer self-published. It started out that way but was bought by a big ass big six publisher (see: my dream), something I always wanted for this series. Now my series can go beyond the 30K people who have bought a copy (thank you!) and now hundreds of thousands of people might get hooked on the Ellie/Camden/Javier train through Grand Central Publishing’s skilled hands. They can reach faaaaar more people than I ever could on my own.

Because it is not self-published, I do not control the release dates. I am just the writer. AND I LIKE IT. It’s fucking NICE to be able to just write and not worry about anything (except pissing off people, apparently). I don’t have to manage the release, I don’t have to plan the publicity attack. I don’t have to find an editor and a cover and format the book. They do it all for me. That is the number one draw of going with a publisher (that and seeing your book in bookstores everywhere).

I’m excited!

I just wish my readers were excited too. I know pushing back the release dates have made the excitement levels drop and I hope to balance them out with more giveaways and posting whole chapters and more teasers closer to the release date. I know it’s tough to wait for a book. In fact, if I could go back in time I would have stuck to the original release date for Shooting Scars, which was July. Yup. I was first going to publish it in July, but then I saw so many people upset over the cliffhanger and bumped it up to May. I hate disappointing people, but what can you do…

I hope that cleared things up, or at least made you realize I am not doing this, it is out of my hands. My readers mean everything to me (as I blogged about before, the reason I went with Grand Central Publishing is because the release date for SS was going to be in the summer and the third book would be published in 2013 as well.…most other publishers would spread the series out more and push it back by a year — I was not going to sign any deal that would do that). I would never pushback the release date if I could help it.

Now, I must go back to writing Shooting Scars. Since I signed the deal, the deadline got extended by two weeks so I’m still plowing through it.

**** For those interested in the publishing process, here’s why the real reason why the release got pushed back *****

Publishing houses have a schedule of books to be released. This schedule is usually made a YEAR in advance, at least. Remember, self-published books going to traditional is a VERY new thing. Normally, books are chosen through agents. The agent submits the author’s work to the editors, they look it over, and if they like it, they make a deal. The book then goes through a VERY long editing process and a very long cover process and a very long marketing campaign. Mary Sue’s book “Vampire boyfriend” would be submitted to the publishers and a year or two later the book would finally come out. You know how they work…look at any trilogies, like Divergent. Roth signed the deal for those books at least a year before they were published. And all the book releases are spaced a year apart.

Publishing houses are slooooooow.

So let’s look at GCP. They probably have a schedule all set for book releases this year. They can’t all release their books on the same days (always a Tuesday) because they won’t be able to donate as much marketing time. They want every book to have their moment in the sun. So they space them out — this thriller here, this romance there. It’s been set like that at least a year in advance (remember the majority of the books are traditionally published and are still going through the stages).

Then I come along. They want my books. They want to sell Sins and OES and market them. Normally, a publishing house would say “okay, let’s release Sins in June and then OES over Christmas. THEN Shooting Scars the following June and since we are feeling generous, the third book in Xmas 2014″- they want to donate as MUCH time as possible into marketing the shit out of Sins before the release the other books. Remember, I’ve sold X amount already — they need to make their purchase of the books worthwhile. They need to reach people too.

But GCP, god bless them, said, “Hey we’ll release Sins and OES in June, and then spend June and July marketing them, then release Shooting Scars in July and then book#3 in October.” And then they are like SHIT…we have SO many books lined up for July, that it wouldn’t be fair for Mary Sue’s “Vampire Boyfriend” a book that’s been made ready for a year, to suddenly get the shaft. We’ve devoted so much time and money to it already.

So then they say, okay, well if we won’t move Vampire Boyfriend, then we’ll move Shooting Scars since we just bought it. It’s just a month. People will understand. And that way, instead of trying to market both those books at the same time, we can give Vampire Boyfriend the spotlight and then the next month do the same for Shooting Scars.

And that’s what happened. Shooting Scars got moved to August 20th because it was the better date for both them and I. Book #3 got moved to October 15th for the same reason.

There was no spite here. Nothing malicious. It’s just the way they work and it’s 100% out of my control. I am a new-ish author with a modest (by their standards) amount of success who has never had a publishing deal before. They are a big publishing corporation who have been doing this for decades. I trust them.

And I hope you trust me.

<3

I know I said Shooting Scars was coming out in July, but it just got pushed back to August 20th. Why? Grand Central Publishing’s team felt they could do me and the book better justice this way and donate more manpower to publicity. It’s a pretty good reason that I think will benefit everyone in the end.

They know that you, the readers, will be disappointed by this news and they want to appease you (and me!). I will be working with GCP’s publicity department to come up with some treats for you — maybe along the lines of posting the first chapter to soften that Sins cliffhanger blow? Maybe giving away THREE Camden bracelets in this blog post? Well, that’s not a maybe…I’m going to personally do it, so keep reading to enter.

So there you go. August 20th is the official release date of Shooting Scars (will be on Nook as well as Amazon and all the major e-retailers at the same time).

Book #3 Bold Tricks (working title) is being released on October 15th. Hey, just a two-month wait!

Sins & Needles and On Every Street will both be taken over by the publishers next month in early June. This ALSO means that On Every Street will finally be available on Nook at that time.

Once again, I’m sorry to disappoint you with this pushback but there’s obviously very little that I can do about it. The publishers said they’d try to get it published in July but sometimes things don’t work out and they are trying to get things to work in my favor.

So, please, keep that in mind. It actually hurts my soul to see readers being upset with me over this or upset in general. Your support for me and my new publishers is MUCH appreciated.

Meanwhile, here’s the NEW cover for Sins & Needles.

Yup! It’s pretty much the same, except white font and my name is ridiculously big. So happy they kept the cover, I love it!

Have you missed all the teasers I’ve posted about Shooting Scars so far? Take a look:

Back to the first “I want to make you happy” giveaway. Three Camden bracelets here. I just got them today and am really happy with them!

The winners will receive one of these as well as a signed surprise goody! To enter, just leave a comment below and on May 14th (the date I hand in Shooting Scars to my editor!) and I’ll pick three winners. Open internationally!

I have accepted an offer by a major “Big Six” publisher for The Artists Trilogy, which includes On Every Street, Sins & Needles, Shooting Scars and Bold Tricks (the tentatively titled last book). All books will be published this year in e-book format and late 2014 in mass market paperback.

*confetti gun goes off*

This is THE dream of all dreams for me. I wrote my first novel in 2009 (Darkhouse, EIT #1) and self-published it on May 13, 2011 (after a few more books were written). Since then, I have written and promoted 13 books and I NEVER ever thought this day would come. I always felt like my writing was unnoticed and underappreciated. I felt like the geeky kid who can’t sit at the cool kids table (and I still feel like this). I felt like the validation I needed, wanted, craved was always out of my hands, a dream belonging to someone else.

I felt like this for two years. But I persevered. I kept writing, kept trying to do my best. I sacrificed sleep, friends, a social life, fitting into my clothes, spending quality time with family, exercise, traveling, EVERYTHING. I invested money in it that, for the longest time, I NEVER saw come back. I felt like a lone soldier, just working her ass off, sometimes while holding down a day job and sometimes while working 10 hour days of just writing until my brain started to bleed. It’s been hard. It’s been tough. No one ever said being an indie author was easy but I never thought it would be SO hard. I never thought I would lose so much in pursuit of my dream.

But, slowly, eventually, after about a year and a half of selling 0–20 copies of my books a month, something changed. Thanks to bloggers like Maryse, The Bookish Babes and Forever Young Adult, and the hardcore fans who have been there since the start, people started to notice Dex and Perry and Experiment in Terror.

And after they noticed that, they noticed Sage and Dawn from The Devil’s Metal.

And then they noticed Ellie and Camden (and Javier) and Sins & Needles.

And publishers noticed it too.

So, finally, I feel like all my hard work is finally being recognized, finally paying off. I’ve made my friends proud of me (they can point to the books when they come out in bookstores and say, “I know that dork!”), I’ve made my parents proud of me (they can tell their friends that their daughter is “actually” published, since the older generation doesn’t really get the whole self-pubbing thing and our family overseas will be able to pick up MY BOOKS at the airports), I’ve made my fiancé proud of me (who has seen me struggle for far too long) and I’ve made ME proud of me. Because I made it – I finally did it. I got a traditional publishing deal. My books will be in bookstores everywhere in 2014. I will have the backing of a huge corporation and editors who believe in me. I am PROUD of myself and all the blood that went into it.

But…and here was the question that always nagged at me since the beginning of negotiations – would my READERS be proud of me?

You see, dear readers, I was terrified of telling you this. Because everyone knows now that books get pushed back when a publisher takes them on. And from some of the angry comments I had already received from  people who hated the way Sins & Needles ended, I knew I was going to make a lot of people mad at me. They weren’t going to be happy for me. They wouldn’t be proud. They would be upset that Shooting Scars got pushed back from May and nothing else would matter.

So, I kept that thought at the forefront of negotiations. If the book was going to be delayed more than I thought necessary, I wouldn’t sign the deal.

I’ll repeat: I would rather give up my dream than majorly disappoint and anger my readers.

Thankfully, it didn’t have to be that way. The publisher understood how important it was to get Shooting Scars out there. They didn’t want to delay it for the sake of delaying it (even though it does benefit them to do so). They understood. They are awesome like that.

And so I said yes.

So here it is:

Shooting Scars is getting delayed until July 2013 (ironically, that was the original release date I picked for the book before I moved it up to May). It’s just two months. It could have been a lot worse. It was the best I can do and believe me, that was the latest I would allow it to be pushed back.

On the plus side: the book will stay around the same price of Sins & Needles (definitely indie-priced) AND the final book in the series will be published sooner than I had originally planned. I was thinking November for Bold Tricks but it appears to be bumped up to September. So yes, more waiting in the short-term but less waiting in the long-term.

Now I know some of you are angry and I’ve been waiting for the retaliation. And I understand the disappointment. I really do! I wish it could come out in May, too (though this does give me more time to work on it and make it amazing). But as another author said to me, the true fans will wait. They will understand. And they will be proud of what you’ve accomplished.

I hope you’re all just as proud as I am

PS — Come Alive, the 7th Experiment in Terror book is still coming out in June (mid-month it seems). I WILL have lots of awesomely awesome TAT (The Artists Trilogy) giveaways and swag plus lots of teasers to keep you game.

PPS I am doing a LOT of book signings this year — there’s RT in May, Maryse’s Book Bash in Orlando in June. There’s an east coast signing or two (or three) later on. Even one in the desert. Since I will soon have to pull my paperbacks of Sins & Needles and On Every Street very soon — and the paperbacks from the publisher won’t be out till next year — I advise you to buy them from Amazon now, while you can.

Link to Sins & Needles paperback

Link to On Every Street paperback

PPS I will let you know the name of the publisher once the ink on the contract has dried

<3

These paperbacks won’t be available for very long, same goes for Sins & Needles, so if you haven’t bought a paperback copy yet, I would strongly advise you to do so or forever hold your peace

Link to On Every Street Paperbacks — Createspace

Link to Sins & Needles Paperback — Createspace

Link to Sins & Needles Paperback — Amazon

And without further ado, here is the cover for Experiment in Terror #7 — Come Alive:

Blurb:

It’s one thing to bring the woman you love back into your life. It’s another to try and keep her there. For Dex Foray, convincing Perry Palomino to open herself to their burgeoning relationship has been more challenging than hunting ghosts, battling demons and stalking Sasquatch combined. Add in the fact that the only way they can keep their Experiment in Terror show running is to take on a third partner in the form of the mysterious Maximus Jacobs — all while investigating a sinister voodoo sect in New Orleans — and you’ve got the perfect Southern storm and a recipe for disaster. Luckily, Dex has never been one to back down, even when his life –and heart — are on the line.

Come Alive is told from Dex’s POV.

Release date: Sometime in June (I’ll let you know when next month).

Inspiration: Like I do with most books, this is named after a song. These lyrics from the Foo Fighters “Come Live” really resonate for me:

Nothing more to give

I can finally come alive
Your life into me
I can finally breathe
Come alive

I lay there in the dark
Open my eyes
You saved me the day that you came alive

Yes, I was loopy and exhausted. Yes, over a thousand people had to wait in the fricking freezing cold for hours just to meet the authors. Yes, I ran out of books pretty much right away (I honestly didn’t think anyone would want to buy Sins & Needles!). But man, was it fun.

Naturally it was great to meet fellow authors I like and admire, such as Madeline Sheehan, E.L. Montes, Amber Lynn Natusch, Kendall Grey. It was just as good to meet the bloggers I love such as Autumn from the Autumn Review, Aestas, Christine from Cocaine and Cupcakes, Megan from the Book Asylum (who helped put on the fab event), Kait from YA Vixens, Taryn from My Secret Romance, Sherre from Beckoned by Books and more. But the BEST part was meeting fans, many who traveled just to see me, many whom I’d talked to before but never got a chance to meet, people like the EIT street team (Robin, Megan, Brenna and now Stephanie), Paula, Sandra, Jamie, Tressa, Nicole and countless others. I also got to meet new fans, which was really cool. REALLY REALLY COOL.

The event was well-organized (albeit slightly chaotic) thanks to the volunteers like Becky and Sarah, Maribel, Katie, Heather and more who were firm and tireless with the burgeoning crowd. Hell, they did a better job than some of the security team!

And I had the best table partner in the world, my fiance Scott, who fed me, gave me water, snuck me in Jack Daniels, handled the cash and managed to take a pictures of many of the people who came to see me. He even signed a book or two haha (for the Dex lovers).

So, without further ado, here are the photos…you’ll grow tired of seeing my face after the third picture lol (and watch for the awesome Red Rum necklace Robin gave me!)

How AWESOME is this beautiful Sins & Needles card she made me??

The winner of the Dex Prize pack (which included a whole bunch of awesome Dex merch…hopefully the winner can give us a picture of her and all the merch when she gets it)…is.…

Holly, who left this comment on why Dex should be her book BF:

Dex is hands down my book boyfriend of the year. Because I haven’t felt this drawn to a char­ac­ter in…well a damn long time, if ever. He is a snarky son of a bitch, acts like he’s a badass, but most of the time he is far more vul­ner­a­ble than he wants any­one to know he is. I love the fact that he now embraces his feel­ings for Perry and strives to be a good enough man to deserve her. And hell…I love how truly per­verted and twisted he is. Just when I think I have him all fig­ured out, he throws another curve ball in the mix. And I love that.

So.…to sum up. Dex is my ulti­mate book boyfriend. He might be a saras­tic ass­hat at times, but I love him just the same.

CONGRATS HOLLY! I’ll be emailing you!

OH and you wanted a lengthy ON EVERY STREET TEASER? Check out Maryse’s book blog NOW.

Keep in mind that this takes place six years before Sins & Needles. As such, it doesn’t contain any spoilers for those who haven’t read Sins & Needles…I’ve engineered On Every Street so that it could act like a standalone.

Enjoy!

On Every Street — An Artists Trilogy Prequel Novella #0.5 — coming March 12

(unpublished version, subject to change)

CHAPTER ONE

I’d been watching the man for almost a month now, the exotic man with the peridot-colored eyes. From a distance they’d always sparkled like the gemstones, but now that I was in the same room with him, I could see they had an amber tinge to them, rendering them almost reptilian.

That should have been my first warning, that this was all a horrible idea. It was too risky and I was too emotionally involved. But I felt I didn’t have a choice. The man with the yellow-green eyes was just feet away from me, representing the first step toward freedom. Vengeance was a terrible prison.

“Can I help you, miss sunshine?” the balding clerk at the counter asked, cutting into my thoughts. I tore my eyes away from the man, who was now sitting with a cup of tea in the corner, and looked at the clerk with an awkward smile. I felt a flush heat my cheeks, knowing I’d been caught staring. What had Gus taught me again? Never let your thoughts drift. Guess at the time I hadn’t known I’d be stalking a Latino heartthrob.

“Yes, sorry,” I replied dumbly. “Can I get a medium latte? Please?”

He nodded, flashing me a warm smile as I handed over the exact change. I stuffed a dollar into the tip jar, making sure he saw it before he started on my coffee. People in Mississippi were as friendly as they ever were, way friendlier than back in California. It felt like I was visiting the state for the first time, despite having lived here for a few years when I was a child. But I suppose life colors how you see the world, and the Mississippi I knew back then was completely black and white. Now there was a hue, that dangerous citron I could feel on my back.

I took in a deep breath and resisted the urge to turn around. Instead, I pulled up my long blonde hair that was sticking to my sweaty neck and glanced out the door of the coffee shop. My rusted Chevy truck was sitting just out of view. I wondered if I was getting too ahead of myself. I’d been following the man from his house to his, well, work, nearly every day, and there was a huge chance that he’d recognize me or my truck. I had been careful, remembering everything that Gus had drilled into my head, even remembering what my parents had once taught me, that there was no room for error in a con. But this was unlike any con I’d done in the last few months. This was the big one. This was the one that meant something. This meant having my life back.

I could still feel his eyes though, burning into me, like my back was as flammable as parchment paper. I had to remind myself it didn’t mean he knew. I was wearing my most ass-supporting jeans and a tissue-thin tank top that showed off my tan. My hair was naturally blonde, but I’d gotten a few layers cut in and champagne highlights added just the other day. My makeup was as natural as I could muster without being boring. I’d prepared for today because I wanted the man to stare at me. I wanted his attention because he sure as hell had mine.

The clerk handed over my coffee, and I took a quick sip before gathering my courage. This would go down a hell of a lot better with whisky in it. I slowly turned around and let my gaze do a sweep of the room, as if I was looking for somewhere to sit. The man was no longer staring at me—perhaps he never was—and was relaxing in the wicker chair, flipping through a magazine. He held his cup of tea in such a way that it exposed his large watch. Even from where I was standing, I knew the thing had probably cost a fortune. When I was younger my parents taught me how to spot the real ones from the fake ones. They’d also taught me how to steal them.

The man was the epitome of the word debonair. The watch, combined with his smooth linen shirt and clean, dark jeans, suggested understated elegance, a man from money. But his pose, the way he held himself, reminded me of a lion on his down time, relishing his relaxation, knowing he still ruled the land. I’d had such thoughts about him before, but now, up close, I could just feel the power vibrating off of him, filling the room.

I wasn’t the only one to notice this either. Men in the café shot him curious glances, as if they should know who he was, while the women timidly tucked their hair behind their ears, eyes darting to him and back again. I couldn’t blame them. The man wasn’t stereotypically handsome and yet you couldn’t stop staring at him. At least I couldn’t. And that was going to be a problem.

I spied a couple getting up from the couch nearest to him and took the opportunity. I walked slowly over, and gently, ever so casually, took my seat on the couch. I placed my coffee on the table that sat between us, taking a moment to let my eyes feast on him. He was so close now, just a couple of feet between us. I felt like I was at the zoo, the glass between me and the beast suddenly removed.

He was even more striking from this distance. His eyes moved back and forth as they scanned the page, sparking with intelligence, the color of budding leaves. His mouth was wide, twisted in a smirk, and his nose looked slightly too wide for his face and had obviously been broken a few times. His skin was golden and so smooth that I had to recalculate how old he was. Perhaps he was closer to my age than I had originally thought. Still, he didn’t look like any twenty-year-old. He didn’t look like anyone I’d ever seen before.

He brushed his shaggy dark hair behind his ears, his palm grazing his cheekbones, and I had the chance to look away. To not get caught gawking at him. To save myself. But I couldn’t help it. I was naïve and young and caught in the spark that would create the flames.

He looked up from his magazine and our eyes met. I’ve never believed in love at first sight. I barely believed in lust at first sight. I didn’t believe in anything except righting all the wrongs in my life. But at that moment, this man saw me. The real me underneath the bombshell mask. I felt like he must have seen everything.

And that’s who his smile was for. It reached through me and did something to my heart, to my lungs, to my nerves. It pulled at me, tugged somewhere deep inside, like a window shade being drawn open. It was dangerous to love that feeling, but I did.

“Hello,” he said, his Mexican accent light and melodic. His teeth were white, his smile captivating, and it took every brain cell to remember why I was there and what I was doing. And that my name was no longer Ellie Watt. It was Eden White. And I had a job to do.

I gave him a pretty smile and knew that damn flush was coming back on my cheeks. I had inexperience written all over my face.

“Hi,” I replied, leaning forward to pick up my coffee, hoping that he’d get a good look at my chest. I didn’t have the biggest breasts, but they looked downright perky in this top, and I was certain that I could poke his eyes out with my nipples. Thank god for air conditioning.

But his eyes never strayed from mine. Either this man had manners or he wasn’t into women. I’d never considered that scenario in the last couple of weeks. Perhaps my attempt to get to know him would backfire. What use was having womanly charms if he preferred them the cock variety?

“I’m Javier,” he said, extending his hand with the watch on it, the rich brown leather gleaming under the lights.

Javier. He now had a name. And from the way his eyes were still cutting into mine, how his grin lit up his face like he’d just won the lottery, I knew Javier wasn’t immune to women after all.

I ignored the butterflies in my core and placed my hand in his. His shake was strong and warm with confidence.

“I’m Eden,” I said, trying to feed off his self-assurance. I was Eden now. It had taken me a while to get used to my fake name, but now it was slipping on like fine silk. Maybe pretending to be someone else would be easier than I thought.

His thumb rubbed against my knuckle, softly and sweetly, before he let go of my hand. I fought the urge to bite my lip. The young schoolgirl shit probably wouldn’t jibe with him, even though that’s really all I was. I wasn’t in school, but around men I was as green as a young filly. And this man’s touch was igniting something in me that I’d never felt before.

“Nice to meet you, Eden,” he said smoothly. I watched his mouth as he talked, feeling a blanket of warmth coat me as he pronounced my new name. Shit. I was supposed to be seducing him, wasn’t I? Not the other way around.

“So what brings you here?” he asked, leaning forward on his knees, his hands clasped together.

I swallowed hard and raised my cup at him. “Coffee?” My heart began to beat louder, whooshing in my ears.

He smirked. “I can see that. It’s just that I’ve never seen you here before. I come here every day and I think I’d remember someone as beautiful as you.”

Oh, this Javier—he was good. It didn’t surprise me, considering the way I’d seen him acting at his “job.” Or, to put it better, the way his colleagues acted around him. I should have known he’d be a smooth operator with the ladies.

I quickly recalled my story. “I just moved to Ocean Springs and thought I’d check this place out. Seems to be one of the more popular coffee shops.”

The corner of his mouth twitched and his eyes narrowed deviously as he appraised what I said. I swear, my heart could have replaced the drummer for Slayer at that moment.

“Interesting,” he commented.

Interesting, I think I’ve seen you in your truck, sitting outside my boss’s house all day? Interesting, I think you’ve used a fake name? Interesting, I think you’re lying through your teeth? I was prepared for him to elaborate by saying any of those.

But he tilted his head, a small gold chain necklace nestled in his shirt collar catching my eye, and said with a lowered voice, “Do you believe in fate, Eden?”

Well that caught me off guard. Maybe that was his intention. I frowned and straightened up, unsure how to placate this strange animal.

“Sometimes I do,” I managed to say, trying to keep the breeziness in my voice.

“I think it was fate that brought you to me today,” he said. The hairs at the back of my neck stood straight up and I knew I couldn’t blame the air conditioning on that.

“You do?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

He nodded, cool and confident. He sat back in his chair and drummed his fingers on his leg, watching me so closely, too closely.

“I think you’ll look back at this in a few years and you’ll know what I know.”

“And what’s that?” I asked, forgetting everything I’d been planning to do, just so completely and utterly enthralled.

“You’ll have to find out for yourself. Better yet, I can get you started. This Friday.”

My face must have looked blank because he went on with a wry smile, “I’m going to take you out on a date.”

Shit. That was fast.  That was easy. And extremely cocky of him.

“How do you know I don’t have a boyfriend?” I asked him, wondering if my singledom and virginhood was stamped all over me.

“Because I don’t believe in accidents,” he said, licking his lips. “But I do believe you’ll say yes.”

I had half a nerve to make my lie worse, to tell him I had a boyfriend and that I didn’t want to go out with him, a total stranger. But that would defeat the whole purpose of the long con, the reason I had sought him out. Besides, those lips and those eyes, that swagger in his lilting voice, was igniting a fire in me where I’d never been burning before.

I was doomed.

“Okay,” I said shyly. He gave me that prize-winning grin again and pulled out a business card from his full wallet, handing it to me.

I turned it over in my hands, feeling the grooved paper.

“Javier Bernal,” I read out loud. “Consultant.”

And that was it. Just his phone number.

“Who do you consult?” I asked, looking up at him.

I could have sworn his face went rigid for a second, but maybe because I was looking for it. Maybe because I knew he wasn’t a consultant. Maybe because I knew who he really was, part of a drug cartel, working as a henchman for one of the most powerful drug lords on the Gulf Coast. Maybe because I knew he had more secrets to hide than I did.

But he just shrugged and said, “People who need it.”

He got out of his chair with all the ease of a panther and tapped the card with a well-manicured finger. “Call me. Soon.”

Then he left the store, tossing his tea in the wastebasket without looking.

It took a good few minutes for me to calm down and get my heartbeat back to an acceptable level. Ever since I left California and came here, I knew what I had set out to do. I had prepared for it as much as I could. I was going to find Travis, the man who scarred me as a child when my parent’s scam went wrong. I was going to get to him by seducing someone close to him, someone who could get me in close. Then I was going to have my revenge, the only thing that had kept me going over the years.

It’s just when I choose Javier as my mark, I never thought my mark would choose me. Because that’s what Javier had just done. I wanted to win over his heart so I could get what I wanted. But I had a feeling he was about to get to my heart first.