I balance the tray on one side and take her hand in mine. "I'm Alison. Alison Baker."
"You helped clean up a sauce spill earlier. You put the lady that had the accident at ease when you took the blame and kept the attention off her. I wanted you to know I saw and respected that."
"It really was no big deal.”
"In this world, everything can be a big deal. Trust me. You probably just saved my brother a couple of votes."
"Just doing my part," I laugh.
She smiles again, her chic sky-blue dress matching her eyes and heels. "Well, on behalf of the mayor, thank you. He seems ... occupied, at the moment."
I wink. "I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn't see a thing."
She nods, looking a touch relieved, and thanks me again before turning away and greeting the older lady from earlier, the one that spilled her dinner all over me. Camilla takes her hand and helps her into a chair.
Her elegance is breathtaking and she has a charm about her, an easiness even though she’s clearly blue-blood, that I’ve never seen before. It’s exactly what the kitchen is buzzing about with Barrett—a charisma you can’t quite put your finger on.
Read on by clicking here.
Books by Adriana Locke
The Exception Series
The Exception
The Connection
The Perception
Landry Family Series
Sway
Swing
Switch
Swear
Swink
Sweet—coming soon
The Gibson Boys Series
Crank
Craft
Cross
Crave
Crazy
Dogwood Lane Series
Tumble
Tangle
Trouble
Mason Family Series
Restraint
Reputation
Reckless
Honey Creek Series
Like You Love Me
Cherry Falls
608 Alpha Avenue
907 For Keeps Way
Standalone Novels
Sacrifice
Wherever It Leads
Written in the Scars
Lucky Number Eleven
Battle of Sexes
The Relationship Pact
For an email every time Adriana has a new release, sign up for an alert here: http://bit.ly/AmazonAlertAddy or text the word adriana to 21000
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me beyond measure.
I would like to thank my family for their incredible and everlasting support. Saul, my husband, and my children Alexander, Aristotle, Achilles, and Ajax are my reasons why.
My parents raised me to believe I could do anything. I would like to thank Mom and Dad, or Dennis and Mandy to everyone else, for instilling in me a fire to make things happen. I was blessed with an amazing set of in-laws, Rob and Peggy. Thank you both for loving me like your own.
My beta team knocked it out of the park. Thank you all for not giving up on me. Sending my warmest thoughts to Jen, Susan, Anjelica, and Tiffany.
I always thank Kari because I truly believe I never would’ve started writing without her. She also makes beautiful book covers. Thanks again, my friend.
Huge thank you’s to my author friend that help me each and every day. Mandi Beck, S.L. Scott, Chelle Sloan, Jessica Prince, Laura Pavlov, and Ilsa Madden-Mills—you are all what is right and good in this world. Thank you for loving me.
Ebbie, Kaitie, and Stephanie lend their talents and support to all of my groups and teams. Thank you all for your kindness. And to my friend Haley for her musical genius—you’re the best.
Big thanks to Marion and Jenny for editing this project and to Michele for her eagle eeye in proofing. And to Candi Kane PR for wizarding my marketing efforts with Reputation and T.E. Black for your graphics—thank you, too.
A massive thank you goes out to the bloggers, vloggers, and Instagrammers that shout from the roof tops about my books. There’s no way to tell you how valuable you are to me and how much I truly appreciate you. Thank you so much.
Last but certainly not least, thank you to every reader that picks up my book. I’m honored that you chose this title and gave me, Coy, and Bellamy a chance to entertain you. I hope you enjoyed this story.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana created her own.
She resides in the Midwest with her husband, sons, two dogs, two cats, and a bird. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather's nice and there's always a piece of candy in her pocket.
Besides cinnamon gummy bears, boxing, and random quotes, her next favorite thing is chatting with readers. She’d love to hear from you!
Join her reader group and talk all the bookish things by clicking here.