Cover & Excerpt
by Nicole Flockton
The Freemasons Book One
Freemasonry never looked so sexy! Ava Vaughan is back to see her sexy estranged husband for one thing – to get a divorce. After living apart for the last six months the time has come to move on and start her life over. When she confronts Cole the last thing she expects is for him to say No.
Freemason Cole Jacobs isn’t ready to let go of Ava. He comes up with a plan that will keep her by his side. Not only will the gala help her fledging event planning company, it will also help raise funds for Cole's Lodge Drysor and the activities the general public aren't aware of. Once the job is over he will give her the divorce she wants.
Only working together brings buried feelings and secrets to the surface forcing them both to face the reasons why their marriage fell apart. Suddenly letting go isn’t as easy as either of them thought.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Content/Theme(s): Freemasons, Suspense, Reunion, Second Chance
Release Date: May 13, 2015
Publisher: Indie
Excerpt & More
Limited Time 99¢ Sale ends June 26, 2015Purchase link(s): Amazon & more retailers soon
Excerpt:
She brushed passed him and made her way up the stairs to the front door, hating that she had to wait for Cole to catch her up to her and unlock the door. As the big glass and wrought-iron door swung open, a thousand memories hit her one after the other. The most powerful being Cole carrying her down the stairs as her stomach twisted up on itself. The feeling of warm blood trickling down her leg. Her heart breaking with every second that passed, knowing exactly what the symptoms heralded.
Her feet wouldn’t move. Her brain told them to move. To walk into the house but they weren’t cooperating. Her legs had turned to stone.
Ava jumped when hands landed on her shoulder. The heat from their touch seeped into her, warming places that had frozen with the opening of the door.
“Talk to me, sweetheart. Tell me what’s going on inside of you? I know something is.”
She shook her head, trying to dispel the memories. “I was just remembering that awful day.”
Cole enveloped her in a hug and maneuvered her across the threshold and into the magnificent foyer. The door slammed behind her and she looked up into Cole’s eyes; pain and regret shone in their brown depths.
“I wish I could change that day. I wish I could wipe away the pain I see in your eyes.” He paused and brushed a thumb against her cheek before stepping away. “I wish things could’ve been so different.”
Finding courage deep inside, she brushed past Cole. “I wish things were different too.”
Ava marched down the hallway toward the kitchen. She had no idea what she was going to do there. She needed breathing space from Cole. How could she think he felt the same way about her as she did about him? She’d told herself over and over she needed to break away from him. Now she found herself back in the house where she’d always felt like a visitor and never a rightful member. The first time she’d walked in she’d been starry-eyed with love, imagining this would be her home forever.
She opened the fridge door and stared at the contents, not really seeing what sat on the shelves.
“Found what you’re looking for?”
She glanced over her shoulder and spied Cole leaning casually against the doorframe, arms crossed. He’d taken his jacket off and had loosened his tie. Instantly a memory hit of her meeting him as he opened the front door. Greeting him with a kiss and helping divest him of his jacket. Before she knew it, Cole had her up against the wall, taking her to heaven. Their relationship in the bedroom had never been an issue. Her body shivered. She knew it wasn’t from the cool air emanating from the fridge.
Turning away from Cole, Ava opened the crisper drawer and plucked out a peach. She took a bite and juice trickled down her chin. She licked it up quickly.
It seemed so ridiculous to be standing in the kitchen. Neither one of them were speaking to each other.
“Did you want something, Cole?”
He pulled away from the doorframe and walked further into the kitchen. “I wanted to let you know that I’ll be out this evening. I’ve got a Lodge rehearsal to go to.”
Fantastic, her first night back and he’s going to leave her alone. Why had he demanded she even stay at the house then? She could’ve gone back to her house and packed up, then returned to the office sometime tomorrow morning. She didn’t understand Cole’s actions or his need to have her return to their marital home.
Not that she had a problem where he was going, just that he was leaving her alone. When they’d been together she’d never questioned his involvement with the Freemasons. Her knowledge extended to Cole attending rehearsals and then a week later attending the actual formal meetings.
During the time they’d been living apart, whenever she’d wanted to try and feel close to him she’d googled Freemasons. There were pages of links. In the end she hadn’t read any of the articles she’d clicked on. She’d convinced herself that no knowledge was better for her and her attempts to purge Cole from her life.
Now, having some distance between them, she could finally admit the secrecy of what happened when he went to his meetings bothered her. She knew for a fact that one of the Lodges he attended was right next door to a gentleman’s club. Did he really go to a meeting or was he being “entertained” by other women?
Ava had heard plenty of joking about some of their activities. For so many years an aura of secrecy shrouded them. Even now, with all the information available on the internet, people still speculated on what happened behind closed doors at Freemason meetings.
“What do you have to rehearse, riding the billy goat? Or maybe you have to make sure you’ve got the altar set up correctly to sacrifice the virgin.” She couldn’t help lashing out at Cole for making her come back and live with him, and then leaving her alone the first night she was back in the house.
“Yes, it’s important we get the angle right on the cuts we make on the sacrificial virgin. And,” he deadpanned her. “It takes a lot of practice to ride the billy goat.”
“You’d think after all this time you wouldn’t need to rehearse.”
Ava stood her ground as Cole stalked closer to her. A muscle ticked in his jaw. This was the first time she’d deliberately provoked him into an argument.
“What is it you’re trying to say?”
“Nothing.”
“Really?” He stood right in front of her. He crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “If you want to say something, just say it, instead of the wise-ass cracks about Freemasonry.”
“Why ask me to come here today when you knew you were going out tonight? Why couldn’t I have gone back to my house, packed everything up and then come back in a couple of days? Now I’m going to be stuck here, by myself, while you go off doing your thing.”
“Your house is really my house and you know why you’re here. It’s just unfortunate that I have to be out tonight.”
“You’re an asshole, do you know that?”
Ava went to brush past him but his arm shot out, wrapping around her waist, halting her exit from the kitchen. “And you weren’t being a bitch with your comments?”
~~~~~~
Limited Time 99¢ Sale ends June 26, 2015
Purchase link(s): Amazon & more retailers soon
Other titles by Nicole Flockton:
His Desire | Her Ring |
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Decision | the City | Love |
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My Heart | Phoebe | Dawn | |
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Be on the lookout for Nicole Flockton's future release(s): The Hunter coming September 2015 and Bound by Their Love coming October 2015
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This is a good, quick read. See my review on Amazon
ReplyDeleteThis looks good!
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