R.L. Griffin did a guest post for us back in April 2014. It included an exclusive "alternate universe" Excerpt.
Here it is again for you, and keep your eyes peeled because later we can exclusively reveal part 2!
R.L Griffin Guest Post 22nd April 2014
We are proud to reveal what could become a mini-serial (Donna is jumping up and down clapping her hands like a demented seal)...are you ready...
Take it away RL Griffin...
Take it away RL Griffin...
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Patrick would have just told Stella about Jamie? Well, here you go...
He stood at the graveside service, his stomach twisting wildly in disgust. Disgust at the reason he was there, at the lie being perpetrated on these people, at the girl that he’d broken. Patrick turned his head so that he didn’t have to watch Jamie’s fiancé.
As the crowd began to disperse a man, about Patrick’s height, with salt and pepper hair and a weathered face walked up to Patrick.
“You Patrick?”
Patrick nodded.
“I’m Stella’s father, Frank,” he stuck his hand out to Patrick. The shook hands solemnly. “You should just leave her with us for now. I don’t think she’ll want to go back to DC right now.”
Patrick nodded again, thinking Stella’s dad was probably right. He couldn’t imagine what she was thinking; she hadn’t said a word to him since she asked him to stay with her while she cried.
“Thank you for bringing her Patrick, we’ll take it from here.”
“Yes, sir.”
They both turned to watch as Stella rose from her seat and walked to the grave as the men lowered the casket into the ground. She sunk to her knees and let out a heart-wrenching sob, making Patrick rethink everything. At the same time, Frank turned to another woman and went to hold her while she cried. Patrick looked at this family, not Jamie’s that was torn apart by the news he’d delivered. He didn’t understand why one prick in the ATF got to dictate people’s heartbreak.
“Come on Miranda, let’s get you to the car and I’ll come back and get Stella,” Frank told Stella’s mother.
She nodded.
Patrick marched up to the grave and picked Stella up, her arms looped around his neck, her head landed against his chest. He carried her to his car and put her in. He leaned over and secured the seat belt, she smelled like coconut.
After Stella refused to speak with her parents, Patrick had told them he would take her back to DC and check in with them about her coming home. They drove back to the house he’d borrowed from some friends in silence. Patrick’s mind warred back and forth about whether he was about to do something stupid and whether he could trust this girl he didn’t know.
Pulling into the driveway, he stared out the windshield. “I have to tell you something.”
Silence.
Patrick got out of the car, let Cooper out and then opened her door. “Come on, let’s go to the beach.”
He took her hand and the walked to the beach and stood gazing out at the ocean.
“All of this is a lie, Stella.”
This got her attention and she glanced up at him in confusion.
“Jamie’s not dead; he’s on an undercover assignment. I will lose my job if anyone knows that you know this truth, but I couldn’t…I … you are so…”
“What?!” Stella screamed at him.
Patrick took a step back.
“Do you mean to tell me that my fiancé would rather tell me he’s dead than tell me he’s going undercover?” Her voice was eerily low now.
“Not exactly.”
“Patrick, I swear to you, if you don’t tell me what the fuck is going on I will scream at the top of my lungs.”
Patrick started walking down the beach. “All I know is that I was supposed to tell you he was hit by a tractor trailer and it was fatal. He told me his assignment was only six months, so it doesn’t make sense that they did this.”
“Who did this? Does the government really do shit like this?” Her eyes were full of disbelief. “Do his parents know? Who did we bury today?”
“That’s above my pay grade Stella.”
Stella crumbled to the ground, Cooper stops prancing around in the ocean and runs to her. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?” She asks to no one in particular.
Patrick was silent. He didn’t have an answer for her.
They stayed like that, her on the ground, silent, and him standing staring into the surf for several minutes.
“I’m not sure how to process this, but I appreciate you telling me Patrick. I…Jamie being dead changed my entire life and now you’ve just changed it again. I know you can get in trouble for telling me, but I owe you big time.” She pushes herself up off the sand and brushes off some of the sand coating her legs. “I believe it’s time to go get hammered. This is not a just a “few drinks” situation, this is and I will not stop drinking until I pass out kind of situation.”
Patrick smiled, this he could be down with. He wanted to get drunk himself.
“I do some of my best thinking while drunk,” Stella commented.
“Says everyone who is about to get wasted.”
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Three hours later, still in their clothes from the funeral and down a full bottle of Crown Royal, they’d moved on to beer.
“You know…I’m going back to DC and going to law school. Fuck that asshole mother fucker.”
Patrick wiped some of the beer that escaped his mouth with a smile. “Yeah, fuck him. I mean who does shit like this.”
Stella gazed at her ring. “Why did he even propose, Patrick? I mean I don’t get it. If he just wanted to leave, why did he ask me to marry him?”
“No fucking idea.”
“Well, I’m not crying for him…you know, because it’s over. I cried because I thought he was dead, that’s enough.” She took her ring off and put it on the table. “Will you run me by his parents’ house tomorrow? I’ll leave the ring for them. I don’t want that shit.”
She stood up and absent-mindedly unzipped her dress, stepping out of it and throwing it on the heels she discarded earlier. Patrick took her in; she was gorgeous. Her black hair flowed down her back now in chaotic waves and tangles, her eyes were red-rimmed from crying, which made the green stand out more and her lips were begging for kisses. He shook the thoughts from his head. She was wearing miss-matched lingerie, like she hadn’t even known what she was putting on. The bra was pink with black polka dots and the underwear, if you could call it that, was solid red lace. His dick stirred in his pants. No fucking way.
“I’m going swimming,” she announced and she and Cooper moved to the door.
“Stella, don’t do that you’re drunk and the ocean…” Patrick’s words died on his lips as she took off down the stairs of the house to the beach and threw her bra on the sand as she went. “Fuck.”
Patrick followed her tight little ass as she waded into the small waves.
“Oh shit its cold,” she squealed as she turned around and motioned for Patrick to come in. Her breasts bounced and her nipples were…. Stop it.
“Fuck it,” he said to himself as he tore off his own clothes and ran into the ocean.
Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a R.L. Griffin Prize pack here: http://www.theromancecover.com/2014/08/rl-griffin-day-reviews-exclusive-posts.html
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