Don't Date Your Brother's Best Friend - A lifelong crush revealed. Will he make her dreams come true or shatter her heart?
I loved writing this new book, the start to the Strong family series. Ella and Trey were hilarious and so cute together. Of course their path to finding happily ever after wasn't easy, but is it ever?
You can find the latest release on my Amazon for only $.99 today! Grab a copy and read Don't Date Your Brother's Best Friend to find out if THIS romance novel has a "happily ever after". Let me know what you think!
Excerpt:
Trey unfolded his arms and walked closer. He extended his hand and opened his palm. A pink-and-green twisted bracelet was in his hand. Ella’s eyes flickered from his hand to his face in surprise.
He stepped right up to her. “Do you remember?” he asked, his voice husky and his blue eyes full of meaning.
Ella’s heart about stopped. “Of course I remember,” she whispered.
“Remember what?” Gavin growled from behind them.
“Before I left the valley at eighteen, Ella gave me a bracelet.” He spoke up for Gavin, but his gaze was all for Ella. “I still have it.”
“You do?” The bracelet had been like this one, pink and green twisted together, but she’d made it by hand. She’d told him then it was a friendship bracelet so he didn’t forget her, all the while praying he’d read through the lines and know she loved him with all of her twelve-year-old heart.
He nodded very seriously, especially for Trey. He lifted her hand and placed the bracelet in her palm, closing her fingers over it. Her hand tingled from his warm touch and the meaningful look in his eyes. He still had the bracelet? And he’d been thoughtful enough to buy her one? He must’ve gotten it from the gift shop downstairs when she’d run up to see Austin. He’d probably seen it and bought it on impulse. It shouldn’t mean so much, but it did.
“I wanted you to have one too,” he said softly.
“Thank you,” was all she could manage.
“Don’t you need to be going?” Gavin asked impatiently.
Trey arched his eyebrows, still focused on Ella and still cupping her hand with his. “I’ve got a group going out on a mountain bike ride in a little less than an hour. Do you want to come?”
He knew her so well. She absolutely wanted to come, and she absolutely wanted to spend time with him.
He released her hand and stepped back, which sadly broke the spell he had her under. “Unfortunately, that loser Marcus is in the group, but I’ll keep you safe from him,” he said.
“I don’t need your help staying safe,” she said with as much sass as she could manage, knowing it was what they’d expect from her. The bracelet was still in her hand, though, and she wanted to put it on and show him how much she cared for him, even if she couldn’t verbalize it. “I’m not only an expert at pepper spray; I took some self-defense classes in college. I could kick your trash and have you begging for mercy.”
Trey’s eyebrows lifted as Gavin laughed softly. Trey’s smoldering eyes said he not only wasn’t afraid of her; he could make her so weak with longing she’d forget all those self-defense tactics. “You always have me begging for mercy, beautiful Ella.”
Ella’s heart raced and her palms grew damp. The Trey of her childhood had never talked like this to her. He’d teased her and been her friend, but the new and—dared she hope?—meaningful look in his blue eyes and his flirtatious words were going to be the death of her susceptible heart. Was it possible for a healthy twenty-two-year-old to have a heart attack from sheer hot man factor?
“That’s enough,” Gavin growled before Ella could formulate a semi-intelligent response.
Trey simply smiled. He probably knew her gruff brother better than anyone else did and wasn’t intimidated by him like most of the world. “You in for the ride?” Trey asked, focusing on Ella.
“S-sure,” she stuttered out.
“Great. Meet you in the parking lot in forty-five minutes.”
Ella backed away. “I’d better put my stuff away and change.”
“Austin,” Gavin commanded. “Take Ella to the house and show her her room. I’ll get a bike ready for you, sis.”
“Thanks.” Ella gave him one more impulsive hug. He wasn’t a hugger, but he’d always been soft for his sisters and Austin. She figured he needed the human contact, so she always hugged him.
Releasing him, she took Austin’s outstretched hand, and with her free hand she clung to her bracelet.
“This way, my lovely lady.”
Ella laughed. They walked past Trey, and he smiled. “See you soon, my lovely lady.”
“Th-thanks.” Ella stuttered on even the simple response.
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