A Thin Line by DL White - Book Tour + Giveaway
A Thin Line
by DL White
Genre: Romance
Angie Blake and Preston Reid are oil and water, fire and ice. Whether it's in the courtroom, where they're always in opposition, or in their personal lives, they don't mix.
Nearly two decades have passed since they were high school sweethearts and split in an emotional firestorm, but their best friends are dating, and now engaged so they haven’t had a moment’s peace from each other. And they won’t get one since the soon to be newlyweds have roped Angie and Preston into planning their destination wedding. They've been tasked with organizing the most romantic, memorable event of their lives without tearing apart the lifelong foursome in the process.
Angie and Preston are wise to this game. This clever ploy to push them back together in the hopes that their long-dead romance will rekindle couldn’t possibly work.
Could it?
There’s a thin line between love and hate.
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I usually work in my living room, on the floor in front of the
television. My laptop sits to my left, all my notepads to my right, my files
directly in front of me. Every few hours, I have to get up and walk around,
grab some water, make some coffee.
By 10 AM, I have already been working for hours, after pulling a
late one the night before. I am stiff, and not for any good, fun reason. My
first conference with Preston and Philip Bailey is next week. I need to be
ready.
Running forces me to concentrate on not dying instead of
everything else going on in my life, so I change into a tank top and yoga
pants, grab my phone and earbuds, ID, debit card, and keys and shove them into
a small sack that attaches to an armband. I hop in the car and drive to my
favorite park with a running trail.
The day is sunny, the air is clean, and the flowering trees and
shrubs give me pretty scenery to focus on while I heave and pant for a few
miles. I’m sweaty, but I need snacks before I head back home to work, so I
swing into a Publix grocery store parking lot, giving a wave to the symphony of
car horns that sound off.
A bag of tortilla chips and a jar of medium salsa make it into my
basket. I walk past jars of cheese dip… and then walk back. I reach for one,
pick it up, then frown while I read the label.
Is there even any cheese in this stuff?
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. A familiar spicy
citrus blend with musky notes wafts behind me. Fuck.
"Evangeline."
My shoulders drop. “I was having such a good day.”
I put the nacho cheese back and turn my head far enough to glance
at him out of the corner of my eye. He looks nice for a late Saturday morning—
jeans and a black button-down shirt, far enough open at the collar to see tufts
of chest hair.
If I was looking that hard.
He smells good, like...he hasn't been home from his date last
night.
I am instantly disgusted. And then angry at myself for being
disgusted.
“What are you doing in here? You don’t even live over here.”
Preston’s chuckle carries over my shoulder as he steps close so
close to me, the soft cotton of his shirt brushes against my skin. “You don’t
own this side of town. I had a meeting over this way. I saw you leave the park,
then cut across two lanes of traffic to get over here. I wanted to see what had
you in such a hurry.”
He peers into my basket. “Chips. Salsa. This is how you fuel after
a run?”
"Can't get anything past you, Reid."
"You don't eat this shit all the time, do you? I mean, you
can't. Not with everything you’re working with.”
I turn to find him eyeing me, head to toe. It reminds me of that
day in seventh grade when he couldn't stop staring.
“If you don’t want anything, I have shit to do, Preston.”
I want to walk away, but that would leave him staring at my ass.
So, I stand with an irritated tilt to my head, hoping that incites him to move.
"See, Evangeline… here's me being nice to you.” Laughter
pokes at the corners of his mouth as he splays a hand over his chest. “And
here's you treating me like shit. You reap what you sow."
“Anyone can pretend to be nice. Especially when I know there’s ice
behind that smile.”
“I don’t pretend to do anything.” He props an elbow against the
shelf and leans in. I can smell the mint in his toothpaste. “I’m generally a
nice guy.”
“Men that have to tell people that they’re nice usually aren’t.
So, I beg to differ.”
“You probably beg for a lot of things."
"Never had to, actually,” I shoot back, my eyes narrowing.
“How about you, Reid?"
"You and I both know that I've never had to beg."
He stares at me. I stare at him and refuse to look away. Preston
finally breaks the stalemate.
"Tell you what. Put this shit back. I’ll take you to
breakfast. Maybe this is why you’re not competition in the courtroom."
"No. But thanks.”
“No?” He seems genuinely surprised that a woman has turned him
down. “What else do you have to do?"
“I’m in the middle of a case that I will win because I will be
prepared. Opposing counsel looks to be busy trolling the grocery store for
ass.”
“Oh. I wouldn't worry about that case, Angie. There’s no way
you’ll win, so relax. Let's go eat."
He reaches into my basket and starts restocking my groceries.
“Hey! Give—" I reach for the bag of chips, but he grabs for
my hand and doesn't let go. Instead, he gently pulls me down the aisle.
“Preston! I said—”
"I heard what you said. Come anyway. I'm hungry. You're hungry;
you almost bought nacho cheese sauce. Do you know how much sodium is in that
shit? It's not even cheese."
He tilts his head in a nod toward the door. "We'll go to
Grand Luxe. You love that place."
I feel shitty about it, but I immediately stop protesting. I do
love Grand Luxe Café. Our families used to go there together all the time.
Do I want to put up with Preston for chocolate chip pancakes?
DL White is an Atlanta based author of women's fiction and romance, centering Black men and women. She began seriously pursuing a writing career in 2011.
She has a deep and abiding love for coffee and Sunday Brunch, especially on a patio, but her true obsession is water— lakes, rivers, oceans, waterfalls.
By day she is an Executive Administrative Assistant for a billion dollar beverage brand. By night, when not writing books, she devours them and blogs reviews and thoughts on writing at BooksbyDLWhite.com.
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2 Comments
Thank you for hosting my release on your blog! Much appreciated! xoxo DL White
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! :)
DeletePlease try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.