“This is Penny Reid at her finest.” -- L.B. Dunbar, author
Beard With Me, an epic and breathtaking story from New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Penny Reid, is available now!
No one is better at surviving than Scarlet St. Claire and making the best out of circumstances beyond her control is Scarlet’s specialty. In an apocalyptic situation, she’d be the last person on earth, hermitting like a pro, singing along to her CD Walkman, and dancing like no one is watching.
Scarlet is clever, Scarlet is careful, and Scarlet is smart . . . except when it comes to Billy Winston.
No one is better at fighting than Billy Winston and raging against his circumstances—because nothing is beyond his control—is Billy’s specialty. In an apocalyptic situation, he’d be the first person on earth to lead others to safety, overcome catastrophe, or die trying.
Billy is fearless, Billy is disciplined, and Billy is honorable . . . except when it comes to Scarlet St. Claire.
‘Beard With Me’ is the origin story of Billy Winston and Scarlet St. Claire (aka Claire McClure) and is just the beginning of their epic love story.
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Excerpt
*Scarlet*
“Do
you want me to leave?”
Yes.
That would be best, a wise voice said between my ears.
So
of course I inhaled deeply and said as calmly as I could manage, “I
thought we were going to go get firewood.”
“Okay.
Good.”
“But
then,” I blurted, flustered and irritated with myself for not
speaking wisdom, “You should go. You can’t tell me carting
firewood back and forth between your house and here is how you want
to spend the last of your Thanksgiving weekend.”
“I
didn’t say it was.” He began making his way up the incline.
“But
you just said—”
“How
about we make a deal.” Billy dropped the kindling next to my little
woodpile, dusting his hands off on his pants. “I’ll cart the
firewood, and you sing.”
“You
want me to serenade you while we carry firewood?”
He
smiled, slow and easy as he walked to me and reached out his hand. On
autopilot, I accepted it and allowed him to help me up.
As
soon as I was standing, his gaze moved from my hairline down to my
nose, lips, and then chin, saying quietly, “I’ll take a serenade
from you anytime.”
Thunk
ka-thunk. That was my heart. It had been doing the thunk ka-thunk
quite a lot around him. I ignored it, because what else could I do?
“And
you’re not carrying the wood.” He tugged on my hand, pulling me
out of my daze and past my tent.
“I
will too carry wood.” Struggling to find my bearings, I stumbled
after him. “I can carry logs just fine.”
“You’ll
carry a log.” Billy fit his fingers between mine, pressing our
palms together and grinning at me like he was waiting for me to argue
and he couldn’t wait.
Snapping
my mouth shut, I glared at him.
“Nothing
to say?”
Maintaining
my glare, I walked next to him. I wasn’t being led anywhere I
didn’t wish to go. Not anymore. He wasn’t talking me into
anything else.
“That’s
an awfully mean look, Scarlet.” His grin grew, his brutally
attractive eyes glowing happily as he peered down at me.
“Well,
you deserve it. Always trying to tell me what I can and can’t do.
I’m not arguing with you about this. I’m carrying as much wood as
I want and you can take your stupid, chauvinistic opinions and shove
them up your pretty-boy ass.”
Goodness.
Where had that come from?
Billy’s
steps faltered and his mouth fell open, his eyebrows rising high on
his forehead. He stared at me, looking shocked as hell. And then in
the next moment, he threw his head back and laughed. But he did not
let go of me, instead bringing my knuckles to his chest as his deep,
rumbly laughter filled the empty spaces between the trees,
surrounding us.
Crushing
me.
Yes.
I was well and truly crushed as I could only watch Billy Winston
laugh, desperately basking in the image of him so delighted and
relaxed. I had the odd sense that his laughter also filled the empty
spaces inside of me, the neglected, vacant rooms, and even a few
places that felt brand-new, like he’d created them.
All
that noble honesty he carried around like a boulder abruptly lifted,
revealing him. Just him. Carefree and young and happy. Someone he
might’ve been if his burdens hadn’t been so heavy, his
responsibilities so broad.
It
lasted only a minute, maybe two, maybe less, but I had the sense of
being caught afterward. Billy’s laughter had receded, but he’d
spun a web while I’d been staring at him, holding his hand.
His
grin became smaller and he bit his bottom lip, his gaze dropped to my
mouth. “You think I’m pretty?”
“You
know you’re pretty,” I said, bizarrely out of breath, rattled,
needing to anchor my focus to a tree beyond him and waging war
against the heat climbing up my neck to my cheeks. Oddly, my eyes
stung. I blinked.
His
attention was still on me. I felt it, but I didn’t dare look at
him. I couldn’t handle one of Billy Winston’s intense stares
right now. He’d probably use my scattered wits to his advantage,
talk me into something I shouldn’t want to do, and then I’d be
kicking myself later.
“What’s
wrong?” he asked, his voice deep with concern, all trace of his
earlier humor gone.
I
huffed, trying half-heartedly to steal my hand back from him. He
didn’t let it go, instead taking my tugging as a signal to step
closer, filling my vision.
“Scarlet—”
“Are
you ever going to teach me how to play the guitar?” I closed my
eyes.
He
didn’t answer right away, and I felt him hesitate, his mind work
before he muttered, “It’s only been a week.”
A
quality to his voice made me think he wasn’t answering the question
I’d asked, but rather he was reminding himself that it had only
been a week since we’d struck the deal.
Was
that only last week? Why does it feel like so much has changed?
Then
he said, “Don’t be angry.”
“I’m
not angry.” I was muddled, my head and heart hurt, I was incredibly
confused, but I wasn’t angry.
The
air shifted and I felt him move closer. A second later, the fingers
of his free hand were at my ear, tucking my hair behind it, his
fingertips lingering at my neck, sending wave after wave of goose
bumps every which way. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t swallow. I
couldn’t think. Every nerve in my body strained toward him and I
didn’t understand it. What is happening?
“Have
you ever been kissed, Scarlet?”
Meet Penny Reid:
Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Selling Author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.
Connect with Penny:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lakzsD
Twitter: @ReidRomance
Mailing List: http://pennyreid.ninja/newsletter/
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