Pull Read online

Collar? Come on.”

  He put his arm around me. “We’ve been to hell and back

  this last year. It will be cake, and then we can take our women on a

  long vacation before we start our tour.”

  Alec looked doubtful. It was as if he was still hiding

  something from me. I could see the stress etched across his face.

  “Fine.”

  “Fine.” He released me and grabbed a bottle of water from

  the fridge.

  “Besides, what’s the worst that can happen, right?” I gave

  him a pointed look.

  He paused, the water bottle lifted mid air to his lips. His

  throat worked as he swallowed a few times and avoided my eyes.

  “Right.”

  See what happens next in the third installment of the Seaside series!

  Shatter: A Seaside Novel

  Shatter: A Seaside Novel

  Alec

  The group was all together. Evan and Alesha, Alyssa and

  Demetri, Angelica and Jaymeson, and finally Nat and me. I cringed

  for the twentieth time that day.

  Seaside was officially the hot spot to be, and we were the

  show to watch. Nobody was nervous but me. Why was I the only

  one? I was stressed, pissed, angry, worried. Damn, I felt like a

  parent. I just wanted to protect everyone, especially Nat. I loved

  her so much and now it felt like I was really exposing her to the life

  Demetri and I lived on a day to day basis.

  Before it wasn’t so bad. I gave Nat a bit of Hollywood in

  small doses. After all, AD2 was still technically on hiatus.

  Not now. Why did it suddenly feel like I brought the depths

  of hell into this sleepy town? Camera crews were everywhere. A

  makeup artist touched up Nat’s lipstick for the third time while I

  watched. Could they have at least gotten her a female makeup

  artist? By the looks of this guy, he wasn’t gay. And if he kept

  lingering, my fist was going to end up in his face.

  I scowled and looked towards the ocean. It was like I had

  just hatched hundreds of baby turtles and was now waiting in

  horror for them to be eaten by birds before swimming free in the

  ocean.

  Note to self: You know your life is going to shit when you

  start using reptiles as allegorical examples of how bad things suck.

  “Enough!” I finally said as the guy hovered over Nat’s face

  adding more powder. He scurried off as I showed him the finger.

  Nat glared in my direction. I blew her a kiss and managed a smile.

  Six weeks. I could do six weeks of filming, and then I was

  going to propose and whisk her away from Seaside, away from

  Hollywood, away from everything. I wasn’t sure how much longer

  I could balance everything before I broke. All things considered, I

  was already on borrowed time. Nat and Demetri had no clue. I

  gripped the chair until my knuckles turned white.

  I wanted her far away from everything when it hit the fan.

  Author Note:

  I honestly don’t know where to start with this author note! I

  have so many people to thank! First and foremost, I’m so thankful

  that God has blessed me with this incredible JOB! I love writing. I

  honestly would write all day if I could… oh, wait. Most days I feel

  like a complete nerd. I stare at my computer, I sigh loudly, I cry, I

  yell at my characters and somehow everything always gets finished

  without me killing any of them off… so far. MUAH HA HA! Note

  the craziness factor here! Clearly I need to get out more!

  Thank you to all the readers out there that gave this genre a

  chance. I know I typically write regency romance, so doing a New

  Adult series was a bit of a stretch for me. Thank you so much for

  sticking with me and for supporting me. Fans on Goodreads that

  helped spread the word about this book, I can’t thank you enough!

  You know who you are! It would take forever to list you guys, but I

  appreciate you more than you will ever know!

  Liza Tice, wow, girl. You’ve been there since the beginning

  when I said, “Hey, I may write a New Adult book, you think it

  would suck?” You are the greatest beta reader. EVER! I really

  appreciate all of your comments and notes on this manuscript.

  Laura Heritage, aka best editor and cover artist —EVER! Thank

  you for all your hard work. You make masterpieces of my jumbled

  thoughts. Kristin Vayden, thanks for your continued support and

  beta reading. Love you like a sister…oh wait, right you are my

  sister.

  Astraea Press, quite possibly the best indie publisher around

  — thank you for allowing me to do my own side projects and still

  supporting me when I decide to do something crazy like self-

  publish! And of course I have to say thanks to the hubby who has

  to put up with my insane questions and weird habits while writing.

  I swear, every time I write a kissing scene I ask him to kiss me so I

  can show rather than tell. He thinks I’m just trying to get a kiss.

  Well, it’s possible I am. But he’ll never know because he doesn’t

  read romance, HA! Sneaky, I know.

  Finally, I just need to say thank you again to all the readers.

  Your support makes it possible for me to be living my dream. I

  truly love you all and am so blessed to have y’all in my life.

  As always, if you loved or hated the book, leave a review on

  Amazon/Barnes/Goodreads. I love to hear from readers and am

  ALWAYS on Facebook. Hit me up on the social media of your

  choice and we can hang and talk book boyfriends and Starbucks.

  Maybe I’ll bring some Swedish Fish.

  You can add me on Twitter @RachVD, follow me on

  Facebook: Rachel Van Dyken Author, or check out my website:

  www.rachelvandyken.com.

  Other books by Rachel Van Dyken:

  The Devil Duke Takes A Bride

  The Ugly Duckling Debutante

  Every Girl Does It

  Compromising Kessen

  Savage Winter

  The Parting Gift

  Waltzing With the Wallflower

  The Seduction of Sebastian St. James

  Beguiling Bridget

  The Redemption of Lord Rawlings

  Upon A Midnight Dream

  Whispered Music

  An Unlikely Alliance

  Tear: A Seaside Novel

  The Wolf’s Pursuit

  Coming Soon:

  The Bet

  Shatter

  Taming Wilde

  Divine Uprising

  Irresistible Terms

  Elite

  About the Author

  Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times and USA Today

  Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When

  she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and

  plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.

  She keeps her home in Idaho with her husband and their

  snoring boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from

  readers!

  You

  can

  follow

  her

  writing

  journey

  at

  www.rachelvandyken.com.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four<
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  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five