A Sneak Peek

Becky's book debuts later this month. Here's a sneak peek!


Friday and feeling fine.Becky Saunders wanted to dance to the music in her mind. Wanted to swirl around the office and sing a song. A song about raucous fun and a weekend spent finding the perfect guy for the perfect fling, making the most amazing cinnamon rolls ever and maybe, just maybe, tackling yet another DIY project.But first, before anything else, she wanted to sing about what was up next. Red Pen Intervention. RPI.Three ladies, a new margarita bar in town and a chance to let their hair down where the students wouldn’t find them. Well, a chance for Becky to let her hair down. Assistant Principal Patty Jackson would play Mom, but she’d laugh and inspire Becky with speeches about going for her dreams no matter what. Guidance counselor Meg Crawley would sip one margarita over an hour or two, and remind her that dreams were all fine and good, but if they weren’t tempered with reality, they could be dangerous. And Becky would listen to them, laugh with them, thank God she found them. Her very best friends in the world. Women who didn’t judge her for loving lipgloss, eating carbs and running as far and as fast from relationships as she possibly could.The clock was winding down and the work was done, done, done. Becky hit the shutdown button on the computer and twirled around in her chair, admiring the pale pink sandals with the perfect bows at the clasps. The shoes made her five foot three frame seem just a tad taller, made her legs look like they went on forever and took a good ten pounds off her profile. No diet could beat a good pair of heels. She opened the Anderson House Chocolatiers box on her desk and bit into the best dark chocolate truffle in the history of the world and sighed, closing her eyes and enjoying every second of sweet goodness. At least she did until the glass door separating the assistant principal’s office from the rest of the high school world opened. Ugh! Parents were the biggest procrastinators ever. The last minute of the last day of the week. Seriously.Becky swallowed the truffle, opened her eyes and forgot to breathe for a moment…oh wow, oh wow, oh wow.Hello, Hollywood. She closed the box of truffles and smiled. Who cared about delays? Hell, who cared about plans period?The dad who stepped into the office was hot, hot, hot with close cropped blond hair that screamed military and the muscles that matched. His tan skin spoke of hours spent outdoors. He must be a new student’s dad because she’d definitely never seen him before. He looked more than a little uncomfortable, which was perfectly normal for people visiting the principal’s office, even the adults. Lucky for her, she wasn’t uncomfortable. Not in the least. It was her job to guide him through the process of signing in to speak to Patty or one of the other assistants. To make him feel welcome. And he was definitely welcome.“How may I help you?” Becky said with her best beauty queen smile.His answer stopped her cold.“My name is Jeremiah Cannon. I'm looking for information on my brother, Nick."Holy crap. Becky slid her hand over the clipboard on her desk and tried to blank her face.Nick. The juvenile delinquent Patty's daughter Cadyn was currently in love with but not allowed to date. The campus bad boy turned quality kid in the past month.Nick had an older brother? How did she not know that? Nick lived with his aunt or at the teen shelter. His family was almost non-existent. The kid had pretty much been on his own during high school."Uhhhh," she said then held up a finger, a finger with a jagged nail she’d just broken on the clipboard, dammit."Wait one minute, please, and I'll get someone to help you."She grabbed the walkie-talkie from the desktop, turned it to Patty’s frequency and pressed the red button three times to signal a nonemergency emergency. The code meant office help needed pronto, but no need for panic or police.If she could just get her pulse to understand the whole no need for panic thing, that would be great.Hoping for calm, cool and professional, she relayed the message and prayed Patty read between the lines. Or on the lines. Or wherever the lines needed to be that resulted in Patty skedaddling back to the office. “Mrs. Jackson, Jeremiah Cannon is here looking for information on his brother, Nick.” Nailed it. Completely non-panicked.The radio squawked, and Patty's voice sounded."Can you repeat, Becky? It sounded like you said someone wanted info on…" "Nick," Becky interrupted and smiled across the office at the gorgeous man taking up a ridiculous amount of space. “Yes. Nick Cannon’s brother. Is here. In the office.”Becky enunciated every word all the while never taking her eyes off the man across from her. His button down Polo looked freshly laundered. His jeans were well-worn but fit like they were custom made. His boots were clean but scuffed like they’d been a few rounds in places other than dance halls and bars. He might not be a cowboy, but Jeremiah Cannon was certainly all Texan. And man, she had a thing for guys like him. Sexy, southern, single. At least she hoped he was single. He wasn’t wearing a ring. But now was not the time or place for those thoughts. No. Now was the time for focus. For professionalism. “Patty, Mrs. Jackson, one of our assistant principals will be with you shortly, Mr. Cannon.”“Thanks,” he said as he nodded and looked around the office as if he were cataloging everything about it. From the pens decorated as daisies to the Anderson House truffles on the desk to the fact that her computer was turned off already. Yeah, this man didn’t miss much.“So Nick is your brother? That’s interesting. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.” The man’s face shuttered.“I’m sure he won’t. That’s one reason I’m here.” Alrighty then. Thankfully, a few seconds later Patty practically ran into the office and skidded to a stop when she saw Mr. Sexy. "Mr. Cannon,” Patty said holding out her hand in welcome while looking at Becky with what the hell?! obviously apparent. Becky shot the same look back because seriously, what the hell?!?Jeremiah Cannon stood, shook her hand and cleared his throat. "Ma'am," he said, and Becky winced. Patty hated it when adults called her ma'am. She said it made her feel old. "Come into my office," Patty said, eyes wide and worried. "Hold my calls, Becky."“Yes, ma’am,” Becky said trying to tease, but the title slipped right by her friend, which meant Patty was totally freaked out. That wasn’t good. Patty didn’t freak out. Not ever. Well, not often. Not unless it had to do with her hunk of a husband and those weeks he spent winning her back. Yeah, then Patty freaked out.But this was work, not matters of the heart. Where work was concerned Patty was a rock.Patty disappeared into the office with Nick Cannon's brother, and the temperature took a ten degree dive when the door closed. Hot. He was so hot.And Dear God in Heaven, Nick Cannon had a brother.A brother who looked like…the stuff fantasies were made of.Becky stared at the closed door then at the clock, visions of RPI fading into the distance. Who was she kidding? RPI was the least of her concerns. She dialed Meg’s extension.Meg answered after two rings. “Give me five more minutes, Becky. I swear I’ll be ready to go…”“SOS in Patty's office, Meg,” Becky interrupted.Somethings were more important than weekend plans. Jeremiah Cannon’s sudden appearance qualified as one of those things."On my way," Meg said without question. SOS was emergencies only, and it always meant drop everything and run. A few seconds later the tall blonde with the girl-next-door looks that made people want to share their secrets stepped into the office looking coolly professional even in her spirit wear. Meg was Becky’s polar opposite. She didn’t believe in big hair or sparkly lipgloss or weekend flings. She’d never been called a bimbo or Barbie or Beauty Queen Babe a day in her life. But that was okay. “SOS?”"Nick Cannon's older brother," Becky whispered, and Meg's perfectly arched eyebrows raised. “Whoa. Wait. Nick has a brother?”“A gorgeous brother. And unless I’m mistaken that’s going to create some serious drama. I think Patty needs reinforcements in there.” Becky nodded toward the door.Meg didn’t wait. Two quick knocks on the door and she disappeared inside leaving Becky alone in the outer office.No telling how long the meeting would last.Becky sighed. This kind of thing was way above her pay grade. Way, way above it. The minutes dragged.She was mid-file on the broken nail when the main office door opened and Becky’s stomach dropped.Cadyn Jackson walked in laughing with her not-boyfriend Nick Cannon. "Hey, Ms. Saunders,” Cadyn said. “Can you tell my mom Nick's giving me a ride home real quick? I need to get my cold-weather gear for the game. Lovin’ those shoes by the way.”Nick used to look guilty when he walked into the office. Now he smiled openly in spite of the suckage of his last two years. Cadyn had been good for him. The kid was a survivor, that was for sure.“I’ve been texting my mom forever, but she’s not answering again,” Cadyn said. “I swear I don’t know why she even bothers with her phone.”Crap, crap, crap. No way did Nick know his brother was here. Not with the whole besotted boyfriend thing he had going on. She’d been right about the drama.Becky looked at Patty’s closed office door then at the two lovebirds. She didn't know whether to push Nick out of the office before an unexpected reunion or come up with a few excuses to keep him and Cadyn there. Only Jeremiah Cannon hadn't said anything about meeting Nick. He said he was looking for information…“Ms. Saunders, are you okay?" Cadyn asked suddenly worried, and Becky made her decision. When in doubt avoid."Yeah," she said. "I just had one of those ADD moments. You two go on, Cadyn. Your mom’s meeting could take awhile. I’ll explain what’s up if she asks.”Right answer. The two looked at each other like they’d been given the best gift ever.When they left, Becky sighed in relief. It might just delay the inevitable, but this was the kind of drama she didn’t want to witness. Plus you just never knew about this kind of thing. What if Jeremiah Cannon was an ass? Gorgeous didn’t discount jerk. Shoot, in her experience it made it far more likely.A minute later Patty’s door opened. The frown on Nick’s brother’s face spoke volumes. No way did he need a surprise reunion with his little brother. She didn’t know what he’d been told in the office, but he wasn’t happy. Neither was Patty.And that was okay. She would get all the details in a few minutes over cheesy goodness and lime bliss at Rosa’s Cantina. Maybe.Only the front door opened again, and Nick walked in smiling like the great kid he’d turned into. Becky tried to run interference. She moved as fast as she ever had from behind her desk toward the boy as he spoke. “Ms. Saunders, Cadyn forgot to get the house keys from her mom, can you…"She wasn’t fast enough. Nick’s voice trailed off, and he stood completely still, staring at the man behind Patty. Becky didn’t know Nick all that well, but the boy’s sharp anger was impossible to miss. For a moment no one moved. It was like those seconds right before a car slammed into you. You could see it coming but were powerless to stop the wreck, and everything in you tensed because it was going to hurt like hell. The clock moved forward one more click, the water dispenser in the back of the office glugged, the fax machine kicked in with a buzz. And finally Jeremiah Cannon stepped forward and in a gut-wrenching whisper said, “Nick,” and Becky’s heart plummeted. He didn’t just want information. He wanted a reunion.But to anyone on the outside watching, it was apparent that wasn’t happening. Not now. Not yet.When he’d said his brother wouldn’t be happy to see him, he wasn’t joking.Nick’s expression hardened, but he didn’t say a word. Instead he simply turned and walked out the door letting it close behind him with a soft swish. And with that swish, everyone in the room kicked into action."I'll go," Patty said following Nick. "He'll be okay," Meg said to Jeremiah all calm assurance. Becky felt anything but calm. She felt like she was stuck in the middle of a Lifetime movie, which was usually awesome but right now felt pretty awful. She wanted to intervene, to do something. It was like Patty invaded her brain because Becky never, ever wanted to get involved in family dramas. That was one of the reasons she was perfect for her job as the administrative executive assistant. Before Becky could do anything though, Meg took control and escorted Jeremiah through the conference room to her office. Becky stood alone in the suddenly silent space. It looked so normal. Like every other Friday once the building emptied and they were free to leave.At least it did until the front office door opened again, and a confused looking Cadyn walked in. “Ms. Saunders, have you seen Nick? He was supposed to come get the house keys from Mom since I'm grounded for saying ‘whatever’ too many times. I swear she is touchy these days.”And the hits just keep on coming. “Nick’s in the middle of something right now, Cadyn. It might be a while." "What do you mean something? I swear if my mom…"Becky bit her lip. There were rules. Privacy issues. Cadyn would probably know soon, but Nick had the right to be the one to tell her…or not. "I can't say, Cadyn.”Cadyn sat in the chair Jeremiah Cannon had so recently vacated and pulled her phone from her backpack. "You can tell me," she said, and Becky wished more than anything she could.  Fortunately, Patty trudged into the office, so Becky didn’t have to say anything.  Cadyn stood, but Patty shook her head. Then she pasted on the fake smile she used when she knew the day was gone to hell so they might as well roll with it and hugged Cadyn tight."Nick is going to need some time, sweetie."Cadyn looked from her mother to Becky and back as if the statement were crazy. "It's Friday, Mom. He can't have time. He has to be at the stadium in two hours. He needs to eat and get in game mode."Patty blew out a long breath and nodded."I know, and he might still make it to the game. If he doesn't I'll talk to Coach Williams.""There is no if he doesn't, Mom. You know that. If you’re not dying, you show up on time ready to play. No excuses. Geez.”The door down the hall wooshed open, and they all looked up as Jeremiah Cannon strode back into the office. His presence was electric, even in his obvious grief. Cadyn's mouth fell open and then her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"Jeremiah looked at her with startled confusion. Becky realized Cadyn knew exactly who the man was. Meg walked into the office then, still calm, still professional. She continued as if Cadyn hadn’t spoken. “We will provide services, Mr. Cannon, and we will work to make this transition as easy as possible for you both if Nick chooses to move home.”Jeremiah said "thank you," his voice sad yet resolute, and he tilted his head to her and Patty, sliding a pair of darker than normal aviator sunglasses down over his eyes before walking away without answering Cadyn's question. But Becky saw the answer in his deep brown eyes. He didn't know what he was doing there. One thing was for sure. Jeremiah was definitely NOT the stuff of the fun fling she was looking for.