About Me
- Katie Ashley
- Atlanta, GA, United States
- I am the New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Best Selling author of The Proposition, Proposal, Music of the Heart, and Nets and Lies. I am represented by Jane Dystel of Dystel and Goderich for all books except for Proposition and Proposal.
The Proposition
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Slooooow Tease of The Proposition's Chapter One
One week from today(Thursday), I will unleash The Proposition on the world. It's both thrilling and scary and exhilarating and AUGHHHHHHHH!!!So here is the first part of Chapter 1 from Emma's point of view...just so you know, if you're wanting a sneaky peek at Aidan's point of view, you're going to have to come back Friday!!! I'm so bad, aren't I?!!
Emma Harrison stood back to admire
her hard work. A brief smile of satisfaction flickered on her face at the
miraculous undertaking of transforming the once dingy conference room into an
exquisite pink dream. She was especially proud of herself considering
decorating and party planning weren’t exactly her forte. Of course when it came
to selling the image any mother-to-be would want in a baby shower, the fact she
worked for one of the premiere advertising agencies in Atlanta
didn’t hurt. Cocking her head, she noticed the It’s a Girl banner was hanging slightly to the left. After she
fixed it, her fingertips smoothed over the pale pink tablecloth adorned with
refreshments and colorfully wrapped presents for the upcoming arrival.
She
blew an errant strand of auburn hair out of her face and tried smoothing it
back into the knot at the base of her neck. Yes,
this is exactly what I would want for my baby shower…if I ever get to have one.
A stabbing pain entered her heart before crisscrossing its way through her
chest. It was a feeling she was becoming all too familiar with as her thirtieth
birthday loomed around the corner, hovering over her like a dark cloud, while
motherhood, along with Mr. Right, still evaded her.
Struggling
out of her thoughts, she flipped her watch—the one that had belonged to her
late mother—over to read the time. Only fifteen minutes before the guests,
mainly her coworkers, started arriving. Okay,
Em, it’s time to get your game face on. The
hostess of the shower can’t let the green eyed monster of jealousy consume her
and cause her to go apeshit, flipping over tables and throwing gifts in a
Hulk-like rage! Get a grip!
The
pep talk did little to still the churning emotions coursing through her. She
gripped the table until her knuckles turned white. As the silent tears streamed
down her cheeks, she quickly wiped them away. Raising her deep green eyes to
the ceiling, she thought, Please help me
get through this.
“You
know, I have a nail file in my desk drawer if you want to slit your wrists. It
would be a hell of a lot quicker than what you’re doing now!”
Emma
jumped and clutched her chest. She whirled around to see her best friend,
Casey, smirking at her. She frantically swiped the remaining tears from her
eyes with the back of her hand. “Jeez, Case, you scared the shit out of me!”
“Sorry.
I guess you were just so lost in misery and self-loathing that you didn’t hear
me say your name.”
Ducking her head,
Emma replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just checking to
make sure everything looked all right before everyone gets here.”
Casey
rolled her eyes. “Em, what were you thinking agreeing to this? It’s slow
emotional suicide.”
"How
could I not? Therese is the one who got me the job here. She taught me everything
I know. She’s gone through three
rounds of In-Vitro Fertilization. If anyone deserves a baby shower, it’s her.”
“Yeah,
but you didn’t have to be the one to throw it. I mean, she would have totally
understood—especially with everything that’s happened lately with Connor.”
Emma’s
phone buzzed on the table. She glanced at the ID and grimaced. “Speak of the
devil.”
“Is
he still calling and texting nonstop?” Casey asked.
“Yep.
Lucky me.”
“Let
me answer. I’ll tell that asshat you’re going to get a restraining order or
something.”
“He’s
harmless, Case.”
“You
just need to tell him to man-up, grow a pair and give you some sperm.”
A
giggle escaped Emma’s lips. “As tempting as that would be, I’d better pass. The
whole sperm/baby thing is what started this whole mess to begin with.”
Casey
gave a frustrated grunt. “The very fact you’re considering having someone
donate sperm is ridiculous.” She placed her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “You are
way too beautiful and sweet and amazing to give up on the dating world to have
a kid.”
“Nice
pitch there with the compliments. Have you ever thought of working in
advertising?” Emma mused.
“Ha, ha, smartass.
I wasn’t trying to sell you anything. It’s the damn truth. I don’t know when
you’re finally going to believe it. Most of all, I want to know when the men
around this city are going to get their heads out of their asses and see it
too!”
Emma threw her
hands up in exasperation. “Case, considering my biological clock is clanging,
rather than ticking, I think it’s a little late for all that.”
“But you’re not
even thirty,” Casey protested.
“I know that, but
I’ve wanted a baby since I was twenty. I want—no I need—to have a family again. Losing my parents and not having
brothers or sisters—” Her voice choked off with emotion.
Casey rubbed
Emma’s arm sympathetically. “You’ve still got lots of time for babies. And the
husband could still come along. ”
Rolling her eyes,
Emma said, “Might I remind you of the idiot parade I have had the misfortune to
go out with in the last six months?”
“Oh, come on, they
weren’t that bad.”
“Are
we grading on an extreme curve or something? First, there was Andy the,” she
made air quotes with her fingers, “practically
separated accountant whose wife tracked us down on our date and proceeded
to go mental on him in the middle of the Cheescake factory.”
“Shit, I remember him
now. Didn’t the cops get called?”
“Oh yes. I had to
call Connor to come get me because they were both arrested for disrupting the
peace!”
“So there was one
bad seed in the mix,” Casey argued.
“Then there was the mortician who regaled me
all during dinner about the ins and outs of embalming, not to mention I think
he had a pretty unhealthy attachment to some of his dearly departed clients.”
Casey
made a gagging noise. “Okay, I’ll admit that necrophilia could turn anyone off
from dating for awhile.”
“Awhile? How about a freaking lifetime,
Case?” Emma shuddered. “Thank God, it was one date, and he never touched me.”
“So two bad eggs.
There’s a whole city of men out there, Em.”
Emma swept her
hands to her hips. “And I guess you’re having selective amnesia about Barry,
the dentist?”
Casey
scrunched her face up as in pain. “Is he still in jail on those voyeurism
charges?”
Emma
bobbed her head. “Thankfully, the state is pretty tough on asshats who set up
hidden cameras in the men’s locker-room
at the gym!”
“Well,
those are the extreme cases.”
“Frankly, some of
the other girls in our department think I need to write a book on bad dating
experiences!”
“Now wait a
minute. You’ve gone out with some decent guys, too.”
Emma sighed. “And
the instant they realized I wasn’t going to bed with them before the appetizer
arrived, they bolted for the door. If we actually made it through dinner, then
the stench of my marriage and baby desperation drove them away.”
Casey grinned. “See
you’re going about this the wrong way. You need to give in to the idea of throwing
caution to the wind and having mindless sex to conceive.”
“I don’t think
so.” Emma shook her head. “Just because Connor bailed on the idea of sperm
donation, doesn’t mean I’m giving up. Somehow, someway, I’m going to have a
child to love.”
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