Finding Focus (37 page)
Authors: Jiffy Kate
He slides the phone back into his pocket. Cupping my face, he pulls me to him, devouring my mouth with his—slow, then fast. Hard, then soft. His teeth graze my bottom lip, biting down gently, conveying how desperately he wants this—me. I grip his shoulders, pulling myself closer, holding on for dear life.
“I want you,” I mutter. “So damn bad.” My breaths come heavy and quick. “I’ve missed you so much. I didn’t even know I could miss someone so badly.”
Micah pulls back and looks at me. His piercing look goes straight to my soul. “I couldn’t stand being away from you another day,” he confesses. “That’s really why I’m here.” He smiles, and it lights up the room, painting the walls with sunshine. “See? Selfish.”
Tears well in my eyes, unexplainably.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, kissing the first tear that slides down my cheek. “Are you sad about leaving?”
“No,” I say, letting the tears fall, because I’m not sad. The smile on my face contradicts that idea. “It’s like a sunshower,” I tell him.
He smiles again, looking at me like I’ve hung the moon. “Like a sunshower, huh?”
“Yeah, you know when everything is sunshine and happiness, and the rain comes, but it doesn’t bring with it all the bad stuff, just rainbows?”
“God, I love you, Sheridan Reed.”
He does. He loves me. And he doesn’t just tell me, he shows me.
FIRST THINGS FIRST, WE'RE THE
realest.
Oh, wait. Iggy already used that one.
Well, let's see . . .
What some people don't know is there are two of us and we're both Jennifers. How lucky are we? The most common name from the 70's! Our parents were so original.
We found each other through Twilight and tornadoes. Sounds like a crazy combination, but it's true. We were roaming around in the same groups of people on social media, but we hadn't really became friends. But that all changed on a stormy Oklahoma night when we noticed that we were both experiencing the same tornado warnings.
We met a week later for lunch and the rest is history. We already knew we had the whole Twilight thing in common, but what we learned that day is that we both loved music and traveling. Together, we've been everywhere. Well, not everywhere, but a lot of places . . . Seattle, Forks, LA, New York, Chicago, Philly, Nashville, and New Orleans, where our hearts reside.
About six months after we met, we also realized we both had a passion for writing. When we started outlining our first story, we thought that would be it. One story and done. So, we dumped everything we loved into those 100,000 words. If you're familiar with the term "crack fic", that was kind of what it was for us. We had fun with it and let ourselves live on those pages.
But it was like Lays potato chips.
We couldn't write just one.
So, twenty stories later, here we are—publishing our first novel. And how crazy is it that we went back to the beginning.
Finding Focus
was originally a Twilight Fan Fic titled
Southern Comfort
.
CONNECT WITH US
WHAT A JOURNEY THIS HAS
been; and as with any journey, there are so many people who have helped us along the way. So, we thought we'd start at the beginning.
We'd like to thank our Fic Sensei, Michelle Hager, and our long-time love, Charity Harrington. They were our first readers and we love them. We'd also like to thank Nic, The Ficwhisperer, for for seeing something in our little story and putting us up on The Lemonade Stand.
To Debra Anastasia and S. L. Scott, we say thank you for being so supportive from the very beginning. Your professional advice and handholding has been invaluable.
To Team Jiffy Kate, thank you doesn't seem like enough. Christine Viox, Rachel Pooler, and Pamela Stephenson your corrections, comments, and suggestions are what kept us going through the re-write. Lynette Nichols, Katie Boberg, Amy Viar, and Amanda Daniel thank you for being awesome pre-readers. Without all of your sparkly red pens and insightful reviews, this story wouldn't be what it is today.
Sitting back and reflecting over the past four years, we get a little teary-eyed. We realize that so many people played a part in getting us to this point and we couldn't be any more grateful. There's no way we'd ever be able to list all of you by name, but you know who you are.
We also have to thank Stephenie Meyer. If it weren't for her and her books about vampires, we'd never found each other, let alone all of our amazing friends and our passion for writing. Twilight Forever.
We'd also like to thank our professional team: Indie Solutions by Murphy Rae for our editing and proofreading, and Jada D'Lee Designs for our beautiful cover. Heather Maven, you are a force to be reckoned with and you have the best connections. Thank you for taking pity on two newbies and being so helpful! Christine at Perfectly Publishable, you are amazing. Your professional touches are just what we needed. We can't say thank you enough! Lori Wilt, the way you stepped in and helped us promote our book has been nothing short of a God-send. Thank you.
These acknowledgements and dedications wouldn't be complete without us thanking our amazing families for their support. We also thank God for blessing us with creative minds and the drive to follow our dreams.
And all of you, our wonderful readers, thank you. Thank you for your support and friendship. We love and appreciate y'all so much.