Break It Up (24 page)
Authors: E.M. Tippetts
A week beforehand, I get my hair cut to a newer, more sophisticated style, and two days before, I have my nails done. On the day, I might as well be gearing up for a movie role. First it’s the hairdresser and then the makeup artist. I have lunch sitting in a salon chair before I squeeze myself into three different form-shaping undergarments—no I’m not kidding. Even if you’re nineteen and skinny, you’ve got to moosh your body so your expensive clothes hang right, and no, this is not me betraying womankind. Zach’s wearing body form garments and has an airbrushed spray tan that uses shading to make him look like he’s got more muscle definition. They call this
show
business for a reason.
Getting on towards evening, the jeweler stops by with a briefcase full of more bling than I’ll ever wear in a lifetime. He pairs diamond drop earrings and a simple pendant with a diamond tennis bracelet.
And then it’s time for us to get into the limousine and go. For almost an hour, Zach and I cuddle together on the back seat as best we can in our get-up. We wait in the sloooow stop-and-go traffic as each limo ahead of us disgorges its superstar passengers. We watch as the popping flashbulbs get brighter and brighter and the crowds of people in suits and carrying microphones flow past the car.
Then it’s our turn. The limo pulls up to the red carpet, an attendant opens our door, and I swing my legs out, scoot to the edge of my seat, and stand up. Yes, I had to practice that. It’s how you get out of a car without spreading your legs.
Blinding white light erupts around us as Zach joins me, my hand tucked in his arm. He looks me in the eye, worried. There’s no turning back now.
I smile for the cameras and together we walk slowly, pausing to pose and turn and show off our clothes. It takes an absurdly long time to go that first fifteen feet, and then we stop for some short interviews. People shine lights into my face and ask me how I feel, and I assure them I’m fine, but I hope they can’t see how I have Zach’s arm in a death grip.
We make our way past all of them and finally into the awards venue. “Gorgeous!” I hear a commentator yell. “Team Kyra should be proud tonight. Wasn’t she just stunning?”
I can’t help but grin, and Zach slips an arm around my waist. Just like that, we’re official. Five months ago it was me against the world, and what can I say? Winning
rocks.
Thanks so much for reading! To find out the latest news from me, join
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Authors who beta-read this novel:
Authors who sat near me in 7th grade social studies and let me use quotes from their bestselling Kindle Singles:
Mishka Shubaly
(the stress is on the second syllable)
And the link you
really
want to click:
First thanks always goes to my friend, Char Peery, who read my work looooong before anyone else wanted to. The only person kinder to me is my own mother, Mary, who caught typos with her usual mastery.
I also want to thank my editor, Micky Reed, for doing not one but two rounds of editing at my request. She is fantastic to work with.
While I was writing this book, my ebook and paperback formatting business took off MUCH faster than I expected it to, so I’d have missed every deadline if it weren’t for Tara Jones, Tianne Samson, and Stacey Millett Tippetts, the other three women behind E.M. Tippetts Book Designs. Great colleagues and great friends, who also happen to be relatives. Not that we like working at three in the morning, but whenever that’s necessary, there’s no one else I’d rather be working with.
Kyra’s tattoo, which will be available in temporary form as swag, was designed by tattoo artist,
Leslie Mah
.
My children were fed dinner as I prepped for the release of this book by my mother-in-law, Teddie Tippetts, who travelled to New Mexico at great personal sacrifice to help us while my husband finished up his PhD thesis.
Boots the cat, featured in this book, is still on loan to me from a friend of mine. He passed away one year and a day ago (measuring from the time I write these words), but he’ll always have a second home with the Armijos.
My husband, Trevor, deserves all the thanks in the world for continuing to support me as I type away about fictional people every spare moment I get.
And last but never least, I need to thank all my amazing readers. I uploaded my first ever indie book almost exactly two years ago, and felt like I was pitching my work into a void. Somehow you guys found it and read it. I can’t thank you enough.
This ebook was designed and formatted by
www.emtippettsbookdesigns.blogspot.com
Artisan ebooks for discerning authors and publishers.
Copyright © 2013 E.M. Tippetts
Break It Up
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reprod
uced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. All rights reserved.
C
over design © 2013 Sarah Hansen of Okay Creations
Formatting by E.M. Tippetts Book Designs
Excerpts from
Bachelor Number One
by Mishka Shubaly used with permission from the author.