Twenty Years Later (NOW PUBLISHED!)

One

***This is just a very brief sample because Twenty Years Later is now published with Amazon on Kindle Unlimited and as a paperback! Woohoo!***

When I first started writing this story last year, I had zero followers and no readers. I never imagined that anyone would actually read it and maybe like it. And thanks to you all and your support, I'm now following my lifelong dream to become an author. 

Thank you doesn't seem adequate, but I'll say it anyway. THANK YOU! And as always, much love to you!

Jenna xoxo 

***

"These Miami boys sure are hot," Kaileen said, eyeing one of the baristas.

I elbowed her. "Kaileen! Shh. Isn't he a little young for us?"

"So?" She raised a brow.

"Jayda?" the young girl at the counter said. "Here's your mocha frap, extra whip, extra chocolate."

As she put the cup on the counter, she looked up at me, and her jaw dropped.

I knew then that she had recognized me. It didn't happen often, but it was always kind of sweet and weird when it did.

"Oh, my God," she started. "You're Jayda Jenkins, like the Jayda Jenkins, who wrote Chassidy Rising!"

I smiled, a little embarrassed but also flattered. "That's me."

"I adore your books. Please, please, please tell me when the next one is coming. You left off on such a cliffhanger. I'm dying."

I had to laugh at her enthusiasm, but Kaileen took over. "Well, dear, I'm her agent, and her next one is supposed to be in by the end of the year. Then we need to edit and all that stuff. So it might be a whole other year."

Her face fell. "A whole year?"

I nodded. But really, I had just released the last one a few months ago. So I didn't feel all that terrible about it. But I certainly understood what it felt like to have to wait on something you loved.

"Sorry, sweetie," I said. "I'm working as fast as I can."

She sighed. "I understand. I'll just keep re-reading."

Then her face lit up as she looked behind me at something. I turned around to see what had caused that reaction and bumped into a solid muscular chest.

Glancing up, I took in a chiseled jawline complete with sexy stubble and sensual, full lips before my eyes peeked all the way up into a pair of soulful, brown eyes.

Those eyes. I knew those eyes.

Those eyes went wide, and my heart nearly leaped out of my chest.

Alex Hernandez!

Alex freaking Hernandez stood in front of me!

My mind went blank, and I felt my jaw go slack. God, he looked hot. Like hotter than he had been in high school when I had been so madly in love with him all four years.

"Jayda?" he asked.

I nodded, still not able to speak. Somewhere in the back reaches of my brain, I could feel Kaileen staring between us. But my heart couldn't calm down enough to even pretend to have any manners for introductions.

"Wow," he said with that deep, sexy voice that made my knees wobbly. "I can't believe it's really you. I haven't seen you since graduation night."

Taking a shaky breath, I tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"You must be here for the reunion, right?" he asked.

What? What was he even talking about?

"Reunion?" I heard Kaileen say.

That finally snapped me out of my stupor. "Um, no," I managed to utter.

Those stunning eyes went wide once again. "You're not?"

Had I maybe heard disappointment in his voice or just imagined it? "I had no clue there was even a reunion going on."

He smiled at me, and my heart did that fluttery thing I'd attempted to capture with words so many times in my books. "Yeah, tonight. And if you don't have plans, I think you should be my date."

What in the world was going on? Was the  Alex Hernandez asking me on a date? Was I hallucinating? Or had I entered into some other dimension?