The Partner Plot Sneak Peek!

Here's an excerpt from The Partner Plot :)

Hi everyone,

I hope 2024 is off to a good start for all of you! I can’t believe that The Partner Plot goes on sale in exactly one week! Today is the last day of the preorder campaign to preorder The Partner Plot from Inkwood Books and get an exclusive art print and bookmark. After today, TPP will still be available for preorder, of course. Preorder links to other retailers can be found here.

I’ll also be doing a handful of events to celebrate TPP! If you’re in any of these areas, feel free to come out and join me and these wonderful authors and bookstores!

The Ripped Bodice event is ticketed. Each ticket comes with a signed copy of the book. You can purchase a ticket here. RSVPs are encouraged for East City in DC. RSVPs aren’t needed for the event at Inkwood Books in Haddonfield, and it looks like that Louthmouth Books event in Indiana might be sold out already. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and talking about the book!

Before a book comes out, I like to do a sneak peek for newsletter subscribers, so today I’m share a scene from chapter 4 from The Partner Plot. To provide context: Violet and Xavier broke up their sophmore year of college and have not spoken in almost a decade. This scene takes place after they happen to reunite for the first time in Las Vegas at a hotel. Violet, a celebrity stylist, is in LV with her client Karamel Kitty, and Xavier is in Vegas because he won a raffle at work for a free stay at the hotel. They are at the club together, seated in Karamel Kitty’s section. I hope you enjoy! :)

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Chapter 4

As Violet sat across from Xavier in VIP, she tried her hardest to pretend he wasn’t there at all. Karina and Raheem were passing a bottle of Rémy back and forth and shouting to the crowd below, while Karina’s bodyguard kept his eyes trained on Raheem like he was ready to tackle him at any moment. Melody and Brian were sharing a plate of chicken wings, and beside Violet, Edwin and Alex looked like they were comparing schedules on their phones.

Unwarranted, Violet’s gaze found its way across the table to Xavier. He sat with his arms spread out on either side of him. His cardigan looked out of place in their current setting, but she begrudgingly admitted that he wore it well. He turned suddenly and caught her staring. She quickly glanced away and pulled out her phone. She needed to text an update to the sister group chat, stat.

Hey, she texted Iris and Lily, are either of you awake?

Iris spent her days as the head of partnerships at a makeup company, commuting to the city from her house in Willow Ridge, where she lived with her four-year-old daughter, Calla. And Lily, a children’s book editor, lived in Brooklyn. Neither was a night owl, and it was after one a.m. on the East Coast, so Violet expected her text to fall into the void. Thankfully, she received an immediate response.

Iris: I’m awake. Stuck watching Flip or Flop on HGTV. Do you think I should redecorate Calla’s bedroom?

Violet: Does Calla want her room redecorated?

Iris: She hasn’t said anything about it.

Violet: Then no. Anyway, you will not believe who is in VIP with me right now

Lily: I’m up too! Crash editing. Please tell me you’re in VIP with Beyoncé

Violet: If only I could be so lucky

Iris: Hmm. Let me guess, another famous person?

Violet: Not famous

Lily: Why don’t you ever hang out with Beyoncé?

Violet: Lily, focus!

Iris: I hate guessing games.

Lily: Is it Michael B. Jordan?

Violet: I just said they’re not famous!

Iris: Why don’t you just tell us? We clearly don’t know.

Violet: Jesus. It’s Xavier.

For several long seconds, neither sister texted back.

Violet: Hello???

Iris: As in Xavier Wright?

Lily: Your ex-boyfriend???

Violet: Yes, that Xavier! He’s here in Vegas with Raheem

Lily: Oh wow. What are the odds??

Iris: That has to be so awkward.

Violet: Awkward doesn’t even begin to cover it!

“So, I’m an old friend from high school?”

Violet startled at the deep voice in her ear. She turned to find Xavier sitting right beside her. Within the last few minutes, Edwin and Alex had left VIP and Xavier had taken their place on the couch, and Violet hadn’t noticed because she’d been so preoccupied with texting her sisters.

She blinked at him and his sudden closeness. “What?”

“You told Karamel Kitty that I was an ‘old friend’ from high school.” He put “old friend” in air quotes. “Is that what we are to each other now?”

She raised an eyebrow. His expression was curious, no hint of teasing.

“Well, we were friends too.” She paused, assessing him. “Weren’t we?”

He nodded. “Best friends.”

He had been her best friend. And then one day in the blink of an eye, that was no longer the case.

“Yeah, well, you had a lot of friends in high school.” She pointed at Raheem, who was letting Karina pour cognac into his mouth straight from the bottle. “Like that one over there. Looks like he’s having the time of his life.”

Xavier laughed. She cataloged his husky chuckle as another difference between then and now. “He won’t be able to shut up about tonight once we’re back home.”

Violet smiled a little, unsure of what to say next. She didn’t want to invest too much energy in this conversation or in Xavier, period. As curious as she was about him, she didn’t think he deserved her attention. A delicate silence stretched between them.

“Do you—” he said.

“So—” she said.

Xavier laughed again. “Go ahead.”

Violet shook her head. “No, you first.”

“Do you do this often?” he asked, gesturing at their surroundings. The DJ shouting over the music, the roaring crowd on the dance floor below them. Karina being larger than life, twerking like it was a sport.

“Sometimes,” she answered. “It depends.”

“On what?”

“My client. My energy levels.”

“Huh,” he said, and she wondered what he really thought about her lifestyle. Was it too chaotic for him? Years ago, he would have been soaking it all up just like Raheem. That was another difference. Adult Xavier seemed calmer. “What were you going to ask me?”

She didn’t remember what she’d been about to ask. The questions she really wanted answers to were not allowed to pass her lips. Questions like, How did he break her heart so easily and never look back? Did it take him years to get over her too? Did he spend his early to mid-twenties avoiding serious commitment because he was terrified someone else would break his heart the same way?

“My mom told me you’re teaching at the high school now,” she said. “I was going to ask what that’s like.”

“It’s not bad.” He shrugged and leaned back on the couch. She noticed his large wingspan as he spread his arms out on either side of him again. “I teach sophomore English. Definitely not what I saw myself doing with my life. That’s for sure. But it could be worse.” He smiled, boyish and self-deprecating. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m just . . . surprised,” she said. When her parents had first told her that Xavier was teaching, she’d assumed he taught PE. He’d been so active in high school, and sitting in class made him antsy. She’d pictured him with a whistle around his neck, wearing Willow Ridge High’s green and yellow school colors. She didn’t expect him to be teaching English. She thought of their long-suffering junior-year teacher, Mr. Rodney, who they’d all jokingly said looked like Morgan Freeman, and who’d tried his best to get their class excited about 1984 and Macbeth. Whenever they’d read the play aloud, Xavier always requested to be Macbeth and he’d read in a deep, gravelly voice that made everyone laugh, even a slightly exasperated Mr. Rodney. “I bet Mr. Rodney loves having you as a colleague now. If he still works there, that is.”

“Oh yeah, he’s still there,” Xavier said. “Mr. Rodney is a lifer, the type of teacher who won’t quit until you have to wheel them out on a stretcher. He showed me the ropes when I first started. Every Thursday we get Taco Bell for lunch and eat together in the teachers’ lounge. Sometimes it’s the highlight of my week. Teaching is rewarding but hella stressful.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Mr. Rodney still coaches boys’ basketball, and I’m the assistant coach now, actually,” he said, and she heard the hint of pride in his voice. “We’ve been undefeated this season. We might even have a championship on our hands. It’ll be the first time Willow Ridge has won since we were seniors.”

“Wow, that’s awesome.” She wanted to ask what had happened to his basketball dreams. After his injury, she knew that he hadn’t gone back to Kentucky and instead finished his degree at the local state college, Riley University. But she didn’t know if that was a sensitive topic.

“Thanks,” he said.

He smiled at her, and as her eyes drifted down to his mouth, she noted another similarity: he still had nice lips. She cleared her throat and looked away. Melody and Brian were now up dancing with Raheem and Karina, which meant Violet and Xavier were the only two left sitting.

Xavier leaned forward and poured himself another shot of Rémy. He held the bottle out to Violet. “Do you want some?”

She didn’t really feel like drinking. It was almost eleven p.m., and she was exhausted. Then again, one of the reasons she was so exhausted was because she was overthinking everything about her current interaction with Xavier. She wouldn’t be able to get through the rest of this night completely sober.

“Sure.” She held out her tumbler and watched as Xavier slowly poured her a shot. They knocked glasses and downed the cognac. Violet winced, and Xavier coughed. She felt herself grin. “Remember when we drank a whole bottle of my dad’s peach schnapps after junior homecoming like it was nothing? Now we can’t take one shot without damn near choking.”

Xavier laughed. “There was also that time we drove to Wildwood and you drank half a handle of Jose Cuervo and tried to run into the ocean with the seagulls. Luckily I was there to save you.”

“You know that is not what happened,” she said, rolling her eyes. “A seagull stole my bag of chips and I chased after it.”

“But I was still there to save you.”

“If lifting me over your shoulder caveman-style while the seagull got away with my salt-and-vinegar chips counts as saving me, then sure.”

“Salt and vinegar.” Xavier shuddered. “I forgot how much you loved those.”

“Still do,” she said proudly. “The best flavor there is.” He started to speak, and she held up her hand, stopping him. “Don’t say honey barbecue is better. I’m not up for an argument.”

Xavier placed a hand over his chest, feigning shock. “Violet Greene refusing to argue? I never thought I’d see the day.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, and he smiled slowly, as if he knew exactly what he was doing. Goading her. Just like old times.

It was both exciting and alarming.

He was still smiling as he shifted a little closer to her, and as if she was being pulled by an invisible string, Violet moved closer as well. His eyes lowered, searching her face, briefly landing on her mouth. Her pulse quickened, and— Wait, what the hell was happening?

Violet stood suddenly. If they were going to be stuck together, they needed to be as preoccupied as possible. No more sitting and talking alone. She poured herself another shot and swallowed it in a quick gulp.

She wasn’t going to see Xavier again after tonight, so there was no reason to regret what she said next.

“Wanna dance?” she asked.

Xavier raised an eyebrow. “Up here?”

“No.” She pointed to the dance floor. “Down there.”

He threw back another shot too. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who he needed a little liquid courage. “Let’s do it.”

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I hope you enjoyed that speak peek. Pub day will literally be here before we know it lol.

Until next time!

xo, Kristina