I finished writing What If, the second novella in my Willowbrook series, last year. However, after revisiting the manuscript, I realized my heroine was too flawed and readers might not relate to her past and current situation. Readers want to somehow relate with the characters. After giving it much thought, I’ve decided to rewrite What If with a heroine who is spunky, kind, driven, overworked while believing the man of her dreams, a high school boyfriend turned star quarterback, is out of her league. My muse has been antsy to have Emma Lombardi and Drew Hazard’s story told. Here is the first page. Enjoy!

What If  (unedited) by Ashlyn Mathews

“I refuse to go into the woods.” Emma pounded her fist on the kitchen table. “And no way will I be a part of your reclusive guy retrieval team.” She raised a defiant brow at her friends, Eve and Asa.

They sat calmly across from her and exchanged a knowing glance before redirecting their conspiratorial sights on her.

“You’re the perfect one to get him out of that hole he calls a house,” Eve said with an exaggerated wave of her hand.

Emma stood and, with her hands outstretched in front of her, began backing toward the kitchen door. “And why am I the one?” She grasped the door knob, ready to make a quick and clean getaway.

“Of the three of us, he hates your guts the most,” Eve reminded her with her usual tact. “If we send you in, he’ll come running from the woods begging us to give him a spot at the Mayfair festival.”

“Haha, funny.” Though she was twenty-five and too mature to stick her tongue out, she did so anyway. “Not.”

“We need him, Em.” Eve sighed. “More celebs equal more visitors equal,” Eve rubbed her fingers and thumb together, “more mullah.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said before bolting out the door and into her pickup truck.

She wanted to help her friends but like Eve had said, Drew Hazard hated her guts. He blamed her for the motorcycle crash that had put him in the hospital for weeks. It wasn’t her fault he’d dared her to put something big between her legs and she’d chosen his motorcycle instead of him. Just because he got his team to the Superbowl didn’t mean he ruled her world.