Saturday Snippet

The song Tracks of my Tears reminds me of my book, Kiss Me Kate. In the story, Kate's been kicked around by life and a cheating husband for years. Finally, she decides to take back control of her life. I really like Kate. She's strong, intelligent and no matter how many times she's knocked down, she manages to get back up again.

Snippet:

"Jesus, Kate." Rick rushed to her side. The compassion and worry in his voice was her undoing as tears flooded her eyes.

She didn't recall Rick picking her up and carrying her to the sofa in the living room, but she figured he must have because when the sobs finally subsided, she was tucked on his lap as he rocked her, whispering comforting words in her ear.

"I'm s-sorry," she stammered. "I never c-cry."

"Good God, Kate." His grip on her tightened even more. "I think you're allowed under the circumstances."

As Kate struggled to pull herself together, she took several deep breaths and forced the tears to stop. "I'm okay now."

Taking her chin between his fingers, he raised her face until she had no choice but to look into his dark eyes. She watched an angry scowl cross his face as he turned her head slightly to the left. "He hit you."

Realizing Zack's blows must have left a mark, she reached up to cover her cheek and nodded only slightly, afraid of the absolute fury she saw on Rick's face.

"I'm sorry I didn't shoot him. I'll have to rectify that situation the next time I see him."

His anger and tough words struck her as funny and sweet and incredibly macho and before she could think better of it, she laughed.

Rick looked at her, completely confused by her sudden about-face, which only caused her to laugh harder.

"Can I playLois Lane to your Superman?" she asked in between giggles.

Rick merely smiled at her silly comment and took her breath away with his response. "You can be my Lois anytime, gorgeous lady, but do you think I'm kidding about shooting that asshole?"

Realizing she was laughing at his attempts toward chivalry, she quickly stopped and shook her head. "No, I'm sure you mean it. But you're a smart guy, Rick, and I'm sure by tomorrow you and I can figure out a way to get even with Zack the Rat without going to prison. Trust me, he's not worth that. Okay?" She hoped her light tone would help the seriousness of her words penetrate the anger that continued to linger in his eyes.

"Revenge without prison sounds good." His gorgeous, dimpled grin was back in place and causing her to squirm on his lap. The movement brought her derriere in direct contact with a surprisingly firm part of him and she gasped, looking up into his eyes. The laughter and anger she'd found there in the previous moments were replaced with something much more disturbing and exciting—lust, pure and simple lust.

"Rick." Her voice was a mere whisper and she fought to repress a shiver as his eyes traveled from her face down her body.

Glancing down, she realized she was as good as naked, with her shirt hanging open to reveal her lacy new bra and her skirt hovering around the tops of her thighs, leaving at least two inches of bare leg showing above her black garters.

"Oh." Her unfamiliar feelings of lust and the lingering fear of Zack's actions crashed in on her all at once and stole away the self-confidence she'd felt when the night began. She looked like a disaster and felt even worse. She struggled to cover herself despite the trembling of her hands. Rick grasped her hands in one of his to still them.

"No, let me." He pulled her skirt down gently. "I'm afraid all the buttons are gone on this shirt." The slippery material of the blouse refused to stay closed.

His words brought frustrated tears to her eyes. "The best laid schemes o' mice and men," she whispered under her breath, her voice hoarse from crying. As far as seduction set-ups went, this had to have been the worst in all of history.

"Gang aft a-gley? Go astray?" Rick finished her quote with a question in his voice.

Kate was startled by his knowledge of the Burns poem and the annoying fact that he always answered her mumblings. She shook her head in amazement. "How in the hell did you know the rest of that line?"

Rick laughed. "Tenth-grade English. We read Steinbeck's novel. I must have paid attention that day. What was it referring to here?"

Regretfully, Kate rose from his all-too-cozy lap. "It's not important." Her seduction plans for Rick were hanging in tatters around her, much like her ruined shirt. So much for making a better first impression on Rick than the one she'd managed in May. She'd started the night feeling confident and beautiful. Now she could feel the mascara tracing the tracks of her tears, her hair hanging limply down her back and her sexy new clothes were utterly ruined.

"I should run up and change my clothes. I'm a bit indecent."

Kate thought for a moment Rick was going to say something, but he merely nodded and she escaped to her bedroom. As she closed the door behind her, she fought back the fresh round of tears that threatened. Walking to the mirror, she inspected her face. The damage Zack wrought was worse than she'd feared. Her mascara was indeed smeared down her face. Almost all of her hair had escaped its French braid and she could see a dark bruise forming on her right cheek where Zack slapped her not once, but twice. The thought of his attack and her image in the mirror didn't upset her as much as it made her furious.

"That son of a bitch," she muttered. "Who the hell does he think he is?" Zack Summers married her fresh out of college, stole her innocence and then steadily ignored her for the next six years. Now, just as she was getting back on her feet, the bastard returned for round two.

"No sir. Not going to happen."

Catching her reflection in the mirror once more, Kate felt her confidence crumble, considering her plans for tonight once more. "Not going to happen." How could she seduce Rick? Even with fancy clothes, hair and makeup, she'd been a nervous wreck.

"Back to square one," she said to herself as she briefly toyed with the idea of calling Jill to get another much-needed pep talk.

No. No Jill. There was no way in hell she was going to let Zack the Rat ruin one more night of her life. She'd worked hard for tonight and she deserved it. She wanted one night—well, actually one week of magic with a man who made her toes curl and, by God, she was going to have it. No more acting like her usual bumbling, mumbling, nervous, shy self. Grabbing a tissue, she started to scrub away the mascara.

"You can do this," she chanted as she washed her face, combed out her tangled hair and changed her clothes.

When she looked in the mirror again, she saw herself—Kate Harper—and again she was filled with uneasiness. Considering her sister's silly advice, she wondered, what would Jill do?

Go downstairs and rip the man's clothes off.

"Oh yeah," she muttered with a light laugh. "Good luck with that, Kate."

Kiss Me Kate is available at Ellora's Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and All Romance Ebooks.

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