Snippet Saturday
Today’s topic is shame, shame, shame. This seemed like a good time to introduce you to the heroine in my October release. It’s tentatively titled LEAN ON ME and is related to my novella, IT’S NOT CHRISTMAS WITHOUT YOU. The book is a contemporary without suspense and here’s an early (unedited) peek:
The steady buzz of conversation and bustle of people walking up and down the wide aisles of Thomas Nurseries ceased when Cassidy Clarke walked through the door.
She stopped after a few steps, waiting for her hair to frizz to ten times its normal size thanks to the shift from the dry, cool October air outside to the humid air inside the greenhouse. To keep from running her hands through it a thousand or so times, she slipped in front of the display of heirloom roses and pretended she couldn’t feel the strands swelling to fill a helmet.
She also did the I-can’t-see-you-or-hear-you thing she’d perfected over the last year. She assumed that’s what the folks from her hometown wanted since half of the customers spoke in pseudo-whispers that sounded more like yelling as they talked about her. The other half openly stared. She’d heard people mumble her name and The Fall about ten times. She could only guess that referred to the end of her career…though it also applied to the complete implosion of her self-esteem.
Ah, it was good to be back.
She didn’t really blame them. It was her fault. Well, partly the reporter’s fault, but mostly hers. It had been almost three years since the stupid article came out, since she offended every single one of the 941 residents of Holloway, West Virginia. After all this time she still got scolding emails from people who knew her when she was a “nice girl” which she’d been informed, sometimes in colorful language, she no longer was.
She drummed her fingers against the wooden table and wondered for the hundredth time why she thought returning home was such a great idea. She didn’t have a place to stay or money or a climbing career anymore. If she gave herself a second, she could probably work up a pretty good pity party, maybe even crawl under the table and hide. That would give the residents the kind of show they craved.
“Cassidy?”
She turned, ready to bat away any flying tomatoes that might come her way, and stared into a dark gray t-shirt straining against a firm, broad chest. Her gaze wandered up and over an open plaid shirt and a set of impressive shoulders underneath. Then she got to the face and the smile with the sexy dimple in the guy’s cheek.
Sweet lord.
This guy could throw anything at her and she’d be fine so long as she got to stare at him for a few more seconds. Maybe run her fingers over the dark stubble over his chin and cheeks. He had a five-o’clock shadow at two in the afternoon, and boy wasn’t that the sexiest thing ever.
Nice to know her girl parts still worked fine even on an unwanted limited calorie diet. “Yes, may I help you with something?”
“When did you get back into town?”
Figured he’d have one of those deep, husky voices that vibrated right down to her…yeah, she wasn’t letting her mind wander there. “Yesterday.”
He put his hands on his lean hips. “Are you staying at the house?”
“I’m sorry.” Boy was she sorry. “But do we know each other?”
“We dated in high school.”
Her brain clicked off for a second. When it flickered back to life an error message flashed. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, we would have if you had shown up as promised.”
She could see every person in the room lean in closer. Even the soft music pumping through the speakers faded into the background. “Uh…”
His smile grew wider. “You don’t remember?”
Because it never happened. “No.”
“I’m heartbroken.”
“But, I…wait. When…?” She closed her mouth to stop the strings of silliness.
His eyebrow lifted as he put a finger behind his ear. “I didn’t catch all of that.”
No way would she have left this guy stranded at a movie or anywhere else. Brown hair, sky blue eyes and a flirty charm that started her knees shaking. Yeah, he fell into the unforgettable category. Even a woman facing the wrong side of luck could see that.
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Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:
Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
Shiloh Walker>
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane
