Saturday Snippets

Today’s topic is lean on me. Since I have a book coming out in October with that very title, I thought I’d give you a snippet from my LEAN ON ME. Just two folks running into each other ten years after high school…

“We didn’t go out.” She blurted out the words because, really, the conversation couldn’t go worse if she weighed them first.

“I tried.”

“You…” Somewhere near her an overhead sprinkler went off. She heard the spray and felt the mist. It took all the control she had not to flatten her hair with her palms. Then his words fully registered. “Wait, what?”

“We were supposed to meet at Schmidt’s Diner for breakfast the day before classes ended your senior year. You never showed.”

A memory tickled at the back of her mind. When he squeezed her hand then dropped it, the facts came rushing back. “But that was a joke.”

He tucked those mesmerizing fingers into the front pockets of his faded jeans and rocked back on his heels. “Um, no.”



He’d been a year behind her and traveling in a pack of rowdy athletes who barely noticed her through the cloud of testosterone swirling around them. They sure didn’t talk to her throughout school. She wasn’t a brain and wasn’t a jock. Not that kind of jock. She’d always preferred the outdoors and quiet, solitary climbs to group sports.

“You were standing with your friends and laughing and told me it would break your heart if we didn’t share pancakes.” The long-forgotten memory came back spiraling back at her in vivid detail.

This time he shot her the irresistible, dimpled nod he’d just bragged about. “And you said you’d come.”

“I certainly didn’t.”

“True.” He nodded. “Technically you said ‘I’ll get right on that,’ but it’s the same thing.”

“In what universe?”

“Uh, this one?”

“Not really.”

He waved his hand as if dismissing her argument. “Good news is I’ve gotten over it.”

“Well, it has been ten years.” And she’d bet he forgot he’d asked her out the second after he did it.

He leaned against the table with one ankle crossed over the other, oblivious to the water spray putting a soft glisten in his hair. “Are you here for a visit?”

She wondered what it must feel like not to worry about frizzy hair, to be so unconditionally accepted and so comfortable in his surroundings. The constant attention made her insides jump around. Between the staring and eavesdropping, she was ten seconds away from climbing out of her skin.

“You mean the nursery?” She switched her weight from foot to foot as she asked the question.

“I meant Holloway. You know, the same town in West Virginia where you were born.” His eyes narrowed. “You okay?”

“I’m not exactly the town’s favorite daughter.”

“I believe the town refers to that incident as The Snub.”

“What?”

He shrugged. “People around here like to make up names for thing.”

Something inside her deflated. She actually felt her shoulders slump. “That’s just fabulous.”

“You called Holloway a pit. Wait.” He held up a finger and stared at the ceiling for a second as if in deep

thought. “I think the term was rotting pit.”

She winced liked she always did when someone reminded her of the interview. “You read the article.”

He chuckled. “Everyone read it.”

From the look of it, every resident of Holloway stood in the same room with her, more than ready to lecture her on her long ago behavior. “Apparently.”

“You could use a better PR team.”

Since she barely had money for a sandwich, his insight made her laugh. “Or a quicker brain.”

“Hungry?”

Maybe her brain was even slower than she thought. “I feel like I keep saying this, but what?”

“I assume superathletes eat.”

“What are we talking about now?” She lowered her voice to a whisper even though he kept talking as if they were the only ones standing in the room.

“That date. Way I figure it, you still owe me.”

Right. They’d eat and his girlfriend or wife would come in and make a scene. That would give everyone in town a new reason to hate her. No. Thank. You.

“You can’t possibly be this hard up for a meal companion,” she said.

“You make dating sound so sexy.”

She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Let’s just say I’ve known some interesting guys.” Then the words registered. “Wait, did you say date?”

“Tomorrow at seven at Schmidt’s.”

That bit of news sent her mind racing down another track. “It’s still open? Old Man Schmidt was ninety when we were in school.”

“And still makes a mean pancake.” Mitch took out his phone. “What’s your number?”

She beat back a sigh. “I don’t have one.”

He shot her one of those you’re-so-full-of-it looks men did so well. “Everyone has a phone.”

“I don’t.” It wasn’t even a line. She actually couldn’t afford one right now. She owned a tent and a backpack and the sneakers on her feet. Hard to believe she once employed an agent and sat in on fancy dinners with prospective sponsors talking about documentary deals.

Mitch’s gaze brushed over her face like a caress. “Seriously?’

She had to swallow to force the word out. “Yes.”

“Fair enough.” He slipped the phone back into his pocket.

“You believe me?”

He shrugged. “Are you lying?”

“No.”

He shrugged. “Then what do you say to the date?”

She said the first thing that popped into her head. “I’ll get right on that.”

The smile that spread over his mouth was bright enough to light the room. “Nice comeback.”

“Thought that might impress you.”

“Oh, it did. Now, it’s my turn.” He stood up straight again. “I’m going to walk away thinking we’re on for tomorrow.”

Her good mood faded. “I didn’t—”

“When I do go—” he pointed in the direction of the glassed-in office at the far end of the room, “—you’re going

to be tempted to watch my ass.”

The comment was so out of context it hit her like a sharp smack. “Excuse me?”

“Just to be clear, I won’t be offended. As far as I’m concerned, you can go right ahead and look because I can

guarantee you if the positions were reversed, I’d be watching yours.”

With her mouth hanging open and her mind muddled, she watched him walk away. No, make that saunter. It was the sure stalk of a hunter, all grace with no wasted steps.

And damn if she didn’t take a peek at his ass.

___________

Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:

Megan Hart:Read in bed!

Leah Braemel

Eliza Gayle

Mandy M Roth

Lissa Matthews

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Myla Jackson

Taige Crenshaw

Lauren Dane

TJ Michaels

Delilah Devlin

Jody Wallace