Saturday Snippet
Today’s topic is best friends. Seems like the perfect time to give you an early look at WE’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. This is part of my Holloway series. Spence and Austin are friends as well as brothers. Our hero Spence had a naughty weekend at a hotel outside of town and, for reasons that are explained later in the book, pretended he was Austin. That’s fine until his weekend fling shows up in town thinking Spence is Austin. Did I mention Austin is married? Yeah, he’s not pleased his brother used his name. This scene is right after Austin finds out.
“I’m off my game. I clearly wasn’t expecting the visit.” Reality sucker punched Spence. “I can explain.”
“You have a minute before I slam you through that window. People in town can call it The Scene or The Fight or whatever they want. I prefer to think of it as The Day I Kicked Your Ass.”
Spence exhaled but the anxiety revving inside him didn’t lessen. “I wasn’t supposed to see her ever again.”
“Obviously that plan failed.”
“She was at the hotel then supposed to take off for some management job.” He searched his mind for details but could only call up the naked parts of their time together. No way was he talking about that. “I don’t know. Some sort of resort thing.”
“Mountain View, Spence. She is running the campground fifteen miles from here. Fifteen miles from where I live part of the year with my wife.” Austin stepped up until only a foot or two separated them. “You remember Carrie? The same woman who will smack the shit out of both of us once she hears about this.”
Spence guessed he’d be lucky if she stopped there. He’d known Carrie since they were kids, had been friends with her brother Mitch forever. She was smart and when it came to protecting Austin she was downright scary. Spence loved that about her.
“I’ll tell her it’s my fault,” he said.
Austin’s eyes bulged. “It is your fault.”
Time to change the subject. It was either that or risk watching his brother’s brain spew all over the glass.
“Lila is really staying at Mountain View? That place is a wreck.” The idea didn’t make sense to Spence. She’d been at a high-end hotel when he met her. Switching to a campground with cabins that provided less protection than a sleeping bag seemed like an odd choice.
“She’s running it.”
Spence’s few remaining brain cells misfired. “But she…why would…”
“I see you’re finally getting this.” Austin threw him a knowing look. The kind that said you-are-in-deep-shit.
No kidding. “You mean she’s going to live nearby?”
“Yes, big brother.”
“And she thinks I lied to her.”
“Because you did.” Austin sat next to Spence on the desk, joining him in facing out the windows and staring out into the main floor area. “Have I mentioned you’re an idiot?”
“That probably goes without saying.” As Spence watched, the crowd outside the glass disbursed. Most people scurried back into the aisles while a few others lingered, clearly hoping to hear a stray sentence through the wall.
Austin exhaled loud enough to shatter the window. “You want to tell me why you used my name in this scam? Since when do you need me to play wingman in your dating life? I thought that shit stopped when we were in our early twenties.”
“It wasn’t—” Spence searched for the right words, for just the right sentence to say something and nothing at the same time. When he couldn’t find an excuse that made sense, he stopped trying to duck the truth. His brother deserved that much. “Sorry.”
Austin’s head pushed back as his eyes went wide. “Man, didn’t see that coming. I expected denial and excuses.”
So did Spence. Those qualified as his go-to responses but he didn’t have the energy for all of that right now. “Yeah, not this time.”
“You’re kind of ruining this for me. Hard to be ticked off when you immediately concede.”
Spence laughed, wondering why he hadn’t come up with this plan a decade ago. “I thought I’d try a new strategy.”
___________
Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:
Rhian Cahill
Jody Wallace
Leah Braemel
Mari Carr
Shiloh Walker
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Shelli Stevens
Lauren Dane
TJ Michaels
