Inspired!

So I have a problem with Twitter. In that I could spend my entire day over there. I follow some really great people. People that love books and love talking about them. Like Tori from Smexy Books. She tweeted the other day about her neighbor who had been dumped by her husband. He got her drunk and then packed up while she was passed out to go live with his mistress. Nice guy, huh?

Anyway, it inspired me. What a great way to open a romance book! And sometimes, when I’m really inspired, I have to write down an entire scene, usually the beginning of the book, instead of just the idea. I named my heroine Tori since that’s where the inspiration came from.

And here it is.

p.s. This is raw. Like, first-draft raw. Which means I essentially vomited words onto a page. There will be lots of editing and tweaking and adding of details and whatnot.

 

Revenge excerpt. Work in progress.

Tori saw her soon-to-be ex-husband walking toward her. As his image grew larger in the mirror behind the bar, her heart beat harder. And her head. Damn him for getting her drunk last night. He didn’t have the balls to pack up and leave while she was sober. Or awake for that matter. She’d woken up with a hangover and a note under the remote.

Tori,

Carolyn and I are in love. And we’re having a baby.

John

p.s. I’m sorry.

“P.S. Fuck you!”

John’s pursed lips let her know that she’d said that loud enough for him to hear. Good. Asshole deserves it. Heh, kept that one to yourself.

She breathed deep, something she immediately regretted when the scent of sweat and beer assaulted her nose. She shifted on the bar stool, sitting up straighter. Her eyes flicked to the table Sean had gotten up from. Carolyn, her former best friend, was staring at the ground. Head hung low like the snake you are.

John stood behind her, arms crossed. Their eyes met in the mirror. Tori lifted her glass of cinnamon-flavored whiskey and took a measured sip. The warmth of the alcohol spread through her body, steeling her nerve. You will talk first, asshole.

He puffed out a breath and rolled his eyes. “You’re being childish, Tori.”

A string of words her mother wouldn’t approve of flitted through her mind as she slowly swiveled the stool around and faced him. “Excuse me?”

On the outside Tori was the three c’s – calm, cool, and collected – on the inside she was anything but. But she’d be damned if she was going to show it.

John lifted his arms, apparently exasperated with her. “Showing up here? Following us? I mean, come on, don’t do that. It’s embarrassing for you.”

Tori forgot all about being calm, cool, and collected and stood up, jabbing her finger at his chest. “You know what’s embarrassing? Not having the balls to tell me to my face that YOU’RE FUCKING MY BEST FRIEND. Nice penmanship on the note you left, though.” She saw Carolyn finally lift her head. Tori gave her the finger and shook her head in disgust when Carolyn started studying the floor again. Fucking coward.

John’s cheeks flushed. Or was it just her vision going red? He leaned in, his voice low. Not that it mattered, the entire bar was listening at this point. “Are you stalking us? I won’t put the baby in danger.”

Tori swallowed and blinked, pushing her glasses back up her nose and trying to keep the tears at bay. Her stomach contracted like she’d been punched in the gut. He might as well have. They’d tried for two years to conceive. She’d failed to give him a baby and now she’d failed at marriage. She opened her mouth and then snapped it shut. All her bravado gone.

A chair scraped to her left. She turned in that direction and stared into an intense set of blue eyes. He looked at her and lifted his eyebrows as he rose and stepped in her direction, calling out to her. “Hey, there you are.”

She furrowed her brow, even as she busied herself registering the rest of him. And there was a lot to register. She guessed he was a bit over six feet. His dirty-blond hair was unruly in a sexy surfer kind of way. As soon as he took one step toward her, she couldn’t see past his shoulders very well.

John turned too, sneering. “Who the hell is that?”

The stranger stood directly beside her. Close enough that she caught the scent of [insert something sexy here]. He smiled and looked her over. Her eyes widened. What the hell is going on?

He reached out and tugged on the hem of her cardigan. “You said you’d be wearing a blue polka dot sweater and glasses.”

Her mouth dropped open.

John whipped his head between the two of them. “Tori, who the fuck is this?”

The stranger didn’t acknowledge John directly. He jerked his head toward her ex and slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Is this who the revenge fuck ad on Craigslist is about?”

Tori blinked in rapid succession and then grinned wide, catching on to the stranger’s game. Oh my god, my very own knight in shining armor!

“Yep. This is my asshole husband who fucked my best friend.” Tori pointed to Carolyn who was positively agape. “That bitch over there. Then he got me drunk enough that I passed out so he could pack up and leave like a coward.”

Her new best buddy gave John a dismissive look then slid onto her barstool and dragged her onto his lap, one arm possessively wrapped around her fluttering midsection. “I’m looking forward to making you forget him.” He pulled her closer. “Back at your house. In his former bed.”

Tori bounced in the stranger’s lap, giddy with immature yet wholly appropriate glee. He groaned. “Oh yeah, I can’t wait to get more of that.”

Tori giggled and watched John turned every shade of red known to man. “You disgust me,” he said.

“Right back at ya,” she called to his retreating back.

Tori spun to face her rescuer, her arms wrapping around his neck. “Oh my god, thank you!” Then she planted her lips on his.