Saturday Snippets
We've all been there. All lived through them. Bad Dates. Gah! Today's snippet is about a date that goes about as wrong as it possibly can. This excerpt is from my very first book with Ellora's Cave, Kiss Me, Kate. Been thinking about this book a lot lately as I'm working on the sequel, Three Reasons Why.
Excerpt:
A soft voice from the bottom of the stairs interrupted their brief reunion.
"I think he knew you were coming home." Kate came back into the living room. "I had to put him in the basement because he was so excited, I thought he would break something. I swear to you, Rick. I've never locked him away before today."
Rick smiled, hoping to reassure her. He knew how much Kate loved Rex. He could hear it in the emails she'd written about the crazy dog's exploits and adventures. "He can sense when something good is about to happen. Some sort of sixth sense, I suppose, and it does make him a pain in the ass. I had a friend from college come to visit last year. Rex picked up on my enthusiasm and ended up knocking the kitchen table over. Our whole dinner hit the floor. It's okay, Kate. I'm just sorry he couldn't help you when you needed him."
"Me too." Rick took a moment to study her to make sure she was okay and savor the image of her. She had changed into comfortable lounge pants, a long-sleeved tee and thick socks—and he found this outfit as stimulating to his libido as the silk and velvet one Zack had destroyed.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Thanks to you, I'm fine. But I don't want to talk about Zack any more tonight." Kate was obviously anxious to forget the whole sordid ordeal. "It's your first night home."
"So it is." He started to walk toward her. "I've miss—" he began, but the sound of a smoke detector caused Kate to cry out.
"My casserole!"
She ran by him into the kitchen and Rick arrived just in time to see billows of black smoke streaming out of the oven. Kate grabbed a potholder and pulled a charred casserole to the counter with a curse. Quickly, Rick raised the window above the sink and opened the back door. Kate picked up a towel and tried to send the smoke out the window while the detector continued its ear-piercing scream.
When the incessant beeping failed to stop, Rick watched in amazement as his mild-mannered librarian turned into a tiger. Fury filled her face as she grabbed a metal spatula from the counter and swung as hard as she could at the annoying noise.
"Shut up!" she yelled as the detector flew off the ceiling, breaking into at least a dozen pieces.
"Ouch. Remind me not to piss you off in the kitchen."
Embarrassed by her sudden fit of anger, she groaned. "I broke your smoke detector." Her voice was filled with remorse and Rick struggled not to laugh as she closed her eyes and immediately started her usual, adorable mumbling. "Great, Kate. Brilliant, just brilliant."
Unable to restrain himself, Rick responded to her self-recriminations with a laugh. "I thought it was rather brilliant. I mean, I understand the purpose and need for those damn things, but my God, that noise is unbearable, isn't it?"
Kate looked at Rick rather shell-shocked before a light giggle escaped. Rick smiled and bent down to pick up the pieces of the destroyed detector as Kate's giggles turned into great peels of laughter.
"Dolly Parton said in Steel Magnolias that laughter through tears was her favorite emotion and after the night I've had, I have to say I agree. Oh Rick." Tears of mirth streamed down her face. "I cannot even begin to count how many ways tonight has gone wrong."
Kiss Me Kate is available at Ellora's Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and All Romance Ebooks.
