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Excerpt:
Standing
in front of Sullivan’s door, Clint straightened his tie for the fifth time. His
trip to the heart of the Mariner’s home turf had yielded some massive and
pleasant surprises that he was eager to share with his sometimes-prickly
traveling companion. After he knocked on the door, he heard a muffled, “One
moment,” and took to rocking on his heels while he waited. He smoothed out his
surprise new duds, ensured he’d done all the buttons on his shirt properly, and
made sure his fly had been zipped. Check. Check. Check. Should he button the
sport coat or not? What was protocol? A quick hand through his hair again, and
then a surreptitious nose cleaning, just in case.
Calm down, man.
When
Sullivan’s door opened a few moments later, Clint had to bite back a wolf
whistle. A pair of driving shades and that baseball cap really added to her
image (not that she was bad to begin with), and his pulse raced. This might be
harder than he’d thought.
Man up, Clint, he told
himself. “Are you ready to go, Sully?”
She gave
him a slow once over. “I know I
didn’t give you enough money to buy that.
Where’d you get it?”
He shook
his head. “Some store.” He could tell she was hardly satisfied with the answer,
but ignored the follow up question in her eyes. “Let’s try again. Are you ready
to go? It’s five.”
She
glanced at her watch. “Go? Where are we going?”
He
grinned. “You are hungry, yes?”
“Maybe,”
she said cautiously. In reply, her stomach gurgled, “Absolutely I’m hungry, you
idiot,” and Lindsay blushed crimson.
Clint
pretended not to notice the sound, and jerked a thumb toward the stairs.
“C’mon. Even if you’re fine, I’m
dying for something better than the burgers from the joint next door. I was
thinking about something, you know, upscale. Just the two of us. Think of it as
part of me paying off my debt.”
She
cocked her head. “In case you hadn’t noticed, we’ve been watching a dwindling
budget lately. And, besides, I’m not dressed to go anywhere nice.”
Clint
turned and jogged for the stairs. “No worries,” he called back to her.
“Dinner’s taken care of, and I’ve got your evening wear sorted out, too. Let’s
go!” He was down the stairs and in the lobby in under a minute. She appeared
seconds later, frowning—probably glaring behind those shades—and demanding
answers.
“That’d
be telling,” he replied with a smirk. She was leaning forward, eager for
whatever it was he was holding back. Or maybe she was actually eager to rip his
head off because she was infected by the Touch. Either way, there was no reason
to delay. He strode through the front door of the motel, and then turned to
hold it open for her. Sullivan approached sinuously, too much the way a big cat
would close on its prey. Realizing the problem, Clint released the door and
stepped aside, only to realize a new problem. A moment later, the door took
Sullivan full in the face.
“Sully!”
Clint sprang for the door and yanked it open, even as she staggered backwards.
“Man, Sully. I swear by everything
holy that I didn’t mean to—”
She
silenced him with a hand, while rubbing vigorously at her nose with her other
hand. “That’s twice you’ve hit me
with a door! What is your prob— never mind. I’m not bleeding, am I?” She didn’t
wait for an answer before turning back toward the lobby and striding for the
ladies’ room.
Clint
buried his face in his hand, and then looked behind him. Good. His surprise was
still there. “Sully! You look fine. If you need a mirror, there’s one here in
the limo.”
She
missed a step, and then stopped. Carefully, she looked back over her shoulder.
He saw her gasp slightly, and then turn all the way around. She looked back and
forth between the restrooms and the waiting luxury car. Finally, her shoulders
dropped slightly, and walked carefully toward the limousine. Clint opened the
car’s door immediately, dismissing the driver with a nod. Sullivan approached
slowly, and shot meaningful looks both at Clint and at the car door.
“What?”
he asked. “Hey, that was an accident.”
She gave
him a look. “And so was the thing in the hospital.”
“Yes. So
was the thing in the hospital. But do you really think I’d slam a car door on a
woman?”
She
crossed her arms over her chest, and cocked her head.
Clint blushed
slightly, and gestured at the door, and said, “Look, Miss Sullivan. I promise I’m not going to intentionally
injure or humiliate you. This? This was supposed to be a nice surprise and it
hasn’t exactly gone the way I planned it. Bear with me, please? I promise I’ll
do my very best to make this as enjoyable for you as it has been for me. Okay?”
Sullivan
hesitated, but at last put one foot forward, then the other. Then she sped to
the limo and climbed inside without so much as a glance at Clint. Her passage
was so close that a faint whiff of her perfume caught his nose. Clint breathed
deeply, and let the scent linger in his mind, resolving to get her a bottle of
whatever that was as a “thank you” gift, once he got a job again. He really did
owe her big. Hopefully, tonight would help.
Great Excerpts. Thanks for the great job on your blog. Love it!
RO
A Bookish Escape