Friday, September 7, 2018

Friday Feature: Excerpt from CRAZY ABOUT YOU

Thanks to my awesome publisher, The Wild Rose Press, I'm currently working with a narrator to bring Chase and Emma's story to life as an audio book. It's both cool and strange to hear someone reading my words out loud... it's also both cool and strange to hear the narrator subtly differentiate the different character voices so the listener can tell them apart. The New York City accent she gives Tony Lenzi is straight out of The Sopranos, but just how I described it, lol.

I have to admit, it's also the first time in a while I'd read through some of this story at all. I winced at some of my rookie mistakes but also marveled at some of the prose, coming across certain passages or phrases and was all, Damn! Did I really write that?

I'd originally hoped the audio book would release this summer, but here it is September. * sigh *

Anyway.

For my Friday Feature, here's an excerpt from the turning point in the story, where everything changes from slow and flirty and they're finally about to, you know... until the blood curdling scream.

Happy Friday to all - and Happy Reading!

Excerpt from CRAZY ABOUT YOU:


After dinner, Chase and Emma descended the stairs next to the wharf and walked along the sandy stretch of low-tide beach running parallel to the commercial strip. The full moon reflected off the Atlantic, sending rhythmic ripples of silver and gold washing onto the shore. The dark pilings of the wharf loomed behind them, the low sounds of laughter and voices drifting from the shadows.
“I hope you don’t mind if we skip going to the club to meet your assistant. So many people crammed into too small a space. This is nicer.” She smiled up at him and his heart skipped a beat.
“Totally fine with me.” He managed to control his voice, sounding normal even if his erratic heartbeat wouldn’t listen to him. “I’m not much for the club scene anyway. Makes me feel old.”
She snorted. “You’re not old, Dr. Anderson. Merely intense.” Emma reached for his hand, twining her fingers through his, giving them a squeeze. “I love to walk on the beach after dinner, don’t you? Especially at low tide, like this, when the beach stretches on and on and the sky is filled with a multitude of stars shining down, little pinpricks in the blackness where the gods and angels can watch over us. Or spy on us. Whichever. The possibilities seem endless on nights like tonight.”
Several of those possibilities raced through his mind, each scenario steamier than the last. He clamped his mouth shut, stifling a groan. This wasn’t like him. He was usually calm, cool, and collected. Since when did his daydreams all turn pornographic?
Since you met Emma, the voice in his head reminded him.
She tugged on his hand to get his attention. “What did you think of the Lobster Pot?” He told her the raviolis surpassed the best seafood he’d been served anywhere, better than anything he’d eaten in a long, long time. Definitely superior to anything in New York City.
“Good. I’m glad you’re able to admit it.” Her smile reflected the moonlight. “Some New Yorkers won’t say anything is better outside of the city.”
He shrugged easily. “I may be from New York, but I like to think I make up my own mind.” He pulled her to a stop near a rowboat flipped over on the sand, keel pointed toward the stars. He ran his thumb across her knuckles, feeling the tremor run through her arm. “Tell me something about you. Something no one else knows.”
She stared up at the night sky long enough to count each and every star. “When I was born, my dad was out at sea, fishing. He promised he’d be home to take Mom to the hospital in Hyannis, but couldn’t make it back to shore because of a storm.”
“So what did she do?” Chase snaked his hand under the arm of her sweater, her skin like silk sliding under his fingertips as he drew nonsensical lines along her forearm.
“You need to realize, the nearest hospital is an hour and a half from Provincetown. It was fall, but still the end of tourist season, so things were busy. My mom had to make promises to the woman who drove her there.”
“Promises? Like pledging your firstborn?”
She shook her head. “Almost worse. She let her choose my middle name.”
He chuckled and slid his other arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “What did she choose?” Despite the darkness, he saw her roll her eyes. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.”
“My mom was at her shop when her water broke. It was the tarot card reader next door who drove her to Hyannis.”
“And your middle name is…”
“Andromeda.” She said it so softly he barely heard.
“Like the constellation? Or the daughter of Cassiopeia?”
Emma blew out a long breath. “I guess she meant the constellation, because she told my mom the stars would bring Dad home. Sure enough, he showed up at the hospital the very next morning. But I was already saddled with one heck of a middle name.”
“I like it.”
Her voice came out as a whisper. “You do?”
He nodded slowly. “I like you, too.” He bent his head to capture her mouth. She leaned into him slightly, brushing his lips with her tongue, inviting him to explore further. The kiss quickly deepened, her body pressed tight, urging him to take more. She moaned when her breasts crushed against his chest, her hardened nipples poking through the thin fabric of her shirt. Primal need seared through his body. He found the bottom edge of her tank top and slipped underneath to caress the silky heat of the bare skin at her waist. She shuddered and pulled away from the kiss, nipping his bottom lip.
“Wow,” she whispered, catching her breath. “Is this still part of that science experiment of yours?” Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, filled with wanting but also uncertainty.
He touched his forehead to hers and waited for his breathing to even out. “I think we’ve officially ruled out any scientific anomaly. But there’s still plenty of room for exploration.” He kissed her again, tasting the salt of the night air on her lips, satisfying his hunger better than any seafood. She opened to him, leaning into his kiss.
His world spun out of control as she clutched his shoulders and held on until he needed to come up for air to stop the world from reeling. He tucked her head under his chin and held her body against his, breathing in her honey lemon scent with each panting breath, trying to steady himself. Hot breath puffed against his chest, another small tremor running through her.
“I never planned for this,” he said.
“Do you always have a plan?”
“Usually.”
“Kiss me again.”
He cradled her face with his hands and kissed her softly, running his tongue over her lips, down her neck, kissing the soft spot at the base of her throat. She trembled at his touch, moving her hands over the muscles in his back.
“You’re driving me crazy,” she said in a breathless voice that sent even more blood pounding to his groin. “But we should probably stop. I mean, we’re, um, still kind of in public.”
His lips brushed over her ear. “There’s no one near,” he whispered, unable to think clearly.
“Still…” she said on a sigh, her eyes fluttering shut.
“You’re right.” He moved his hands away from her face. His fingers brushed over her breast and she sucked in a sharp gasp, her eyes darkening. Holding her gaze he trailed his hand the rest of the way down her belly, pushing under the edge of the tank top and back along her bare midriff. He cupped her breast with reverence, rubbing a slow thumb across the lace of her bra to tease already puckered nipples. His other hand slid down her lower back to her rear, molding her body to his, showing her his desire. She clenched her teeth and shuddered, pressing into the hand on her chest, gasping at his touch. Her tongue traced a line up his neck, biting down on his sensitive earlobe.
“Chase, please.” Her breathy whisper sent another jolt to his groin. “Let’s leave the beach. Now.” He nodded, his logical brain kicking into gear to estimate the quickest route back to his motel room. He captured her mouth for one more kiss, tamping down on his haze of need while he wondered whether to flag a taxi or one of those pedicabs.
A scream from somewhere nearby pierced the night air. He tore his mouth from hers, looking toward the source of the noise. Shouts followed, along with the sounds of feet pounding on the wooden staircase and along the boardwalk. Stream of shadows swirled above and below the pier, bodies scurrying through the darkness while the screams went on and on.
“What’s happening?” Emma pulled away, shoving her shirt down, moving toward the sound.
Chase tried to hold her back. “Where are you going?”
“Didn’t you hear that? A woman’s screaming!”
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to run toward danger?”
She cocked her head. “Someone needs help. Either come with me, or let me go.” Reluctantly he followed her lead, unwilling to release his grasp on her hand.



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