Happy New
Year’s, my friends!
Will you
be curled up with a special someone watching the glittering ball drop in Times
Square? Or are you celebrating with a fun crowd, complete with champagne and
kisses? Maybe you’ll be like me…snuggled under the covers with my hubby
reading. ;-)
Whatever
your method of welcoming the new year, I wish you joy, happiness and love in
2019.
For my
final blog of 2018, I’d like to share a story that opens on New Year’s Eve at a
gala event in Marietta, Montana. I love this second-chance romance, and I hope
you will, too.
A masked ball. Two star-crossed lovers. A New
Year’s Eve kiss at midnight. Who says Fate doesn’t have a sense of humor?
Excerpt HER REBEL TO KISS © Tule Publishing:
“It’s
that time, my friends. Grab a glass of champagne and that special person. Here
we go. Ten…nine…”
Bailey’s
voice got drowned out by the crowd.
“Eight…seven…”
He
closed his arms around Nicole to keep her safe as more people flooded onto the
dance floor.
“Six,”
she said, looking directly into his eyes. The lights had come up so he could
study the subtle hues mixed in the blue of her irises.
Beautiful eyes. Familiar, somehow.
“Five,”
a voice boomed to his left.
Tucker,
who was holding Amanda the same way Justin held Nicole, gave Justin a guy-nod
that seemed to say, “Way to go, bro!”
Justin
liked to think he didn’t need his friends’ validation to feel good about his
choices, but this time he was navigating new waters. Dangerous waters. This
woman was about to become his boss. That couldn’t be good.
But
Nicole didn’t feel dangerous or threatening.
“Four…”
She
felt as though she’d been made to dance with him. They fit together perfectly.
He liked every thing about her, except her job.
“Three…”
If he and Nicole were going to do this, he had to make sure they had an end
game in place.
New Year’s Eve. Maybe the weekend. They’d play that part by ear,
but after Monday nothing could happen between them.
“Two,”
he said softly.
“One,”
she whispered, looking into his eyes with a question he was ready to answer.
“Happy
New Year.”
“Happy
New Year,” he said before lowering his head to press his lips to hers.
He
expected the usual few minutes of testing the waters, feeling each other out,
but that didn’t happen. From the moment their lips met, he felt as if he’d
crossed the Rubicon. This wasn’t a one-time deal. They’d done this a million
times. Together. Theirs was a reunion of souls kissing across eons,
remembering.
Her
lips parted, her tongue seeking his without hesitation. He hadn’t expected such
frankness, but her greedy pleasure made him need more, too.
He
closed his eyes and immersed himself in her sweetness, a combination of honey
and spice. He would have gone on exploring this newfound fascination forever if
not for the sensation of something touching his head. He pulled back and look
around.
“The
balloons,” Nicole cried, letting go of him to tap at the large white, gold and
silver balloons cascading around them.
Confetti
shot from somewhere nearby added to the glitter and excitement. Nicole was
pulled from his arms to exchange air kisses and hugs with perfect strangers.
Justin found himself in a bear hug, too.
“Helluva
thing, huh? Beats the crap out of last year,” Tucker said.
Justin
clapped Tucker on the back. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I mean
starting the year off with someone you care about. There’s a first time for
everything, Ona always says.”
Ona,
Tucker’s Cajun grandmother, was a font of truisms. Justin had met her twice and
loved the dear woman as the grandmother he’d never had. I wonder what
Ona would say about me kissing my future boss? Probably something arcane about
not defecating where you eat, damn it.
He
caught up with Nicole before anyone else could dance her away. He grabbed her
hand and spun her slightly off-balance back into his arms. “Unfinished
business,” he mumbled against her lips.
She may
have started to protest but her reaction changed the minute she realized this
kiss meant business. His tongue wasn’t polite or inquisitive. Justin knew what
he wanted, and it started now. They were both breathless when he broke off the
kiss before embarrassing himself too badly. His body reacted to her in a way he
didn’t remember happening with any of his previous lovers.
“You’re
coming with me, right?”
“That
depends on which of our rooms is closer.”
Happy
reading, my friends! And HAPPY, HAPPY 2019!
DEB
No comments:
Post a Comment