Iris Blobel
May I introduce: Elizabeth Belyeu "Secondhand Shadow"
Secondhand Shadow
by Elizabeth Belyeu
by Elizabeth Belyeu
1 - What was it like to see your first release in the
'book stores' ?
Well, I haven't been in stores technically, but seeing my book
show up on Amazon was definitely a surreal experience. I would search my own
name every day just to see it show up! The really insane part was actually
holding my book for the first time. I started crying -- completely surprised
myself. I mean, it was only my lifelong dream come true, right??
2 - The blurb for "Secondhand Shadow" sounds interesting.
How did you come up with the idea?
I've always been fascinated by the mind-linked-animal idea -- the
dragons of Pern and things like that. One day I wondered what it would be like
if the mind-linked animal was (essentially) human. The rest is history.
3 - Tell us about your latest project.
Right now I'm alternating between a YA fantasy with dragons (and
fairies and mermaids and unicorns and a princess!), and the first stages of a
sequel to Secondhand Shadow!Blurb:
It's supposed to be a symbiotic relationship: the Shadow serves and protects the human Lumi, the Lumi feeds and cares for the Shadow. But when Damon’s Lumi died young and severed the bond between them, he declined to go with her like a good little Shadow. Yes, it hurts. Yes, he's cold and hungry all the time. And yes, his own people call him an abomination. But for the first time, Damon's life is his own, and he’s never going back.
Or so
he thinks, until he meets Naomi, a pregnant college student… and bonds to her
as his new Lumi. Which has never happened to a Shadow before.
Naomi
has enough problems on her plate, juggling college and a crappy survival job,
preparing for a baby, and getting over her cheating ex-husband. The last thing
she needs is a dark, brooding fellow like Damon depending on her physically and
emotionally, and hating her for it. But a vigilante among Damon's people has
his sights set on Naomi – and they both know Damon is her only chance for
survival.
Author:
Elizabeth Belyeu is 29 years old and lives in Alabama, where she supports herself, her cat, and her steadily growing TBR pile as a library assistant. She graduated from Troy University in 2008 with a bachelorʹs in English (Creative Writing minor). This is her first novel, but she has been writing since she could hold a pencil, and plans to continue until she is too senile to type.
elizabethbelyeu.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005299668509
Purchase Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Secondhand-Shadows-Elizabeth-Belyeu-ebook/dp/B00KQ6SUXC/
Barnes& Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secondhand-shadow-elizabeth-belyeu/1119679417
Excerpt:
“So, who do I look like?” I said.
He jumped, as if he hadn’t expected me to have the power of speech. “What?”
“Either I look like someone you never wanted to see again, or I smell bad. Since you got in an elevator with me, I’m going with Option A.”
He continued staring a moment, then opened his mouth to speak.
And the elevator shuddered to a halt.
No. I closed my eyes. No, this cannot be. These things don’t really happen. I leaned my head back against the wall with a thunk. Then, to my own dismay, I started to laugh.
“I’m sorry,” I gasped when I saw Damon’s stare turn from mysterious to confused. “It’s just such a cliché. The pregnant lady trapped in the elevator. If I give birth in an elevator—” Confusion became alarm. “Oh, no, I’m fine,” I said quickly. “Still two months to go, thank goodness. It’s just the idea.”
I was able to stop laughing after a minute, because it stopped being funny. There was a help button in the wall, which I would be calm enough to push, eventually. But it could be hours before we got out of here. Hours during which I was supposed to be at work. I fumbled my cell phone out of my bookbag. No signal.
Damon began to pace, which was a nice trick in an elevator that size, especially when he refused to come anywhere close to me. Yeah, well, I wouldn’t touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole, either.
“I can’t be here,” he muttered under his breath, and ran a hand through his hair, which very unexpectedly made my breath catch. So I have a thing for long-haired guys. Why else would I have the Lord of the Rings movies memorized?
“Hit the help button,” I said. It was on his side.
He paused, looked at the button a moment, then resumed pacing. “You should do it.”
Bossy much? I considered suggesting an anatomically unlikely new location for the help button, but then I remembered that just because he hadn’t pulled a knife on me yet didn’t mean he wouldn’t. I stepped toward the help button, wondering what he’d do when I crossed the orbit of his pacing.
What he did was stop dead with a sharp breath, back up against the wall, and close his eyes.
For the first time, I was truly afraid to turn my back on him. I froze, not breathing, and waited.
He kept his eyes closed, breath coming faster, hands half-raised as if to ward me off. They were shaking.
Seconds passed. A minute. Maybe more. My fear began to ebb, just a bit, to make room for pity. He was in pain. I had no idea why or how, or what I could do to help, but surely I ought to try.
“Damon?”
The word was tiny and feather-edged, but it broke something. Suddenly I was pinned between him and the wall, my upraised hands trapped against his chest, too stunned to push him away.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said, pressing his face into my hair. “I won’t hurt you. I hate you too much to ever hurt you. I’m sorry.”
I felt a hand against my cheek.
And I was alone in the elevator.
May I introduce: Susanne Bellamy "Engaging the Enemy"
Engaging the Enemy
by Susanne Bellamy
Reading through Susanne's bio is like reading through a copy of "Lonely Planet" ... dreaming of the next big holiday.
Engaging the Enemy was born on a tram ride along Swanston Street in Melbourne. It was my first tram ride in the city. While my husband and daughter counted coins that were never going to be enough for our fares, I noticed an old red brick building, and idly wondered about its history. Who would have lived and worked there? Why was it now abandoned? What was its fate? Suddenly the premise of a story hit; what would happen if not one, but two people really wanted this old building? The opening scene jumped into my head and off I went!
2 - There's something about an Irish Charmer, right? Why did you choose Matt to be "Irish"?
There’s no particular reason I can think of except that I ‘heard’ his accent right from the beginning. Matt was an Irishman, full of blarney and who was I to disagree! As it turned out, that was a good choice when it came to exploring his social justice attitudes. The Irish have plenty of experience of injustice and this helped me to layer his internal conflict.
3 - Tell us about your current project.
My next release is a free Christmas anthology, written with three other south east Queensland writers and titled A Season to Remember. Christmases in Australia often focus on the beach (it’s the southern summer) so we wrote stories of Christmas past, present and future. I decided to venture into previously unexplored territory and set mine in 2525 AD. Given that the sea was a common element to all four stories, I had a bit of fun. My ship is a starship in planetary orbit but they do make it to the beach!
4 - Okay ... let's talk travel J. Have you always had the travel bug and what was your favourite destination / adventure so far?
The travel bug bit me early. I was seven when my family sailed to England and back to Australia. After that, I wanted to learn lots of languages and travel everywhere! I’ve been to many countries, mostly with my husband and children. We’ve had so many adventures along the way that it’s nearly impossible to choose just one, although I love anything with boats or mountains! Perhaps one of the more unusual was sailing on an old-fashioned junk in Ha Long Bay. Lying on the upper deck at night and seeing a myriad of stars so big and bright in the sky was pure magic. France, Scotland, Italy, Vietnam—they’re so different and I loved them all. My son and I counted up the countries we’ve visited so far; I think we got to eighteen, with many more still on our respective bucket lists.
Blurb:
One
building, two would-be owners and a family feud that spans several generations:
all relationships have their problems.
Andrea de Villiers can’t lie to save herself.
But when developer, Matt Mahoney, buys the building she and a friend have
established as a safe house in the Melbourne CBD, she decides that protecting
The Shelter is more important than her aching heart. She will confront Mr
Mahoney, and she will emerge victorious. There are no other options. But Matt has other plans for Andie, and she soon finds herself ensnared in a web of well-meaning lies and benevolent deceit. To protect the building and the families that depend on her, Andie agrees to play the part of Matt’s fiancée, and play it convincingly.
But lies soon bleed into truth, and what was once a deception starts to feel all too real. Can Andie accomplish her goals and protect The Shelter, without losing her heart to the charming Irish developer?
Author:
Susanne’s
heroes have to be pretty special to live up to the real life one she married.
He saved her life then married her. They live on the edge of bush land on a
mountain in beautiful sunny Queensland, Australia with two children and their
dog. She writes contemporary romance and historical suspense novels set in
exciting and often exotic locations.
Paris
will always be one of her top spots, and she fell in love with Scotland when
they visited the west coast (nothing to do with fine single malts!), and
recently had her first real trip to Italy--tick off one Bucket List item! She has enjoyed New Year in Kathmandu and
trekked in the Annapurnas, sailed in Ha Long Bay on a junk, and stayed on a
floating hotel beside a tethered elephant in Thailand. The Peak in Hong Kong
and Mt Faber cable car ride in Singapore are favourite spots. Susanne loves
travelling to new places and exploring the culture and history, and meeting new
people. These experiences are gradually being incorporated into her stories. Her as yet unrealised dream is a trip into Earth’s orbit.
Purchase Links:
Excerpt:
Review: Robyn Carr "The Wanderer" (Thunder Point #1)
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
ISBN: 9780778314479
My rating: 4/5
Nestled on the Oregon coast is
a small town of rocky beaches and rugged charm. Locals love the land's
unspoiled beauty. Developers see it as a potential gold mine. When newcomer
Hank Cooper learns he's been left an old friend's entire beachfront property,
he finds himself with a community's destiny in his hands.
Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.
With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home.
Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.
With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home.
My thoughts
The main reason why I picked up
the book was the location - Oregon. Since my visit there last year, it's been
one of my favourite travel destinations.
Hank Cooper's old friend Ben's
left him a beachfront property in Thunder Point, a small remote community on
the Oregon coast. While he tries to find out what happened to his friend and
fixes up the old run-down bar shack, he gets involved in the life of the
community... and meets Sarah Dupre, a helicopter pilot raising her brother.
I loved the book, the
characters were quirky, laid back and "real". Although commitment
shy, Cooper was the guy of dreams. I loved his humour, and his ability to
be serious when he needed to be. Sarah only appears in the story about half way
through the book, and I have to admit it took me a little bit to warm up to
her... once finding out about the reasons, I understood, and liked how the
character was developed.
Having said all that, there
were pages and pages of dialogue, and the introduction of characters (I assume
for future Thunder Point books) where I felt it was too long.
Definitely want to read the
next Thunder Point #2, which tells Roger "Mac" McCain and Gina's
story.
May I introduce: Mary Cope "Beautiful One"
Beautiful One
by Mary
Cope
It's an absolute delight having Mary Cope as my guest today to tell us a bit about herself and her latest release "Beautiful One", published by Astraea Presa.
1 – I love the blurb of your story “Beautiful One”. Tell us a little how you came up with the idea.
Beautiful One came to me while I was in the process of trying to shed a few pounds. I was walking my dog Maggie and began to think about how difficult it is to lose weight. At the time, my daughter was a senior in high school, my thoughts shifted to being an overweight teen and what that must be like. Then I added in an overweight teen opposite her perfect twin brother and Elizabeth was born. As a side note, Maggie graces the cover of my book and is woven throughout the pages of Beautiful One.
2 – It’s the first book in a trilogy. What can reader expect in the next two books?
Beautiful Mess will follow Aidan as he struggles through the challenges of life at college. Finding love and coming to terms with his anger issues. Beautiful Life will highlight the ups and downs as the group, Random Plan, rises to stardom.
1 – I love the blurb of your story “Beautiful One”. Tell us a little how you came up with the idea.
Beautiful One came to me while I was in the process of trying to shed a few pounds. I was walking my dog Maggie and began to think about how difficult it is to lose weight. At the time, my daughter was a senior in high school, my thoughts shifted to being an overweight teen and what that must be like. Then I added in an overweight teen opposite her perfect twin brother and Elizabeth was born. As a side note, Maggie graces the cover of my book and is woven throughout the pages of Beautiful One.
2 – It’s the first book in a trilogy. What can reader expect in the next two books?
Beautiful Mess will follow Aidan as he struggles through the challenges of life at college. Finding love and coming to terms with his anger issues. Beautiful Life will highlight the ups and downs as the group, Random Plan, rises to stardom.
3 – Tell us a little about your current project.
I am currently writing Beautiful Mess, Aidan's story. In Beautiful One Aidan shares with Elizabeth about his dysfunctional childhood, mother addicted to drugs, and womanizing father. In the sequel, I will delve into the issues Aidan is trying to overcome so he can be the person he wants to be and fine the love he has been searching for.
I am currently writing Beautiful Mess, Aidan's story. In Beautiful One Aidan shares with Elizabeth about his dysfunctional childhood, mother addicted to drugs, and womanizing father. In the sequel, I will delve into the issues Aidan is trying to overcome so he can be the person he wants to be and fine the love he has been searching for.
Blurb:
Elizabeth Ryan is a beautiful, shy, naïve
high school senior. Having never dated she meets the boy of her dreams, Aidan
Mitchell. Despite his history of womanizing Liz is drawn to him. Soon Liz
becomes the envy of all the girls on campus, when they become a couple and her
dream boyfriend sweeps her off her feet and into the dating world that is all
too new and strange for her. When other guys start to take notice of Liz, Aidan
is troubled with fits of jealousy.
In
the end Elizabeth finds herself torn between helping Aidan overcome his
jealousy and anger and giving into what her heart truly wants.
Author:
Mary
Cope is a freelance writer of romance. Her book, Beautiful One, is the first in
a planned trilogy. She enjoys spending time with her family, baking gourmet
cookies, listening to music and taking long walks with her yellow Labrador,
Maggie.
Website: http://marycopeauthor.com
Purchase
Links:
Excerpt:
Chapter One
May I introduce: Zanna Mackenzie "The Love Programme"
The Love Programme
by Zanna
Mackenzie
Reading through the blurb,
reminds me of how much I loved my time in Scotland, so this book is definitely
a "must read" for me ... and I'm sure as soon as you've read through
this post, it'll be on your TBR list as well. :-)
1 – What gave you the idea for “The Love Programme”
Many
years ago there was a comedy drama series on TV in the UK called Monarch of the
Glen. It was about a reluctant laird who had to take on the running of a
Scottish country estate complete with castle, lochs and thousands of acres of
land. The estate had financial problems so he was forced to come up with all
these different ways to generate money to try to save it from bankruptcy. There
were lots of twists and turns as well as plenty of romance during the seven
series the programme ran for. I loved the series and my husband and I even
visited all the filming locations in and around the Highlands of Scotland for
our holiday one year. All of which inspired the setting for The Love Programme.
In the book the fictitious country estate I created is home to a reality TV series which is being filmed in the castle. Lucy, desperately in need of some advice when it comes to her disastrous love life, finds herself becoming a last minute replacement on the series which, thankfully, even has its own relationship psychologist!
Unfortunately things end up getting more, not less, confusing for Lucy – as if having her childhood sweetheart (now ex-boyfriend) pursuing her across the country and the TV series ‘love interest’ Isaac taking her on tailor made dates isn’t enough to contend with! When, strolling by the loch, she meets the estate’s owner, the laird, Paul, she finds herself drawn to spending time with him - even though the TV people have made it clear he’s firmly ‘off limits’ to the reality show contestants.
As I wrote the book I got to conjure up all those amazing Scottish landscapes in my head and I got to enjoy the holiday photos again too – all in the name of book research!
In the book the fictitious country estate I created is home to a reality TV series which is being filmed in the castle. Lucy, desperately in need of some advice when it comes to her disastrous love life, finds herself becoming a last minute replacement on the series which, thankfully, even has its own relationship psychologist!
Unfortunately things end up getting more, not less, confusing for Lucy – as if having her childhood sweetheart (now ex-boyfriend) pursuing her across the country and the TV series ‘love interest’ Isaac taking her on tailor made dates isn’t enough to contend with! When, strolling by the loch, she meets the estate’s owner, the laird, Paul, she finds herself drawn to spending time with him - even though the TV people have made it clear he’s firmly ‘off limits’ to the reality show contestants.
As I wrote the book I got to conjure up all those amazing Scottish landscapes in my head and I got to enjoy the holiday photos again too – all in the name of book research!
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2 – You say you love the great outdoors - especially Scotland, the
Lake District and Derbyshire's Peak district. What is it that draws you to
those places?
Oh,
so many things. I love the scenery of the great outdoors especially dramatic
mountain landscapes. I adore going on long walks outdoors where you can just
soak up the nature, the weather, the views and all of that wonderful peace and
quiet all around you. I feel at home when I’m outdoors – whether that’s in
wellington boots digging up and redesigning the garden at home, walking our
four Labrador dogs with my husband every day or hiking up hills with a rucksack
and waterproofs on!
3 – Tell us a little bit about your current project.
I’m
soon to launch a series of romantic comedy mysteries. Book 1 is written and out
with beta readers for feedback and book 2 is half written. I have plot outlines
in place for books three and four in the series. I’ve found I really enjoy
writing romantic comedy (often called ‘cozy’) murder mysteries though I have to
admit the plotting aspect is a huge challenge! It’s simple enough coming up
with a setting, a murder and a ‘how’ but the piecing together of the various
clues and red herrings on the way to Charlie and Amber solving the crime has
been known to give me brain ache!
Blurb:
What
do you do when your childhood sweetheart and now ex-boyfriend won’t accept it’s
over?
Lucy’s
life is a mess. With her ex pursuing her across the country, she flees to
Scotland and finds herself part of a reality TV show about love… will she find
some answers or end up even more confused in matters of the heart?
Author:
Zanna
Mackenzie lives in the UK with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s
home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be
read.
Being
a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at
every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for
whatever novel she’s working on.
She
loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start
deviating from the original plot!
Zanna
has written three novels, The Love Programme, How Do You Spell Love? and If You
Only Knew.
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ZannaMacKenzie
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/zanna.mackenzie
http://www.pinterest.com/zannamac/
Purchase
Links:
Amazon
USA ebook link:
Amazon
UK ebook link:
Excerpt:
“Just sit on this suitcase, will you, Fi? I can’t get
the stupid thing shut!”
Fiona,
obligingly perching her bottom on the bulging case so Lucy could tug the zipper
to close it up, said, “I can’t believe you’ve agreed to do this. You’re going
to be on a TV show about love! Won’t you be embarrassed having everyone know
all your business?”
Her
face red from doing battle with the suitcase and, thankfully, managing to win,
Lucy shook her head. “No. Where else could I get a few extra weeks off work and
live the life of luxury whilst a man tries to impress me with extravagant
dates? Plus, I’ll be getting relationship coaching from a top expert.”
Lucy
checked around the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. “Do you
think I’ve packed the right clothes?”
Fiona
lay back on the bed, stretching and spreading her arms out around her as though
she was making the duvet version of a snow angel. “How should I know?”
“Mel
said the programme is being recorded at the home of some Scottish laird. It’s a
real mansion with a spa and acres and acres of land.”
Fiona
pushed herself into an upright position, suddenly all attentive. “A laird, eh?
Sounds interesting. What else do you know about him?”
“He’s
not going to be one of the dates so don’t get all excited. He’s just rented his
home out to the TV production company. Apparently he’ll be away on business
most of the time we’re there, so we probably won’t even get to meet him.”
Fiona
shook her head. “Shame, how exciting would it have been? Meeting a real life
laird would be amazing.”
“He’s
probably about sixty, balding, as round as he is tall and arrogant to boot.”
Fiona
slapped Lucy on the arm. “Don’t spoil it for me. I was just picturing him as
about our age, the classic tall, dark and handsome type. Big brown eyes…” She
sighed happily. “Is it just me or do you find all those green wellies and
Barbour jackets the country gents wear incredibly sexy?”
“No,
it’s definitely just you!” Lucy shook her head despairingly.
As
Fiona stared into space, no doubt continuing her little country gent fantasy,
Lucy flopped down onto the bed. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”
“Of
course you are. This could be a life-changing opportunity.”
“I’d
like to be able to go on dates without feeling guilty about Marcus all the
time.” Sighing, Lucy added, “I want to be free to have relationships like
everyone else does.”
“I
know you do. So, how can you doubt if you’re doing the right thing? You have to
go to Scotland. You know you do.”
“I
suppose so but will you be okay? I hate leaving you with your wedding just
weeks away. There’s still some preparations to do and I am chief bridesmaid.
Maybe I shouldn’t go. This is all crazy, I won’t go. I must be mad even
contemplating it.”
“You’re
going! End of story! The wedding is being perfectly managed by my mum and by
Luke’s mum, so no worries there.” Fiona hauled Lucy to her feet. “What time’s
your train?”
“I’m
getting the overnight sleeper up to Inverness and then Craig, the TV guy, is
going to meet me at the station and drive me to the country estate.”
“I’m
so envious.” Fiona sulked, folding and unfolding the corner of the duvet around
her fingers.
“I
thought you were happy with your Mr-Not-So-Perfect?”
“I
am.” Fiona sighed. “But a girl can dream, can’t she?”
Fresh Beginnings - #Excerpt and #Giveaway
Blurb:
The small town of Hobart in
Tasmania has witnessed many beginnings in recent years. At yet one more
beginning, the wedding of a friend, Jared Fraser decides it’s time for some fresh beginnings to come his
way… And he sets out for a holiday to the US to travel along the Route 66 in a
motorhome.
Ivy Bennett thought leaving
her boyfriend would be the hard part. It doesn’t take long to figure out how
wrong she was. As she struggles with making a new start in her life, the last
person she expects to lead her to happiness is a laid-back Australian on
holiday.
Then
the arrival of family friend Mia Levesque and her boyfriend, Josh, turns
Jared’s holidays upside-down when he’s forced to play arbitrator between the
two teenagers.
Excerpt:
It bugged Jared a
little bit, that Ivy was holding back on something that was obviously occupying
her mind. And that something had something to do with him, otherwise she
would've told him. But then again, there were so many other things she was
holding back, and again he reminded himself that it wasn't really any of his
business. It didn't make it any easier though because, with every minute he
spent with her, he became fonder of the girl driving him along the roads of
America. There was no doubt he really enjoyed her company, their banter, her
humour, even her cooking skills. He'd become very fond of them as well.
"Gonna tell
me?" He tried again.
"There's
nothing. Really."
Her smile didn't
reach her eyes, and he knew she wasn't honest with him, but he let it go. He
didn't want to ruin a perfect day.
When they arrived at
their destination, they made a quick dash through the shopping centre before
heading towards the campground. The site looked a lot more like what Jared was
used to from Australia. The sites were located amongst grass with only a small
spot of concrete for the motorhome and the table with two benches. There were
trees around in all shapes and sizes, swaying in the breeze. Even at this late
hour of the day, he was still able to hear birds chatting in the trees and
insects humming between the flowers that dotted the grass. Jagged, snow-capped
mountains were all around them and, as on the previous night, he took his time
to take some photos. It was an amazing sight, and he had to pinch himself again
that he was there.
He turned when he
heard Ivy approaching.
"There's a
little pool over in the small building next to the showers. I'd give anything
for a little dip."
Slowly he raised his
eyebrow.
She gently slapped
his chest. "What? Aren't you Australians lovers of the water? Wouldn't you
like to go swimming?"
He shook his head.
"Nope."
A sigh escaped her
lips.
"What's holdin'
ya back?" he asked.
Her eyebrows shot
up. "What's holding me back?"
He simply nodded.
"I've got no
bathers."
Then he shrugged. It
didn't make sense to him. "Anybody else in there?"
"No." She
looked around. "Which doesn't surprise me, because there're not too many
people camping here tonight, it seems."
"No one will
notice that ya swimmin' in ya bra and knickers."
"Knickers?"
She giggled.
Not sure whether
this was a language thing or whether he'd offended her, Jared decided to stay
quiet.
"Honey, I don't
wear knickers. I don't have much
money, but enough to buy decent underwear, which we call panties."
Heat rolled over his
body and pooled in his groin. He knew! There weren't too many secrets in a
small motorhome, and when she'd changed into her clothes that morning, he took
a sneak peak. Of course he did. After all, he was only human.
"Wear the panties."
"I can't do
that."
Putting some distance
between them, he moved back a bit. The conversation rang a bell with him as he
remembered this kind of argument between Mark and Sophie. It was the female
logic that seemed to defy him.
"Well, in that
case, I s'pose you won't go swimmin'."
Hands on hips she
came closer. "You're not helping."
"Happy to give
ya some of my panties."
She rolled her eyes.
"Forget it."
The words weren't
even spoken when she turned and stepped into the motorhome. He followed her in.
"Hey!"
With no chance to
hold back, he had to grin when he saw her in the back of the motorhome
half-naked.
"Do you
mind?"
His grin got wider.
"Actually, no I don't."
"Out," she
screamed.
Bursting into
laughter, he stepped out.
"Haven't you
heard of knocking?"
"Honey blossom,
how was I supposed to know ya goin' to strip in there?"
"I said I'd go
for a swim."
He shook his head,
still laughing, when he sat outside enjoying the scenery. There were a few
noises coming from the inside, and he decided he'd be better off not knowing. A
few minutes later, she stood in front of him with only a small towel wrapped
around her body. At that moment, he was considering the idea that a swim
wouldn't be that bad after all.
"If anybody
approaches me inappropriately, it's your fault."
"Want me to
come with and guard ya from all the bad Americans around?"
But all he heard was
a humpf as she stomped away towards
the pool. Watching her small body swaying, he thought how bad he could be if he
were in there with her.
****
Ivy slid into the
water and swam to the centre of the pool. The water was a perfect temperature,
and she relished the cool feel of it over her body. Her gaze went to the pool
entrance door a couple of times, although she told herself that was to see
whether anybody else was coming in, but deep inside she knew, she was waiting
for Jared. Leaning back, she lowered her head under water up to her mouth
before she dunked her head under water. Hoping to clear her mind, she stayed
like that for a few seconds. Jared was in her head and playing havoc with her emotions.
She didn't like it. Okay, truth was, she did like it. She had liked his gaze
when she'd undressed to only her underwear. And she had liked it the way he’d
stared at her when she'd walked towards the pool. Thanks to the office window,
she'd seen his open mouth before he'd rubbed his face with both hands.
The thought of the
expression on his face spread warmth through her body, when she suddenly felt a
hand on her thigh. She shrieked and whipped around, only to stare into Jared's
eyes. His eyelashes were spiked from the water, his hair was plastered to his
head, and a big grin spread across his face. He was only inches away, and she
curled her arms around his neck as she snuggled into his embrace.
"Will ya keep
it down," he said with a laugh.
"You scared
me."
He leaned in,
angling his head, and nuzzled just beneath her ear. Her body instantly came
alive.
"I like
American panties," he said as his hands moved further down her body.
Ivy choked back a
giggle. "I'm sure they have them in Australia as well."
"Hmm. Can't say
I've noticed."
"Liar!"
She laughed.
Then he was still,
and she tilted her head to meet his gaze. His face had become serious, and his
eyes expressed more than fun in his eyes. Something different. Something she
would have loved to explore. But it was the would
have that made the difference to the situation. They were close to Salt
Lake City, and their time together was drawing to an end. She sighed and became
aware that she was having the time of her life with this stranger, who always
carried a smile on his face. The Australian mate,
who laughed at her silly jokes, or even laughed at life's simple pleasures. Her
heart ached as part of her wanted this to never end. However, her heart was
still bruised, and she knew that she didn't want sleep with Jared. Not out of
regret. She was certain, she wouldn't regret a single second with him, but her
heart would not cope with the beating afterwards. It would shatter into a
thousand pieces the moment she had to say goodbye. This way, it'd be only a few
hundred pieces—enough, she told herself, to pick up and put together again over
time.
"We shouldn't
do this," she heard herself whisper to him. It was like someone else was
using her voice, it felt so distant and unreal.
"I know,"
he replied as he buried his face in the vulnerable spot beneath her ear to
place another kiss.
As if on auto pilot,
she angled her head again for him. How did he make her feel so good? She
sighed, thinking how easily he made her feel attractive like no man had before.
"Jared."
He gently bit her in
the shoulder before he moved to look at her. "I know." All of his
disappointment was put into the two words.
"Another time,
another place—"
"This could've
been somethin' really good?" he finished.
She simply nodded.
Not sure whether her tears were obvious on her wet face, she didn't make an
effort to hold them back.
And she was awarded
with another one of those kisses that went straight to her toes.
Yet, he only spoilt
her for a brief moment. Jared placed his hands on her hips, and in one smooth
motion lifted her up and threw her back into the water. Initially, she wasn't
sure what was happening, but when she came back to the surface, she saw his
typical grin.
With a pretend pout,
she swam away. As expected, Jared came towards her and, as soon as he was close
enough, she tried her best to dunk him. It was a fruitless attempt though. He
was much stronger than she was. Even though, she had the time of her life being
immature for a while, she had fun like she hadn't had in a long time.
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