Excerpt Monday – Cami’s First Kiss – Part 3 June 15, 2009

 Welcome to my Excerpt Monday post. Want to get involved? Click HERE – and my partner in crime, Mel Berthier HERE.

This is the 3rd installment of Cami’s First Kiss. For the first 2, click Cami’s Page above.

 

Rejected and ridiculed I pivoted to leave the heckler alone at the bar where I’d found him, where he deserved to be. In typical Jenna Form, my sleeve caught on the arm of the empty stool, tipping it over and tripping me up. An annoyingly strong arm caught me around the waist and lifted me away from the wreckage before I joined it on the beer-soaked floor.

 

“Whoa there,” a voice rumbled behind me, his chest reverberating against my back as he held in the laughter.

 

He was taller than he looked slumped over the bar. My head brushed under his chin as he lifted me over the stool and set me down. His hands slid around to my rest on my hips as if he were afraid I’d spontaneously fall over if he let go.

 

I probably would have.

 

“Now,” the voice re-rumbled. “Why don’t you explain to me what you and your little notebook are doing in this bar.”

 

The hands fell away and I turned, my nose almost brushing the crisp, button-down shirt.

 

It was truly unfortunate. If Lisbeth had said, describe your dream man, I would have – without a doubt – describe Mocking Guy having never even seen him before.

 

Tall enough to wear heels with. Dark hair flopping over wire rimmed glasses. White button-down, sleeves rolled and tucked into jeans tight enough to look good and loose enough to, well, to look good.

 

I glanced at the barstool lying on the floor and considered picking it up, but bending over in a bar seemed like a bad idea unless I was looking to get my butt smacked.

 

“Okay. Well, thanks.” I stepped over the stool, making sure each foot cleared by at least a clean inch when a warm hand clamped around my wrist.

 

“I don’t think so, Sunshine.” Mocking Guy pulled my notebook from my hand and settled back onto his stool. “This is the closest thing to fun I’ve had since my friend dragged me in here.”

 

I gaped at him. I mean, I’d written that description before. Teenagers seem to gape a lot, but now, doing it, I felt just plain stupid. Where were all my snappy comebacks? Obviously I needed someone to follow me and do instant re-writes on my personal scenes.

 

In horror, I watched him flip the notebook open and page through to tonight.

 

“NOTE: Although prone to stating embarrassing things in public, men seem to be easily embarrassed by forward-thinking women.” Mocking Guy cocked an eyebrow at me. “Forward-thinking women? Is that what you are?”

 

Rounding the stool, I came at him from the other side and snatched at my notebook. “Yes. You probably wouldn’t understand the concept, but not all women believe they need to do exactly what’s expected.”

 

“And yet, I have a feeling that you always do.” He smirked and leaned back, crossing his arms over a chest that matched the aforementioned broad shoulders.

 

“Please give that back.” I was horrified at the squeak my voice made and hoped he couldn’t hear it over the man warming up with his tin whistle.

 

“Just a minute.” Mocking Guy reached over the bar and snagged a pen. Flipping to the next blank page, he began scribbling, his left hand held out to keep me at bay. Then, with a nod to himself, he flipped the book closed and said. “Okay.”

 

“Okay what? Okay you’ve violated my privacy enough? Okay you wrote something sufficiently mocking? Okay I can chalk this experience up to ‘what not to do in public’?”

 

“So.” His hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me toward the bar. “Can I buy you that drink now?”

 

A good-looking guy wanted to buy me a drink at a popular nightspot. There were so many things wrong with that statement I couldn’t keep track of them all.

 

Glancing across the bar, I signaled Lisbeth to rescue me. I expect her to sweep down in all her gorgeousness, distract the arrogant man and allow me to regain my notebook. Instead, the traitor shook her head and motioned for me to do something – probably flirt – with him.

 

“Listen,” he said, forcing my attention back to him. “One drink and you can have your little scratchpad back.”

 

Before I could reach for it, he stood, shoved it in his back pocket and sat back down. How was I ever supposed to write in it again now that it had been rubbing against those jeans I had so admired a few minutes ago?

 

“Listen,” I tried to mimic his tone. “Give it back to me and I’ll introduce you to Lisbeth. All you had to do was ask nice.”

 

His whole face went all smirky-smirky and he glanced across the bar where Lisbeth was surrounded by a bevy of male model wannabes and a couple of geeky but successful-looking CEO type.

 

 “So, if I asked nice, you’d cut me through that herd of followers to introduce me to your friend just to get this notebook back?”

 

“In a heartbeat.” That heartbeat stopped. He was going to ask me to introduce him to Lisbeth. The only guy who’d looked twice at me in six years, even if it was to laugh at me, and he was going to ask what every other guy did.

 

He eased his back against the bar, his hand still warm around my wrist, and leaned in to whisper over the growing noise of the crowd. “Not a chance, Sunshine.”

 

Links to other Excerpt Monday writers
Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site. 

Mel Berthier, Urban Fantasy (PG 13)
Christina DeLorenzo, YA (PG 13)
Bryn Donovan, Paranormal  (PG)
MG Braden, Contemporary Romance (PG 13)
Babette James, Fantasy Romance (PG 13)
Cynthia Justlin, Contemporary Romance (PG 13)
Kaige, Historical Romance (PG  13)
Adelle Laundan, Contemporary Romance (PG 13)
Jeannie Lin, Historical Romance (PG 13)
RF Long, Paranormal (PG 13)
Crista McHugh, Paranormal  (PG 13)
Dara Sorensen, Paranormal (PG)