I’m excited to announce Wingless is now on Amazon. I was thrilled to see it out in the Big Pond. To celebrate I’m posting an excerpt. Enjoy!
“Ah-ha! Here we are.” Nathan veered off the walking trail a bit onto a dirt path. “This way,” he motioned.
“We’re going off-road, huh?” She held both of her arms out for balance as she slowly made her way down the rough path.
“Here, let me help you down this part. It’s a little tricky.” She let him take her wrist as they inched down a couple of large boulders to another rock that jutted out over the cliff.
“This is beautiful,” she breathed as he released her wrist. Settling down into a crouch, she gazed at the pinks and oranges of the setting sun. “You can see the whole city from up here.”
“Yeah.” He settled down next to her. “If we wait long enough, the evening lights will start to come on.” He glanced at her as she marveled over the view. “I come here often to think about things.”
“You mean to escape all your other girlfriends?” She giggled.
“Oh yeah. It’s torture.” He ran his hand through his sandy hair, slowly. “It’s hard looking like Brad Pitt. Everyone wants you for your body. And there’s only one of me.”
April almost spit out the ball of cotton candy she’d just put in her mouth. “I hadn’t realized how lucky I am to actually get another date with you. Praise the heavens! The planets must be aligned perfectly for this fortuitous night.”
He winked at her. “You know it. That’s why I’ve showered you with these expensive gifts. I mean the flowers alone cost me the amount of these Old Navy pants, which I’ll have to wash now…”
“And the bear was at the high price of your throwing shoulder,” she pointed out. “That must have cost a fortune.”
“Well, yeah. It’s my good shoulder, after all.” April’s giggle added color to her lightly freckled cheeks. Her lemony scent drew his attention to her features. He wanted to nuzzle his face in her neck to see if her skin tasted like lemon drops. Or maybe it was her lips…
Between the wild daisies and the blue puff of cotton candy, he leaned into her. His eyes closed as her mouth met his. Tender movements of her soft lips stirred him from within. He wanted this woman. From the moment she’d walked into photography class, he’d wanted her. And now she was right here.
His eyes opened a slit to see if she was enjoying their kiss as much as he was when he saw Luke standing off to the right, leaning up against a tree. Watching them.
What the? He pulled out of the kiss. But when he looked back at the tree, there was no one there.
“Is something wrong?” April’s brow pulled together as she looked over her shoulder.
“Uh, no.” He shook his head. “Last week’s finals have sucked out the remainder of my brain. I think I’m seeing things.”
“Oh yeah?” She raised her eyebrows. “Was it your stalking girl-fans, Brad Pitt?”
Nathan chuckled. “No. But it did remind me of something. Can you tell Luke thank you for me? I was such an idiot when he fixed my handheld. I just stared at him dumbly after he saved my bacon.”
“Luke? Right.” April’s forehead creased. “What did he look like?”
Nathan shrugged. “I don’t know. Brown hair with a middle part, blue eyes. Um, I think he was wearing a white button-up, gray suit and silver tie. Is that an accurate enough description, Miss Investigator?” But the smile on his lips vanished when he saw the look on her face. All of the delicate blush of her skin drained away to a ghostly white.
“You saw him?” She stood up.
“Uh, yeah.” He rose too.
The urgency grew in her voice. “When? Where? What did he say?”
Nathan scratched the back of his neck. Oh, great. He’d just stepped onto a land mine. “It was last week at the coffee shop. He told me he was a friend of yours. That’s all.”
“Did he say anything else?”
Good God, the poor girl looked like she was about to burst into tears. “He just asked if I would be your friend. And then he left. That’s all.” He watched her eyes work back and forth as she thought about his words. “Look, did this guy do something to you? Because if he did I promise you—”
“No, no.” She shook her head vigorously. Her voice was much softer when she spoke again. “It’s exactly the opposite of that, actually.”
After a moment of trying to figure the complex little creature out in front of him, he gave up. “I’m confused.”
She sighed. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry.” She looked back over the city as the lights started to come on. “I don’t think I’m going to be very good company the rest of the night.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I should probably just go home.”
“Of course, if you want to…” Nathan hated to say the words. He wanted her to stay with him, but he didn’t want to push her. Leave it to him to say something that would ruin an incredible night.
However, he did want to find out exactly who this “Luke” was.
If you’d like to see more, here is the link for Wingless on Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Wingless-ebook/dp/B008YM3C38/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1345347824&sr=1-2&keywords=shelley+martin
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Shelley Martin Fiction 