So sorry I’m late with the post. It’s race day here in Charlotte and it was baseball before 9am this morning. I think I’m still trying to wake up. It’s been a very long and tough week here in our household and I’m looking forward to a little relaxed with a hundred thousand or so of my fellow race fans. I’ll be screaming and hollering and generally letting off some steam and stress.

My choice for today’s Snippet Saturday post about making up, is from Melting Jane, which will be out at the end of the month.

Snippet:

Jane handed the purple cookie scoop to Edward and walked out the door to the elevator. When the double doors opened, she took a step inside only to stop in her tracks, one foot in one foot out. Graham. He’d sent her flowers. That had to be it. The schmuck.

She growled softly through her teeth and stepped the rest of the way into the car and pressed the button for the lobby. Thankfully, the elevator didn’t stop for any other residents on the way down. She wasn’t exactly dressed to be seen by anyone she might know. The face that wore no makeup, the jeans that were almost too tight, the faded sweatshirt, and the pink fuzzy slippers did not a pretty picture make. She grinned. She loved owning her own business, working in the privacy of her own place. She could dress however she wanted, especially since Edward usually did all the meet and greets.

The elevator chime dinged when she reached the lobby, and the doors opened, revealing an empty space of gleaming marble, one man sitting behind the security desk, and another leaning against it. Cowboy Surfer. In his hand, he held the most beautiful bouquet of lavender roses she’d ever seen. Shit.

What a goddamn jerk!

His wide eyes connected with hers the moment the words passed through her lips. Oh God. She slapped a hand over her mouth. What was it about him that made her speak what was on her mind when she’d never had the guts to do it before with any man except Edward?

He grinned that infuriating grin that melted every inch of her.

“Terrible language from such a pretty girl.” He tsked, shaking his head. “Might have to consider washing your mouth out with soap… Or something.”

She wanted to ask about the ‘or something’, but decided against it. If she got any closer… “I’d like to see you try. What are you doing here, Graham?”

“The phone calls weren’t really getting me results, so I decided to take a more direct approach and stop by.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t you want your flowers? If so, you’ll have to come a little closer.”

Yes. “No.”

“You’re lying again. Definitely going to have to wash your mouth out.”

“I’m not.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sam watching their exchange with rapt interest. Lovely. It would be all over the building by morning that mousy Jane was turning down flowers from the Hunk of the Month. “Please, Graham. I don’t know what else to say. You don’t take no for an answer very well.”

“Thank you is usually appropriate when someone brings you a gift.” He held the roses out to her, totally ignoring her previous statements.

“Thank you.”

“Come and get them.”

Oh hell no. “Why don’t you leave them down here? They’ll brighten up the lobby.”

“The lobby is bright enough and Sam here doesn’t look like a lavender rose kinda guy. Come get them, Jane. You know want to.”

She started to deny it. She even bit her tongue to keep from saying anything in the affirmative, but she knew she wouldn’t be walking away from roses. Or from him.

When was the last time anyone gave her roses? Well, other than Edward on her birthday and at Thanksgiving, sometimes on Valentine’s Day.

But none from any man she’d ever been involved with. Until Graham.

Concentrating, she put one foot in front of the other and walked the twenty-three steps toward him, stopping just beyond his reach. She held out her hand for the roses, hoping against everything that told her otherwise, that he would be kind and just give her the flowers.

No such luck. Damn.

It was her last thought before he grabbed her hand and pulled her against him, his lips crashing down on her traitorous and willing ones.

The kiss was just long enough to knock her off balance but too short to satisfy the hunger raging through her blood. He lifted his head, and his tongue snaked out to lick his lips. “Mmm mmm mmm. I’ve missed kissing you, Jane.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to yet again deny, deny, deny, but she figured there was no time like the present to turn over a new leaf and admit the truth for once. “Me too,” she whispered.

Graham’s look of surprise would have made her laugh had the moment of revelation not been such a serious one. She took the bouquet from his hand and lifted it up to her nose, burying her face in the soft petals and inhaling the sweet fragrance.

“How did you find lavender roses in February?”

“Let’s just say I know people.”

She didn’t want to know what people he knew that would be able to find lavender roses in the dead of winter. In Colorado. “Would you like to come upstairs?” The words flew out of her mouth before she had a second to think about them.

He smiled. She loved his smile. The crinkle of lines at his eyes, the dimples in his cheeks… He really was gorgeous, and she hoped like hell she wasn’t making a huge mistake.

“I actually came to take you to dinner.”

“Really? You were coming to ask me out on a date?”

“Yes. You said no on the phone, so I figured I might have a better shot in person. Especially with flowers. If you still said no, I was going to resort to simply telling you I was taking you to dinner and if that didn’t work, I was going to have to get naked and torment you until you either said yes or we ordered in.”

She couldn’t believe he’d said he’d get naked in front of Sam. That little tidbit would definitely be all over the building by morning. She needed to get him somewhere a little more private. “Oh, I uh…I would need to change, so, you should come up and we can finish talking about it.”

“I’m going to take that as a yes for dinner.” Graham winked and snagged her hand, dragging her toward the elevators. “Love the fuzzy slippers, by the way.”

The doors closed, and Jane was being ravished before the elevator car began to move. Graham’s hands were at her hips, sliding around to her ass and pulling her up into his body. His eyes never left hers and though his mouth was mere inches from kissing her, he never did. He just stared at her with lust, bright and hot in his eyes.

“Graham?”

“Want you, Jane. Hellish week and all of it has been your fault.”

His voice was like gravel, but his lips were soft as they caressed her temples, and his denim-covered cock thrust against the juncture of her thighs.

She was once again in awe. His cocky confidence was shaken and he wanted her. Nothing about him in that moment said fake or wrong. Everything screamed right to her.

And then it was her turn to smile. Talk about a revelation.

End Snippet

I have to finish gathering snacks and programming scanners for the race tonight, so y’all should take some time to read through the following awesome snippets:

Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
HelenKay Dimon
Shiloh Walker
Lauren Dane

~lissa