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This is my first try at Excerpt Monday, and I’m very excited to be grouped together with these other great writers. What an awesome idea this is! Definitely click on the link to see what others have to offer.
This excerpt is from a manuscript that I have, for now, set aside to work on my Nano project. But I plan on returning to Ethan and Sarah soon.
Setup: Sarah is the governor’s daughter. He has hired a bodyguard (Ethan) to keep watch over her, and she resents the intrusion on her life, vowing to get rid of him in any way possible.
Sarah and Ethan have gone to a bar, and she is determined to shake him loose. After a romp on top of the bar, Ethan is pissed that his job has become exponentially difficult.
“What the hell was that?” he shouted.
Sarah shrugged nonchalantly. “Just having some fun.” Fun that she was well aware would be talked about for days in the paper and in blogs. Oh well, nothing new there.
Ethan grabbed her wrist and tugged. “We’re going. Now.”
Sarah gasped as she was pulled behind Ethan, and attempted to relieve her arm from the strong grip. “No we’re not. At least I’m not. I haven’t even paid my tab!”
“Pay it later. I’m sure he knows you’re good for it.”
“No!” She wrenched her arm from his grasp. “I am not leaving without paying, and without checking with Micki.” She stalked back to the bar, trying to hide the feeling of panic she had been engulfed by, trying to hide the tremor of her hands as she dug into her wallet for the envelope with her usual payment.
“Dale!” She waved, relieved to see that her hand looked steadier than it felt. “Dale, I’m closing out!” She slid the envelope across the bar to him and he looked at Ethan.
“You alright, doll? If you don’t want to go…”
She smile, trying to reassure him with confidence she didn’t feel. “No, Dale that’s sweet but no. I’m fine, I swear. Really.” She turned to find Micki, surprised to see her still making moon eyes with Beanpole.
“Micki! I’m leaving! Do you need a ride?”
Micki’s eyes barely left her companion’s. “No, I’m good.”
“Call me later, when you get home!”
“M’kay.” Sarah could have been a brick wall for all the attention she was receiving from her friend.
Sarah stalked past Ethan and out the door like a woman on a mission, determined to not break stride or give him a reason to pull her. It’s not that she wasn’t ready to go…she hadn’t really been jazzed to go to the bar in the first place. The bar scene wore thin years ago for both her and Micki.
But that wasn’t the point. It was the principle of the thing, and she was damned if she would let Ethan know she had been ready to leave already. The only good thing was, his insistence on their leaving was a sure sign of his anger at her actions. Excellent.
He whirled her around when they reached the car, and the fire she saw in his eyes made her think that excellent was a bit of an overstatement. If looks could kill, she would no longer need a bodyguard, because she’d already be six feet under.
“What. The. Hell. Was. That?” he said through clenched teeth.
Sarah batted her eyes and gave her best innocent look. “Just having some fun. It’s what we do.” At least, it’s what everyone expects.
“You’re under protection. Did you ever think how easy it would be for someone to take you out like that? How easy it would have been for someone to grab your leg and pull you down? You could have hurt yourself, minimum.” His face was contorted by rage.
But really, he was overreacting a little, wasn’t he? Wait, why did she care if he was overreacting? This was exactly what she wanted. So why did she feel partly guilty, and partly angry at his expected reaction?
“Dale would have stopped it. He looks out for us.” She forced a flippant inflection to her tone.
“Dale was stuck behind a bar. Fat lot of good that would have done you if someone hauled you off out a back door.”
Sarah struggled to keep cool, to act indifferent. “Look, you told me yourself you’re not here to be my social director. This is how I roll, so if this disturbs you, then you can resign.”
“No.” His resolve was frightening.
“Well, then I guess you’re stuck with my horrid behavior.” She moved to pat his cheek in that condescending manner that drove men like him nuts, but he grabbed her wrist before she could. His grip was strong, unbreakable. She didn’t even bother struggling.
“Listen up, little girl,” he said with venom. “I’m here to do a job. I have never resigned, and I’m not going to now. I have never failed, and I won’t start. So you’re going to learn that any trick you throw at me, I’ll catch. I won’t give in to a spoiled brat. I’m not leaving.” His eyes were flashing, the fire in his gaze an interesting contradiction to his ice blue eyes. He never blinked.
It was then that Sarah realized how close they were. His body was right up against hers, as she sagged against the side of her car. Body heat radiated off of him like flames, scalding her. Her breasts felt heavy, and she wondered if he could feel her nipples, which had tightened into hard points, through her top. Sarah was still breathing deeply with the effort of power walking in heels, and Ethan’s breath was coming fast from rage.
It was the most intimate of portraits. And it was exactly what Sarah had wanted to avoid. She had to diffuse the situation, and quickly.
She leaned up on her tip toes, proud that she estimated Ethan wouldn’t back off, wouldn’t give ground. Her breasts slid up his chest seductively, and she had to fight the sexual pull it gave her low in her stomach. This was business.
Sarah reached until right before her lips would have touched Ethan’s, and noticed his breath had started to become a bit unsteady. Good. She turned her head right before their lips met and came over to his ear and breathed, heating his ear. She let her tongue dart out and delicately touch his lower lobe. And when she heard his breath hitch, she smiled to herself.
She had no clue what Ethan was preparing himself for, but it certainly wasn’t what she planned.
Sarah took another breath, let the air brush over his ear, then whispered, “Bite me,” seconds before her knee came up and made contact with his groin.
Ethan let out a painful grunt and released her wrist, folding over, but not falling to his knees as she would have liked. Sarah turned and walked around to the driver’s side, opened the door and slid in. She started the car and rolled down the passenger window. Feeling safer and more herself in the car, she knew she could taunt him again.
“Come on bodyguard boy. Let’s go. You can play with yourself later.”
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