In celebration of the completion of When First They Practice to Deceive and the fact that Christmas is only three weeks away, todays #WIPWednesday excerpt is from this new story.
Enjoy!
The heard the back
door slam then Trey appeared in the dining room. His cheeks were red. Jessy
caught sight of a cell phone sticking out of his shirt pocket. Trey rubbed his
hands together.
“It’s mighty
frosty out there tonight. Was just taking out the trash. You need something,
Dix?”
“How many times
have I told you not to call me that? It sounds too much like dicks.” She swatted at him but Trey
sidestepped the hit.
“Aw lighten up, Dix, no one is going to think that of
you.” Jessy experienced an annoying twinge of jealousy as Trey ran a long, lazy
glance over Dixie’s body, making the woman flush a deep crimson that just made
her look sexier. Jessy glanced down at her own, curveless frame and frowned. Life was so unfair.
“Just take this
stuff into my office so I can sort it.”
“Sure thing.
What’s in all these packages anyway?” Try flipped open a box lid. “Christmas
decorations?”
Dixie shrugged.
“Well, yeah. It’s December.”
Trey rummaged
around and pulled out an ornament of a tiny ballerina. “Shattered dreams going
on the tree this year, Dixie?”
“Gimme that!”
Dixie snatched the figure from Trey’s hand.
“Okay, so which
one of us is the angel supposed to represent? Knowing all of you like I do, I
have to go with the only logical conclusion. Me.”
“Yeah, ‘cause
you’re a real angel all right.” Arnetta gave Trey one of those heat searing
looks they write about in romance novels.
“You know nothing
about my angel status.” Trey returned the angel to the box as he winked at
Jessy. “That is a mystery that remains to be disovered. Oh wait, maybe this
will help.”
“What is it?”
Jessy, intrigued by the contents of the box as much as she was interested in
just how much Arnetta knew about Trey’s status,
stepped forward. Trey whipped around to face her, his hand on his head.
Only it wasn’t
resting on his head. It held a little sprig of green vegetation in his
hand and a grin on his face that rivaled
that of the chesire cat. Mistletoe.
Aw, crap.
“Oops, I’m stuck
under some mistletoe. You know legend says I have to kiss the person nearest to
me.” His eyes burned into Jessy’s skin as he cheeks heated to new proportions
never before experienced.
“I don’t think
that’s quite how it goes,” Arnetta said.
“Shut up! He’s
about to have his meal!” Surrey whispered loudly behind Jessy.
“I think the
legend says someone is supposed to kiss you.” Jessy looked into Trey’s
chocolate eyes without blinking.
“Breaking legend
is bad luck. Very, very bad luck.”
“I think you mean,
tradition. It’s bad luck to break tradition.”
“Legend.
Tradition. Whatever. All I know is you are leaving me hanging and potentially
exposing both of us to years of pain and suffering.”
Jessy could feel
three sets of female eyes on her but she only cared about one male set and they
were so warm and so welcoming and doing things to her insides that made it so
she couldn’t think straight.
“Well, I guess we
wouldn’t want that.” She rose up slightly on tip toe, closing some of the
height gap between them.
“No. I guess not.”
He leaned forward, closing just a little more of the distance.
“It’s never a good
idea to tempt the fates.” Jessy heard three breaths sucked in as one.
“Nope. Definitely
not.”
Freezing air
wrapped around them as the sounds of laughter and chatter suddenly filled the
diner.
“Show’s over,
folks. Time to make some money.” Dixie grabbed a few bags and headed to her
office. “Trey! Get the rest of those boxes for me then get in the kitchen!”
Trey stepped back
and lowered the mistletoe, never breaking eye contact with Jessy. “Yes, ma’am!
I’m right behind you.”
He stepped to the
counter, scooped up the boxes and was gone before Jessy could remember to
breathe.
Surrey was the
first to grab up a notepad and take a table but not before she whispered in
Jessy’s ear. “Just like I said. Looks at you like his next meal.”
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