| Wednesday, September 5, 2007 |
| CONTEST DAY 3 |
Well, we're half way there! Here's the third excerpt and question.
Remember, the rules are really easy: Read the excerpt below and answer the question posted after it. See, that's as easy as it can be. Send the answers to my email cerihebert@comcast.net and all correct answers will be put into a drawing to win an autographed copy of Finally Home. I'll be posting an excerpt a day until Friday and the drawing will be on Saturday morning.
Today's excerpt is from Finally Home, now available in ebook at Whiskey Creek Press
Good luck and enjoy!
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"You all right?"
Torie turned her eyes away from the red lights, now mere pinpricks up the street, and fixed them on Alex.
He flexed and rubbed his fist.
"Fine," she lied. She really felt like the biggest idiot in town. Her thoughts ran in a muddled circle in her brain, try-ing to pinpoint the reason Kendall had turned psycho. She put the tips of her fingers to her lips. They were tender. Beyond that and the lingering sting from the back of her head, she fig-ured she’d live. Physically anyway.
"That’s a hell of a Prince Charming you got there, prin-cess." He said it in a serious tone, but Torie picked up on a trace of something in his eyes. Could have been teasing, but she was too befuddled to know for sure.
She glared at him anyway and hugged herself against the chill of the air. "Yeah, thanks," she replied, biting back at the anger pounding in her head. "Thank you very much for stepping in. Now I need to go."
Torie walked away from him, heading for the road. She heard a loud, irritated sigh from behind her.
"Victoria, stop. Let’s go inside and I’ll buy you a drink and then take you home."
"A drink is the last thing I need, thank you," Torie threw over her shoulder and kept walking.
At the moment she didn’t want to be in Alex Carmichael’s company much more than Kendall’s. She wanted to be left alone to stop the dizzying thoughts banging around in her head. A three-mile walk on a dark, chilly May evening would take her mind off everything else.
She stopped and looked at the stretch of road in front of her. Misery clenched her. She didn’t have her cell phone, not that it made any difference. She had no one to call. Harwich was too small to have a cab company and there wouldn’t be anyone at home to pick her up.
Torie half expected Kendall return to the club, to de-mand she come home with him. He didn’t like looking foolish, and he’d just been dealt a humiliating blow, both figuratively and literally. She prayed he wouldn’t return. He could just drive back to New York City, for all she cared.
With a sigh, Torie started down the road, cursing Kendall in every way possible. Her mother would’ve been mortified if she’d heard the words Torie muttered under her breath.
She heard a car coming up behind her and moved onto the dirt shoulder. The heels of her shoes sank into the soft turf, throwing her off balance. Quickly she regained it and stepped more carefully.
The car behind her slowed down as it pulled up next to her. She glanced over and saw Alex in his Cherokee, window rolled down.
"Come on, princess, you can’t walk all the way home, not in those shoes," he protested.
Torie looked straight ahead and increased her speed, at the risk of her ankles. "I like to walk. Go away, Alex. There must be some other woman you can rescue," Torie shot back, her fists balling at her side.
"Princess, I don’t know of any other woman in the whole world who needs my rescuing as much as you," he replied with a chuckle.
Torie gasped in outrage. He certainly knew which but-tons to push. How ridiculous to waste so much as a minute of thought on him. She quickened her pace, muttering under her breath just what she thought of him.
"You know you’re going to hurt yourself in those shoes," he drawled.
The narrow, two-inch heels made walking, especially on the dirt shoulder, more and more difficult. They dug deep into the rocky soil and already she could feel her calf muscles tighten with the awkward steps. A twisted ankle would be the perfect ending to a perfect evening.
The further she walked, the stronger her pride became. She couldn’t give into Alex’s offer of a ride now.
"Well, if you’d just drive on, then I could walk on the pavement and I wouldn’t have anything to worry about," she retorted through clenched teeth. Alex had the Cherokee so close to her there was no way she could get back onto the tar.
"I just can’t do that, princess."
"Sure you can. You just turn the wheel slightly and press down on the gas pedal. It’s a pretty basic maneuver, Alex."
Alex had the nerve to laugh at her, a sound that did nothing to lift her spirits.
"I’m going to follow you all the way home, Victoria. Contrary to popular belief around here, I’m a gentleman. I’m not going to let a lady walk that far in the dark. All sorts of dangers out there."
"The only danger I’m facing is the danger of hitting one of the men who ruined my night. So I think you have a lot more to worry about than I do."
"How in the world have I ruined your night?" He said it with a laugh, but Torie thought she heard a tinge of outrage in his voice. "More like rescued, princess. Unless, of course, you were enjoying your boyfriend’s attention after all."
Torie hated to admit he was right. She’d been taking her frustrations out on this man. But he had to throw in his com-ments in back at the country club, knowing how it would dig at her.
"Well, I could’ve done without your remarks after the fact," she grumbled. "Pointing out the obvious in your joking manner didn’t help much. And once again, he’s not my boyfriend."
"Woman, are you always this difficult?"
Torie growled low in her throat and picked up her pace.
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TRIVIA QUESTION: How far does Torie have to walk to get home?
Good luck to everyone and please come back tomorrow for an excerpt from Sweet Forever. And please remember to email you're answers to cerihebert@comcast.net. Don't put them in the comment section. Feel free to comment about other things however. |
posted by Ceri Hebert @ 2:07 AM  |
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