Good morning! I wanted to share a quick excerpt from Floating Loose since I realized I hadn’t done that yet. I sincerely hope you enjoy it! And if you have any friends who enjoy romance, the holidays are coming soon….
An Excerpt from Floating Loose.
They walked out onto the grass much farther down the creek than where they’d first started and hadn’t gotten more than a few steps before the rain came. They just looked at each other and smiled. They were mostly soaked anyway, so the rain wasn’t going to do them much more harm. They walked at a casual pace, holding hands and talking, until they were about halfway back. Then the wind kicked up and instead of falling gracefully, the rain began to pelt them in the face.
Alex grabbed a tighter hold on Rylie’s hand and they started running. By the time they got to the back of the house, both were panting and soaked to the bone. Alex pulled Rylie under the tiny overhang that couldn’t have been more than a foot wide and offered almost nothing in the way of cover.
He pressed her back against the wall and pressed himself against her front, leaning his head down to block the rain. “I’ll shelter you with my big, manly body.”
“I love having a sexy storm shelter.” She slid her hands up into his soaking hair, loving that adorable smile on his face. He blinked and licked his lips as the water ran down his face in a steady stream. His t-shirt fused to every hard inch of his chest and arms and shoulders. He looked incredibly hot, exactly like a model from a magazine. And she was sure her drenched, pale yellow t-shirt wasn’t disappointing him either.
He pushed her clinging locks back from her face, leaned in that last little bit and pressed his sexy wet lips against hers. The rain continued down their faces, heightening the sensation of the urgent kisses. Alex pressed his body even harder against hers, pinning her to the house. Rylie responded by wrapping a leg around him. He didn’t miss the cue. As soon as he felt it, he reached down and lifted her by her behind, supporting her so she could get both legs around him.
Rylie kissed him, bit his lip, dug her fingertips into his neck, grabbed a fistful of his hair. She couldn’t stop herself. She wanted him so badly and not just in this frantic moment. She wanted him to be hers. Forever. She loved him.
Alex pulled back, breathing like a marathoner. “Rylie…hold on a second.”
“What?” She tried to pull his mouth to hers, but he held himself back.
“Hold on a second, Ry. Let me catch my breath.” Still holding her, he took one hand from her backside, leaned it on the wall next to her and dropped his head to his chest.
“What’s the matter? Why are you stopping? Kiss me.”
Now he released her behind, but kept pressure against her so she could slide back down to her feet. “I need us to calm down for a minute.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push it too far.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Then what’s the matter?”
The rain had begun to slow and he could now look at her without blinking like crazy. “I need to talk to you and I want my mind to be clear. Yours, too.”
A hundred thoughts raced through her mind in a single second. None of them good. She took one hand from his neck and began to bite her nails.
Alex took a hold of her hand and pulled it down from her mouth. “Relax. It’s nothing bad. I, uh, wanted to tell you that I love you. And I didn’t want you to think that I was just blurting it out because things were all hot and heavy. I’m sure of my feelings for you and I wanted you to know.”
Rylie found herself right back to panting. “You…are you sure? Wait…what did you say?”
Alex laughed. Her confusion seemed to break the tension for him. Not so much for her.
He leaned in and kissed her, gently this time. “I said I love you.”
“I…um…I think we’re, um, great together and…um…”
“It’s okay, Ry. You don’t have to say it until you’re ready.”
“I just…I…” Why wouldn’t the words come out? She loved him, too. She knew it a long time ago. Probably before he knew it. So why wouldn’t the words come out? “Alex…it’s like…um…”
He pulled her into his chest and held her for a minute, speaking softly into her hair. “Baby, don’t worry about it. I needed to say it. It was the right time for me. You can say it when it’s the right time for you.”
He leaned back and looked into her eyes. “I wasn’t trying to freak you out.”
She nodded and rested her cheek back against his soaked chest. Why couldn’t she say it? She didn’t want to hurt him yet again, in yet another way. She was just caught off guard. She’d practice to herself and be ready next time.