June 1, 2014
Wow, survived something
of a long week. Just now catching up on Orphan Black and again, this show eats
my brain. I'm about halfway through this week's episode and I'm sitting on the
edge of my seat as I type this. LOL
Tonight's post is
from Liar's Lament, a novella where my heroine comes home to find things aren't
quite as easy as she'd hoped.
Here's the tagline:
Harper Scrytch kicks
Rhett Barrison to the curb and runs like hell to avoid a romantic entanglement.
Four years later she arrives back in town to make amends only to discover Rhett
has moved on… or has he?
And a snippety peek…
Harper wanted to put her fist
through the mirror behind the bar. She didn't because she'd brought the
situation on herself. Rhett had moved beyond her now and she got what she
deserved—watching him have a roaring good time with his new love, Dani. And
just her luck, he broke away from the game, heading for the bar.
She swiveled around on the stool.
"Gee, Rhett, you've got an interesting way of working up a thirst." She
added a smirk.
Rhett shot her a sideways glance.
"You got a problem with how I spend my downtime with my girlfriend?"
He stopped short of spitting the words out, barely.
Harper lifted a shoulder.
"No, just making an observation." A rude one, maybe, but at least she
didn't hit anything.
Rhett snorted. "Whatever,
Harper." He held up two fingers for Joe, the bartender.
She had a momentary blip of
guilt. Getting up in Rhett's face did no one any good. Except maybe Joe. The
guy might as well sell tickets to the patrons of the bar. Everyone tried hard
to look like they weren't hanging on every tiny nuance between her and Rhett,
but most failed miserably.
Harper forced her rigid posture
into a relaxed state and pasted on a quirky smile. "God, tell me to shut
up and go back to having fun." She waved at Joe, indicating she'd pick up
the tab for Rhett. "I'm such a downer tonight."
The tension in Rhett's shoulders
eased and he huffed out a breath. He also managed to keep his mouth shut and
not say anything before he grabbed the bottles with one hand and turned to
leave.
Harper grabbed his bicep.
"Seriously, Rhett. It's good to see you loosen up and have a good time.
I'm happy for you." She let go of his arm. "Don't think
otherwise." She jerked her head towards the skeet ball machines. "Go…
and have a game on me." She pressed a five dollar bill into his free hand.
"I'm gonna call it a night." She slid off the barstool and started
for the exit.
Before she left, Harper glanced
over her shoulder to find Rhett gazing after her, a thoughtful look on his
face. Dani moved to stand by his side, snagging one of the beers from his hand,
breaking the moment.
Harper walked out into the cool
night air, a buzz disappointment hovering in her head. She could pay all the
lip service in the world and never be happy for Rhett, even though Dani seemed
like a perfectly nice woman. Harper couldn't fault Rhett for moving the hell
on, not when she'd pretty much pushed him to do it. Sometimes the 'what if'
idea ate at her. Especially when he'd been so ready to settle down and make a
stab at something. Goddamn her fight or flight reaction.
Now, she had no desire to run and
every wish to have a second chance. Too bad she got her shit together a little
too late.
One of my favorite
tropes is having couples work their way back to each other. Harper has some groundwork
to lay out, and Rhett has to let her back in.
That's it for this
week. Happy reading!
Skylin
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