Plot Monkeys

As I hope you all know, LUCKY BREAK hits stores for October (9/29 to be exact). That’s two months away. Not too long! Since I don’t have an excerpt up on my website yet, I decided to treat you all first!

Long ago, as revenge on a Corwin who stole her son’s fiancee, a witch proclaimed an eternal curse that every Corwin male who married for love would be destined to lose his love and his fortune …

All Lauren wants is to sell her late grandmother’s creepy house and leave the past behind forever. But that’s not such an easy thing to do with gorgeous contractor Jason Corwin whispering sweet, sexy somethings in her ear … about staying in town. Then a saboteur and the promise of hidden treasure changes everything – and one lucky break just might put an end … to the Corwin curse forever.
****
I could give you the setup scenes … Lauren Perkins visits her now unresponsive sister in a prison psychiatric ward; Jason Corwin has his Tarot cards read by Clara prior to the annual Fall Festival … But I like you. So I’d rather give you their first meet. Or should I say … Re-Meet? ……..

Chapter Two

Jason milled around the festival located on a stretch of farmland which had been donated to the town and dedicated as a park. Although this was an event he’d enjoyed as a kid, tonight he was uncharacteristically on edge and Clara’s prediction was to blame.

Not that he believed in Tarot readings.

Yet as he smiled at people without stopping to make polite conversation, the uneasy feeling remained. The fact that most wore masks, which partially covered their faces didn’t help. Nor did the sheer volume of people, despite the fact that he recognized almost everyone around him since the entire town had turned out for the evening.

“Jason, no mask? I’m disappointed,” Gabrielle, his cousin Derek’s wife, zeroed in on him. She eased beside him, pink feathers covering her face.

If her long chestnut hair wasn’t a giveaway to her identity, her trademark stiletto heels were. His cousin was one lucky son of a bitch, but he deserved good fortune. Derek had suffered plenty before finally reclaiming his high school sweetheart and the love and family he was meant to have. As the oldest of the Corwin cousins, Derek had set a stoic example for Jason and Mike to follow. Each had held out on relationships for a long time before succumbing. As for Mike, despite a rocky start, he and his wife Amber seemed to be going strong.
Jason, on the other hand, was finished with women for anything but sex – and that was something he hadn’t had in too damn long. Five months to be exact, but now he was open to the right possibility. He wasn’t desperate, never had been and not even a self imposed dry spell would change that. He just knew better than to expect to find someone here. Predictions be damned, he was a Corwin and therefore a realist.

“Jason? I asked you what happened to your mask?” Gabrielle said.

Turning his attention off the improbable, he refocused on his cousin’s wife. “No self respecting man would wear one of those things.”

“He’s got a point,” his cousin Derek said, joining them. He wasn’t sporting a mask either.

“You two are just no fun.” Gabrielle let out a long suffering sigh and placed her hand over her large stomach.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Derek asked, covering her hand with his.

“I breathed loud. I didn’t moan in pain!” she said, exasperated.

Jason laughed at his cousin’s reaction.

Ever since Gabrielle’s pregnancy announcement, Derek had been wired. Jason didn’t blame him. Their first try had ended in miscarriage and the damn Corwin Curse hung over their heads.

Still, Jason couldn’t help but lighten the mood. “Derek, it’s going to be a long nine months if you keep this up.”

“Only five more to go,” he said, before glancing at his wife. “I’m sorry, but –“

She shook her head. “Don’t apologize. I understand. I just wish you’d relax and enjoy this as much as I am. The doctor swore the last time was just a fluke, and I’m determined to believe him.”

Derek wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her on the lips.

Jason tried not to roll his eyes. It was time he made himself scarce. “Excuse me. I think I’m going to refill my beer. This one’s getting warm.” Leaving his cousin alone with his wife, Jason turned and started across the field.
Catching sight of his father, Thomas, Jason headed his way. “Hi, dad.” Another Corwin man without a mask to make him proud.

“I’m so glad you decided to join the party,” Thomas said.

“I could say the same to you.” Jason eyed his father warily.

Wearing his dark pressed chinos and white buttoned shirt, he was perfectly dressed. Typical Thomas, showing the outside world all was well. No matter what turmoil was going on inside. “Is Uncle Edward here?” Jason asked.

“He’s supposed to be.” Thomas glanced over his son’s shoulder. “I haven’t seen him yet.”

“He’s coming with Clara, isn’t he? That’s who you’re looking around for.”

Thomas had been attracted to Clara from the moment they’d met and thanks to Corwin history, Jason was worried his father would somehow end up with his uncle Edward’s woman.

Thomas shook his head. “No. I promised I’d steer clear and let those two make their way back to each other,” he said sounding sincere.

“Or not?” Jason guessed. “Come on, Dad. Are you waiting for Uncle Edward to blow it so you can step in and sweep Clara off her feet?”

“No. That would be too close to history repeating itself.”

“You said you never took mom away from Uncle Edward. She chose you.” He watched his father carefully.

Thomas nodded. “It’s true. But your uncle’s psychological problems obviously go way back. He blamed me, blamed the curse, his life was a mess. So whatever happens between your uncle and Clara begins and ends with them. I’m out of it.” He raised both hands and took a step back.

Jason nodded, satisfied his father wouldn’t make a move on Clara. His uncles had just begun to repair their fractured relationship. The slightest look in Clara’s direction could conceivably send Edward over the edge. “I’m proud of you, Dad. Putting Uncle Edward’s needs before your own.”

Thomas shook his head. “You’re mistaken. I’m being selfish. I need my brother too. We both missed out on too much.”

Jason gave his father a brief hug. “The Corwins are making progress,” he said, forcing a laugh.

“Oh! There’s Hank. I think I’ll go hang with my other brother,” he said. “You go find someone your own age.” Thomas slapped Jason on the back and strode away.

Chuckling at his father, Jason headed for the beer, not surprised to find a line ahead of him since all beverages were being served in the same place. Settling in to wait, he leaned on stacked bales of hay and glanced around.

That’s when he saw her.

She captured his attention immediately and not just because she was wearing a red mask, though he had to admit Clara’s Tarot reading had predisposed him towards noticing her.

This woman, would have rocked his world anyway.

Rocked his world.

Not his usual way with words. They were Clara’s. But they were true.

She made her way towards him and he couldn’t tear his gaze off her long, lean legs encased in hip hugging, slimming black denim, black suede boots, and a black long sleeved shirt. Her long, beautiful hair, light brown with blonde streaks hung down to the middle of her back, while breezy bangs fluttered over her forehead. But it was her red mask that stood out most and covered most of her face, seductively lower on one side. She’d wrapped a matching red scarf around her neck, both accessories capturing his attention.

As she walked towards him in the moonlight, a strange sense of déjà vu enveloped him but he couldn’t place why.
The band played That Old Black Magic, winding a seductive spell around him – if he believed in such things.
But even as he told himself he didn’t, he was drawn further towards her.

Her gaze never left his as she came up behind him on line. She looked him over and he did the same to her. Silky hair draped her shoulders and though the mask covered her face, her matching lipstick drew his attention to her red mouth. She ran her tongue over her lips in a clearly unconscious gesture and every rational thought fled his brain.

“Is this the line for hot cider?” she asked through those lush lips, full, ripe and begging for him to taste.

That voice, also familiar, nudged at the back of his mind even as his thoughts were already churning with the unbelievable notion that Clara’s prediction had come true. And he couldn’t do more than nod in response.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” she asked in a teasing tone.

A wry smile pulled at his lips. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

She raised her eyebrows warily over the top of the mask. “Try me.”

He shrugged. Why not? “This is going to sound corny as hell but a fortune teller told me I was going to meet you tonight.”

She tilted her head back and laughed, a full bodied, throaty sound that knotted his stomach and sent desire rushing through his body at breakneck speed. No woman before had ever had such an impact.

Only one had come close and he’d been too young to appreciate her.

“Tell me about that fortune teller,” she urged.

He shook his head. “I’d rather not.”

She sidled up to him. “Then tell me about you.” Her green eyes sparkled with interest.

“I’m just a local.” He eyed her curiously, still wondering why that déjà vu feeling hadn’t subsided.

“You’re not just anything,” she assured him flirtatiously.

That’s when he knew.

He immediately flashed back to their first meeting. “I’m just a skier,” he’d said in an attempt at false modesty. He’d wanted her to appreciate him, not his goals, which had already been defined.

“You’re not just anything,” she’d said flirting, those inquisitive yet knowing eyes boring into his.

The connection had been made, their bond solid from that moment on.

Jason swallowed hard and studied her, attempting to see beyond the mask she wore and the intervening years during which they’d been apart. The same green eyes, those lips he’d kissed, the body he’d known as well as his own.

Blood rushed from his head to other demanding body parts as reality hit him. She was Lauren Perkins and she apparently had no intention of admitting it.

Jason was curious as well as intrigued. Minus a mask, she certainly had to recognize him. His adrenaline hadn’t pumped this way since his last race.

Always up for a game or a challenge, he decided to play along and pretend they were indeed strangers. “I appreciate the compliment,” he said, stepping closer, invading her personal space. “Despite the fact that you probably think the fortune teller story as probably a corny pickup line.”

She grinned. “It’s not just a corny line, it’s the worst I’ve ever heard,” she said, amusing herself as well as him.

A light burst of wind whipped around them and he inhaled her warm, seductive scent, increasing his interest as well as his desire.

He wondered what she wanted. And when she’d reveal herself.

“What if I told you I can do better?” he asked, still playing along.

“I’d tell you to go for it.” Lauren barely recognized her own deep, husky voice and barely held onto her composure.

She’d made her way over here on trembling legs, determined to check him out up close. Foolishly believing she could handle him. She’d thought that whatever impact he’d had on her had been in the past. She’d been wrong. The man he’d become packed more of a punch than the boy he’d been. He blew her away and she needed time to process her reaction. Flirting with him was fun and safe behind the anonymity of the mask.

“So what’s a gorgeous woman like you doing at this small town festival?” he asked as they moved up in the line.

He did much better, Lauren thought. Good for him. Dangerous for her.

She swallowed hard. “I’m just passing through,” she said, keeping her explanation deliberately vague.

“Lucky me.” The words rumbled from deep inside his chest, affecting her on a soul deep level.

They’d made out, they’d kissed, and he’d taken her virginity. He’d been her first and she’d never forgotten him, not even when she’d tried to convince herself she had. She’d also never forgotten the pain of coming back and finding him gone.

He extended his hand just as the band switched to Cher’s Dark Lady. “Dance with me.”

He didn’t ask.

He commanded, in a gruff tone that had seduction all over it and had her experiencing the same tremors of excitement and anticipation she’d felt in her stomach when she used to sneak from her grandmother’s house to meet him late at night.

And he spoke with the certainty she remembered when he talked about heading to Vail to show his skills to Bud Keene, his dream coach. Jason Corwin was a man who went after what he wanted with blind determination.

He held his hand out and waited.

It was one dance, she thought, and a chance to have his arms around her again.

She placed her hand in his.

He led her to the makeshift dance floor in center of the field and swept her into his arms, gliding rhythmically to the soulful beat of the music.

His fingers intertwined with hers and his hard body did crazy things to her insides as he pulled her against his chest. Warmth seeped through her, heightening her senses. She tried to keep her emotions in the past and concentrate on the delicious sensations he created inside her.

Couples moved around them in a blurry haze but he was all she could see. And feel. They might as well have been in a world of their own. This spiraling need and sense of euphoria had been missing from her life. She’d come alive again, the yearning for him overwhelming.

From the day she’d discovered Jason gone, she’d sworn she’d never fall under any man’s spell. She ran through life at breakneck speed, never slowing down long enough to get to know them or they her – and she liked it that way. She didn’t need a shrink to tell her why. Those who knew her best rejected her and the things that defined her. Jason included. Why let another human being in when all they’d do is find her lacking the way her family had or leave her behind when something more important beckoned. Men came and went from her life when she had time for sex or a short relationship.

Yet here he was again, bewitching and entrancing her. Erasing the memories of her sister and her problems, overpowering her dislike of this town and her reasons for being here.

She hadn’t come here for this. She’d just wanted a glimpse. To see how he’d changed, grown. But they’d locked gazes across the field and she hadn’t been in control of her emotions or her actions since.

“Tell me about yourself,” he said, bringing her back to earth as he swept her around, her feet barely brushing the dirt on the ground.

Her stomach clenched at his question. Too much. Too personal.

But his intent, curious gaze never left hers as he waited for her to answer.

“I’m just visiting. You?” she asked.

“I live here.” Without warning, he spun her around with the combination of grace and athleticism that had made him successful.

His strong thighs brushed against hers, hard and demanding, awakening needs only he’d ever aroused.

“I like your mask,” he said, his gaze focused on hers.

“Thank you. I like that you aren’t wearing one. It lets me see your face.” She wanted to trace the strong lines of his jaw, explore the stubble on his cheeks.

“I like what I can see of yours,” he said, his voice huskier than before. “What made you choose that color?” he asked, touching the edge of her mask with his finger.

“It called to me.”

His eyes darkened at her response. “Any chance you drive a red Porsche?”

She grinned. “It just so happens I do. How did you know?”

“It suits you for one thing. But there’s also the fact that this is a small town with few new people or cars. Yours stood out.” He paused, then added, “As do you.”

He inclined his head until his forehead touched hers and the dance continued. The night was truly magical and she was forced to admit she wanted more than this one dance.

She wanted him and the throbbing erection against her stomach told her he desired her too.

The music suddenly picked up tempo, interrupting their slow, intimate seductive dance. They paused and she met his gaze.

“I’m hot,” she murmured, the words escaping.

His eyes darkened with a heat she recognized. “Then let’s get out of here.” He never broke eye contact, just waited for her to decide.

PREORDER at Amazon.com

From Julie: And remember, if you didn’t have time to stop by the blog this weekend, go back and read our Saturday blog with Karen Anders and check out our PLETHORA (don’t you love that word?) of winners from Sunday!