Plot Monkeys

If you stopped by on Saturday, you already heard me tell the story about how I sold my first book–NIGHT WHISPERS–and how important that “girl in the red bikini” scene was to the sale. So, since the book has just been re-released, and since I started writing it exactly 10 years ago this month, I thought you might like to see the scene for yourself. (As you can probably tell, I had NO clue about the whole “Point of view” thing! But my editor didn’t seem to mind…thank God!)

Hope you enjoy!

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Now that he was home, all Mitch wanted was quiet, solitude and privacy. He was ready to think, ready to absorb what he’d learned, and begin putting his thoughts on paper for the college textbook he was under contract to produce.

Fat chance, he thought. Solitude and quiet were two words he had never yet been able to associate with Kelsey Logan, the demon-child. He wondered how Baltimore had survived her presence.

Feeling a splash of water on his cheek, Mitch noticed he was standing directly in the path of a sprinkler. He grimaced, squared his shoulders and went to find Kelsey.

Mitch tiptoed along the stone walk and rounded a newly planted evergreen. Smothering a curse when he saw a little ceramic chipmunk, he restrained an impulse to kick it over the fence. Then he looked to the far corner of the yard and found her.

She obviously had been working. The pruning shears lay near some bushes, and a rake lay sprawled, spines up, across the lawn, just waiting for a Three Stooges-like accident to occur. Kelsey lay in a lounge chair with her back to him and he walked softly, being extremely careful to avoid potential mishaps with gardening tools. His shoes sank into the soft soil next to a leaking watering can. Glancing ruefully at the dirty Italian leather, he figured that was just one more thing to thank Kelsey for.

She didn’t notice him. He was a step or two behind her, far enough that he cast no shadow over her face to warn her of his presence.

Then he stopped dead in his tracks. This curvaceous, voluptuous even, woman in the lounge chair could not be Kelsey! He’d made a mistake. Kelsey was the skinny, obnoxious, freckle-faced younger sister of his best friend. So he hadn’t seen her in several years. She couldn’t have changed this much, could she?

She wore a devil-red bikini, which was damp with the sweat of her exertions and clung to her skin. Her legs were slightly bent and raised, a golden honey color, slender and about a mile long. His gaze slid up, taking in the gently flared hips and small waist, then on to the trim midriff and the deep vee of cleavage revealed by the low-cut bathing suit, and up to the top of her sun-streaked hair.

He stared as she reached a slim arm over the side of the chair and felt around until her hand brushed against her cool water glass. She caressed the side of it, her fingers becoming damp and slick with the condensation, and she smoothed a little of the water over her fingertips. Then she reached into the glass to fish out a piece of ice, shook it gently and brought it toward her chest.

He swallowed hard. The woman–Kelsey?–moved the ice just above her flesh, and Mitch watched each drop of water as it fell in a trail along her collarbone. When she finally lowered the ice to the hollow of her throat, he released the breath he’d been holding. Then he slowly drew in another as she moved the cube down her skin, allowing it to melt on her chest. He heard her small moan of contentment at the cool relief and very nearly echoed it. The ice disappeared quickly until her fingers were moving over her neck and shoulders with nothing but the tiniest sliver, and then just a few drops of water. Her hand remained motionless for a few moments, lightly resting on her throat, and he thought she’d perhaps fallen asleep. He considered backing up and retreating into the house, but she shifted slightly, and he remained still.

No. No, this couldn’t be Kelsey.

The last time he’d seen her had been at her high school graduation, seven years ago, back home in Virginia. She’d looked skinny and gawky and uncomfortable in the flowery dress her mother had made her wear under her graduation gown. They hadn’t exchanged more than a dozen words that day, as Mitch had spent most of the time catching up with his buddy Nathan. She’d just been— there—little Kelsey the pest. When had she become little Kelsey the temptress? And where the hell had he been during her amazing transformation?

When she reached toward the glass, ostensibly for another piece, Mitch cleared his throat. He was not about to watch a repeat performance of what had undoubtedly been the most unconsciously seductive moment he’d ever witnessed.

“It’s about time you showed up, Fred,” Kelsey said, not turning around to greet her upstairs neighbor. She felt too warm and lethargic to even open her eyes. She’d been working all morning, wanting everything perfect before Mitch returned home the next day. She suspected he wouldn’t be too happy about the work she’d done, but it was too late to worry about it now.

The warmth of the sun felt relaxing, not vicious as it could be in mid-July, but hazy and soothing, the way only an Indian summer sun in the mid-Atlantic states can feel. A light breeze blew across her body, and where the ice had touched her skin, it brought delicious coolness. She could lounge like this all day. But it appeared Fred had finally come to help out.

“I’d just about finished without you, you said you’d be down by ten. Are you still going to help me get this place cleaned up?”

Kelsey sat up and stretched a little. Arching her back, she moved her head from side to side to work the kinks out of her neck. If she didn’t get back to work now she might never be able to. Her shoulders already felt achy.

“I’m going to pay for this tonight,” she said, not even turning to face him. “My arms are killing me from lugging the wheelbarrow around.”

Fred didn’t say anything, which wasn’t surprising. The man was incredibly shy. Until his girlfriend, Celia, had become friendly with Kelsey, he hadn’t spoken much more than a half-dozen words to her. After that, he’d come out of his shell and the three of them had become the best of friends.

“Let me,” he murmured very quietly. She didn’t know what he meant until he moved behind her chair and put his hands on her shoulders. Kelsey scooted forward on the lounge chair, dropping her chin to her chest so he could rub the back of her neck. He worked expertly on her tight muscles, and she instantly felt better. Kelsey was a little surprised. His hands felt rougher and stronger than she’d expect from someone who spent ten hours a day in a lab. He also pressed and stroked with complete confidence, not typical for a guy who seemed so shy around women.

“Wow,” she said with a lazy drawl, “I think you have a future as a masseur.”

He still didn’t say anything. She didn’t mind. Fred was sturdy and dependable, a little too serious, but a great neighbor. He minded his own business and yet always let her know she could call on him if needed. She hoped Mitch’s return tomorrow wouldn’t upset the peaceful balance they’d created in the brownstone.

Mitch didn’t know what crazy impulse made him reach out to massage Kelsey’s shoulders. He’d been about to confront her when his hands had moved with a mind of their own. And once he’d started, he’d been no more able to stop than a flower could resist turning up to the sun. So he kept touching her, kneading her flesh, rubbing the golden skin, whiich felt smoother than the silks he’d touched in China. He had an overwhelming urge to kiss the base of her neck, and only her next question stopped him.

“So what time do you think Mitch will be home tomorrrow?”

What was he doing? This was Kelsey! He’d known that, consciously, from the moment she started speaking. He recognized the slight Virginia drawl and the deep voice she’d inherited from her mother. When she was little, Kelsey used to get mad when her family teased her that she sounded like a boy. But she had most definitely grown into it. She sounded the way Mitch thought velvet soaked in whiskey would sound, if it could make a noise.

“His high holiness isn’t goinng to be pleased about the yard.”

Kelsey had started calling him “his high holiness” the very first summer he’d come to stay with her family, since she’d had to share her room with the baby so Mitch could bunk with Nathan. She’d put peanut butter between his toes the very first night! He shook off the seductive spell he’d been under. This was Kelsey. This was no temptress. He stood up and backed a step away from the chair.

“Do you think we should kowtow when he gets back? I bet he loved being in China where everyone bowed to him.”

He didn’t question the impulse. Grinning evilly, Mitch bent down, picked up the large watering can and dumped the contents all over her head.

When the dirty water hit her, Kelsey shrieked, then leaped up with laughter on her lips. “You rat,” she said as she shook off the moisture, spraying him with several drops.

Mitch watched her glance over her shoulder and saw the smile fade from her face as she recognized him. When she turned around, he tried not to stare. He really tried. And failed miserably.

Kelsey, the ten-year-old monster , was long gone. Kelsey, the scrawny freckle-faced teenager, had disappeared, too. Here was Kelsey the beauty. The sharp angles of her face had softened with maturity and the freckles had faded into the creamy skin. Her sun-streaked honey-colored hair brushed the curves of her breasts, which were barely covered by the red bikini top. Her eyes were the same brilliant green as her father’s, and her mouth, which he’d longed to slug at least two dozen times in his youth, was generous and eminently kissable.

Damn.

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