The winners of Julie’s contest yesterday are #5, Jolene and #66, Kelly H! Please email Julie with your snail mail addresses so she can get out the galleys as soon as she has them! Congrats!
Undoubtedly, this Plotmonkey blog has given us a lot of laughs and fun times, as well as sharing and commiserating in some tough times, but it just wouldn’t be the awesome community that it is if it wasn’t for our readers and the people who take the time out of their busy days to post here with us. So, a great big THANK YOU to all of you who have made the jungle such a special place to hang out. We truly treasure our time with you and the many friendships we’ve made along the way! You all ROCK!!! 
Okay, enough of the mushy stuff and onto the fun celebration! 
I really debated on what kind of excerpt to post here at Plotmonkeys. I wanted it to be different from the excerpt on my website, and I couldn’t decide between something hot and sexy, or something more fun to give you a glimpse of the character’s personalities. So, I went with a fun excerpt to celebrate our 2nd anniversary here at Plotmonkeys and decided to save the hot stuff for when the book is actually out in June. 
I hope this excerpt makes you smile, and maybe even laugh a bit. It was a fun scene to write!
Here’s a quick summary of the story: Ex-Marine and security agent Ben Cabrera isn’t going to complain about his latest assignment protecting the daughter of a gubernatorial candidate. After all, spending 24/7 with Christine Delacroix isn’t exactly a chore. But it turns out that Christine’s seduction tactics are top-notch, and it soon becomes impossible to keep things strictly professional. Christine is an uptown girl who’s spent her whole life being perfect. Now she just wants to have fun. And who better to have a good time with than the gorgeous guy hired to protect her around the clock?
WILD FOR HIM Exclusive Plotmonkey Excerpt:
Ben and Christine passed a chain linked area where a small group of boys were playing basketball on a concrete court. As soon as the kids saw Ben, they ran for the open gate to greet him, then formed a semi-circle around the two of them.
“Can you play a game of hoops with us, Ben?” One of the kids asked hopefully. He looked about twelve, as did the three other boys who’d joined him, and it was obvious by the bright expressions on all four of their faces that they were very fond of Ben.
Ben reached out and affectionately ruffled the boy’s unruly brown hair. “Sorry, guys, not today.”
“Awww, man.” Clearly disappointed, he hung his head and scuffed the ground with the toe of his well worn Nike’s.
“Whose’s your girlfriend?” one of the other boys asked as he tucked the basketball beneath his arm.
“This is Christine, and she’s a friend,” Ben clarified, then went on to introduce her to the boys, who also lived in the apartment building.
“Well, she should be your girlfriend, because she’s hot,” the one named Jimmy said, eyeing her much too boldly for someone so young.
Ben cringed at the unexpected, and very suggestive comment.
Unoffended, Christine laughed. It had been a very long time since someone had referred to her as hot, and she wasn’t about to turn it down. “Why, thank you, Jimmy. That’s a lovely compliment.”
Another boy looked pointedly at her outfit, her bangle bracelets, then her high heeled shoes before meeting her gaze. “We’d ask you to play hoops, but you look way too girly for us.”
There was an edge of sarcasm to the kid’s voice, and she arched a brow at him. “Just because I look like a girl doesn’t mean I play like a girl.”
“Yes, it does,” Samuel chimed in, backing his friend with a succinct nod.
Smiling, she held her hand out to Andrew, the one who was holding the basketball. “Let me have the ball,” she said in a friendly, easy-going tone.
Andrew frowned and took a small step back, unwilling to give her the coveted ball that clearly defined them as “men” in their minds. “You’re a girl.”
“Why yes, I am,” she agreed, and kept her hand stretched toward him.
Beside her, Ben sighed. “Christine-”
Ignoring her bodyguard, she kept her gaze locked with the boy’s. “Come on, give me the ball, please? I’d like to show you something real quick, and then you can have it back. I promise.”
Still skeptical, Andrew glanced toward Jimmy, establishing the other kid as the leader of their pack and the one who made all the crucial decisions in their circle of friendship. After a few seconds, Jimmy gave him a nod and said, “Go ahead and give it to her, Andrew. Let’s see what she can do.”
Reluctantly, Andrew shot the ball her way, fast and hard, and she caught it with both hands without flinching, as he no doubt expected. She walked onto the basketball court and up to the three point line, and her audience followed behind to watch.
She calculated the distance to the basketball hoop, bounced the ball a few times to get a feel for it, then glanced back at the small group of boys waiting with varying degrees of feigned boredom and subtle curiosity etching their expressions. Ben stood off to the side as well, his arms crossed casually over his chest and amusement flickering in his gaze.
“Okay, boys, and that includes you, too, Ben,” she said, winking at him. “Pay close attention, because I’m about to show you what this girl can do.”
She dribbled the ball a few more times, positioned herself, then concentrated on all the important elements of making a basket that her high school basketball couch had taught her. Visualizing the shot, she sent the ball sailing through the air, watching as it arched toward her target. The ball hit low on the backboard, and instead of bouncing back onto the court, it circled the rim of the basket before dropping through the net.
Yes, she thought in exhilaration as she suppressed the urge to do a victory dance of some sort. It wasn’t the cleanest shot she’d ever made, but it was enough to prove that she was a girl with a few hoop skills of her own.
One of the boys ran out to fetch the ball as the other three stared at her in shock and blatant disbelief.
“Whoa,” Samuel breathed in awe.
“That was awesome,” Jimmy added, his eyes wide.
“Not bad for a girl,” Andrew muttered beneath his breath.
“Nice shot,” Ben said, the bland tone of his voice belying just how amazed she knew he really was beneath that indifferent facade of his.
Feeling a little cocky after mastering her shot, she strolled back toward the boys, her gaze on the biggest, sexiest one of the bunch. “Awww, come on, Ben. You were impressed. Admit it.”
The corner of his mouth twitched with a smile, but he managed to keep his humor under wraps. “Maybe that was just beginner’s luck.”
“Hardly.” She stopped in front of him and gave him a smug look. “I’ll have you know that I was a guard on my high school varsity team.”
That bit of news finally shook a surprised reaction out of him. “You played basketball in high school?”
He sounded as stunned as her mother had been when Christine had announced her choice of extra-curricular activity at the all girls boarding school she’d attended. Audrey had been pushing for ballet or something equally feminine and had been less than pleased to discover her daughter had chosen what she considered a boy’s sport.
“I know it might be hard to believe, but it’s true,” she said to Ben, as well as the boys who were still gathered close by. “Of course it’s been a while since I’ve actually played a game, but I’m sure I can hold my own. How about a quick ten-point game with the boys?”
“Yeah!” the foursome cheered enthusiastically in response.
Ben’s gaze narrowed. “You’re kidding, right?”
She spread her hands wide. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
His gaze took her in, all the way down to the red painted toe-nails peeking from her open-toed shoes. Then he gave her a private, teasing smirk. “You’ll break your neck in those stilts you’re wearing.”
Which was easily remedied. She kicked off her Jimmy Choo’s, pushed up the sleeves on her top, and glanced back up at Ben, now four inches shorter than him – and much closer to the boys’ height now. “I’ll go barefoot.”
He shook his head, not the least bit moved by her efforts to sway him. “I don’t think so.”
He was in full bodyguard mode, obviously trying to protect her from something as simple as a game of basketball, which she found ridiculous. Sure, she was smaller than most girls, but she was far from being a delicate debutante, and she wasn’t about to let him treat her like one.
“I’m not that fragile, Ben. I swear I won’t break if I get bumped around a little bit.”
He blinked lazily and rocked back on his heels. “Maybe not, but you’ll definitely get all hot and sweaty.”
Something about the low, husky tone of his voice and the too sensual way his gaze held hers gave his comment a whole different meaning and inspired tantalizing fantasies of hot, sweaty sex . . . with him. The sudden awareness flaring between them made her feel restless, and a bit daring, and she didn’t hesitate to act on the impulsive moment.
Still mindful of their young spectators nearby, she leaned closer to Ben to give them a small measure of privacy, licked her bottom lip, and whispered, “That’s what showers are for.”
Ben experienced a swift kick of lust straight to his gut as Christine’s less than innocent comeback flooded his mind with provocative, erotic images — of her joining him in his shower, a steady steam of water sluicing down her naked body and a come hither smile on her lips as he lathered all her sleek, sensual curves.
He swallowed back a low groan and shoved those dangerously arousing thoughts of Christine right out of his head. But despite the disappearance of those risque images, he still had to deal with the flesh and blood woman standing in front of him, who seemed so bound and determined to tempt him with what he couldn’t have. Her.
Ever since they’d left her parents house that afternoon, he’d noticed a distinct change in Christine. While she’d always teased and flirted with him in the past when their paths crossed, now that he’d been assigned as her bodyguard for the next three weeks there was a stronger, more tangible seductive quality to her behavior he found way too inviting.
Like now. The irresistible dare in her sparkling blue eyes encompassed a slew of possibilities, and beckoned him to accept every single one of them. Then there was that beguiling curve to her lush mouth that captured his full attention, along with the fact that she was standing close enough for him to look down and watch the intriguing rise and fall of her small, firm breasts.
“Awww, come on, Ben,” Jimmy said, effectively reminding him that he wasn’t alone with Christine, as he suddenly wished he were.
“It’s just one quick game,” Andrew added.
Christine batted her lashes, taunting him in that affable way of hers. “Yeah, come on, Ben,” she cajoled, her tone sugar-sweet. “Or are you afraid I might whoop your butt?”
“Ooooo,” the foursome chorused together, as if she’d just issued the ultimate challenge to his masculinity. Which she had.
He pointed a finger toward her pert little nose. “You’re so on.” After that bold, nervy statement, he wasn’t about to say no. “And don’t expect me to go easy on you because you’re a girl.”
She tossed her head back and laughed. “And don’t whine like a little boy when you lose.”
God, she was too much, though he had to admit that her confidence was a huge turn-on.
They divided up into teams, with two boys on each side. With a toss of the ball the game began. Christine took the sport seriously, using exceptional skill when it came to playing with the kids, but she saved all her womanly wiles for when it came to dealing with him. Like when he came up behind her to steal the ball from her grasp and she turned the move into a full, frontal body assault as she scooted back and pressed her curvy bottom against his groin, forcing him to retreat from the too intimate position or risk embarrassing himself in front of the boys with a raging hard-on.
But putting distance between himself and Christine on the court didn’t stop him from noticing how a gradual pink flush suffused her face, or enjoy the fun-loving laughter that pierced the air as she managed to outwit her opponents. She played aggressively, and she was in it to win. She passed the ball to her teammates when the opportunity presented itself, made a few shots of her own, and didn’t mind getting down and dirty for fear of breaking a nail or messing up her hair.
Every time she got close to him, Ben caught a whiff of her signature scent — a warm, vanilla fragrance that made him want to take a big bite out of her. Or lick her skin to see if she tasted as good as she smelled. And the harder she played the game, the stronger the scent grew, combining with everything else about her to distract the hell out of him.
He couldn’t focus on the game, couldn’t make a shot if his life depended on it. Because when he tried, she was right there in front of him, trying to take the ball away — and using everything in her feminine arsenal to do it.
She didn’t play fair, at least not with him.
By the time the game ended, with his team losing by four points, he was sweating and breathing too hard, and it had little to do with the October sun overhead, and was more a result of Christine’s frisky moves.
As she celebrated with her teammates with high fives and atta boys, all he could do was grin, shake his head, and take the loss like a man.
His teammates, Jimmy and Andrew, weren’t as benevolent.
“I can’t believe we lost to a girl,” Jimmy grumbled.
“Yeah, that totally sucks,” Andrew added with a frown.
“Come on, guys, don’t be poor sports,” Ben said as he clasped both Jimmy and Andrew on the shoulder in a small attempt to soothe their bruised egos. “They won fair and square, so let’s go congratulate them.”
With a little push from Ben in the right direction, the boys headed toward the champions and issued a “good game” compliment. The foursome went back to playing basketball on their own, and Christine picked up her shoes and strolled toward Ben, glowing from the exertion of playing the game, and from her recent victory.
She stopped in front of him and wrinkled her nose. “Well, well, well. It looks like you’re the one who’s all hot and sweaty.”
He dragged his fingers through his damp hair and laughed. It figured that she’d turn that comment back around on him, and he did the same thing.
“It’s nothing a quick shower can’t take care of.” But while he’d previously fantasized about her joining him, in reality he was all on his own.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I just received full color bookmarks and tri-fold flyers for WILD FOR HIM, along with new bookplates that I will autograph so you can have your own signed copy of the book when you purchase it in June! For anyone interested in a bookmark, flyer, and autographed bookplate, just send a regular sized self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to me at:
Janelle Denison
Plotmonkey Blog
P.O. Box 1102
Rialto, CA 92377
To celebrate our 2nd anniversary here at Plotmonkeys, I’m giving away two ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) of WILD FOR HIM. For a chance to win and read a copy of WILD FOR HIM before anyone else does, (it’s not out until June!) just post a comment on today’s blog. Winners will be announced tomorrow (Friday), so check back then to see if you’re one of the lucky winners! 
Dear Mr. Thatcher, 
As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you’ve no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customers monthly visits from ‘Aunt Flo’. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it’s a tough time for most women. In fact, only last week, my friend Jennifer fought the violent urge to shove her boyfriend’s testicles into a George oreman Grill just because he told her he thought Grey’s Anatomy as written by drunken chimps. Crazy! 
Are you fu*ing kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness — actual smiling, laughing happiness is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you’re some kind of sick S&M freak girl, there will never be anything ‘happy’ about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don’t march down to the local Walgreen’s armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.
For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you just have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn’t it make more sense to say something that’s actually pertinent, like ‘Put down the Hammer’ or ‘Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong’, or are you just
, who just like getting out every once and a while and having a good time. Truth of the matter is, writing is very solitary. It’s pretty much just you and your keyboard and your make-believe characters for most of the day. Yes, there are children and car lines and garbage men (ha!) and contractors from time to time, but all in all, writing is very lonely.
# 96 - Georganna 
Yesterday my thighs and I had an ugly confrontation. I was doing a book-signing party at my athletic club and I’d planned to wear a cute little sundress, since we live in south Florida. The only issue was that my skin was pale as a catfish belly. 
“Yeah,” they said. “That was before you started sitting on us nine hours a day to craft the Great American Romance Novel. You used to stand up and give tours in museums. You used to walk around when you worked retail. You used to–” they snorted, “—have discipline about what you ate.”
