Well I failed to do a tease on Tuesday, but I’ve been sick and my heart just wasn’t in it so please forgive me.  But I’m back with a vengance!  After weeks on Chapter 7 of my WIP I have finally finished it and can move ON – writing writing writing must finish book!  As a whole, the book is turning out really well if I say so myself, of course after the writing comes the editing and who knows what will happen there BWAAHAAHAA.  I will say someone is going to die.  Why?  Well for one, it’s fun to kill of a character LOL and two, the universe my book takes place in is in a state of turmoil where everything is life or death and well that’s just one of those things that happens, ya know?  If everyone lived well then where’s the danger?  heehee

Okay so on to the teeeeease.  This one is from a WIP that’s only about half done.  If you’ve been on my facebook page you might have seen some faux covers some really good friends of mine did.  (and if you haven’t been on my FB page – well why not???)  This is from one of those books.

Aren’t those GORGEOUS?

Anywho, without further adieu here is your tease:

            The musical lilt of the Third Battalion’s rendition of Aura Lee cut off mid-note as Seanna O’Malley pulled off the road and jerked the key in the ignition of her rented silver SUV to the off position.  She inhaled deeply as she closed her eyes and clutched the black leather steering wheel tightly in her hands.  Only she could become lost on the way to one of the most popular Civil War Reenactments of the year.  Her sense of direction was the worst of anyone she’d known–even with the directions she’d downloaded off the internet and a GPS.   If she heard “recalculating” one more time in that smug computerized voice she was going to toss the damn thing out the window.

            Seanna slowly opened her green eyes and gradually loosened her fingers, releasing the wheel.  She looked down at the pile of papers on her passenger side seat and sighed.  Blocking out the sound of the cars that passed her on the expressway, she concentrated on the second set of directions that her Civilian Coordinator emailed to her last week.  If she had known that getting to the battlefield was going to be this difficult, she would never have signed up for this particular event, especially since she was doing all the driving alone.  Seanna glanced at the clock on her dashboard and groaned softly, she was extremely late and soon it would start to get dark.  She had to get a move on.  There was nothing worse than trying to set up an 1860’s style A-frame tent by firelight and if the men in the military side of the unit were at their camp, she’d be doing it almost alone.

            She cursed herself for paying more attention to her worries than the road.  She was lucky she hadn’t caused an accident.  Her head fell back against the tan leather headrest and she allowed herself one more moment of self-pity.

            “You need to get laid and you need to do it as soon as possible.”  Her best friend’s voice echoed through her mind.  Seanna closed her eyes and saw the scene clearly.  Standing in her office trying to get any last minute calamities under control so she could take the weekend off and enjoy this trip.  Her two best friends and business partners Natalia and Samantha were sprawled in the chairs before her desk discussing her romantic prospects or lack thereof.

            Nat had been the one to speak and Sam’s look of horror matched Seanna’s own.

            “Is that your answer for everything? Get laid?”  Sam asked her almond shaped eyes narrowing.

            “Hey, it works for me.”

            “We’re talking about Sean here, not you.”

            Natalie’s deep brown eyes narrowed.  “I’m just saying that Sean’s been under a lot of stress lately and what better way to relieve it than a romp in the sack with a hot man?”

            “These days a romp with a man you don’t know could wind up a death sentence, Natalia.”

            “Fine,” Nat began as she sat back and folded her arms over her ample cleavage.  Seanna had always been a little jealous of the fact that her best friend had the body of a playboy playmate and the mind of a Mensa member.  “Get a vibrator.  Something.  Just have an orgasm or two … or six.”  She turned to Seanna.  “You’re playing it too safe.  You have to put yourself out there.  For once in your life do something unexpected.  Live a little.  If not with a man, then take a trip somewhere that has nothing to do with a war that happened over 150 years ago and everything to do with a beach and the sun.”

            Seanna shook her head as she filed some paperwork for a new client.  “I can’t take a trip.  I have the Montgomery meeting coming up next week and I want to be hands on with these clients.”

            “So would I.”  Nat said.  She wiggled her eyebrows for emphasis.  “They are H-O-T.”

            Seanna rolled her eyes and leaned against the file cabinet in the corner of her office.  “You and just about the rest of the country thinks so.  Wasn’t one of the sons just named Hottie of theYear or something?”

            “Hottest Bachelor in Pennsylvania.”

            “Whatever.”  Seanna sighed heavily and moved to lean against her desk facing her two friends.  “Look, this meeting is very important.  I do not intend to ruin it by lusting after the clients.  We need this one.  It could put us on the map as one of the premier web graphics design companies in the Tri-State Area.  Besides, I refuse to be just another notch in a belt–which is why I will not fall into bed with random men, but I do thank you for the suggestion.”  She eyed both her friends.  “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to finish up here so I can get home to pack for my weekend.”

            Seanna opened her eyes to the almost deserted road before her.  She thought she had been firm in her beliefs.  She was certain she’d meant what she had said to them, but there was a part of her that longed to break free–just a little, to allow herself some freedom and not worry about the consequences.  “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for,”  is what momma always said.  She should have known better than to even consider anything outside of her comfort zone.  Just look at where she was now.  Lost.  In the middle of Who-Knows-Where, Virginia.  She checked the clock on the dashboard and took a deep breath.  Time to get out of here.   

            Resolving to get there before sundown Seanna worried her bottom lip and focused on the printed directions and the large sign before her as she tried to figure out just where she had gotten herself turned around. 

            The sound of an engine revving loudly behind the SUV caused a distracted Seanna to look around in annoyance.  In her rear view mirror, she saw a man clad in black sitting on a sporty black and gray motorcycle had stopped behind her.  She rolled her eyes; she did not have time to deal with someone who would probably think she was an idiot.  She prepared her “thanks, but no thanks, I’m not lost” speech just as the rider raised his helmet and sifted a hand through his dark hair.

            Seanna gasped at her first look at the stranger and almost felt her heart stop.  He was gorgeous, or at least he was from this distance.  She decided not to get her hopes up.  He could turn out to be what Alicia Silverstone described in Clueless as a Monèt, fine from a distance, but up close–a big mess. 

            He sauntered (there really was no other word for it) up to the driver’s side and Seanna followed his approach with her eyes.  To her great delight, he wasn’t getting any worse looking.  In fact, the closer he got, the more handsome he was.  She suddenly wished she’d worn more makeup or had done more to her long auburn hair than just put it in a ponytail.

            He approached her window and smiled.  Seanna ceased to think in that moment.  Handsome men did not just walk up to her and smile.  Not once in her twenty-five years had that ever happened.  Not once.  She was always the girl who would be with the girl the men would smile at.

            She turned her head to face him and noticed he had to hunch over slightly so he could look inside her window.  She felt her stomach flutter; she’d always had a soft spot for tall men.  His eyes were chocolate brown and his cheeks showed evidence of a slight five o’clock shadow.  His jaw was square and the late afternoon sunshine gilded his dark hair with golden highlights.  It looked soft and curled slightly at his collar.  Seanna thought this man would look amazing walking down a runway in France dressed in designer clothing.  However, he looked just as incredible clad in the white T-shirt, black jeans, and old worn leather jacket that hugged his broad shoulders.  Seanna’s mouth went dry as his smile slowly broadened.

            “So, how do I look?” His voice was deep, full of humor and had just a touch of the south in it to make it interesting.

            “Oh, Lord.” She said as a blush crept up her neck and settled into her cheeks.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.”

            Crispin laughed softly, he didn’t know that when he stopped to help a stranded motorist that he would luck out and find such a delectable beauty sitting alone in the idle SUV.  The blush tinting her cheeks would make some women look like a child, or at the very least feverish, but he thought the embarrassment brought out a glow in her he’d never see in the women he usually associated with.  An elastic band held her reddish hair off her face.  The length of the pin-straight tail hanging from the back of her head and wedged between her back and seat meant that it was probably very long.  Cris silently approved, he’d always been partial to long hair.  Her grass green eyes were bright with unease as she watched him, but even that leant itself to part of her charm. 

            Crispin leaned a forearm on the window frame as his eyes traveled the length of her form.  “That’s all right.  I got a good look myself.”  He wondered if she’d take offense, but was rewarded instead with another blush.  “So, are you having engine troubles?”

            “No … I’m lost.”  She admitted softly.

            “Where are you headed?  Maybe I can help.”

            “MacNeil Park.”

            Crispin arched a brow.  “Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who get dressed up like they are living in the 1860’s and then sleeps in tents for whole weekends playacting like they’re in the Civil War.”

            “It’s a legitimate hobby and one, I might add, that thousands of people from all over the world love to do.”  Seanna replied angrily.  “Don’t tell me you’re one of those judgmental people who doesn’t take the time to understand what reenacting is about?  Listen, I don’t have to justify what I enjoy doing to you or anyone else, so if you don’t mind, I’ll just consult my maps again and be on my way.”  She waved her hand around toward the road in front of her.  “I’m sure the park is around here somewhere.”

            “You’re cute when you get worked up, you know that?”  Crispin asked with a smile then continued quickly before she could open her mouth to reprimand him.  “Follow me,” he said as he turned to walk away.  “I was just headed back to the battlefield.  I’m one of those people who enjoys dressing up and playacting too.”

            Seanna couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d told her he was the direct descendant of John Wilkes Booth.  Crispin’s grin was wide when he turned back to her.  “By the way, my name’s Cris.  I’m with the 33rd Virginia, Calvary Division.”

            Seanna returned the grin.  “Seanna, 43rd New York Volunteer Infantry.  Civilian Corp.”

            “You and I will have to do our best to smooth over relations between the Union and the Confederacy this weekend.”  Cris said with a wink then turned and jogged back to his motorcycle. 

            Seanna watched with unabashed interest as he swung his left leg over the monstrous machine and settled in the seat.  It figured that the man straddling the motorcycle would be a natural horseman.  She eyed the way his thighs hugged the monstrous machine in her side mirror and licked her lips.  Maybe this weekend wouldn’t be so terrible after all.

Until Next Time!