Where Ladybugs Roar

Confessions and Passions of a Compulsive Writer

Monday, December 21, 2009

Under the Mistletoe-with Parallel Lives

Okay, it took me forever to figure out which book I was stealing a kissing scene from for the Official Kissing Day post. This is the beginning section of Parallel Lives. I kept looking at Stories and Magic, but it would require too much exposition. Anyway, this is pretty long, but I couldn't decide what to cut. She sees a murder across the way from her darkened office and she's about to leave when someone comes in (to save her because she'd screamed) and he turns on the light.


I was nearly to the front office door when he opened it, and turned on the light. He was in his mid-thirties, lanky, with short, curly brown hair—brown eyes looked tired as if he'd put in a long day. He'd rolled up a light blue pin-striped dress shirt to his elbows, and his matching, solid-blue tie was loosened but still on.

He was surprised to see me right next to the door. Frowning perplexed, he paused, looking at me. I could tell he was on the verge of saying something, but I didn't give him the chance. I put my hands on either side of his face and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, but I have to do this."

He was even more surprised when I winced and then started kissing him like a newlywed. At first, he even resisted as I dragged him deeper into the office by his neck while still lip-locked. I pushed him up against my desk and tipped my head slightly just a little so I could peek beyond him. Oh yes indeed. We had an audience. It was time to really apply myself. I might never be able to look this man in the eye again.

I pulled back long enough to say, "Just go with me on this, okay?"

He looked a little startled, but at least he started working with me. I think he might have even picked up the reason for this Prom Date flashback because he applied himself to kissing my neck too which allowed me a chance to open my eyes just enough to see what the audience thought.

They still looked dissatisfied.

A thought suddenly startled me, and I pulled back enough to say, "Please tell me you're not married."

"I'm not married. You?"

"No—not dating either.”

"Me neither," he said breathlessly and returned to kissing me.

His hands pulled the pearl clasps out of my hair without even tugging a strand. He was a pro. This wasn't his first time on the stage. He slid his fingers through my hair, and even though I knew this was an act, it felt real. It felt really good. It probably looked like a Hollywood romance too. The old-fashioned version—where it was mostly chastely portrayed, but hinted at much bolder moves.

"You're really good at this," I said at the next breath.

He smiled and said, "Thanks," before going back to kissing my face and neck.

I chanced another peek. Crap. What did a person have to do to sell this thing? I worked on getting his tie off. He paused for just a second, and then seemed to decide his next course of action. For a moment, I'd wondered if he was going to prude out on me. Then, he buried his hands in my hair, twisted it around his fingers and pulled my mouth deeper against his. It was really hard to concentrate on his tie.

Whoa. Hang on just a second… our audience couldn't see what was happening inside our mouths, but it was kind of nice. It was very nice. For some reason, though, that particular style of kissing always made me close my eyes. It was sort of counter-productive to my tie removal. I finally got the tie loose and threw it on the floor.

When I pulled back this time, and they were still watching, I requested, "Wilder—or we'll be here forever."

He paused for a moment as if this statement was odd, but apparently he was just gathering strength. Oh it was wilder. I pulled his shirt loose and started unbuttoning it. My fingers felt clumsy on the buttons. Apparently, he didn't love the shirt, because he took over by just yanking it off and throwing it on the ground. Buttons flew in all directions. I heard them bounce off of my desk and the floor.

"Wow. You really know what you're doing." Seriously—this guy was really invested in this.

Another peek. Seriously, they needed expanded cable or something, although, I will admit that the bare skin my hands were now up against might have drawn me in as an audience. "It's not enough," I whispered against his mouth.

"No," he agreed. He was even keeping his eyes closed. I was impressed. I was very impressed actually. My hands were on some serious muscles.

"Help me get my sweater off. I have a shirt underneath."

I was thankful I'd thrown on a leotard top underneath the sweater. He helped me get the sweater over my head, and it joined the rest of the clothing on the floor. Okay…. This skin to skin touching thing was no good. This was beginning to feel real, and my natural inclination to panic, should this have been real, was kicking in. I was breathing heavy, and my heart was pounding. I could barely think of my name let alone remember that this was just for show. Plus, apparently our audience was willing to watch it out to the end. What was wrong with the morals of society?

I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself—for show. I was pretty sure all the rest of these weird symptoms were just from lack of oxygen. Once I wasn't breathing so heavy—for show—I'd be fine—in theory.

He murmured something that sounded like "beautiful," but I couldn't tell if he was saying it sarcastically like "sheesh… beautiful… how long is this going to take?" or if it was a compliment.

"Okay, in just a second, I'm going to drag you to the ground," I warned him, and he smiled.

"I can go along with that," he said.

Then, I thought—should I count? That sounded tacky.

Apparently, he wasn't as conflicted and took care of that. I was lying on my back on the floor trying to catch my breath, and I put out a hand to stop him from putting too much weight on my chest. I just wasn't getting enough time to breathe. I was curious if this was a problem for people in real life too.

He tipped us onto our sides, I still had a hand between us, and I looked down at the bottom of the desk and up at the top of it before looking at our feet. He had his eyebrows raised when my gaze returned to his face.

"Okay, I don't think anyone can see us here," I reassured him.

"Umm. Okay," he said.

"What are you doing in my office?" I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

33 comments:

  1. Ah, Wendy. You just get me, ya know:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haha! That was great! Thanks for sharing this scene!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mmm, that was a good one! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love it when strangers kiss! I'm gonna go kiss a stranger right now!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AH! I want to know what happens!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the running commentary through her head!

    Shelley

    ReplyDelete
  7. oooh....i posted a kissing scene with an audience, too! those are way fun! great job with this one. i'm totally invested in the two of them!

    jeannie
    Where Romance Meets Therapy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hahahahaha! You had me laughing outloud. This is so well done. I loved the Prom Date flashback, tell me you're not married, what was wrong with morals and finally what are you doing in my office. Hot and hilarious. Thanks so much for sharing this one.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, that was fun! And the "What are you doing in my office" was hilarious. I'm loving this blogfest.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love it! Her constant train of thought and the danger of losing it are just priceless (his reaction is perfect too). Wonderful scene! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks everyone. I've been reading through kissing scenes all over, but I'm supposed to be packing. Le Sigh. I'll have to just read the bulk of them some other time. I'm off to read a few of my favorite people's scenes, though. The list on Sherinda's blog seems to gain two or three people every time I refresh. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Woo! Very intriguing scene. And well written. I want to know more! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I laughed and enjoyed this piece insanely!

    ReplyDelete
  14. HA HA!!! Would love to know what happens in the rest of the book! :) I'm wondering if it's mortification or complete and utter helpless falling in love! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh goodness! That was so great! You totally drew me in. Definitely go over to Jeannie Campbell's blog, because she has a scene with an audience too! I didn't know how much fun those could be! Hhhmmmm, I'll have to try that one out! Can you believe people are still signing up for this blogfest? It's up to 74! I can't keep up today...I had a dr apt and now I'm trying to cook and get ready for a party I'm hosting! YIKES!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very good Wendy pulled me in and I want to know more. Who are these people?

    ReplyDelete
  17. It's helpless falling in love, Jaime--as well as solving the mystery of the murder across the way. It switches POV every other chapter to his POV. It was fun to write his side of the story at the same time. It's book seven in a series of related books. The female lead in book two works with the MC male in this one. (The one that just had that torrid and lovely scene. He's also briefly in the next book in Miami.) Anyway, it's weird having so many unpublished books in a row, but I really liked the characters and their connections.

    I'm so supposed to be packing right now. If the Geeky Husband catches me, there'll be trouble. Shhhh....

    ReplyDelete
  18. Mary, the Company of Him is a series of books that focus on a holding company of an eccentric billionaire. He hires people with the same name in each city. So, in each city, there is a Sarah, Scott and a John. They go by their city name. So, the male in this is Seattle John. It made it possible for me to keep the books inter-connected without readers having to remember a whole lot of names. (I thought I was exceptionally clever for thinking of this.) Anyway, at least one of the MCs in each book works for this company and there is an on-going storyline for the company beneath each book's plot.

    Unfortunately, their intertwined characters means that I can't yank out single books to query on. I'd say that some of my later books are stronger than the earlier ones where I was learning the ropes. My favorite book is Stories and Dreams (Miami Scott.) My favorite character--who reappears in three books already is Devi Scott (her last name is Scott, and she's one of the Vegas Scotts.)

    I have, however, started putting Easter Eggs in my other books just because I like to. Honor picks up a cd in one of her books of piano music by Gabriel Lake from the Quality of Justice. Also, there is a dream about play-dough, macaroons, and a few other things that I've snuck into other books. BAWAHAHA!

    I have a weird sense of humor--and this was probably more than you wanted to know. Your question may have even been rhetorical for all I know.

    After Christmas, I'm planning on doing rewrites of the whole Company of Him series and printing out copies for my friends to pass around. The whole series may never see the light of day and that seems like a shame because it was so fun to write and some of the characters are just a big bag of "win."

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a way to end that scene - with a simple mundane question! I loved it!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I knew this would be awesome! Stranger kissing, and problems with a tie. I love it! Ahhh, helpless falling in love :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Great scene! Loved the can't concentrate on the tie bit and also the unexpected question at the end. Good job.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh yeah baby! Grab a random stranger and mack down! I only wish. THis was fantastic! The second she starts fumbling with the buttons I screamed, "Rip the da-- thing off." My kids were in the other room as said, "What did you say mom?" "Nothing sweet darlings." I heard the buttons fall and bounce off the desk just before you told me too. Mmmmmm. Very raw, I like it.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Wendy, you had me laughing out loud after everyone was in bed! This is supposed to be my quiet time:) LOVED THIS!!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Ahem. Okay, this whole kissing thing just rocks! I'm so enjoying reading all of these!

    And seriously, awesome, cute, tension-filled scene!

    jenni James

    ReplyDelete
  25. Did I already comment? I read this earlier today just before I raced out to do Christmas shopping, and now it's late, late, late at night and I came back to reread it because I loved it so much.

    Another wonderful scene -- I LOVE to read your work, lady.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks for explaining Wendy. The premise does sound very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Amber, we're beta buds--anytime you want to read anything I wrote--say the word.

    Thanks, everyone. It's weird posting a scene from one of my manuscripts that is mushy--with the geeky husband reading this. (The husband and I are just like that. We're hard-pressed to find any of his shirts with buttons. LOL. Actually, he just asked me if I had a sewing kit or had seen one here at the hotel--his pants are missing a button. Yeah. cough cough )

    Well, we tried to tire the kids out in the hotel's pool--and now they're running all over wearing shower caps while jumping from bed to bed. Yeah. It's going to be a fun road trip today.

    Maybe for Valentine's Day I'll work on stealing a scene from Stories and Magic. Maybe I can con Heidi or Jaime or Di into helping me--or maybe my sisters have a better suggestion for uber romance.

    Okay, well, it's time to hit the road, Jack.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Wow, Wendy! This was so intense! I loved when his buttons showered every which way, that made me laugh. And when she asks him "What are you doing in my office?" was just perfect!

    Muahahaha!

    I wonder what was going through his mind if he really knew what was going on?
    LOVE IT!!

    Come over and visitmy blog and let me know your thoughts on my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow! Thirty comments on one post. That's got to be a record for me.

    Thanks for all your awesome comments, everyone.

    You're all just the Frosting on top of awesomeness.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Great kissing scene, Wendy!

    I almost posted something in honor of Kissing Day, but there are no actual kissing scenes in my WIP yet, only a near-kissing scene so far.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Awesome! It was such a cool scene, and yeah I can't think of anything else to say...it just was amazing!

    ReplyDelete