June 13, 2007
Not quite Noah’s ARK…
Written by RobynDeHart in Our Books
but it sounds kinda like that. How about Robyn’s ARC, or rather an ARC of my upcoming August release, Tempted At Every Turn? Want one?
Excerpt taken from Chapter 10
“Do you recognize all of these women?”
“Yes. I do not know all of them, haven’t spoken to a good many of them, but I do know their names. I’ve always had a gift with names and faces. I remember people and their names from only seeing them once.” She gave a half-hearted shrug. “It’s an odd skill.”
“Seems like it would be rather useful. Or at least amusing if you want to trip people up when you know they won’t remember you.”
“I could never do that,” she said.
He smiled. “I would do it.”
“You enjoy teasing people, though,” she said. Her tone wasn’t accusatory, she was simply stating a fact.
“I do. If you knew my family, you would understand.”
She placed one hand on the edge of the table. “Explain it to me,” she said.
“My mother is a pinnacle of propriety and she did everything she could to raise me and my brother that way. She succeeded with my brother. He’s so straight, he’s practically made of wood. I, on the other hand, was not so pliable. Doing things a certain way because someone has deemed it the right way, never appealed to me. I wanted a better reason. I suppose I’m more like my father, although no one seems to remember his rebellious side. Now, he’s simply old and accommodating of my mother and her proper ways.”
“They don’t sound that bad, James. In fact, they sound perfectly normal to me.”
“Yes, but you’re one of them.”
Her brow furrowed. “You say that so disdainfully as if being polite and following rules is repulsive. I can assure you, there are quite many of us out there. I know you can be on your best behavior because you’ve done so, for the most part, the duration of this case.”
“I can behave.” He shrugged. “I simply don’t see the point. The world continues to turn without my following every guideline Society has created. I solve as many cases if not more than the other inspectors.” He leaned against the wall and crossed his feet at the ankles. “In short, nothing terrible ever comes from my not following the rules.”
“They are not really different from law, yet you enforce that,” she pointed out.
“Laws created by our government are very much different than a group of pompous men creating so-called rules that people must adhere to in order to be considered civilized. You do realize there is an entire population in this city who are not privy to Society’s guidelines.”
She said nothing, merely eyed him suspiciously.
He pushed off the wall and swaggered towards her. “For instance,” he said. “Who decided that I can not introduce myself to someone without being properly introduced by a mutual acquaintance?”
She stepped away from the table. “It is the polite way,” she said softly.
“But say we had not already met before I saw you at the Fieldcrest Ball.” He closed the distance between them. “I would not have been able to invite you to dance until someone introduced us.”
She swallowed visibly.
“What of the rules we’re breaking right now?” he traced a finger over the tiny ruffle at her neckline. “Do those not count?”
Her eyes widened.
“No chaperone and you are very much unmarried, Willow, as am I, yet still we are here together.” He leaned close and whispered, “alone. Tell me, Willow, what do I have to gain by trying things your way?”
She stiffened and took several steps away from him. Then she pointed her pencil at him, looking very much like a strict governess. Oh, the games they could play with that vision. He had been rather naughty as a boy often in need of punishment. With a brief close of his eyes, he was able to picture Willow standing before him in nothing but her spectacles. Her rounded body taunt with desire and her expression stern, she looked so damn alluring.
“I don’t have to prove anything to you,” she said jarring his image. “Entire societies are built on rules and laws and guidelines, yet you seem to believe that you are above them. That somehow you’re untouchable. It makes no sense to me at all. But then I’m simply one of the sheep, blindly following rules, simply because they’re there to be obeyed, right?”
He’d evidently touched a nerve.
“I have all of the names written down,” she said, then stepped over to the door.
They were finished and he’d made an ass of himself. Nothing unusual about that.
Okay, so that’s just a little teaser. There’s another excerpt on my website if you’re interested and this book will hit stores on July 31st. So if you want an early read of Willow’s book, tell me you want an ARC in the comments, I’ll pick a random winner.
And scroll down to read Margo’s blog on writers.
