No Kiss Blogfest

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

So, I was super excited to see a link to the 4th annual No Kiss Blogfest hosted by the lovely Frankie Diane Mallis. (<---click the link to find the other No Kiss Blogfest entries)

I had so much fun last year, and got really excited to participate again this year.

And then I thought about my WIP.  My very dark WIP during which my hero and heroine are separated for most of the book. :-/

And besides what I posted last year, none of my other mss have anything that would work. *sigh*

I could post a you tube video, or type out an excerpt of a great non-kiss from a favorite book (HEX HALL, anyone?), but I dunno. I just didn't want to do that. I even tried to write something, but that totally did not work.

So, I'm cheating a little. I'm posting a scene from my current WIP--a flashback scene of how the main characters met, which may or may not make it into the final draft. They don't almost kiss in the scene, but I think it has that flirtiness that is at the heart of many almost-kiss scenes.

It's a little long, but I hope you enjoy it. Leave me a comment and let me know, and don't forget to scroll back up and continue on the hop!

Inside, I shrug off my backpack and unload the stuff from the store.  Chrissy must have heard me, because she comes in just as I take the carrots out.

“Hey, slow poke,” she says, grabbing a cutting board.

My cheeks heat.  “Sorry.  Class went over.  I grabbed the stuff at the store as fast as I could, although I did get distracted by a super weird conversation with a guy,” I say, knowing the guy will distract her from bugging me about my tardiness.

“Wait.”  She pauses mid-chop and turns to me.  “What guy?  Tell me everything.”

Laughing, I tell her about the guy, who, now that I think about it, was pretty cute, if a bit muscley for my taste.  “So I was like, ‘Yeah, yum,’ and then I went to get the rest of the stuff on your list.” 

I wait for Chrissy’s comment, but she’s silent.  Surprised, I glance over at her and laugh—she’s staring at me with her mouth open.  “What?”

“You just left? You didn’t even smile at him or anything?”

“Uh, no.  Why would I?”

She rolls her eyes.  “Oh, Bree.  I guess I have to spell it out for you.  He.  Was.  Flirting.”

I burst out laughing. “Yeah, sure he was.  Over the yucca root.  Riiiiiight.”

She waves her hand.  “Not the most romantic place, I’ll admit, but he was improvising.”  Turning back to her chopping, she mumbles, “I wonder who it was?  You said he was muscular and tall?”

I nod, closing my eyes to picture him. “He had brown hair.  Kind of wavy, but not long.  Just sort of shaggy, I guess.  And green eyes.”  Really nice, piercing green eyes.  I shake my head.  If I say that out loud, Chrissy will hound me to death.  She might even go hunt the guy down.

“And you thought they were football players from Park?”

“They kind of looked familiar.”

Chrissy sighs.  “What am I going to do with you, Bree?  You have to pay attention.”

I snort.  “I was paying attention—to what I was there for.”

She shakes her head and finishes chopping the vegetables.  I help her arrange them on a tray and pour some dipping sauces into bowls.  She starts putting frozen taquitos on a pan while I carry the tray out to the table.

I nod at a few people who say hey as I walk by.  It’s so weird for everyone to know my name when I only know a few because I’ve only been here a little over a month.  Shaking my head, I set the tray on the table.  Chrissy had laughed at me for suggesting a veggie tray, but given the way a bunch of people descend on it as soon as I step back, I’m not the only person who likes a little variety in the normal, greasy party fare.

Glancing up, I notice the ice bucket is almost empty.  I turn around to get more and run smack into a large, muscled chest. 

“Sorry!” I say, lifting my gaze to see who I bumped into.  “Oh.”  Holy crap, it’s the guy from the store.

His green eyes spark with humor as they meet mine.  “Nice running into you again,” he says.  “I didn’t get to introduce myself earlier.  I’m Brian.”

“Uh, Bree,” I say.  Oh jeez I feel like an idiot.  “I, uh, need to get some more ice.”  My cheeks feel like they’re on fire.

“I’ll help,” he says, turning and gesturing me through the doorway back to the kitchen.

I cringe, but lead the way.  I do not want to think about what Chrissy will say when she sees Brian.

Increasing my pace as I enter the kitchen, I hurry over to Chrissy and whisper in her ear.  “He’s here—right behind me.”

“Who?” she asks, turning.  Then her eyes widen as Brian saunters in, leaning his hip against the doorframe. 

“Hey, Chrissy.  Did Pete bring the extra food in here yet?  We grabbed a few things at the store before we came.”

“Yeah, thanks,” she says, then throws a mischievous glance my way.  “I heard you guys were at the store.”

The corners of his mouth creep up, and he turns his gaze to me.  “You did, did you?”

My cheeks must be the color of the strawberries Chrissy is cutting up.  “Chrissy…”

But she goes on, just like I knew she would.  “So.  Brian.  You can settle an argument for us.”  Her eyes twinkle.  “Bree ran into a guy at the store who sounded an awful lot like you.”

He nods, still staring at me.  I can’t look away, even though I feel like running and hiding.

“She told me about an exchange they had, and I told her he was flirting, but she doesn’t believe me.”  Chrissy is full-out grinning now.

My heart is pounding, and I have to lean against the counter.

“Oh, he was definitely flirting,” he replies.

Holy shit.

Chrissy nods.  “That’s what I thought.  Bree, why don’t you and Brian go get a drink.  I’ve got the food.”

Brian holds his hand out to me, and without even meaning to, I take it.  As he leads me back to the table where the drinks are, I turn back to glare at Chrissy.  She just grins at me, and I find myself grinning back.