Seduced in September (Spring River Valley Book 9) (11 page)
Read Seduced in September (Spring River Valley Book 9) Online
Authors: Clarice Wynter
“It’s not that, it’s—”
He held up a hand. “It’s that. I accused you of not trusting yourself when I should have realized you know who you are, probably a lot better than I know who I am. I’m the guy who only wants to have a good time and everything I said that night was true about not wanting anything serious. It
was
true. But I don’t want that to be true forever. So tonight, let’s start over. Let’s have dinner, go for a walk, and talk about who we are and what we want and then let’s take things from there. A whole new history.”
Lily traced the rim of her glass with a fingertip. It sounded perfect, but it still meant taking a chance with her heart. She’d played it safe for so long. What was she waiting for? There was no such thing as a relationship too perfect to fail, and no guarantees even a guy who fit into all her rules wouldn’t break her heart.
Locking her gaze with Quinn’s, she lifted her glass and clinked it against his. “Let’s make history.”
THE END
And in October 2013
Claudia Galvin has been singing romantic songs with her best friend Owen for months now, but he doesn’t seem to notice she’d rather be making love than making music.
Owen DeWitt always thought Claudia was out of his league in the romance department, so he’s certain the sultry brunette is pining for someone else.
Their voices may harmonize perfectly, but when she’s offered a job singing for someone else, will their friendship survive a radical change in tune?
OUTMATCHED IN OCTOBER
Chapter One
Claudia tilted her head back, her eyes heavy-lidded and fixed on those of her partner. Her sultry sigh mixed with the first notes of the love ballad that played from the keyboard next to them, and on a deep breath she launched into the words she’d rehearsed for the last six weeks.
Standing next to her at the microphone on the small corner stage at Colette’s Pub, Owen DeWitt pursed his lips and joined Claudia with a low, wordless hum that leant harmony to their song. His deep voice rose into the poetic words of the ballad, and together they professed their love to one another in front of the bar’s Friday night audience. Behind them, Taylor Croft tickled the keys of his own instrument, creating the melody to which they both swayed. Their hands met on the microphone stand, and they leaned together, mouths only inches apart so their voices could blend into the perfect pitch.
People sang with them, some off key, but that didn’t bother Claudia. She wasn’t concerned with the audience or the music. Tonight only the words mattered because she wasn’t just singing for the few extra bucks the gig paid her and her two band mates. She meant every word.
Tonight she planned to make sure Owen knew it.
He smiled at her while he sang the chorus, unaware that every movement of his lips distracted her. She had to force herself to concentrate on getting the words right, all the while wondering if he could see the intent in her eyes.
I love you, and tonight is the night I’m going to tell you.
As long as she could stay focused through the end of the song, the end of the set, she could accomplish her goal. They’d been singing together for almost a year, and they’d been friends for a decade before that, but it had only been in the last few months, since they’d started singing semi-professionally together, that she’d realized the reason they bickered and argued and pushed each other’s buttons wasn’t because he was just a smart ass and she was a control freak. It was because somehow she’d fallen in love with him, and she had no idea how to tell him that their friendship just wasn’t going to be enough for her anymore.
That brought her back around to the fear that tonight she could ruin everything if she said the wrong words, if she went about this the wrong way. Everything had to be perfect, including her delivery of the song.
His raised eyebrow told her she’d messed up—damn! She missed a line of the chorus, but he caught it, he followed her lead and smoothed it over. She banished all non-essential thoughts from her mind, smiled broadly to hide her annoyance with herself and hit the final notes, her voice mixing with his like two colors blending to make a third even more beautiful hue.
They were magic together on stage. Everyone said it.
She wanted that magic all the time, everywhere…and if he didn’t want the same thing, her heart would break.
Considering herself the third of two voices, Clarice Wynter is the contemporary romance alter ego of a multi-published paranormal and science fiction romance author. She lives in the Tri-State area with her husband and her children and a trio of cats.
To learn more about Clarice and her books visit her website and blog:
Look for the rest of the Spring River Valley Series-to be released throughout 2013
Jilted in January
Fixed up in February
Mixed up in March
An Affair in April
Matched up in May
Jaded in June
Jealous in July
Awakened in August
Seduced in September
Outmatched in October
Naughty in November
Desired in December
