Tuesday Tales – Mug

  

Hi and welcome to Tuesday Tales!  Today’s word prompt is “mug”.  We’re back with Reese and Lily in Between the Shelves.

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**caution…there is some adult language.**

Lily shuffled down the sidewalk, her eyes trained to the cement beneath her feet.  She never felt so lost and lonely in her life.  Sleep eluded her.  Tears felt at the drop of a hat.  She forced herself to keep busy so she couldn’t think about Reese.  Because if she did…

Wiping a stray tear from her cheek, Lily picked up the pace.  The last place she wanted to go was her father’s church.  However it was the one place in Braden that people left her alone, including her father.  And at the moment she just wanted to be alone.

“Well, if it isn’t Lily Dixon.”

Lily glanced up to find Buddy leaning against the wall of his bar, his arms crossed over his broad chest.  The summer sunlight made his shaggy blond hair almost white.  He shoved himself off the wall and stormed across the street until he was standing in her way.

He glared down at her.  “Where are you going, Lily?”

“What does it matter to you Buddy?”

“I want to have a little chat with you.  Why don’t come over to my bar so we can talk?”

Lily cast a wary glance at the bar.  Reese is in there.  Probably with her. “I don’t want to talk.  And I don’t drink.”

“Bullshit.  I know how much wine you and Molly drink.  Who do you think she buys it from?”

“I’m not interested in talking.”

Buddy grasped her arm.  “I am.”

“Don’t bully me.”

Buddy chuckled.  “I’m not bullying you.  I just want to talk to the bitch that broke my best friend’s heart.”

Lily stared him in amazement.  Buddy pulled her slowly up to him until they were eye to eye.  “I know Reese can handle himself physically.  He’s an MMA fighter.  But his heart is fragile.  He’s had no love, no family his entire life.  No one has ever wanted him.  So when you fuck with his heart, you fuck with me.  Get it?  Now, shall we go have a chat?”

Lily slowly nodded.  Buddy lowered her back to her feet then pointed to his bar.  She scampered ahead of him, not stopping until her rear was firmly planted on a bar stool in the dim building.  Buddy pulled a frosty mug from the freezer and plopped it in front of her.  She nudged it away.  “I don’t drink.”

He sighed and pulled out a shot glass, filling it with a golden liquid.  “Like cinnamon?” he questioned.

“Sure.”

He set it in front of her.  “Try it.”

Lily stared at it a moment before she slammed it down.  She winced as it burned but Buddy was right.  It was good.  She looked up from the shot as he leaned across the bar towards her.  “So now, tell me.  Why did you break Reese’s heart?”

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Tuesday Tales – Catch

Hi Everyone!  I’m back!  This week’s word prompt is “catch”.  This week’s excerpt is from “Between The Shelves”, Book Two of the Hearts of Braden Series coming to Secret Cravings Publishing in October 2015!

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The library was unusually busy for a Monday evening. Lily weaved between the tables, glancing down at the students busy scanning through book after book for answers. She glanced over at a group debating the benefits of Mountain Dew over milk in the school cafeteria. She pressed her fingers over her lips, sushing them sternly. She watched as each head dropped in embarrassment. Fighting back a giggle, Lily slipped behind the circulation desk. It was typical of finals week. It happened every year.

Lily gathered the piles of books heaping on the counter one at a time and set them on the cart to be tucked away where they belonged on the shelves. She softly hummed a tune to herself so the kids couldn’t hear. After a full day of obsessing over Reese Cooper she finally got her head on straight. Granted it took sharing a bottle of wine with Molly and all the dirty magazines in her desk drawer, but she was pretty sure he was gone. After setting the final pile on the bottom rack of the cart, she stood upright and straightened her skirt until it was once again past her knees.

“Catch!”

Lily’s heart slammed in her chest as her eyes darted up. Something soft thudded against her chest and landed on the floor. She looked down to find the paperback on the floor, the name Stephen King staring back up at her. She lifted her gaze back up to find Reese on the other side of the counter grinning at her.

“I told you to catch,” he defended.

Lily knelt down to pick up the book as she started to tremble. So much for getting him out of my system. She heard a soft, deep groan. She looked up to see Reese leaning on the counter, his eyes glued to her chest. Her eyes followed his, right to the gaping collar of her blouse and the gentle curve of the lace of her bra hugging her breasts. She felt her cheeks blaze hot as she stood.

“I thought you said you’d take care of the books you borrowed,” she chided weakly.

“I did up to the point I said ‘catch’. I can’t help it you didn’t catch it,” he answered, his voice still thick and his eyes narrowed and hungry. It made Lily shudder.

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