Posted Aug 4 2012, 3:52 pm

Oooooookay, I’ve just been tagged in the LOOK adventure by my crit partner, Kathleen Rice Adams.  We’re to share the first scene where the oft-overused, but much revered word ’look’ appears in our current WIP.  The guidelines are I’m to share my snippit and then tag a few folks to play along.  My contribution comes from my novel SAVING CALLIE, the love story of the hellion Callie Cutteridge and Major Jackson Neale.

The Southwestern Arizona desert.  March, 1866   A groan fell from Jackson’s lips as he ran his hands through his hair.  When he’d decided against returning to his father’s bank, and instead invested in a place of his own, he never dreamed it would turn out like this.  He leaned back in the chair, the cool leather dousing the fires of his disappointment.  And I thought to stroll in and take charge with my smooth charms and humor.

His dry laugh echoed in the room.

Would it have made a difference if Reece had been honest about his sister?  Probably not.  Hell bent on riding west, Jackson looked forward to putting distance between himself and the bloodstained battlefields back east.  Buying half of Dos Caballos gave him the opportunity to do just that, to build again instead of destroy; a solid replacement for the past four years spent wrestling the gods of war.

His thoughts returned to Colleen Cutteridge. 

Perhaps he’d been a little too harsh with her.  After all, her odd behavior was, if not enchanting, at least understandable.  No one liked being bushwhacked with bad news, although the thought that he was viewed as such unsettled Jackson.  His sigh disturbed the dust motes peppering through the sunlight that fell across the desk.  The air still carried a trace of an old fire mixed around the subtle scent of leather.  His unwilling partner’s sapphire eyes, blazing brighter than any fire ever could, shimmered back into recall. 

“And Reece told me you were such a sweet, young thing,” he whispered to the sunshiny streaks in the room.  He shoved aside his maddening thoughts.  With the restlessness of one accustomed to activity, Jackson pulled his attention back into control. 

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