First of all, let me share one of the pics I used for inspiration:
And here's my excerpt: (sorry I cheated again, this is a bit longer than 6 paragraphs)
“Don’t
look at me,” she murmured softly, but he heard every word.
“Why not? You should be used to guys
looking at you.”
“Oh, I am. Not just guys either;
girls also like to look at me and mock.” Her voice was bitter, sad and wistful,
and he instantly realised his mistake.
“Hang on, that’s not what I meant,”
he objected, but he was too late. He noticed the look of fierce concentration
that she always got on her face when she was trying to suppress a tic. He’d
obviously upset her more than he realised. Idiot!
he chided himself. “What I meant was, you’re beautiful! You should be used to
being admired!”
She snorted and shook her head, but
he noticed the half-smile she was trying to valiantly to hide. “No one admires
me.”
“I’m sure plenty do.”
“They don’t, trust me.” She turned
her attention back to the horse.
“I do.”
Bringing Rose to a stop, she turned
and looked at him in surprise. “Why would you?”
“I just said – you’re beautiful.”
His voice was soft as he spoke the words, but it was true – he did find her
beautiful. Her eyes were always so sad, she seemed so vulnerable … and it was
that vulnerability, that sadness, that appealed to him as much as anything
else, and brought out the protective instincts in him.
“I’m a freak.” She said it so
matter-of-factly, as though she truly believed it.
His heart broke at her declaration.
“You’re not a freak.”
“Yeah I am.” Then she turned back to
Rose, silently commanding the horse into a hindquarter yield.
Clay watched a bit longer, impressed
by the natural horsemanship techniques Bianca was using to build the bond with
the mare and make her body strong and supple once again. Although the filly
wasn’t yet at peak fitness, now that Bianca was riding her daily, it wouldn’t
take long for her to be in prime condition.
The longer he stood there watching,
the more he felt himself attracted to her. He must have zoned out completely
while watching her, because the next thing he knew, she was right there beside
him, fiddling with the latch on the gate, holding Rose’s lead rope in one hand.
Making the most of his opportunity, he reached out and touched her shoulder
gently, looking deeply into her eyes. She avoided his gaze at first, but he
kept his eyes steady and eventually she met his even stare with a level gaze of
her own; a challenge.
“You are not a freak,” he told her
softly, but firmly. “If you were mine I would spank you for speaking about
yourself like that,” he admonished her.
Coming soon!
Meanwhile, check out the other participants this week:
Lovely snippet Kelly, Clay is a sweetie and obviously smitten. I hope she listens to his words, but somehow I'm not sure she will.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Roz
Thanks Roz! Yep Clay is so sweet :)
DeleteI agree with Roz, Kelly. I love the way he lets her know he finds her attractive, and refuses to let anyone put her down, especially her.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathryn!
DeleteIn total agreement with Roz and Kathryn, Kelly. He's not about to let her mock herself either. Great snip, Kelly. Congratulations on the upcoming release.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Thank you! :)
Delete