Monday, September 30, 2013
Excerpt:
Luggage backs up, causing one bag to fall off the machine. Angry travelers glare at me, as if I've made it my mission in life to make them late. Only one person doesn't make me feel like a total jerk. He looks like a cowboy with his wide-brimmed brown leather hat, pointy boots and belt buckle. I suck in a breath when we make eye contact, his blue eyes two shades darker than mine. This is the kind of man writers dedicate romance novels to. Broad chested with ropes of muscles under his shirt, strength earned from real work not a gym, skin sun-kissed and glowing. He smiles at me and my knees go weak.
Le sigh.
Feeling the heat rush to my face, I nod my head in my most regal fashion and turn away as the scrawny 20-something guy working behind the x-ray machine asks me to follow him so he can inspect my bag.
He steps to the side and opens my red carry-on, shuffling through my iPad, a change of clothes and other staples I was told to always carry with me in case my luggage was ever lost. There are perks to being one of the youngest in a family of world travelers.
My jaw drops when he pulls out a gallon sized plastic baggie and dumps the contents—items I've never seen before in my life—onto the counter. Holding up a pair of red G-String panties with a matching bra, if that slip of silk can be called a bra, and a handful of—oh my God—condoms?
He smirks at me and reads aloud the note that's in the baggie. "Winter, Have some fun this summer. Here's a starter sex kit to help you out. All my love, your favorite cousin, Daring."
I want to die.
I want the floor to open up and swallow me, or lightning to strike me dead.
I want them to arrest me, just so I can get away from the dozens of eyes taking in my humiliation.
I fight the urge to tell them I have a bomb, or maybe that I am the bomb. Or to tell them I'm a drug mule. Anything to divert attention from the most embarrassing moment of my entire life.
And then I remember the hot cowboy.
Who's standing behind me.
Who heard and saw everything.
My cheeks, I can already feel, are a flaming red. I probably look like my head is about to explode. I wish it would, so I won't have to live in this moment any longer.
An older woman, probably the supervisor, grabs the note and the panties from the jerk staring at me. "I think you've sufficiently searched this bag." She nods sympathetically at me and shoves Daring's gift back under my clothes, zipping my suitcase shut. "Sorry for the inconvenience, ma'am. You can take your belongings and head to your gate now."
About the Authors:
Dmytry Karpov and Kimberly Kinrade are the husband and wife writing team behind the KISS ME series, Eye of Newt, Sunrise and Nightfall, Wanderlust, and The Fallen series.
Kimberly is the award-winning, bestselling author of the New Adult paranormal romance series The Seduced Saga, the YA paranormal thriller/romance The Forbidden Trilogy, and children's fantasy series The Three Lost Kids.
Dmytry writes fantasy—be it urban, dark or epic—is a musical composer, pianist, and designs books covers (exclusively for his wife's and their co-authored books).
They live with three little girls who think they're ninja princesses with super powers and who are also showing a propensity for telling tall tales and using the written word to weave stories of wonder and magic.
Find them together on Sunrise and Nightfall
Visit the Kiss Me in Paris tour schedule