Title: If
Author:
N.G. Jones
Genre: New Adult
Release
Date: March 16, 2015
Synopsis
If…
Someone hadn't scarred my face.
I hadn’t followed my dreams to LA.
That tweaker hadn't attacked that homeless
guy.
I hadn't invited a stranger over for
Thanksgiving.
I hadn’t fallen in love.
If I hadn’t lost him.
------
If…
I hadn’t gone for that drive.
I saw the world like everyone else.
My “genius” wasn’t slowly destroying me.
I had just walked away before I could ever know
her.
She hadn’t ignited the spark.
If the spark didn’t ignite the madness.
Excerpt
“Let’s start with something simple.
How about a tree, in the fall, so you can play with color?”
She smiled. “That sounds
perfect.”
“Okay, we’re going to use acrylic
because if you make a mistake, you can paint over it as soon as it
dries.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” she said, coming
over to stand in front of me at the easel. She was so close, I could feel her warmth
even though we weren’t touching. The pale glow that surrounded her now grazed
me.
I squeezed out green and white and
showed her how to mix for the right shade. Then I told her to lay down short,
staccato thrusts, but her swipes were, frankly, juvenile and clunky.
“No, see, you are trying to draw the
tree. You just need to focus on the leaf, and then pull that back to how the light hits
the leaf because a leaf, even a leaf that you just see as green, is many shades of
green.”
“And this is why I’m a dancer,” Bird
said.
“Here,” I said, grabbing some of the
brush handle from behind, “let me guide you.” It was a mistake. Her lavender scent
grew strong, and I could smell her fruity shampoo on top of it, and the curves of her
behind pressed against my pelvis. The heat rolled down my neck, and to my
fingertips. Even though I was touching wood, I felt the warmth of the coziest blanket
rubbing against them.
“Okay,” she said in barely a whisper.
Her voice moved in transparent cerulean and seafoam wavelengths in my line of
sight.
I slid my hands up the edge of the
brush, so my hand was over her delicate hand. And shit, I am only a man and I just
wanted her so bad. But, I focused on the empty sheet on the easel.
“So you start soft, tentative, until you
find a rhythm.” My words were barely a breeze against her ear. “Just relax.” I gently
guided her hand and she let me take over. I used the hand of my muse to fill the
canvas with strokes of green. “This will be the foundation, but soon we’ll fill it with
browns and oranges, even pinks.”
“We? You’re doing all the work, but I
like it that way,” she said, almost woozily, as if she were in the same trance as me.
She leaned back, resting her head against the front of my shoulder. My heart
thudded so hard, I was afraid she would be able to feel it. I guided her hand to a cup
of water and she dropped the brush. But I didn’t let go. I didn’t want to let go, and I
don’t think she wanted me to either.
“Let’s come back to this, we can work
on it a little each day,” she said, turning her palm up so she could thread her fingers
into mine. The heat was everywhere, like a warm rush of water, lulling me to do
whatever the hell she wanted.
“Now, I show you how to dance.” She
turned, using my hand, and then she was facing me. Her skin radiated through tiny
freckles on her cheeks and nose.
The next song on the album played. “I
love this song,” Bird said, pulling me to the open floor in front of the record player as
“How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” began to play.
“There’s only one way to dance to a
song like this,” she said, stepping in close, guiding my hands to her waist, as she
wrapped hers around my neck.
There was too much. A kaleidoscope of
lilting colors, the strong scent of lavender, a sweet taste like nectar, the blooming
warmth rushing through my body.
I am only a man.
About The
Author
Giveaway
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