Jackie's Beanstalk

I love this book. It was such a blast to write. I mean, really, we all loved fairytales when we were kids, didn't we? I know I did. And I still do! So writing about what happens at the top of the beanstalk was no chore for me. ;-)

An excerpt:

His tongue slid wetly along the gentle slope of her neck as his mouth moved lower to nip her collarbone. Her skin warmed as his tender mouth touched her body with tiny kisses that were more whispers than touch.

As his lips circled her hard nipple, pulling it into his heat and stroking it with his tongue, she arched her body, pressing herself to his touch. She felt the delicious sensations, the tingling that began somewhere deep within her and would spread—she knew—to enfold her fully. She longed for the feel of his touch lower…much lower.

A moan escaped from her body. It was a long, long sound filled with remembrances of passion shared and the promise of delights yet to come.When his mouth danced along the flat planes of her abdomen, traveling toward what could only be—

“Shit!”

****
She felt the tremors fill her body as the riding mower bounced off the trunk of a spreading maple. Her jaw snapped shut, trapping her lower lip between her teeth and she tasted blood.
It took only a second to back the John Deere from its position against the tree, about the same amount of time that it had taken to collide with the maple. She climbed off the machine and strode to the front of the little tractor. There were scrapes in the green paint and a good-sized dent in the front by the right tire.

“Shit!” She swore out loud as she left the tree behind and headed for the rest of the large yard. Swearing out loud on a hot July day didn’t seem particularly unusual. After all, there wasn’t anyone to hear her, anyone to mind whether or not she swore or sang church hymns.

Jackie Wallace lived alone in the large farmhouse that had been her parents’ home. When they moved to Sarasota they left Jackie the keys to the house, the keys to their old Caddy and the key to the cupboard where they stored the economy-sized bags of dog food for their old dog, Lady. Jackie’s parents had been gone for a year and Jackie and Lady were falling into a lifestyle that, if not exactly adventurous, was at least comfortable.

She’d been especially thankful for the house—and Lady—to come home to when her boyfriend of two years tossed her out of his townhouse. He said he needed to “find himself” when in actuality what he planned to find was the recently divorced woman who had purchased the townhouse adjacent to his.

Jackie knew she had to stop thinking about Troy. It was driving her crazy, thinking about him and the things they once did together. Besides, if she hit that damn tree too many more times she was going to kill it. And what would she tell her father when she spoke with him on the phone? “Oh, by the way, I killed the tree you planted when I was born. How? Oh, I keep smashing into it when I mow the lawn. Why am I crashing into the tree? Oh, I just keep thinking about Troy and his incredible lovemaking talents, that’s all.”

Yeah, I’d better keep my mind off of Troy—his tongue, his cock, his talents—all of it. It was too dangerous to think about him when she was—

“Shit!”

Jackie looked over the dented front fender of the tractor. If she stood up in the seat and stretched her neck out far and to the left, she could just make out the edge of what remained of her mailbox. But just barely.
* * * *
“I don’t think so, Kerry,” said Jackie. She reached down to scratch Lady’s silky fur. The dog was lying on her foot but she didn’t have the heart to move her. “I think I’m just going to stay in tonight, channel surf and see if I can’t find a good old movie to watch. Something romantic. Something sappy and a perfect match for a pint of Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough. Thanks anyway.”

She listened to the conversation from the tiny cell phone and scowled. Her best friend could be infuriating at times, but especially so just after a break up. Kerry was in a secure relationship with a guy who would move heaven and hell to make her happy. What did she know about being single?

“No, you’re wrong. No, I am not hiding at home. There are just no single guys that interest me, that’s all. You’ve been parading losers past me for a month. I can’t take it anymore. No, I don’t want to go to The Dugout. What does this guy look like anyway? The last ‘friend’ of George’s was practically a midget. No, don’t even go there. The guy stared at my nipples all night like a baby at a nursing mothers’ convention. Remember?”

Jackie grimaced as she heard Kerry’s justification of the last man she and George had foisted upon her. They were spoken so loudly Lady’s ears perked up.

“Um…yeah. All right. But after this one, we’re paid in full for that whole thing, all right? You can’t expect me to pay forever for something that happened when we were seven. Fine. What time will you be here? Fine.”

Jackie slapped the phone closed with a sigh. Then she gazed at the dog.

“Sorry, Lady. You’re on your own tonight, but I’ll leave you the cookie dough. Just don’t touch the mint chocolate chip—that one’s mine!”