A note from Terri:
“I always share at least one passage from the next book before it comes out. I was in a romantic mood this morning – must have been from listening to Bon Jovi this morning. 🙂 Anyway – here’s the excerpt – I hope you like it.”
~~~
Mary stood in front of her bedroom mirror and frowned. The black dress hugged her curves and fell just above her knees. Her sheer black stockings and spiked high-heels added a shot of sexy, and her diamond earrings and necklace added glamour. But something was missing.
She heard the low wolf whistle before Mike appeared in her room behind her. “Are angels allowed to whistle like that?” she asked, looking at him through the mirror.
“Yeah, well, I’m still not too clear on everything that’s in the handbook,” Mike said with a shrug, “But you look hot.”
She looked at herself again, biting her lower lip. “Something’s missing,” she said.
Mike walked over and looked her up and down. “Okay, you got your stop-his-heart dress, your how-damn-long-are-her-legs heels and your sophisticated-but-sexy jewelry,” he said, his chin resting in his hand. “You pretty much covered all the essentials.”
Sighing, she shook her head. “I don’t know what…”
“Wait…I have it,” Mike said.
He started to float towards her bathroom and stopped. “Permission to enter your bathroom,” he requested.
Smiling, she nodded and watched, as a moment later he came back with a small object in his hand. He handed her a tube of lipstick. “Cut-him-off-at-the-knees red lipstick,” he said. “That’s what’s missing.”
Uncapping the tube, she carefully covered her lips with the dark red gloss and then looked at her reflection again. He was right, the lipstick was the missing ingredient. “Well?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “I know whatever I want to say will not be covered in the angel handbook,” he replied, “But I can’t wait to see old Bradley swallow his tongue when he sees you walking down the stairs.”
Turning away from the mirror, she smiled at him. “Thanks, Mike, that was just what I needed to hear. But, he won’t see me walking down the stairs because I’m ready and he’s not going to be here for another fifteen minutes.”
“Oh, did I forget to mention that Bradley was already here?” he asked, looking apologetic. “Must have slipped my mind when I saw you in the mirror.”
Taking a deep breath, she glanced one more time in the mirror. “Okay, well, I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
She left her room and walked down the hall, surprised to discover her palms were sweating. She shook her hands for a few seconds, trying to dry them and then started down the stairs.
She felt a little silly, being nervous about a date with Bradley. For heaven sakes, she was going to marry him in two weeks. This was just ridiculous. But when her eyes met his, her stomach tightened and her heart raced. He just stared at her for a long moment, hunger in his eyes, and then slowly sauntered forward. She paused on the step and moistened her lips with her tongue. His gaze narrowed on her mouth and she exhaled softly.
He climbed the few steps in front of her, stopping one step below her. Taking her hand in his, he lifted it and brought it to his lips. “You look amazing,” he said, his voice slightly hoarse. “I knew you were beautiful, but I guess I never realized how incredibly sexy you were.”
She smiled, feeling emboldened by his words. “Really? I’m sexy?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, smiling back at her. “Oh, yeah.”