{"id":680,"date":"2008-03-15T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2008-03-15T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shilohwalker.wordpress.com\/?p=680"},"modified":"2008-03-15T00:00:21","modified_gmt":"2008-03-15T00:00:21","slug":"day-6ebook-a-day-giveaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/2008\/03\/day-6ebook-a-day-giveaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 6…Ebook-A-Day Giveaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since it was my first ebook published, I figure it’s only fitting that I post an excerpt from Her Best Friend’s Lover<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u25ca \u25ca \u25ca \u25ca \u25ca<\/p>\n

\u201cDale, why are you doing this to yourself?\u201d she asked, knowing he\u2019d never be able to answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

He gazed up at her with dazed eyes, clearly befuddled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe loves him, Dale. She can\u2019t help that,\u201d Lauren said, taking the picture from him and turning it face down before catching his cheek and forcing him to look at her. Holding his face in her hands, she stared in to his eyes, her own heart breaking. \u201cShe loves him,\u201d she repeated slowly. \u201cLove doesn\u2019t follow logical rules. We don\u2019t always love who we want to, or who we ought to. You have to let her go. She\u2019s beyond your reach now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat in the hell do you know about love?\u201d he snapped, jerking free from her gentle touch.<\/span><\/p>\n

She smiled sadly. \u201cA lot more than you would think, Dale.<\/span> I know what it\u2019s like to love somebody you can\u2019t have. And I know how hard it is to let it go, to carry on life as normal while that person lives a life that doesn\u2019t, and never will, include you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shoulders slumped, Dale stared dejectedly at his hands, trying to tune out the sound of her voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know what it\u2019s like to love somebody who doesn\u2019t love you back, Dale,\u201d she repeated. With a delicate shrug of her shoulders, she quietly finished, \u201cYou won\u2019t be able to replace her with somebody else, Dale. The women you date deserve better than to be treated as a substitute for the one you really want.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWho the hell are you to give me advice on my love life?\u201d he demanded, slamming down the whiskey. The potent amber liquid splashed out of the bottle, spraying Lauren with droplets as Dale surged to his feet.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a steady hand, Lauren wiped a trickle of liquor from her face before rising and meeting Dale\u2019s turbulent gaze with her own. \u201cYou don\u2019t have a love life, Dale. You have a sex life, in which you pretend every woman you sleep with is Nicole Kline. And you have a dream life, where you imagine yourself in his place, the father of her children, the<\/span> love of her life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His eyes closed and he turned his head away. \u201cI can\u2019t put her out of my mind, Lauren. I try, but I can\u2019t,\u201d he said, his voice tight and shaky. \u201cDo you know how he treated her? What he did? They were going to be married, for pity\u2019s sake, and just a few months before the wedding, he knocks another woman up. So he married that bitch and left Nikki alone. He broke her fucking heart, but when his wife died, he figured he could get Nikki back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t deserve her!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf she had been mine, I would have cherished her every day of my life, she never would have been hurt the way she was. I would have treated her like a queen and I never would have hurt her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Very calmly, very succinctly, she said, \u201cBullshit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His head snapped up and his startled gaze flew up to meet hers. \u201cExcuse me?\u201d he said, his voice going cold once more. Glacial ice had already formed in those blue eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t love somebody without hurting them from time to time. You\u2019d be a fool to think otherwise. Pain is a part of loving. Without it, we\u2019d probably take all the good things for granted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would treasure her. I love her, damn it!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou worship her,\u201d Lauren countered. \u201cYou\u2019ve put her on a damn pedestal and would kneel at her feet if you could. She is the cursed princess from one of your kid\u2019s tales, Dale. You\u2019ve told me this story before, buddy. I know all about the betrayal, all about her rough childhood, and all about how you fell in love with her only to lose her to him. You don\u2019t love her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to rescue her, help her put her life together and coddle her. But she\u2019s a real woman, with real needs. She doesn\u2019t need worshipping and she doesn\u2019t need to be treasured. That makes her sound like some kind of possession. She needs a man to love her as a woman, not as an ideal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat in the hell do you know about it?\u201d he demanded, stumbling to the side and nearly tripping over the coffee table. With a growl, he shoved it, sending the whiskey sailing through the air and the heavy oak table upended on the floor. \u201cWhat in hell do you know about love? You don\u2019t even let a guy within ten feet of you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s because I don\u2019t have anything to offer one. My heart belongs to somebody and I don\u2019t believe in casual sex.\u201d Lauren turned her gaze away so that Dale wouldn\u2019t be able to read that he was the one who owned her\u2014heart, mind, body and soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her elegant shoulders lifted and fell in a casual shrug before she loosely linked her hands in front of her. \u201cDale, I\u2019d rather be alone, just me and my wishes, than to fall into bed with every other guy who comes along. I might forget for a little while, but then it\u2019s over. I\u2019d be even more lonely<\/span> than I was to begin with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dale sat silently staring at the puddle of spilled whiskey that was seeping into his deep, plush carpet. How could she so accurately describe it?<\/i> he wondered. How did she know about the ache that lived within him?<\/span><\/p>\n

He scowled as the answer came into his drunken mind. Because, as she had told him, she was in love with somebody who didn\u2019t have the sense to love her back.<\/span> \u201cBetter off without him,\u201d he announced, wishing for another swig from the bottle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPardon?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He grinned foolishly at her and mimicked her formal, regal tone, \u201cPardon?\u201d before laughing. \u201cThat\u2019s what I love \u2018bout you, Lauren. You\u2019re such a damn lady, even with a drunk<\/span> ass idiot.\u201d He glanced around the room, wondered if he\u2019d actually drunk enough to make it spin or if the fault buried below Kentuckiana<\/span> had finally started shifting. \u201cBetter off without him,\u201d he repeated. \u201cProbably ain\u2019t<\/span> good \u2018nough<\/span> for ya<\/span>, anyway.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Arching a slim black brow at him, she agreeably said, \u201cProbably not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis place is a damn sty,\u201d Dale said, his foul mood gone in the blink of an eye. \u201cWhat kind of pig lives here?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHmmm, I wonder,\u201d Lauren murmured, tucking her hands into her pockets to keep from reaching for him. He was so damned adorable. So damned sexy and rumpled.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He chuckled under his breath and dropped back down on the dark gray couch, staring up at her. Her face was turned sideways, studying the unholy mess, treating Dale to a clear view of her perfect profile. Clear ivory skin, deep smoky eyes, wide lush mouth. \u201cYou sure are pretty, Lauren,\u201d he said, grinning up at her. \u201cIf you don\u2019t mind my saying so.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d she said politely, a smile tugging the corners of her mouth as she turned her head to look at him. \u201cOf course, I realize your judgment is a tad bit impaired right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTad bit, my ass,\u201d he muttered, enjoying the sensation of the room spinning around. The only thing in focus was Lauren, with her watchful gray eyes and amused smile. Dale lowered his gaze to her mouth\u2014that wide, lush mouth, curved up in amusement. Carefully, concentrating on each separate movement, he rose to his feet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t I fix you something to eat and then clean up this mess?\u201d she asked, sidestepping neatly when he reached for her, then positioning herself at his side as he tried to steady himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot hungry,\u201d he told her, a sweet smile on his face. He reached out, stroked his hand down the satiny skin of her cheek. \u201cSoft,\u201d he murmured, turning his hand around and stroking his knuckles down her jaw to her neck.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo are we friends again?\u201d<\/span><\/span> His gaze, bleary and bloodshot, wandered over her face. \u201cYou here to make me feel all better?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes. That\u2019s why I\u2019m going to fix you something to eat so you don\u2019t wake up with a hangover the size of <\/span>Kansas<\/span>,\u201d she said steadily, even though her heart started tripping when his eyes started to linger, none too subtly, on her mouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t wanna<\/span> eat,\u201d he sulked, reaching up to touch his index finger to her bottom lip. \u201cNot unless you\u2019re on the menu.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Drunk or not, he knew heat in a woman\u2019s eyes. And what he saw flare in her gaze was a damn forest fire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25ca \u25ca \u25ca \u25ca \u25ca<\/p>\n

Da rulz<\/p>\n

\n