First, a reminder about my blog contest which ends this Friday, August 15th. If you leave a comment this week or already have (July 1st - August 15th), your name is entered for each comment for the drawing. The prize is a signed copy of my chick-lit mystery, A FIERY SECRET. If you have read this book, then I’ll substitute my inspirational romance, NO GREATER LOSS for the prize! If you live outside the United States (Canada is fine), I’ll substitute the ebook format.

SHOPPING FOR SCHOOL: Amanda and I went shopping this morning. I found a blouse for $7 on the clearance rack and she looks cute in it. She liked a pair of jean capris so bought them. She has 4 new tops now and new pants for school. She goes back next week and can’t wait to start her senior year.

We went to a Reds game earlier in the season and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m not a big baseball fan but it’s fun to go to watch the game at the Great American Ball Park. I’m sharing a couple of photos taken when we went and the Reds played the Pirates. And the Reds won even! I’m posting a short excerpt from my unpublished book WHITNEY IN CHARGE because the scene takes place at the baseball stadium.

Blurb and Excerpt:

Whitney in Charge is about the youngest sister, Whitney Benson. She gave up her job as a producer of a successful New York Show, The Bold News, to return home to a small town in Ohio. She’s tired of her older sisters, Shannon Woodruff and Regan Dunn, telling her what to do. She knows they mean well but when they signed her up for skydiving to meet hot guys, they’ve gone too far. They want her to try a new adventure since she took care of their mother before she died. After Ben, a divorced man with a little boy moves into the neighborhood, she needs some encouragement from her sisters to go out with him. She still hasn’t gotten over the death of her husband. Just when it seems Ben might be Whitney’s romantic interest, another guy enters the picture. Whitney agrees to go hiking with Ben to check out a resort for a family business. She falls down a cliff and is unconscious. Ben calls 911 and Jack, a handsome paramedic, arrives on the scene.

***
She wore a Reds’ baseball cap with Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt. When Jack had invited her to go to a baseball game on Wednesday, she’d hesitated. They’d just gone out Saturday night. She wanted to take things slow and easy.

Who was she kidding? She wanted to wrap her arms around him and experience more of his hot kisses. But she couldn’t smother his lips with hers during a baseball game. She took a quick glance at Jack. Regan was right – he did look a lot like Matthew McConaughey. She wondered if McConaughey also loved baseball.

Jack tugged on her visor. “Hey, you look pretty cute in this cap.”

She took a bite of her nachos and cheese. “I like the eating part a lot at games.”

“I wish you hadn’t paid for the beer.”

“You bought the tickets. I wanted to pay for something.” She licked warm cheese off her finger. “So did you rescue anyone today who fell from a cliff?”

“Nope. I only rescue beautiful women on Tuesdays.”

“I’ll have to remember that. Since my stitches are gone, I can go swimming now. If it’s not too cold, we can go swimming after the game.” Why did she blurt that invitation out to him? Could she handle him if he got too intimate? She hated taking a step forward, then a step back again, but she was just confused about what she wanted from Jack.

“I’ll have to go home to get my trunks first.”

“I have several suits in different sizes.”

Jack smiled at her. “Do you collect them from your guests?”

She laughed. “No. Unless my mom did. People used to drop in a lot, and she’d invite them to go swimming with us. They didn’t have their suits. Mom bought a few girls’ suits and women’s and men’s in different sizes.”

“Bases are loaded. Bring them home.” Jack patted her knee. “Isn’t this fun? I love the Reds.”

“You’re right. This is fun. I’m glad you─”

“Hey, the kissing cam’s on us.” Jack moved closer to her, covering her mouth with his.

She’d forgotten how they had a kissing camera to zero in on couples and when it happened, the pair usually waved or kissed each other.

She enjoyed kissing Jack back and hated it when he stopped. “Hey, you didn’t need to stop because the camera’s no longer on us.”

“I don’t want to spoil you.”

It occurred to her why he wanted her to switch T-shirts before the game. “You gave me a Reds’ t-shirt to wear to increase our chances of getting on the kissing cam.”

He shrugged. “Hey, Ben already got you on TV when you fell. I had to get you on TV again. I didn’t want you to think I’m a slacker here. And I managed it without you falling out of your seat.”

“We can’t have you being a slacker.” She glanced down at her red shirt. “Do I get to keep this shirt?”

“Only if you get me a baseball cap like yours?”

“It was my dad’s but it’s a deal.”

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Diane's Posts, Excerpts, Real Life/General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.