Where have the days gone?!?! It can’t be Wednesday again!!! *muppet flail* Sadly, it is. I double checked the calendar. So.Wednesday means words and I do have new words from last week’s ThursdayThreads flash fiction challenge. I did not win anything but I still like my snippet and I know where it slots in to the story! Yayayayay! *Kermit happy dance* Our prompt is: **I can see it in your eyes.** As this was a line from my snippet that won, I had the choice of adding to that snippet or moving on to other characters. That’s what I did. I moved on. The original end of this one is a bit of a spoiler, but isn’t because what is revealed in this snippet actually happens on page earlier in the book and is discussed. A lot. But I deleted the big “reveal,” which was only a few words but they were BIG words. 😉 Anyway, this is another brief peek at one of my favorite couples–Devlin and Kathleen.

****
Devlin rubbed the spot over his heart. He had to get this out, had to tell her before this went any further. He was fully prepared to leave her if she sent him away, though he’d never leave her. He would always be nearby on the off-side chance she might need him.

“What’s wrong?” Kathleen urged.

He didn’t say anything.

“I can see it in your eyes, Dev. You’re hurting. Please talk to me.”

Cupping her cheek in his calloused hand, his breath hitched at the sensation of her silking skin. “I’m a bad man, Kathleen. You need to know how bad.”

She placed her hand over his. “No, Devlin O’Reilly. You are a good man who’s done some bad things. That’s all.”

He stared at her. It wasn’t possible that she knew already. Was it? The name he needed to spit out choked him and he couldn’t speak. He needed to get up, to pace. No, he needed to walk away. He shouldn’t condemn this beautiful women to his sins.

As if she read his mind, Kathleen dropped her hand and leaned away. “What’s got so you tied up in knots?”

Dev shoved to his feet and strode away but he didn’t get far. The tie that bound them together kept him on a short leash. His inner wolf whined softly.

“You deserved better, Kathleen. Far better than me.”

She disagreed, hoarding her regrets as if they were a dragon’s treasure. “You’re the one, then?”

“Aye.”
****   

And there you have it. Should I admit that I’m really liking this book? From the characters to the overall plot to the myriad threads woven through it. I think I’ve already gone through the “This is junk” phase. At least I hope so. See, that happens to writers. You start out all in love with the characters and story and then you look at it, read it, and think “This is crappola!” That’s the point where many quit and start something new. Others go back and start over, looking for what made the story crappola. And if the writer is really lucky, they just push on through and come to the realization that “Hey! This isn’t half bad.” And then, in the end, the writer finds peace and come to the conclusion that “yeah, this is pretty good.” Yeah, this one is pretty good. What’s good in your life?

Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo July 15
Starting word count: 107,380
Ending word count: 107,476
Chapter(s)/total words edited:  1/2,304
Net word count change: +96