(this is an unedited excerpt from CURTIS (Coyote Ridge, #1) and may or may not be published in the final book)
“How does it feel to be seventeen?”
Lorrie’s sweet tone had Curtis glancing over at her. She was perched less than a foot away from him on the old fallen tree that had been stripped of its bark from weather and time. She looked so damn pretty, her golden hair falling down to her shoulders, that nice white dress that she’d worn to church that morning hugging her curves.
He couldn’t even understand how he ever thought Helen Jenkins was prettier than her. Lorrie was the prettiest girl he’d ever set eyes on.
“Not much different than sixteen, I don’t guess.” He found his voice was slightly rougher than usual. He attributed that to his hormones which seemed to be out of whack when she was around.
For two solid weeks, he’d been going about his business, only now he felt as though he had purpose. This girl had waltzed into his life and sidetracked him to the point he hadn’t spent any time with his friends or his family since that day she came to his door.
Granted, Lorrie hadn’t been quite as receptive to him as he was to her, but it did seem as though they’d established somewhat of a friendship during that time. Since he had laid it all on the line, letting her know he fully intended to win her over, she hadn’t been quite so… combative.
“I can’t imagine it does,” she said. “Fifteen doesn’t feel any different than fourteen either.”
Curtis couldn’t take his eyes off her. She wasn’t wearing her sweater and the dress she had on gave him an unobstructed view of the golden skin of her arms and a peek at her toned legs, something he found himself drawn to. He wanted to know if she was as soft as she looked, but he didn’t dare touch her for fear of scaring her off. Which wasn’t an easy feat. For the past couple of weeks, it was all he could think about. Not only did he want to touch her skin, he wanted to know how her lips would feel against his, wanted to feel her tongue move against his.
“If you could have anything in the world for your birthday,” Lorrie began, her blue eyes sparkling as she looked over at him, “what would it be?”
Her smile was so sweet, so shy.
Curtis considered that for a moment. Then he grinned. “A kiss,” he said boldly.
“From who?” Lorrie looked confused, but he saw the way her cheeks turned pink. She knew what he meant, but he liked her innocence.
“From you, of course.”
“Me? Why me?” She sounded as though that were the most preposterous thing she’d ever heard.
One thing he’d learned about Lorrie was that she was incredibly sweet, probably a little too naïve. Not as much as a couple of girls he knew, the kind who would slap a boy for looking at her too long. No, Lorrie wasn’t quite that virtuous, but she definitely wasn’t as forward as a lot of the girls. And maybe that was what he liked most about her.
