Snippet Saturday – Woman To Love
May
11
2013

How about the first time Levi sees Daisy in the opening of SWAY?
Delicious: SWAY (in the Cherished duology) by LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2012, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, The Berkley Publishing Group

Levi found the studio easy enough. His brother hadn’t lied. It wasn’t far from his office, which was attached to his house on Bainbridge Island. He’d moved to the island five years ago, months after Kelsey had died.

The building smelled like every community center he’d ever been inside. He’d been in more than his fair share as he and his older brother had set up a mentoring program through the local school systems and they gave presentations at least once a month. Each door had a sign on it, but he didn’t see anything about wedding basics so he wandered into one of the classrooms to ask someone.

And then paused to watch as a couple dominated the center of the room. A ridiculously beautiful dark-haired woman was spinning, propelled by a long, lanky man as the rest of the people clapped along to the swing music.

It wasn’t the male that interested him, though Levi was sure the man was talented. It was the nearly effortless timing of the woman as she went around the man, her legs and feet in perfect time with the music.

So quick and intricate, these moves.

Even he burst out with an exclamation when the man flipped her over his arm and she kicked her legs even as she was upside down.

A flash of some thigh as she hopped when she got to her feet and then she went in again as her partner actually flipped her up and over his shoulder.

They continued on for a few minutes more until they both took a bow and the male, apparently an instructor, began speaking to the people in the room again.

Perhaps he should take this class instead of the wedding dancing class his brother Mal’s fiancée wanted him to take. Levi was only doing this for his brother. He could dance just fine. But it was a way of mollifying Gwen so they could keep her attention off the dancing up the aisle idea she kept pushing and Levi would sooner die before he did. He loved his baby brother, but that wasn’t going to happen. Ever.

A bit more wandering and he finally found the room he thought was right.

“Excuse me.”

The instructor turned to him and smiled. “Oh! An extra. Hold on one moment.”

She rushed to the doorway before Levi could stop her.

“Daisy! Can you help? I’ve got one extra tonight.”

He’d been about to interrupt to tell the instructor he wasn’t interested in this class but was looking for another one. Until the aforementioned Daisy entered the room.

Long, dark hair had been captured into a high ponytail and it swayed as she walked. Big brown eyes. Not overly tall. Probably five and a half feet at most. Pretty, full lips glistened red. Her body, curvy and mouthwatering, was draped in a dress he could only describe as vintage. A full skirt and a tight bodice. Tattoos, though he couldn’t see all of the half sleeve due to her dress.

It was the jitterbug woman he’d watched a little while before. She had a gorgeous smile as she looked from the instructor to Levi. But he kept going back to her eyes. After a perusal of the impressively high and full breasts of course, he wasn’t a saint. She had beautiful eyes, but it was the intelligence in them that made him look twice and then again.

Suddenly it wasn’t so bad that he needed a dance class. Not if she’d be his partner for a time or two. That way he could say he went to the blasted class and have an excuse to get his hands on her.

She took him in and smiled, holding her hand out. Bangle bracelets jingled and clicked with her movement. “I’m Daisy Huerta. Nice to meet you.”

“Levi Warner.”

The instructor clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Welcome everyone to introduction to dance. We’ll cover several different styles of dance and rhythm over the next few weeks. Partner up and let’s get started.”

This was definitely not the class he’d signed up for. They’d discover this, he assumed, when they checked to see who’d paid.

Daisy stepped close, took his hand and he naturally pulled her close, his other hand at her waist.

“Leading already? All right then.” When she quirked a smile, a dimple showed at the right corner of that full, lush mouth. “I love it when my partner is tall. Fits better.”

Well now.

There was a lot of talking and people laughing self-consciously, but he didn’t hear any of it. With his hand at her waist, there was nothing to do but slide into the dance as the music came on.

Rosemary Clooney took a deep breath and began to sing the opening of “Sway.” And she bent to his will and began to move, sensuously, slowly, gracefully. Giving over to him easily as he led. That simple act of submission wasn’t sexual. Not really. But it shattered all the reasons he’d been lining up to leave after that one dance. And tore at the walls he’d built around himself a long time ago.

 

 

 

Be Sure to Visit Today’s Other Snippeters!

Myla Jackson
Lauren Dane
Leah Braemel
Caris Roane
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
McKenna Jeffries
http://shilohwalker.com/website
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Felicity Heaton
Lissa Matthews
TJ Michaels

2 comments to “Snippet Saturday – Woman To Love”

  1. Christine B
    May 11th, 2013 at 5:30 am · Link

    love that opening scene. Can’t wait to see more of Levi’s brothers.



  2. angela
    May 11th, 2013 at 5:57 am · Link

    Love it! Really enjoyed this book and the characters. Thanks for a beautiful snippet 🙂