Snippet Saturday – Boys of Summer
Jul
20
2013

Today’s topic is about summertime and boys so I thought a fun scene from LUSH when Mary goes to Sweet Hollow Ranch the first time and meets the rest of the Hurleys, including some of the animals!

 

Lush

Delicious: LUSH by LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2013, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, The Berkley Publishing Group

They started to walk up the road toward his parents’ place.

In the distance he heard a bellow and a string of curse words. It was Ezra and if Damien heard right, the demon pig was on the loose again.

“Um.” He looked to Mary who clearly had no idea what was happening. “There’s a pig on the loose.” He shrugged.

“A pig?”

“Ezra has pigs too. Anyway, he just took on a new one, a baby that had been abandoned and he’s hoping the others will help this baby calm down a little. It’s, the pig I mean, a little, um, vicious.”

The pig came up and over the rise, trotting in their direction. Ezra came shortly after.

“Aww!” She knelt and the pig ran to her. “Aren’t you just a teeny tiny wee piggy baby?”

Damien had been poised to snatch her away from the demon pig’s jaws. But it turned out to be unnecessary.

Instead, the damned pig looked up at her and made a few squeaky grunts. She reached out and Ezra hissed, but instead of a bite, the pig got closer when she pet its head.

Ezra looked at Damien, surprise on his face. Mary sat down right there in the dirt and the pig got into her lap.

“Well, clearly we know Pork Chop isn’t always a demon pig from hell.”

“You named this sweet baby Pork Chop?” Mary’s voice was scandalized.

“That sweet baby bites! And poops.” Ezra saw that she didn’t believe it. “And is not nice,” he added.

“If you named me after meat I’d bite too. I think her name should be Violet.” She got close to Pork Chop’s face and the pig gave her a few soft grunts. “She approves of the new name.”

Ezra sat down across from them. “I’ve been trying to get that pig to be nice for the last two months. You’re clearly magic with pigs and drummers too.” He held his hand out and she took it with a grin. “I’m Ezra. You must be Mary.”

“I am. It’s very nice to meet you, Ezra. Damien talks about you all the time.”

“He does? Well, I hope you know Damien is full of crap a lot.”

She laughed and Damien just watched, sort of stunned as she sat in the dirt, a pig on her lap and his gruff older brother seemingly just as charmed as the demon pig.

“It’s all been nice. I promise. What have you been doing to this sweet piglet that she’s been mad at you?”

“Existing, apparently.” He sighed. “Maybe it is that she was mad that I called her Pork Chop. I’m afraid to be left alone with her to see if she reverts.”

Damien snorted. “The people at the shelter know Ezra is a soft touch. The pig was abandoned and they knew he’d taken in others so they called him and he brought P—Violet to live here with the other pigs he’s got.”

“Aw. Violet, he gave you a home. This is your daddy. You need to be nice to him.”

Violet looked back to Ezra, not entirely sure that anything Mary was saying had any truth.

“I think you should give him a chance. There are other pigs here too. Better than being left alone with no one to care for you, don’t you think? Plus all these Hurley boys are awfully pretty to look at.”

Mary stood with Ezra’s help. The pig still cradled in the crook of her arm, she dusted off her ass with her free hand and Damien had to work not to hum his satisfaction. Damn, she had a nice booty.

“All I’m saying is that you should give Ezra a second chance.”

The pig looked to Ezra and grunted, clearly not convinced. Mary laughed and put the newly named Violet down. The pig trotted next to her happily. Ezra sent him a raised brow and Damien just shrugged. Hell, of course she was good with animals. He shouldn’t be surprised.

“Let’s go up to the house. See if she has similar powers with Mom.”

“Damien tells me you have horses?”

“I do. Do you ride?”

“I haven’t in many years. I used to when I was a kid, though. I love horses. So smart and strong.”

Loopy, Ezra’s dopey Lab, came loping up the lane toward them.

He yipped at Violet, who grunted but didn’t seem afraid. But when he saw Mary, the dog danced around her, barking happily.

She scratched him behind his ears. “Hello to you too.”

“That’s Loopy.” Ezra snorted a laugh. “Hey, Loop, this is Mary.”

Loopy, tongue out, head butted her a few times until she bent to grab a stick.

Loopy’s eyes lit and she barked several times. Mary threw the stick and Loopy ran after it, Violet in her wake as well.

“Jesus. You’re like Dr. Doolittle.” Ezra looked her up and down.

 

Be sure to visit today’s other snippeters!

Lauren Dane
Shelli Stevens
Leah Braemel
Jody Wallace
Caris Roane
Eliza Gayle
Lissa Matthews
Mandy M. Roth
McKenna Jeffries
Shiloh Walker
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
TJ Michaels
Myla Jackson
Felicity Heaton

2 comments to “Snippet Saturday – Boys of Summer”

  1. Rebecca C
    July 20th, 2013 at 1:42 pm · Link

    Love that scene 🙂 and the whole series..



  2. Amanda W
    July 21st, 2013 at 2:31 am · Link

    I finished reading Lush yesterday and loved it. Have to admit to a tear or two when Miles made his debut. Thank you for a wonderful series. Can’t wait for Raven’s book.