Kate Roth Blogs: Happy 3rd Anniversary Rebel Ink Press

Happy Birthday Rebel Ink Press! Three years ago a group of writers and editors came together to create a little publishing company that gave me my dream come true!

Rebel's are talking about summer lovin' with this blog hop and in the spirit of that I decided to share an excerpt from The Low Notes. A warm summer night is where it all began for Kevin and Nina. See what happened then hop over to Amazon to get The Low Notes, on sale this weekend for only 99 cents!!

An Excerpt from The Low Notes :

They walked outside together, neither saying a word. For a while they just enjoyed the warm breeze and the faintly blue night sky. Then Nina saw Kevin's face fall a bit as he looked at her.

“Look, Nina...” he started and her heart clenched. It seemed too perfect. What was he about to say? She wished for an instant he would stop right there and kiss her goodnight so the evening could end just as wonderful as it had been. But he continued.

“I wasn't planning on dating right now. Not last night on that blind date and I certainly wasn't counting on meeting anyone as great as you. I've had a rough few months and I just feel like I need to get adjusted first, you know. But I...” his voice cut off and he ran a hand through his chestnut hair.

He grinned. “I really like you.”

Nina smiled back, biting her lip, trying to conceal it. She looked down at her hands and realized she was absently wringing them, pulling at her fingertips. She smoothed her hands down the front of her dress and tried to steady herself.

“Can I call you? When I feel like I have it a little more together?” he asked.

It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear but she couldn't blame him for wanting some time to find a job, maybe unpack his house. She smiled and asked for his phone. Kevin slowly handed over the small piece of black plastic from his pocket with a confused face.

“I'm putting my number in here so you don't forget about me,” she said. She opened the main screen and saw an alert message.

“You, uh, missed a call and have a voicemail.” Kevin frowned and shook his head as if he didn't know who it could be. She typed her name and number into his contacts list and then turned the phone around and snapped a picture of herself.

Kevin chuckled taking the device from her. “How could I ever forget that face?” he mused.

She twisted her lips bashfully before feeling her nerves kick in. She didn't want to say goodbye. What if she never saw him again? Fear was getting the better of her. For it to end like this after a beautiful evening just seemed unfair.

“So I guess this is goodnight?” he said softly.

“Yeah. I had a really nice time. See ya,” she said, trying to hide the quiver in her voice. She gave a little wave, turned and started walking to her car. She got to the door and began digging in her purse to find her keys when she heard her cell phone chirp. She pulled it out and took a
glance at the message.

Screw it. You free next Saturday?

Her head whipped up to see Kevin where she'd left him with his phone in hand and a Cheshire grin plastered on his face. He shrugged. A giggle escaped her lips and she strode toward him swiftly. She was now closer to him than when they'd initially said goodbye and when she inhaled his sweet smell again, she felt herself going dizzy.

They were smiling at each other like fools until Kevin's hand slowly rose to tilt her chin up. Nina’s breath was ragged and her skin burned under his touch. Kevin’s eyes looked carefully at her face as she waited for him to move. With one simple motion, as though he’d done it a thousand times already, he shifted forward and placed his lips softly against hers.

Nina's lips parted at the feeling of his mouth and she waited for the kiss to turn deep and passionate. The kind of kiss she'd always dreamed of. But she was denied. Kevin pulled back and drew in a deep breath.

“Goodnight Nina,” he whispered.