In the Spotlight (25 page)

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty,” Josh murmured, horrifying me by leaning in close and kissing the last of my sleepiness soundly out of me. Oh, could that boy ever kiss. He made me forget all about of my self-‐-consciousness.

When he was done kissing me, I excused myself to freshen up. I was never so thankful to have my toothbrush.

As I stood in the tiny airplane bathroom, my mind wandered to Grandma and something she had told me about her initiation into the mile high club. Mind you, when she told me about the mile high club I was eleven years old and my newfound information pretty much scarred me for life. I wondered now why on Earth she would ever think it was a good idea to tell an eleven-‐-

year-‐-old girl stories like that. And really? Eww.

By the time I got back to my seat, Josh had also freshened up, if you can say a guy freshened up. He had two glasses of orange juice. He offered me one as I sat down.

"ʺThanks."ʺ

It was so weird to look out the window and see the pitch blackness of night rushing past us. I sipped my orange juice as I peered out the window trying to decipher anything in the inkiness.

In the quiet that we settled in to, I let myself be lost in a jumble of thoughts.

This past semester had been beyond my wildest imagination, and if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I had a fantastic imagination. I had starred in a musical, lost my faith in someone I thought I loved, discovered that I had never really known my little sister, or myself, and then found love truer than anything in a story.

As we began our descent into Las Vegas, inspiration hit me.

I knew how to write the end of my semester fairy tale essay for Ms.

Bard. The story wouldn’t be inspired by any fairy tale out there. I would write my own. Yes, there would be villains and even a handsome prince. But most of all there would be a princess who found herself.

About the Author

Liz Botts was born, raised, and still lives in northern Illinois with her husband and three small children (two boys and a baby girl). When not writing, she enjoys reading, sewing, trying new recipes, and homeschooling her kids. She is proud to pass her love of stories on to her children, and makes several trips to the library each week. After working with teenagers for several years, she decided to write stories about them instead.

Check out another great read from Astraea Press!

Bryce Halloway only dates a woman once. No exceptions.

It gives him the reputation of a heart breaker, but he can handle that as long as it keeps his mother, Dinah, from trying to marry him off.

Judi Montgomery and her tempting ponytail finagle their way around official dates with car problems and driving lessons. She worms her way into his heart and entices him to want more from his life.

When health issues cause his father to retire, Bryce inherits the family-owned tractor repair shop. Can Judi’s love and encouragement give him the courage to break tradition and pursue his dreams of owning a custom hot rod shop?

Excerpt:

As soon as he’d closed his door, Bryce doubled over in laughter.

“Rabid mice. I thought he was going to bite his tongue off.”

“After he watched me try to contort myself through the window the other day, he deserved it.”

Bryce arched an eyebrow and a devilish grin curved his face. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that. Care to demonstrate?” He pounded on the support to the open driver’s window.

Judi shook her head, backing away from the car. “No way. These are my best pants. Besides, I’ve been watching Daisy on
The Dukes of
Hazzard
and I’ve got it all figured out.” She winked.

“Darn. I was hoping to give you some pointers.” He moved as if to boost her through the window.

Judi rolled her eyes. The idea of wriggling her behind through that window with Bryce watching made her cheeks flush. Big Jim was bad enough, but she could chalk it to ‘comes with the territory.’ Bryce, on the other hand, she’d hope he liked what he saw. And that’d make it doubly awkward.

“Spoil sport.” Bryce sighed. He headed for the Suburban. “Let’s take a look at your car before the parts store closes.” He followed Judi to the passenger side. She wrenched the door open and started to scramble into the seat. Her first attempt landed her back on the ground. Crashing against the door kept her from landing on her backside.

“You need running boards,” she mumbled.

“I don’t want running boards.”

Judi paused in her scrambling. “Springboard?”

A smile curved his lips. “Step down.”

Judi’s eyes narrowed skeptically, but she jumped back to the ground. Bryce placed his hands on either side of Judi’s hips and boosted her easily into the truck. Air rushed out of her lungs at the warmth of his closeness. He settled her into the truck seat. It seemed strangely concrete after the heady contact of his hands.

Yeah, that works.
Her insides squirmed like jelly.

“So that’s why all the women want to date you? That’s so old-fashioned,” she said, trying to appear calm. Her mind was racing down detours she didn’t want to take. She’d only get hurt pursuing this line of thought.

Bryce shrugged and winked. “Do you object?”

The wink killed her. Any flirtatious comeback she might have had vaporized. She made a show of adjusting the cuffs on her sweater while he slammed the door. She couldn’t let him know she was as affected as every other woman in town.

Bryce grinned and slammed the door shut. When he climbed in the driver’s side, Judi was grateful for the extra long bench seat. The sparks of attraction had to lose momentum flying over such a wide distance.

Astraea Press

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