Lazy Days (51 page)

Thank you for reading Book One in the
Shapeling
Trilogy.
To discover more about the hieroglyphs from the Sacred Cave and
the Chladni Plate incident, please continue reading the second book in the
trilogy,
Fawn: Book Two: Master.
An excerpt follows.

Chapter
One: Rocky Beginning

Through the porthole of the jumper plane she'd
boarded at Denver International, Fawn Woods had watched her flight over the
Rocky Mountains and now her descent toward the small airport in Cortez,
Colorado.

The Thirteen co-Princes had summoned her a few
risings of the sun previous to reveal her first mission as a Shapeling Master.
She grinned at her new rank. It had been unexpected. When the co-Princes had
summoned her for Roth's ceremony, they had asked her to step forward and then
bestowed the same rank upon her.

Thinking about her friends, Roth and Rainey
Beowolf, Fawn's grin widened. Roth's decisive mission before advancement to the
rank of Shapeling Master had been to protect Rainey Childress, heiress and
scientist. Needless to say, sparks had flown from their first encounter. After
some manipulation by Fawn and Stella, Rainey's mother, along with Endesha,
Roth's childhood guide, and upon the command of the Thirteen co-Princes, Roth
and Rainey had been thrust together with the hope that they would fall in love,
and they had. They were now awaiting the birth of their first child. The fact
that prophecy proclaimed this child to be the coming Great Prince had been
revealed to Fawn by the Thirteen co-Princes.

Fawn remembered the apprehension she'd always
felt around Rainey after Roth and Rainey had fallen in love. The reason stemmed
from the fact that Fawn and Roth, as wolves, had been intimate, although a
lasting attraction had never developed. It was with great relief when Rainey
had come to Fawn shortly before her marriage and revealed her awareness of
Fawn's previous relationship with Roth. Rainey had said she was secure in
Roth's love and held no ill feelings toward her; she loved her like a sister.
Her words had released Fawn from anxiety and they had become soul sisters.

The airplane banked and the runway loomed
through the porthole. Fawn pushed remembrances aside and concentrated on her
current assignment. As a Master, the focus of her missions would involve not
only protecting objects or persons, but also resolving complex issues. Zoe
Spencer and her father, Wade, were the focus of this assignment. Unknown to her
father, Zoe was an Indigo child. The birth of Indigo children had been sporadic
until the 1970s and onward, when their entrance into earth's dimension had
increased dramatically because of that pivotal time in history. Indigo children
had special abilities and deep understandings of human frailties. More often
than not, they were misunderstood and misdiagnosed by the medical and
educational systems.

The co-Princes believed that Zoe, under the
right influence, could become instrumental in bringing creation one step closer
to enlightenment, a state also sought by shapelings. They had warned Fawn,
however, that her task would not be an easy one. The child had lost her mother,
the only person who'd understood her, in a car accident two years earlier. Her
father's grief and inability to relate to his sad child had driven them apart.
Now seven years old, Zoe seemed unreachable, which was the reason for Fawn's
mission. Going undercover as the child's caretaker and housekeeper for Dream
Catcher Ranch, she would attempt to reach the child and bring an understanding
to Wade Spencer of his daughter's special abilities.

Compared to previous missions, this one seemed
rather tame. While the plane taxied to the tiny terminal, she reminisced—Bengal
tiger protecting a tribe from extinction in the Amazon; lion protecting a Mayan
Princess; stray dog keeping a sniper from shooting the president of the United
States; consort to a Pharaoh to protect him from holy men seeking his life—Fawn
sighed. Of course, the co-Princes never revealed the entirety of a mission, so
perhaps this one would not be as mundane as it appeared. The plane made a rough
landing.

* * *

"Howdy, Wade," said Charlie Hodges,
the security guard at Cortez-Montezuma County Airport in Colorado.

"Hey, Charlie; good to see you," Wade
replied, as he strode purposefully through the automatic doors into the small
terminal. While parking, he'd watched the commuter plane from Denver descend
and touch down.

Sure
hope this nanny lasts longer than the last one,
he thought. His
irritation at having to retrieve yet another caretaker had him tapping his boot
rapidly while waiting for passengers to debark. The last woman had lasted three
whole days. After that, he had switched to another placement agency based in
Dallas that he'd received impeccable references on. They swore they were
experts at matching employees with employers. Ha—they'd never met Zoe.

Passengers began entering the terminal. Wade
looked for a woman wearing a green scarf and carrying a green backpack. He
spotted a grandmotherly type, but she wasn't wearing green. Another passenger,
a middle-aged spinsterish-looking woman was wearing a green blouse, and he
approached her. Maybe he'd misunderstood and Ms. Woods had said she'd be
wearing a green blouse. The spinster wasn't carrying a backpack, but he asked
anyway. "Are you Fawn Woods?" The woman gave him an apprehensive look
and said, "I am not!" before hurrying away.

Several male passengers entered the terminal and
Wade went from tapping his boot toe to tapping the side of his Levis with his
index finger.
Damn it, where is the woman, I've got a ranch to run.
Just as the thought exited his mind, a woman wearing a multicolored green scarf
tied across her shoulders and carrying a lime-green backpack, stepped from
behind a fat man.

Wade's mouth dropped and he muttered,
"Shit!"

Dream Kisses
Romance on the Ranch Series

By

Verna Clay

This book is dedicated to
everyone who loves…kissing!

Dream Kisses
Romance on the Ranch Series

Copyright © 2012 by Verna Clay

All
rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof
in any form whatsoever.

For information contact:

[email protected]

Website: www.VernaClay.com

Published by:

M.O.I.
Publishing

"Mirrors of Imagination"

Cover Designer: Elaina Lee (For the Muse)

Boots Picture: Ccaetano (Dreamstime)

This
book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are
products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.

I'm always amazed at how one or two words can
spark an entire world of characters. It was while writing the first book in the
Shapeling Trilogy
that the words "Dream Kisses" popped into my
mind, and I actually used the phrase once in that book. I liked the feelings evoked
by the words and decided to expand on them in another project. After I started
writing
Dream Kisses,
I had an overwhelming desire to give some of the
secondary characters their own happily-ever-after, and thus, the
Romance on
the Ranch Series
was born, with
Honey Kisses
,
Baby Kisses, Candy
Kisses, and Christmas Kisses,
being released thus far.

In
Dream Kisses,
Sarah Carter a.k.a. Mims
Murphy, meets Sage Tanner at Imaginings Publishing while he's posing for the
cover of her soon-to-be-released western romance novel. After being bulldozed
into a coffee break with him by her publisher, an embarrassing incident occurs
and Sarah walks out. Of course, fate has a wonderful way of intervening in
matters of the heart when Sarah decides her book needs realism, and signs up
for "dude" lessons at
Lazy M Dude Ranch.
Imagine her chagrin
when she discovers the owner of the ranch is none other than Mr. Tanner
himself! Yep.

Enjoy
the Fun,

Verna
Clay

Order
of books in the
Romance on the Ranch Series:

Dream
Kisses

Honey
Kisses

Baby Kisses

Candy Kisses

Christmas Kisses

Mims
Murphy followed Sissy Johansen, chief editor and co-owner of Imaginings
Publishing, through an ornate door and into a large photo studio on the
fiftieth floor of a high-rise in New York. Sissy had insisted that Mims meet
the cover models for her upcoming book,
Dream Kisses.
After writing five
novels with Imaginings with moderate returns, she had finally scored big on her
sixth, a chick-lit romance. Because of that success, Sissy had contracted with
her for three books in a "Kisses Series":
Dream Kisses, Honey
Kisses,
and
Baby Kisses.
Based on readers' exuberance, the books
were expected to be hits.

The
shoot had already begun when they slipped into the studio. Sissy motioned her
to a spot near a side wall. Mims leaned against the wall, her eyes riveted on
the models. Lights flashed and the photographer, a short skinny man with a
balding pate, called instructions. "Move in, Sage. Yeah, give her that
sexy, hot
hot
HOT look. Make her sizzle. Chastity, let him know who's in
charge."

Sissy
smothered a giggle and whispered, "Can you believe her name is
Chastity?"

Mims
bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud.

The
photographer called another instruction. "Okay, models, let's try a kiss.
The title of the book is
Dream Kisses,
so how about some dream kisses.
Make my toes curl."

With
a rather bored expression, the male model glanced in Mims direction. Her heart
tripped when their eyes met, something that only happened to characters in her
books.

Sissy
whispered, "He's absolutely the most gorgeous man I've ever seen, and I've
seen my share. If I were twenty years younger, I'd throw myself at him
unabashedly." She sighed.

"Sissy,
you're kidding, right? You're married," Mims shot back.

"I
think I'm kidding; not really sure."

Mims
shook her head and looked back at the models now sharing a passionate embrace
and kiss. The female had hit the genetics jackpot: curvaceous body, flowing
blonde hair, sexy sky blue eyes, and full pouty mouth. Of course, maybe it
wasn't genetics; maybe it was implants, hair salon, contacts, and Botox.
Whatever,
she's still gorgeous.

A
fan billowed the female's lavender silk drape gently around her luscious body
and lifted her golden hair off her shoulders. The male model bent her slightly
backwards, all evidence of his boredom gone when he laid a whopper on her. His
hair, the color of rich mahogany laced with sunlight, also moved in the breeze
of the fan. His linen shirt, falling off his shoulder and open to the waist,
revealed tanned skin and washboard abs.

Sissy
said, "My God, I think I can scrub clothes on his abs."

Mims
choked and shook her head at Sissy's forthrightness.

For
the next hour they watched the photographer command the models, and the models
perform magic. The experience transported Mims into the pages of her book. It
was as if the characters had found life—a special world of romance, adventure,
and a happily ever after that she wanted to step into.

"Okay,
boys and girls, I think we can call it a wrap," said the height-challenged
photographer.

The
male model stretched and the female model ran her hands through her hair. For
obvious reasons, Mims had expected the models to gravitate toward each other,
but with the shoot finished, they appeared oblivious to one another. Then, to
Mims astonishment, the female rushed to the photographer and bent to kiss him
on the lips. He responded and whispered in her ear. She blushed and giggled,
pushing at his chest. "Hon, gotta run and pick up the kids. I'm making
lasagna for dinner."

Mims
mouth fell open. Sissy saw the look and chuckled. "Oh, yeah, you've never
met Chastity and Chuckie Chambers. They're the best in their fields and been
married since their teens. Got two kids, but always act like they're on their
honeymoon. It's a shock when people find out they're married. We never give it
a second thought around here cause we see them so much. Come on, I'll introduce
you to everyone. Now, the male model, Sage Tanner, he's new, so I don't know
much about him; only that he's in demand." Sissy elbowed Mims,
"Wonder why?" She grabbed Mims' arm and pulled her forward.

"Hey
Chastity and Chuckie, I'd like you to meet the author of the book for the cover
you were just shooting." The Chambers greeted her with warm handshakes.

"OMG,
I just love your books
.
When Chuckie told me I was going to be the model
for your next one, I got so excited I couldn't stop talking about it. It's such
a pleasure meeting you!"

"Chastity,
I should be thanking you for creating such a beautiful cover," Mims said
warmly.

Sissy
turned to Sage who'd slipped off his linen shirt to reveal the body of a god.
He reached for an old T-shirt and when his head popped through the neck, she
said, "Sage, Imaginings is extremely pleased you're doing this book cover.
When our artistic designer saw your portfolio, she refused to look further. The
shoot was awesome."

"Thank
you, ma'am," he politely replied with a slight drawl. He glanced toward
Mims and her heart thumped again.
You write about this stuff, girl, you
don't live it.

Sissy
introduced them. "Sage Tanner, I'd like you to meet Mims Murphy, our best
selling author."

"I'm
pleased to meet you, Ms. Murphy."

"Likewise,
Mr. Tanner. But please, call me Mims."

"Okay,
only if you call me Sage."

Mims
felt utterly tongue-tied. A woman could drown in the man's Caribbean blue eyes
and never want to be saved.

She
found her voice. "Thank you for the lovely photo shoot. The cover of a
book is so important."
Lovely photo shoot? What a lame thing to say.
How about unbelievably incredible, undeniably sensuous, mesmerizing, and sexy
photo shoot?

"I'm
glad you liked it."

For
a second, there was an uncomfortable silence. Sissy said, "Why don't we
all walk across the street for a java fix. I understand there's another shoot
tomorrow for publicity photos that are going on our website. We can all throw
out ideas."

Chuckie
said, "I could use a break, sounds great, Sissy."

Chastity
declined, "Sorry, I've got to pick my kids up from school."

Sage
agreed, "Sure, that sounds nice," but he didn't sound very enthused.

Sissy
grabbed Mims arm. "I'll let the powers-that-be, namely, my husband, know
where we're going. Mims and I will meet you in the lobby in five minutes. She
pulled Mims from the room.

"Sissy,
I really need to go."

"And
do what? Hack away on your computer? Give it a break, girl. I just got the most
gorgeous man on the planet to join us for coffee. If you say you're not
interested, I'm calling the paramedics. Better yet, I'll call the white-coats
to have you committed."

"Sissy,
what are you talking about? I'm not even in that guy's league. Besides, I'm
older than him."

"Not
more than five or six years. Cougars are out there dating men decades—yes,
that's plural—younger than themselves."

"Sissy,
guys like that
do not
go for gals like me. It only happens in
books."

"Mims,
I saw the guy give you
that
look."

"No
way, Sissy."

"If
you try to get out of this coffee break, I'll…I'll…refuse to publish your next
book."