Sweet Saturday Sample: The Sentence

A five star review for The Sentence! Book Reviews by Arlena said, "The Sentence by Elaine Cantrell is one of the most amazing novels that was simply an excellent read. The characters were simply off the chart good." Read the whole review at http://arlenasbookreviews-arlenadean.blogspot.com/2012/06/sentence.html?zx=1e1a789acb49b3cd#!/2012/06/sentence.html

I guess the excerpt today has to be from The Sentence.  In this excerpt my hero and heroine have just finished a Christmas play where he played Joseph and she played Mary.  The Sentence is now available at http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662255&mode=product&product=10046831 or at most other retail outlets.

Determined not to give him the satisfaction of flustering her,

Rachel coolly removed her own robe. “You did good tonight,” he

said, his voice warm and happy sounding. “You almost convinced

me you were Mary.”

“Thanks.”

He stared at her. “Well? Is that all?”

Rachel shrugged. “What did you want me to say?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You might say something like, ‘You did a

good job, too, Clint.’”

Rachel’s eyes burned. Did he really think she’d want to give

compliments to him? She had promised God she’d watch her

mouth, but she didn’t think that meant she had to stroke his ego.

Clint took a step closer to her. Goodness, why hadn’t she

noticed how warm the room was behind that curtain? She didn’t

like being so close to him either, but for some reason she didn’t

move away.

 “Look above your head,” he said.

Rachel looked up and saw a sprig of mistletoe tied to a

ceiling fan with a long piece of red yarn.

“That’s mistletoe, Rachel.”

“So? I imagine the high school kids tied it there so they

could steal kisses.”

When Clint took another step toward her, Rachel’s heart

started to pound. “You’re really pretty, Rachel.”

Rachel felt herself blushing. “I don’t want empty

compliments from you.”

This time when he stepped forward he took her hand. “Oh,

it isn’t an empty compliment. You’re one of the prettiest women

I’ve ever seen.”

Rachel’s heart now took off in a mad gallop. She knew she

should leave the empty auditorium immediately, but her feet

wouldn’t move.

Clint slid his arms around her and muttered. “Don’t argue

with tradition.” So saying, he gently kissed her on the lips.

Rachel gasped and tore out of his arms. “Don’t you ever do a

thing like this again! If you do I’ll tell my father.”

Clint looked as if her outburst had taken him totally by

surprise. “I said you were pretty and kissed you under the

mistletoe. What’s so awful about that? That’s what people do at

Christmas.”

Rachel wanted to tell him, but the words tangled in her

throat and prevented her from saying anything.

Clint’s face hardened as the soft light and little smile faded

away. “What’s the matter, Rachel? Are you ashamed to say I’m not

good enough to kiss you? That’s the problem, right?”

“You’re…you’re…”

He held up his hand to silence her. “You don’t have to say

anything. I get it.”

He spun around and jogged out of the auditorium leaving

Rachel in tears. What was the matter with her? Did she hate him or

did she…like him?