The theme today is secondary characters. Two of my favorites are Emma and Mark from LEAVE ME BREATHLESS. Mark is the brother of the hero, Ben. Emma is an old family friend of both and the unspoken love of Mark’s life. Mark is a pretty broken guy but Emma refuses to give up on him…until:
“I agree Callie would be good for Ben long-term. Problem is he’s not a long-term guy.”The words slashed through Emma. “You mean you’re not a long-term guy.”
Mark’s mouth flattened even further. “I’m talking about Ben.”
“You’re talking about your relationship fears and imputing them to Ben. You are two very different people.”
Mark’s face closed up, as if on the verge of explosion. “I am not afraid.”
She noticed that’s the only part of her speech that bothered him. “Right. It’s worse than that. You’re terrified.”
He stopped touching her. His back inched higher on the headboard as the physical and emotional space yawning between them increased. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re actually going to sit here, in my bed, and ask me that question?”
“I have right to, don’t you think?”
She grabbed the sheet and pulled it up to her breasts. Awkward and leaning half on her side, she refused to lie back down and be quiet. One thing she learned from Callie was that there were times when a woman needed to speak up. Emma knew her opportunity had come and passed several times over the years as Mark waded in and out of her life. There were a thousand points where she could have said no. Not granted easy access to her house or her body. In this instance, she wanted to grab him and hold on. Make him stake a claim.
“Mark, what do you think we’ve been doing for all of these years?”
“Living.”
“Existing.” She hesitated, letting the reality sink in.
“Callie, I-”
“Why do you think I walked out on my engagement?” She saw the sarcastic comment coming and put on the brakes before he could say something that made her want to smack him. “And you better not say because of Ben or I will throw you out the window, I swear I will.”
“Your fiancée was the wrong guy. You finally saw that. If you had asked me, I could have told you that from the beginning.”
“Why didn’t you?” What she really wanted to know was why he refused to fight for her. Had the idea of her sleeping with another man really not eaten away at him? When it came to thinking of him with anyone else, she grew homicidal.
“It wasn’t my decision.”
She closed her eyes and counted to ten to keep from shouting. “You can’t be this clueless.”
Confusion warred with fury in Mark’s eyes. “What do you want me to say?”
“How about something that doesn’t piss me off.”
His mouth dropped open. “What’s gotten in to you?”
Backbone. The fear of losing him, of having him walk out and find someone else, no longer scared her as much as the possibility of moving backwards. She loved that he walked into her house today, during the day, and without the emotional protection of darkness, like he belonged there. That he shared moments of his work with her. That he finally gave her hours beyond those filled with great sex.
She stood up with the sheet wrapped around her body. With her skin still warm from his knowing touch, she threw down a challenge she never planned to issue. “I handed back the ring to another man because I love you. I’ve always loved you. Not Ben. Not any other man. Just you.”
Mark blinked but didn’t give her anything else. Not a smile, not a frown. He just sat there staring at her as if he had no idea what to say or do.
Yeah, clueless.
_________
Don’t forget to check out the other snippets:
Lauren Dane
Vivian Arend
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mari Carr
Shelley Munro
Shelli Stevens
Taige Crenshaw
McKenna Jeffries
TJ Michaels
Ashley Ladd
Subscribe to Posts
Hi Helen
by Mary G June 19th, 2010 at 9:32 amSo glad you picked Mark & Emma. I just read (& loved) this book last week and it’s still so fresh in my mind. I so loved this scene. So heart-wrenching and so “you go girl” at the same time. Just brilliantly written.
Oh how I loved Emma and Mark in this book. That was such a great scene.
by Lori June 19th, 2010 at 9:34 amI missed this book, how did I do that ? I’ve got to pick this one up soon.
by Linda Henderson June 19th, 2010 at 4:06 pmgreat snippet
by kh June 19th, 2010 at 10:37 pmThanks guys! I have to admit I love Emma and Mark. Even toyed with the idea of giving them their own book, but decided this was the better way to go.
by HelenKay June 23rd, 2010 at 10:35 am