Tangerine Twist released

Tangerine Twist just released on Amazon. Curious to get a peek? Here you go... (copyrighted excerpt from mid chapter 1)


Within two minutes I was up on the saucer cup-sized stage pretending to be a real guitarist--my beloved Tangerine Twist in hand--rocking out to Sabrina’s country twang.

The place was so packed that every table was filled and the floor fizzed over with more rowdy people than usual. Two girls sat at the corner table near the window and scrutinized me. They watched me intently, and whenever they looked up and caught me staring at them, the prettier of the two would challenge me with a smile. Her skin shimmered, and her hair, as dark and mysterious as a wild forest, cascaded around her breasts like ivy.

She polarized the crowd. She was like the sun, daring all not to look at her directly. I tried everything to avoid staring at her. She was so damn beautiful. I pointed my eyes down at the parquet floor, up at the swirled ceiling, across the bar to the swinging door to the kitchen. But like a magnet, I kept sweeping them back over to her for one more peek.

She caught me each time.

The other girl rattled my nerves. She looked a few years older and not as sweet and fun. A couple of wrinkles creased on her forehead like she spent a lot of time worrying about the world. When she looked at me, I felt like she was judging me, like a teacher grading me as if I were a sloppy homework assignment, slashing me with her red pen over and over again.

This created a fire in me, causing me to raise my playing level. The music flowed through me like water surged through the Colorado River, powerful and natural.

They were whispering to each other. The pretty girl was giggling and sipping a pink drink. Her eyes never left me. I focused on a pitcher of beer at the table over from hers just to avoid being caught again. The heat from her stare set my body on fire. I played, the adrenaline pumping straight from my fingers into my instrument.

About a half hour later when I was back serving drinks, they called me over to their table.

“What can I get you?” My voice quivered out of me, all choppy.

“Oh nothing,” the older girl said. “We just wanted to tell you that you sounded good up there.”

“Thanks,” I said, flipping the blank page to my memo pad over to a new blank page.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Becca,” I said.

She straightened up and shook my hand. “I’m Gabby. And, this is Kara.

Kara sipped her drink, and raked me over with her eyes. She was even more beautiful up close.

I dropped my hand from Gabby’s and offered it to Kara. Her skin was warm and silky.

“Nice to meet you,” I said to her.

She fluttered her long lashes at me. They reminded me of the palms that were used to fan Roman emperors. “You’ve got a great stage presence.”

“With a little bit of work, you could really be good,” Gabby said. “Don’t you think?” she nudged Kara.

Kara wrapped her lips around her little straw and nodded.

“Kara’s performing tomorrow night at the Escapade. You should come and see her.”

“You play, too?” I asked Kara.

She dismissed the rise of my voice with a sweet roll of her eyes then began playing with one of her long layers, the same lock of hair that was tantalizing her cleavage only moments ago. “I play a little.” Her voice leapt across the wooden table to me, over the bowl of pretzels and their crab-shaped napkins.

“You should come,” Gabby said.

“I’ll think about it,” I said, suddenly wishing I had a group of friends I could call up and convince to go with me.

Kara peered up at me and winked. “I hope to see you there, sweetie.”

Something in the way her eyes flickered at me sent a tingle up my spine. “Maybe you will.” I winked back at her, feeling sexy for a split second before I realized what I had just done.

Kara held her smile and I scurried off, bouncing a little more than usual from all the air under my feet.