In case you haven’t heard, Mark O’Brien’s book, A Holiday Temptation, will be released THIS coming Friday. That’s November 6th. I’ve posted a previous snippet from his book. But I’m not done with holiday novellas yet! The following week, A Holiday Seduction will be released. Below is a snippet from Neil McKenna’s story (Neil first appears briefly in Aaron’s Patience).
Inhaling sharply, I turn to see the man who just spoke. My eyes widen when I see him. Blinking, I do my best to wipe away the moisture from my eyes, both out of embarrassment and to be able to get a clear sight of him. My mind has trouble processing that Neil McKenna stands here in front of me.
For almost a full minute, there are no words exchanged between the two of us. Only stares. I observe the way his long hair falls to his shoulders, the tips folding over into unruly curls, the thick, slashing eyebrows that appear slightly darker than the hair on his head, and the beads of sweat that trail down his straight-edge nose, dripping down to soak the strawberry blond hairs of his beard.
These features combined would make for a beautiful picture in and of itself, but the kicker is his eyes. The golden color is pretty, sure enough, but what elevates his appearance to breath-taking is the intensity in them. The depths in his eyes make you feel as if he were looking through you, right to your very soul. At least, that’s what I feel whenever I see him.
“Mister McKenna.” His name pours out of my mouth on a breathless sigh, sounding both titillated and relieved to find it’s him and not some random stranger standing behind me.
A small frown appears on his pink lips. “We’ve been through this, Desiree,” he responds, sounding disappointed. “Call me Neil.” He emphasizes his first name as if I’d somehow forgotten it.
I start to shake my head, but his frown deepens, as does the penetrative look in his eyes, and I stop myself. Clearing my throat, I respond, “Neil.”
His nostrils flare, and his head dips just an inch or so, approvingly.
“What are you doing out so early?” I ask since it’s barely seven in the morning. The fact that he’s dressed in running shorts, sneakers, and a T-shirt should make the answer obvious, but I’m at a loss as to what else to say.
He steps closer and peers over my shoulder since I’ve now stood and turned fully in his direction. He stares at the headstone behind me, his lips pulling downward and a sadness invading those golden-brown orbs.
“You couldn’t have saved her.” He allows his statement to hang in the air for a few brief moments before he pins me with his gaze.
It’s hard to speak around the lump that forms in my throat, but I manage to eke out, “I could’ve tried harder. Forced her to return to treatment again.”
Neil shakes his head against my stubbornness. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“Sure it does. I went to college with a guy who was in and out of rehab, and finally, when his parents kicked him out and told him they were done, he stopped. Another girl I know from high school got sober after her first stay at your rehab center. And Jackie told me about another patient with a similar story.”
“But none of them were Dierdre,” he says dryly. So dry that it cuts off any retort I can think to say back. Why? Because he’s correct. Not one of those people I mentioned was my sister.
I lower my gaze and turn my back on Neil, or Mr. McKenna as I’d taken to calling him since I first met him almost five years ago.
“She should still be here,” I mumble, staring at the date of her death engraved on her headstone.
October 3, 2017.
“She was only twenty-eight,” I murmur and lift my head to the right. He’s standing beside me, staring at me instead of the headstone. “I’ve lived a year longer than my older sister,” I whisper. It doesn’t feel right saying it out loud.
There’s something incredibly wrong about the fact that I’ve had a year longer on this planet than Dierdre.
Suddenly, the chill that threatened to invade every cell of my body begins to recede. Swallowing, I look down at my right hand to find it covered by his larger, left hand. He squeezes, and my knees weaken, not to the point of toppling me over, but noticeably so.
“I should’ve been able to save her.”
A Holiday Temptation – Coming November 6th
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