Katie Ashley: Writer of Romance: Teaser Tuesday from THE PROPOSAL!!!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Teaser Tuesday from THE PROPOSAL!!!

4:45 PM | Posted by Katie Ashley | Edit Post

Yowzers!! What a debut week...oh wait, it hasn't been quite a week yet! I'm still walking around my house with a goofy grin and having moments where I just yell SQUEE! or HOLY SHIT! Yep, that's been me since the release of The Proposition!!

So, I'll quit rambling and get to the point, which is Teaser Tuesday!! This scene puts Aidan and Emma back together again for the first time. Ladies, she's making him work for it, I promise!! Patrick's had a little health scare that landed him in the ER(nothing too serious), and Emma happened to be with him when it happened. So, away we go!!

Aidan reached out his hand to flag down a passing nurse when the sound of singing stopped him cold in the middle of the hallway. Strains of Danny Boy floated back to him—his father’ s favorite song. Only second generation Irish, Patrick had grown up with the songs of the old homeland like Danny Boy and The Fields of Athenry. Aidan couldn’t remember a time in his life when his father wasn’t humming one of them.

But it wasn’t his father singing. This sweet voice cut through to Aidan’s soul, causing him to shudder.

It was Emma.

Her voice drew him nearer and nearer like a siren leading a man to his doom. His steps slowed to a crawl as his eyes honed in on the door down the hall from him. The last time he heard her sing was at grandparent’s Barn Dance—the night before he realized he was in truly and completely in love with her. But all of that was before he had broken her heart.

Pausing in front of the doorway, Aidan tried to still the rapid acceleration of his heartbeat. His father reclined back on the hospital bed with Emma perched beside him. She held his hand that was tethered to an IV pole in both of hers. Although Patrick had oxygen tubes stuck in his nose, he appeared to be feeling fine and was enjoying his impromptu concert.

When the last notes of the song echoed off the drab walls, Patrick applauded. “Beautiful, Emma! Absolutely beautiful!”

Even though she ducked her head, Aidan could see her usual flush of embarrassment that tinged her cheeks. “You’re welcome.”

“Without a doubt, you have the voice of an angel, sweetheart.”

Emma leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You know there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, and that includes singing a song with impossibly high notes in the middle of the ER.” One hand flew to her abdomen while a smile spread across her face. “Noah must be a true Irish Fitzgerald. He’s going crazy dancing right now!” Taking Patrick’s hand, she brought it to her belly. “See?”

Aidan sucked in a breath and staggered back. What the hell? His son had a name, and he hadn’t even had a part in it. How could she do something as monumental as naming their child without asking him? He shouldn’t have cared that Emma had bestowed her late father’s name on their son, but he did. Anger pulsed through him. Stalking through the doorway, he blurted, “Excuse me? Noah?”

Patrick and Emma both turned to stare at him. Emma’s face reddened from her ivory cheeks all the way down to her neck while her frantic gaze darted around the room as if looking for an escape. Scrambling out of the bed, she backed as far away from him as she could.

Although his attention should have gone to his ailing father, Aidan couldn’t take his eyes off of Emma. Any anger he felt quickly evaporated, and his heart constricted with love for her. God, he had missed her. He didn’t realize just how much until she was standing right in front of him like a vision. Three weeks without her and he was a physical and mental wreck. But Emma could have been one of Patrick’s roses in bloom. Her breasts were fuller, her stomach was rounder, and her hips wider. He fought to catch his breath.

AND, how do you like the cover?!!! *chews fingernails that you like it*