CLICK PICTURE TO PURCHASE

My book Wishing on a Star is a rare romance because there are essentially TWO leading men.  The book is about a love triangle between Shay Logan, Woody Hollister, and Ric Weaver.  If I’ve done my job right you’ll be in suspense until the very end as to which man—if either—Shay finally picks.

Naturally, with that scenario as a basis, there are some pretty volatile scenes between these characters.  Here is a sample; a scene that occurs between Shay and Woody:

<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

“Woody!  What a surprise!”

Woody barged past her into the house, “Just thought I’d pop over to see if you were still up.  I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

This was a Woody Shay had never seen.  His easy going manner was gone as he paced the living room like a caged tiger; his eyes snapping with anger; his face contorted into a rebuking grimace.

“Of course you’re not interrupting anything.  I was just about to get ready for bed.”

“Yeah, I just bet you were!  You’re sure I’m not intruding on anything?  I mean three’s a crowd, and all that.”  He looked her up and down, “Hot outfit,” he remarked sarcastically.

Shay crossed her arms, “I don’t have the slightest idea where you’re coming from, Woody.”

“Well, that puts me one step ahead of you, Shay.  I do know where you’re coming from.  At least, I know who you came with.”

It was all starting to make sense now, but Shay asked anyway, “You want to stop talking in circles, and get to what’s really on your mind here?”

“All right, I’ll tell you what’s on my mind.  Wondering what’s on yours–or if you indeed have a mind at all.  Shay, what were you doing with that dirt-bag Weaver?”

Shay felt herself getting angrier by the second.  “Since you obviously saw it, what did it look like I was doing?”  Wood was still rambling around like a man possessed.  “And if you’re trying to provoke him out to face you, you can stop now.  He’s not here.”

“I know he’s not here.  I saw the chump leave.  I guess you were too busy to see me.  I was waiting for you in my car, down the street.”

Shay stopped short, “Are you telling me you had this house staked out, spying on me?  Waiting for me to come home?”

“You damn right I did.  And that bastard better be glad he left you at the door.”

“You’re the one who better be glad!” Shay erupted.  “You’re lucky I chose to come home at all.  Otherwise, you might have been sitting out there in your car like a jerk all night!  Who the hell do you think you are, sitting outside my house, watching who comes and goes?”

“Apparently a person with better judgment than you have.  How could you go out with him? Don’t you know how he is?  Don’t you know the things he’s done?”

“We’re not talking about Ric now, Woody.  We’re talking about you and me.”

“All right, then; let’s talk about you and me.  What is this crap?  I thought we had something going.  I thought we cared about each other.  And here you up and sport yourself around town with the likes of Ric Weaver!”

“I wasn’t sporting anywhere with him,” Shay said between clenched teeth.  “I just had dinner with him, Wood, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay!” Wood exploded.  “Here like a fool I’ve been playing it slow with you for months.  You weren’t sure–I waited.  You weren’t ready–I waited.  You just plain wanted to wait–I waited.  Only to find you’ve been running around behind my back with him!”

Shay’s temper had reached fever pitch by now, and as usual for her, anger made her calm. “Let’s get a few things straight here, Woodington.  First of all, not that I have to tell you a damn thing, but I haven’t been ‘running around’ with Ric.  He came by, he asked me to dinner–and I went.”

Wood’s eyes flashed fire, “And what else have you done that he’s asked you to do?”

“None of your damn business!” Shay shot back.

“None of my business!  How can you say that when we have…”

“We have a friendship, Wood.  And if you want to keep it, I suggest you listen to me very carefully right about now.  What did you think?  That no other man in this city could find me attractive?  That you had a claim staked on me?  That I was your property?”

That took a little wind out of his sails, “No, Shay, of course I didn’t think any of that, but…”

“Then you need to understand something.  I like you, Woody, and I do care for you.  You know I do.  But I go where I like, when I like, with whomever I like, and I don’t need your permission to do it!”

Woody saw he’d made a major tactical error.  Now that he had calmed down a bit, he could see that Shay was seething.  “Shay, look, I didn’t mean…”

“Is a little competition too much for you, Wood?  Well, if you can’t stand the heat, you better get out of the kitchen.  Mrs. Logan’s baby girl don’t play that ‘I own you’ crap.  I already got a Daddy, but he’s back in Detroit.  And even he stopped trying to tell me who I couldn’t go out with when I graduated from high school!”

“Look, Shay,” Wood said slowly, running a hand through his hair, “I’m…I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to barge in here like a crazy man.

“We finally got the Holly debacle straightened out.  She’s on her way back to L.A.  So I rushed over here to see if we could salvage what was left of the evening.  When there was no answer at your door with your car still in the driveway, I got worried.  I was just sitting in my car getting ready to call your cell phone when you drove up with him.”  Woody spat the word out like it was slime.

“It was all I could do to keep from running up and punching that punk when he kissed you.  I…I just lost it.  I never felt so jealous of anything or anyone in my life.  But I had no right to come on to you like that.  Forgive me, Shay.”

Shay gave a deep sigh.  “I forgive you, Woody.  I know you too well, and think too much of you not to forgive you.  And I can understand how it must have looked, and how you felt.  But please–don’t ever run any junk like that on me again.  I don’t like it.”

“I won’t, Shay; I promise.  But look…” he took her hand, “we had a very special evening planned.  Don’t you think we could still try to save what’s left of it?  Richmond has kept dinner waiting at home, and…”

“I’ve already eaten, Woody.  And I’ve got the headache of the century right now.  I’m not in the mood.”

“It’s…him, isn’t it?” Wood asked slowly, clearly dreading the answer.

Shay looked him in the eye, “Yes, Wood; it is him; at least partially.  I can’t deny any longer, not even to myself, that I have feelings for Ric.  But, as you can see, I sent him home, too.  I don’t know what to do right now.  All I know is that I need some time alone–to think.”

“All right, honey,” Wood kissed the hand he was still holding.  “I’ve waited for you this long.” He touched Shay’s face, and looked deeply into her eyes, “I’d wait for you ’til the end of time, if I had to.  You know that now, don’t you, baby?”

Shay looked away from him, and just nodded.

They walked together to the door.  “Well…could I at least kiss you good night?” Wood whispered.

Shay nodded, with the weirdest sense of deja vu.

Wood wrapped her up in his arms and held her close, as if he never wanted to let her go.  He kissed her passionately, but not with a passion born of lust.  It was a passion born–she now knew–of love.

<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

Click here to go to the Raynetta Manees Books page on Amazon.com

(WISHING ON A STAR is available as a Kindle book or as a paperback)

Click here to go to the Raynetta Manees Books page on Barnes & Noble

(WISHING ON A STAR is available as a Nook book or as a paperback)