Lisa: It’s been too long for me to remember exactly where it fit into the book, but I think it was toward the latter third or half. We had so much fun with Blaina, Smitty and Cash always teasing each other that we didn’t realize that this scene wasn’t necessary to the book when we wrote it, but I’m glad I found it again so I can share it with y’all.

“Hey, good lookin’, what you got cookin’?” Smitty tapped Blaina’s shoulder, interrupting her delightful breakfast of an omelet with a side of heartbreak and betrayal–or was that hash browns and bacon. It was hard to tell so soon after the disastrous weekend she’d had with Jay and his stupidity. Aside from his foolery, she’d also discovered the real, but subconscious reason she’d never been to that car show–because it would make her life hell…practically worth swearing off guys and cars and falling in love altogether.

“So you ready to hang on your boss again?” Smitty asked, apparently not caring that she hadn’t responded to his request for attention. “You guys looked so hot.”

She spun around ready to deck him, but instead replied with an honest lack of enthusiasm, “Bite me.”

“Is that finally an offer?” His green eyes lit with excitement, a shocked smile growing across his face.

Before she could get her focus back onto her plate of unappealing omelet, Cash jogged between catering tables, across the gray, liberally spattered with white drops of paint, masonite-covered stage floor. “Hey, if Blaina’s offering, don’t leave me hanging, man.”

“I thought you said you were always hanging…” she teased halfheartedly, “…low and in between.”

“Not with you, Blaina–”

“Yeah, instead, you leave us hangin’ high and dry,” Smitty finished.

A crack ran through the iciness coating her heart and she managed a chuckle. “And you think that’ll ever change?”

“A boy can dream.” Cash put his hands in prayer position in front of his chest and sighed. He was really trying this morning.

“You guys…” Blaina shook her head, then as an excuse to keep from talking, shoved a piece of bacon into her mouth. She swiped her greasy fingers across a white paper napkin before surreptitiously adjusting her short-sleeved leather jumpsuit. Today’s costume was already frying her because there was no air-conditioning on the vast, half-empty soundstage being used for catering.

She’d been through costume, hair and makeup…and managed to avoid seeing Jay, a tiny blessing in her world right now. If only she could go the rest of today–no, the rest of the shoot without having to see him again.

“So, why is it that they put you in such hot jumpsuits?” Smitty grabbed a chair and faced her before sitting down.

“Shit, Smitty, it’s not the jumpsuit that’s hot…” Cash hopped around the table and sat across from Blaina.

“I’ve got a better question for you guys.” Blaina shifted her gaze from Cash to Smitty and back again. “Why do you bother? You know I’m not gonna fall for the bullshit.”

Smitty spoke up first. “It ain’t bullshit, baby.”

“Puh-lease.” Surprisingly, there was no snappy comeback waiting on Blaina’s tongue…or anywhere in her mind, either. It was like the weekend had taken everything out of her.

Okay, so maybe it had. Maybe there was nothing left in her chest but empty space.

Dammit. Stunts and making movies were what made her world turn. But adding Jay into that mix had her world both spinning out of control and stopping completely, leaving her happy, crazy life one giant mess of chaotic misery. She sighed, trying not to be sullen, but this was hell. Sheer torture. Not even the combined dweeb forces of Smitty and Cash could get her to care about work anymore.

“You okay, Blaina?” Cash put a hand over hers. “I’m waiting for you to shoot me down, or put me in my place or something. Where’s the Blaina-love?”

Blaina swallowed hard. Was her pain and frustration that obvious or was this a new tactic of his? “What fun would I be if I were predictable?”

“I can’t speak for Smitty, but hanging with you, I expect a fair amount of clever jokes and harsh putdowns. But this morning, all I got was the standard eye rolling when you caught me watching you adjust your top. There was no scowling ‘grow up’. You didn’t even stick your tongue out.”

“Yeah.” Smitty’s eyebrows drew together. “And when you walked onto Stage Fifteen to check out the staircase, all you did was cross your arms over your chest–heaving it nicely through that open zipper–but still. There wasn’t even a wisecrack about how you could do the fall in your sleep or that you’d seen kiddie slides taller than that banister. What is up with you?”

She considered her answers very carefully. The truth wasn’t one of them. “Honestly, I was dreaming of a moment when I could finally talk to you two. See, this whole movie, I’ve been secretly dreaming of fucking you both and here we are and I just don’t know how to ask.”

Smitty and Cash looked at each other incredulously, jaws dropped, then thought better of it.

Cash shook his head. “Good Blaina, atta girl…finish your dig… I know it’s there.”

“It’s no joke, guys…”

Then Smitty did something that defied all logic–he got the right answer. “Yeah, you probably wanna fuck us with a broom handle or something, right?”

“And on that note, I bid you two farewell.” Blaina grinned triumphantly and stood. “See you on the battlefield, gentlemen. I’ve got a stunt to rehearse.” And a man to forget.

Digital versions

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Samhain, Sony, Kobo, All Romance eBooks, Diesel, Fictionwise

EXCERPT: Roadside Attraction
EXCERPT: Garage Rendezvous
EXCERPT: After Race Romp
EXCERPT: Helicopter Stunt
DELETED SCENE: Blaina and Sam Girl Talk