Excerpt: Nuttycracker Sweet by Megan O'Russell
Enjoy reading an excerpt from chapter six of NUTTYCRACKER SWEET by Megan O'Russell.
Nuttycracker Sweet
by Megan O'Russell
Excerpt from chapter six
Elle put in her earbuds, listening again to the music for the ballet. Pointing her feet, she could feel the snapping and cracking of her joints reverberate up her body. Why did it have to be so cold? And why was she warming up to dance in a freezing cabin with a man she hated?
Zach planted his hands in the middle of the floor and kicked up into a handstand. He held for a moment before doing pushups.
Elle turned away and started stretching.
Perhaps the best question was how she had managed to end up in a cabin with an egotistical man with gorgeous hair and rippling muscles, who she just so happened to hate for being a chauvinist.
“Come on, Sugar.” Zach came up behind Elle and pulled her earbuds from her ears. “Time for me to toss you around.”
“You know, sometimes the way you say things makes you seem more like a douche canoe than even you could possibly be.”
“I know.” Zach smirked. “But watching that evil glower you have makes it so worth it. Really, you should see how much your eyebrows wrinkle.”
“I’m not glowering,” Elle growled, consciously trying to relax her forehead.
“We’ll walk through it from the top,” Zach said, smirking as he ignored her. “The three-headed deer can be our audience.”
Slowly, they worked though each section of the pas de deux, marking each lift and practicing each hand hold.
Zach was standing behind her, ready to dip Elle to the floor. “I can get you farther down if I hold you from here.” Zach slid his hand from Elle's ribs down to her hip.
Elle's heart leapt into her throat. She took Zach’s hand and slid it back up to her ribs. “This is Balanchine choreography. You’re supposed to support by the ribs.”
“But it will look better -- ” Zach slid his hand down to cup her hip “ -- if we do it this way.”
Elle glanced down at his hand. Her torso was long. The dip would look better. His hands were huge. He could lift her any way he liked. Elle’s face flushed.
“Fine.” She jumped away from Zach so suddenly he stumbled backwards. “If you want to change the ballet canon, I won’t fight you on it.”
It had gotten hot: much too hot in the tiny cabin room. Elle pulled off her sweatshirt and thermal, leaving herself in only her leotard on top.
“We’ve run through all the lifts but the high ones.” Elle tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “And we can’t do those in here.”
“From the top?” Zach asked, stretching out his arms for her.
She knew the steps. She had done them for years. But it was different, dancing next to a fireplace with Zach.
BOOK INFO
Nuttycracker Sweet
By Megan O'Russell
Fiery Seas Publishing
December 8, 2015
Contemporary Romance
Pointe shoes, tutus, and a snowy road trip with the man she hates. What could possibly go wrong?
The plan was simple. Get to Portland, dance The Nutcracker, and don’t murder your dance partner. And most definitely, do not, under any circumstances, fall in love with him.
A snowy road trip strands Elle Grant in a tiny cabin better suited for serial killings than rehearsals for two professional ballet dancers. With no one but the incredibly talented, excruciatingly handsome, and notoriously terrible Zachary Benson and a few taxidermy woodland creatures for company, Elle’s Christmas plans are officially ruined. Can she and Zach learn to like each other enough to dance together? And can Elle get home without losing her heart to the Christmas Cavalier?
AMAZON ~~~ BARNES & NOBLE ~~~ KOBO ~~~ iBOOKS
Megan O’Russell is the author of the young adult fantasy series The Tethering, and Nuttycracker Sweet, a Christmas novella. Megan’s short stories can also be found in several anthologies, including Athena’s Daughters 2, featuring women in speculative fiction. Megan is a professional performer who has spent time on stages across the country and is the lyrist for Second Chances: The Thrift Shop Musical, which received its world premiere in 2015. When not on stage or behind a computer, Megan can usually be found playing her ukulele or climbing a mountain with her fantastic husband.
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