Samhain Publishing Ltd Weblog

Never the Same in Print on Aug. 21 and Contest!

Never the Same
By Diane Craver
Genre: Contemporary Mainstream
http://www.dianecraver.com

Never the Same has received some great reviews…
Shayla from Romance Junkies said, “I loved the realistic characters…It was wonderful to read a story about something that could actually take place; a tale that, with its believability, could draw me in so deeply. This book is for my keeper shelf.”

Sherry from My Book Cravings said, “Ms. Craver has written a very poignant, emotional story…This is a book filled with struggle, pain, tears and happiness. This story builds to an emotional climax that will leave you breathless, as you realize second chances are God’s way of making us realize what is really important in our lives. And sometimes things are ‘never the same.’”

BLURB:

When fashion buyer Kimberly Collins and high school senior Tori Moorhead escape a burning plane, both women make radical decisions that intertwine their lives forever.

Kim’s priorities change, especially in the bedroom. She’s thankful to be taken to another world—one of love and romance, not of smoke and death. When she decides she wants another child, her husband reveals his own shocking plans for their family.

Pregnant teenager Tori is on her way to get a secret abortion when the plane crashes. The baby’s teen father wants to get married. Her dad insists they consider adoption. Caught between the two men she loves, Tori struggles to make the right decisions for her baby and the future she dreamed of.

EXCERPT:
The night before the flight…

Kimberly Collins wasn’t a patient person. When she wanted something, she wanted it now. Right now, she wanted her husband, Steve, in bed with her. She sighed, wondering how much longer it’d take him in the bathroom.

She ran her fingers over her new teddy. She’d chosen the exquisite cream-colored lace for this last night home before her buying trip to New York. It used to be she never had to resort to seductive clothing to interest her husband, but he’d been working hard on a new advertising account and, with her busy at the store, they hadn’t made love for a couple of weeks—or maybe longer. She couldn’t even remember.

She sniffed her wrist. Good, just the right amount of fragrance. Too much of her raspberry body spray was overwhelming. She pushed her hair away from her face. No hair spray tonight. Steve hated the stuff.

Kim plumped up both pillows and glanced at the clock radio. After fourteen years of marriage, she knew his routine: a shower and a tooth brushing before bed every night.

But he should’ve been out of the bathroom by now. “Steve, you almost done?”

“Yeah, do you need to use the bathroom?”

“No.”

She thought about telling him not to use his new mouthwash tonight. The antiseptic smell made her think of a sterile hospital. She wanted a romantic night, but the gargling sounds coming from the bathroom said she was too late.

Steve, wearing only plaid, flannel boxer shorts, walked over to the dresser mirror. He flexed his right arm. “What do you think? Is the daily weight lifting doing anything?”

She almost groaned out loud. She’d given him video clips from old family movies as a surprise for his fortieth birthday, but her plan had backfired. After watching the clips and seeing himself in his younger, thinner high school and college days, he’d complained how much older he looked now and became depressed. Obsessed with his appearance, he joined her twin brothers’ gym and started weight lifting.

He patted his stomach. “Does this look better?”

“You look great. Very buff and…” She squinted at him. “Sexy and the best-looking guy I know.” She meant every word. He was a handsome man with his thick black hair and blue eyes.

After throwing back the cranberry floral comforter, Steve got into the king-size bed, but stayed on his side. “Man, I’m tired. Getting up to go to the gym before work is wearing me out.”

“I don’t see how you can exercise so early.” She scooted over close and ran her finger along his arm, hoping he’d take the hint.

“If I don’t go in the morning, I don’t seem to be able to work it in.” He gave her a quick, dismissive kiss. “Night, babe. I better get some shut-eye.”

“It’s early yet. I thought maybe we could spend some time together. We won’t see each other for a few days.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re leaving again.” He yawned. “Where you off to this time?”

“New York,” she clipped out, irritated. “I told you I need to see the new clothing lines so I can get my orders placed.”

The phone rang and Steve said, “It’s probably for me. John said he’d call about my plans for a new account.”

She knew it was his boss when she heard Steve say, “Hi, John.” They could talk advertising for hours. She might as well start reading her sister’s romantic suspense novel, Escapade, her latest best-seller.

After she read several pages, Steve got off the phone. She closed the book and put it back on the nightstand. “Did John like your suggestions?”

“No. He never does.”

“He used to love your ideas.”

“Well, he’s a stuffed shirt now. He never wants to do anything innovative.” Steve raised his eyebrows. “John reminds me of my organized wife, a control freak.”

She playfully tapped his shoulder. “Stop. I’m not that bad.”

“What about all your daily lists?”

She nodded. “I like lists because I seem to do the best with well-made plans. Since John doesn’t know a great idea when he hears one, we should make a new plan for our lives together.”

“What’s the plan, babe?”

“Quit your job. Take over the advertising at Altman’s. We’d get to see each other more often.”

“We worked together once and you hated it.”

“I disliked the work I did at the firm. I loved working with you.”

“Don’t think we can live on what I’d make doing ads for one store.”

“Well, on the side, you can do modeling.” She brushed her fingers across his chest. “This bod would sell a lot of clothes.”

He laughed. “I doubt that. Clothes aren’t my thing. I could live in ripped jeans.” He fingered the lace on her teddy. “You’re not wearing your usual tonight. What happened to the covered-from-chin-to-feet look?”

“Very funny. I decided to be like you and wear next to nothing to bed.” She stretched the elastic of his boxers back and forth. “I’m hoping your body heat will keep me warm.”

“You know, I was just thinking a little exercise might be nice.” His gaze dropped from her eyes to her shoulders and he slid the teddy off her body. “I love your breasts.” He ran his fingers tenderly over them. He held one as his mouth drew the nipple in and sucked on it, then did the same with her other nipple.

It’d been a long time since he’d touched her breasts. Too long. She buried her hands in his thick hair before she pushed his boxers down. “You need to be free of these.” She rubbed the tip of his erection.

“Oh, hon, it feels so good,” he said.

“I’m glad.”

He slid his fingers between her thighs and probed gently. “I’ve missed you.”

She clutched him as pleasure swept through her. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He pulled her on top of him. With his hands on her butt, he moved her back and forth. She gave him a long, deep kiss, wanting to go wild and beg for it, but she couldn’t concentrate. Why couldn’t she make him happy and have mind-blowing sex? His original indifference and John’s phone call had probably ruined her mood.

Steve rolled her over and entered her in one thrust. She had a moment’s satisfaction before he came and rolled off her body. Duty done, she realized.

Kim rested her head on his shoulder and threw her arm across his stomach. So much for having great sex before leaving. If they’d spent some meaningful time together earlier in the evening and shared a personal conversation or two, she would’ve had an orgasm. Or if they’d talked sexy to each other before this evening and made plans for a romantic night, it might have helped her mood. A little more foreplay would’ve been nice, but Steve seemed to have lost interest. Glancing at the clock, she said, “I guess I better let you go to sleep since you have to get up early to work out.”

He kissed her cheek. “I’m not going to the gym tomorrow. I’m taking you to the airport.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to. We might have freezing rain. I know you hate driving in that stuff.”

She grimaced. “Great. They’ll probably cancel the flight, and my whole schedule will be messed up.”

“They wouldn’t dare. The pilots would risk everyone’s lives so you can get there on time.”

Her jaw tightened. “That’s not true. I’d never put my schedule ahead of people’s safety.”

“Hey babe, I was joking.”

“Okay, but it didn’t come across that way.”

Fifteen minutes later, she sat up in bed and adjusted the pillow behind her. Steve’s sarcastic joke about the flight bothered her. She wouldn’t jeopardize other people’s lives. His mentioning her lists, her controlling personality and yet another trip hurt her feelings, too. Steve seemed to think her job was top priority to her. It didn’t used to be that way. In the beginning, they’d been in love and he’d been sensitive to her feelings and had never said anything like this to her. What happened?

If we could only recapture the wonderful feeling we had in the early days of falling in love. She smiled at the memory of meeting Steve. She’d just completed her first year of college and had been selected to be one of ten students in a special summer program. Since she worked in the fashion office, Kim assisted with various store jobs. Opening boxes of new merchandise, helping coordinate the items and assisting with the store interior and window displays were all in a day’s work. Steve stopped to talk to her when she was helping the window dresser.

“Could you please tell me where I can find Carol Ballard?”

Kim took one look at him and assumed he was the male model Carol was expecting. After she’d given the handsome guy directions, she found accessorizing her mannequins difficult. Her imagination kept wandering to his vibrant blue eyes and sexy smile.

“I don’t think the necklace goes with the swimsuit,” Steve said to her when he came back. “Then again, what do I know about women’s fashions?”

Since she’d been deep in thought, Steve startled her. She lost her balance, and she and the mannequin bumped into Steve. With one hand, he sat the curvy mannequin back in her spot, then put both arms around her.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yes… I can’t believe I lost my balance. I’m not usually clumsy.”

He smiled. “Good news. At least I think it is. You’ll be seeing more of me. I’m going to be doing television ads for the store.”

And what fun it’d been for them when he’d done the store advertising. They didn’t do anything together now. “Steve, when I get back from this trip, we need to talk about concentrating more on our relationship. What do you think?”

When he didn’t answer, she moved over to him and peered at his face. The full moon cast a light over his closed eyes. She sighed. He’d always gone to sleep quickly after sex, while it made her wide awake. But in the past, he’d held her next to him. Now he’d moved to sleep on the other side of the bed. She leaned over, brushing a kiss on his forehead.

While trying to sleep, she decided their marriage wasn’t going to stay on rocky ground. Since he was taking her to the airport, she’d tell him then how they needed to make changes. She’d explain how they didn’t understand each other as well as they once did, and they didn’t listen to each other. Both were at fault since they worked all the time.

Of course, he was liable to argue, “Hey, babe, who’s the one leaving here? It seems like you’re the person who needs to make the changes.”

Then what would she say?

~~
Thank you for reading my excerpt. Leave a comment about the last Samhain book you read and you’ll be entered to win a free download of one of my Samhain books. Never the Same, No Greater Loss or A Fiery Secret are the choices for the winner! Check back here in the comments for the winner. I’ll post it on Monday morning. Good luck!

Diane