Snow White (Enchanted Fairytales) (15 page)

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Sneak Peek of
Red and the Wolf
- a contemporary retelling of Little Red Riding Hood

Part I: Homecoming

“Hey, Red, wait up.”

Ruby stopped, teeth and fists clenched at the voice. Taking a breath and forcing a pleasant look on her face, she turned toward the speaker.

“Hey, Lowell, what’s up?”

Lowell continued jogging toward her. Ruby wouldn’t deny it: Lowell was gorgeous. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, strong jaw, full lips, just enough stubble to exude a sexy aura . . . buff in all the right places. Even covered in jeans and a jacket in the chill air, his strength was obvious. Most girls in their tiny mountain burg of Piera would give anything for Lowell to turn his gaze their way. And he had, on many of them, leaving a string of broken hearts. Not that it stopped those same girls from continuing to pursue him.

“Just chasing down the elusive fox,” he said, bestowing on her the grin used for melting girls’ hearts. Didn’t work with Ruby. She rolled her eyes and continued walking. If it wasn’t for her lifelong friendship with Lowell’s family, she wouldn’t give the guy the time of day. “Come on, Red, I’m just teasing you.”

Ruby stopped again in frustration. Lowell, hurrying to catch up to her, continued past at her abrupt stop and turned back to her.

“Lowell, I’ve told you how much I hate being called Red. Why do you insist?”

He shrugged, completely unrepentant. “It’s your name, right?”

“No, my name is Ruby.” There was one person who could call her Red and get away with it. And she didn’t need any reminders of
him
.

“Which means red. And if that weren’t enough, well . . .” He lifted a strand of her long, curly hair.

She cursed her parents yet again for thinking they were so clever naming their red-headed child Ruby.

She sighed. “You’re so . . .”

“Charming? Sweet?” Lowell’s fingers lightly pinched his chin. “Incredibly good looking?” He tipped his head comically side to side. Ruby couldn’t help it, she laughed. “See? I knew you liked me,” he said.

“Incorrigible,” she said. “You are utterly incorrigible.”

Lowell placed a hand dramatically over his heart. “Why do you wound me?”

“I’m in a hurry, Lowell,” she said with a grimace, and began walking again. “Is there a purpose to this torment?”

Lowell stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. As she walked away, he said somberly, “Thought you might be interested to know that my baby bro is coming home.”

Ruby’s feet practically skidded to a halt. Her mouth dropped. She raised a hand to her chest as if she could still her pounding heart. She calmed her breathing into a normal pattern, snapped her gaping jaw shut, and said, “Rafe’s coming home?” When Lowell didn’t answer, she glanced back at him. He nodded. “When?”

“Tomorrow.”

Ruby turned away from Lowell again.
Tomorrow?
Hurt threaded through her heart, and she forced nonchalance into her voice. “Good. That’s good. It’ll be good to see him again. Tell him to stop by the shop and say hi.”

Without looking at Lowell again, she walked away. She heard his muttered, “You’re not fooling anyone,” but ignored him, not in the mood to spar with him. Not about this.

Rafe.

Coming home.

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Red and the Wolf
? Get yours now at
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