Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Excerpt: In the Pursuit of Charity - Alexandria Sure

In the Pursuit of Charity
by Alexandria Sure
Genre: New Adult –college/sports
Publisher: Beaumont Tower Press

He expected her to recognize him.
He expected her to be seduced by his charms.
He expected her to fall for him.
Expectations are a funny thing …
When his parents named him Herbert Lincoln James, they already had expectations that Linc would attend an ivy league university and go into politics. Linc didn't. As captain of his swim team, he was expected to win the big relay to carry his swim team to the state championship for the first time in decades. Linc didn’t. Society expected him to walk past her. He couldn’t.
  
She expected him to see through her.
She expected him to make her into a joke.
She expected him to be cruel.
Expectations are a funny thing …

Excerpt
"I heard you the other night collecting money from your bet."
Her eyes narrowed. "You're going to need to be a little more specific than that, I'm afraid."
What the hell? Who is this girl? Is she running numbers?
Linc closed his book and leaned forward. "The night after the playoff game in the diner. OT foul shot. 'Padgett is your boy!'"
She laughed, and it sounded like pure happiness and smart-ass twisted into a bow.
That laugh is amazing.
"Easy money," she said, as she continued laughing.
As suddenly as she laughed, she stopped. "What do you want? I need to study. I don't have time for jokes–"
"Great, let's study," he said, cutting her off. He opened his textbook and started reading. He felt her studying him, but bore in on the Principles of Secondary Education.
After an hour, Linc stretched and stood up. Linc's eyes traveled over her face as if she were a live painting. She looked up him, and his heart flopped.
"Would you like a refill?"
"I'm fine."
"Finally, we've found some common ground. But I was asking you what you want to drink."
He watched her expression morph from confusion to embarrassment. Her mouth opened and shut without words escaping.
You could tell me your name.
As Linc approached the counter, Shelley greeted him with a full-teeth smile. "Well, look who came back. What can I get for you today?"
"Do you see the girl over there in the oversize MSU shirt? Do you happen to know what she orders?" Linc turned to catch the girl looking him over. Her eyes quickly returned to her book.
And, there it is. Confidence level back where it belongs.
Annoyed at being ignored, the barista's bubbly disposition faded. "She's a vanilla latte and a coffee cake muffin."
"I'll take two of the latte things." After checking the numbers on a twenty, Linc paid for the coffee. He turned, hoping to catch her eyes on him again.
Come on, Pretty. Show me your eyes.
"I'm going to make yours special," Shelley added with a wink, as she handed him the change.
He leaned against the counter and examined his dollar bills for winning numbers. Shelley winked again as she set the coffees on the counter.
Thanks, but no.
Linc placed one of the cups in front of his tablemate. "One vanilla latte." He settled in across from her with his first ever vanilla latte.
"This one's yours."
Linc smiled at her. "Nope. They're the same."
The girl, whose name remained unknown, slowly turned her cup. A phone number and 'Call Me, Shelley' was written in bold black marker.
Are you shitting me?
The pretty mystery girl's eyes held no emotion. He grabbed the cup and walked purposefully to the counter.
"Excuse me, Shelley." Linc held up the cup with her handwriting. "This is flattering. I guess. But I'm trying to get that girl to go out with me and this is NOT helping. So, would you please pour this coffee into a new cup without your name and phone number so I can have half a chance?"
Shelley glanced at the girl and her mouth opened with a look of shock.
"You're joking."
Linc shook his head. "Afraid not."
Shelley poured the latte into an unmarked cup and placed the coffee on the counter, and then walked through the 'employee only' door without another word.
He placed the latte in front of the girl who was making him work harder than any other girl ever had.
Don't be a pussy! Just ask.
"So, will you go out with me?"
Author Bio: 
Alexandria Sure is from Michigan and adores her supportive family, her two rescue pups, and her mighty Spartans. Her coffee obsession leads her to writing in local coffee shops where characters come alive between salted caramel lattes and large cups of "cold brew extra cream two Splenda," which are usually on the counter when she walks in because the baristas know her car. (Thanks, Biggby!)

When she is not writing, she spends a great deal of her time perfecting her craft. She is an active member of Capital City Writers Association and attends several writing conferences each year.

Sure's first novel, Before Him Comes Me, is an unconventional romance of self-discovery, described by readers as "the first BDSM book with no sex."

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