Work-in-Progress: Driving Miss Crazy

I thought I'd share an excerpt from my NaNoWriMo WIP, titled Driving Miss Crazy. The hero, Slade, is the younger brother of Ryan, the hero in I Do. . . or Die.

In this scene, Slade is in the backyard with Ryan, having a beer, and trying to figure out his feelings for the new woman in his life.

It's still a first draft, and subject to change, but I hope you enjoy!

"Have Mom and Dad started bugging you about grandchildren yet?" Slade asked.

"Are you kidding? It started at the reception, in the receiving line. I had to hold on to Shelby so she wouldn't faint."

Slade chuckled and then said, very casually, "You know that old song, 'Fooled Around and Fell in Love'?"

"The Elvin Bishop one?" Ryan looked at him over his sunglasses. "You need help choreographing your next dance routine?"

"No! Like I would tell you about it ahead of time anyway."

"I didn't think so. For one thing, it's a slow song. You suck at those."

"Yeah." Slade took a slug from the beer bottle, nearly draining it. "Anyway, I think maybe that's what happened to me."

Ryan sat up so quickly the chair wobbled. "Holy sh--. Are you sure?" he asked, as if Slade had just announced he had four of the five winning lottery numbers.

"That's just it," Slade said. "I don't really know what it's like. I just know it's—different. Not the same."

Ryan chuckled. "That's pretty much what different means."

Slade growled and then finished off his beer. "I guess I wanted to know, well, how you know what this is." He gestured with one hand, a big vague circle.

Ryan smiled, leaning his head against the back of the chair. "Well, do you feel a hole burning in the pit of your stomach at the thought of never seeing her again?"

"Yeah," Slade admitted.

"Do you grin every morning when you wake up and think about her being next to you like that all the time?"

"Of course. But—"

"You're wondering about all those women you haven't met yet, that you're giving up."

"Exactly." Slade sat forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "That's exactly what I'm wondering."

Ryan slid his shades up his nose, his lips curving into a very self-satisfied grin. "Well, the whole point of meeting all those women is to narrow it down to the one you want to be with."

Slade slumped back in his chair. He lifted the bottle to his mouth and realized it was empty. "I hadn't really thought of it that way, I guess."

"Well, maybe you'd be better off talking to Shelby," Ryan added. "She's the one who had commitment issues, not me."

"I don't have commitment issues," Slade protested. "I have not-settling-down concerns."

Ryan tilted his glasses down once more to give Slade one of those looks.

Slade raised his hands. "Okay, I'll ask Shelby—"

"Ask Shelby what?" She walked up behind Ryan and leaned over to give her husband a kiss on the top of his head.

Ryan's eyes were closed but he didn't hesitate to issue his standard warning. "Slade, do not even think of ogling my wife."

"I'm not," he protested, even though he was totally ogling Shelby. He shot her a wink, and she rewarded him with one of her delicious smiles.

"What were you supposed to ask me?"

Slade shook his head. "Nothing. I'll ask you later. When I can have you all to myself."

Ryan emitted some kid of caveman sound, but Shelby came around and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around Ryan's neck. It didn't take Slade five seconds to figure out it was time for him to leave.

"I'll just go—" He gestured towards the sliding glass door, even though nobody had their eyes on him. "And get another beer. Anybody else need--yeah. Guess not. Okay."

He ambled towards the house, stopping once to watch his brother and sister-in-law. Ryan tossed his head back and laughed, and Shelby slapped a hand over his mouth, blushing at the same time. Ryan wrapped his arms around her waist, and Slade recognized the gesture as a protective one, and his brother's expression was one of pure contentment.

Slade walked into the house, massaging a spot right above his heart. Great. Now he'd gotten heartburn. He twisted around to shout to Ryan, asking him where the antacids were. But Ryan and Shelby were in their own little world, oblivious to him or anyone else. The pain in Slade's chest sharpened, and he realized antacids wouldn't do any good.

He needed something else to take care of this feeling of envy, mixed in with wistful longing. And her name was Katie.