Hey guys! Today I have an excerpt for The Devil's Tattoo by Nicole R. Taylor. I'll also be sharing the book summary, showing you where you can buy it, and posting a rafflecopter to the grand prize giveaway. Well, let's get this started. :)
(Summary provided by Xpresso Book Tours)
Zoe Granger picked up her first guitar the day her heart was smashed into a billion pieces. It was a way to keep her mind off her inevitable downward spiral, but music soon became her escape. She's been burned too many times to tell and is just happy to coast through life, never putting herself out there. That's until her best friend Dee suggests they start a band and suddenly she finds herself not just a part of it, but fronting the whole outfit.Intrigued? Add it on GoodReads!
They call themselves The Devil's Tattoo and when they release their debut EP, it rockets to the top of the charts and it's like an overnight fairytale. Contracts, photo shoots, royalties and interviews are heaped onto the shy Zoe and it's like she's finally found her place. Then comes the phone call that changes everything. They've been asked to co-headline a tour with one of the hottest bands of the moment, The Stabs and Zoe will never be the same again.
Will Strickland is one fourth of the hottest indie rock band to ever grace the airwaves. He's the bass player in The Stabs, hot as hell and could have his pick of any girl that flings herself at him. But he's only got eyes for Zoe and she has no idea why he'd bother. She's got one hell of a trust issue and an attitude to boot and Will seems to be the one who wants to tame her, but is he game enough?
The Devil's Tattoo and The Stabs go on the road and it's either going to be a highway to hell or a stairway to heaven. Only time will tell who will come out on top and Zoe's determined to do it without getting her heart broken… again.
"What are you on about?" I wondered who had talked, but if Simone had noticed, then Dee definitely would have.
"What's his face is more worked up than usual. And phwor, did you see his face when you walked out?"
My head sunk to my knees and I groaned.
"Hey," he said loudly. "Wanna give me a haircut?"
"What? No. I don't have any scissors." Until three years ago, I'd been employed as a hairdresser. For some reason that was now lost on me, I wanted to cut hair for a living. As a career. I now saw that I was ill suited for it. The reason being, that you have to like people and after the break up, people and I didn't get along. I'd cut ties with almost every aspect of that old life. I'd thrown away my scissors and equipment and every other reminder of that time that now seemed fake and empty.
"When you threw them out, I bin scabbed 'em when you weren't looking," Dee shrugged.
"You're so annoying." I wondered what his game was. He had to have one, because this was coming out of nowhere. Besides, he didn't need a haircut.
"I thought they might come in handy one day."
"Yeah, when you want a free haircut."
"Yeah," he said like I was stupid, which only made me more annoyed and he knew it.
"I don't want to go back to that shitty job."
"I wasn't thinking about that," he laughed. "I don't trust anyone outside of you and that bloke at the barber shop."
"That bloke has been cutting you hair for three years and you still don't know his name?"
"Nope."
"You two fight like an old married couple," Louie said, and I realised that everyone had fallen silent and were listening to us. I felt my face redden.
"You're cute when you blush, Zo," Frank declared loudly and I almost got up to drown him in the pool, but Dee made a bold statement on my behalf.
"Who needs a haircut? She's an artist, our Zoe. Slices and dices like Rembrandt."
"Dee," I hissed.
"What? Some of us might want to take advantage of your skills."
So, that’s how I found myself in the bathroom of my hotel room, Will sitting on a chair in front of me, a fluffy white towel around his shoulders, hair dripping wet. Dee's game was revealed and right now I wanted to give him a black eye.
Brandishing my scissors, I said, “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
It’s do or die, so I chose to do.
I tried not to be awkward about it, but I found myself thinking almost instantaneously about how I was touching Will's hair. Hell, I’d been a hairdresser for five years straight out of school for some unknown reason, and I’d touched plenty of hot guy’s heads. I’d shampooed and conditioned a ton of them. Scalp massages and all. And in all that time, I’d never felt so uncomfortably turned on as I did right now.
I pushed his head forward so I could cut in at the nape of his neck and was able to study one of his tattoos without him noticing. It was a small hourglass with grey wings. I had something similar and felt myself blush was suddenly grateful that he couldn’t see me in the mirror. I was red as a beetroot.
“Thanks,” he said as I began to cut. "It was gettin' a bit outta control."
“No problem,” I said as evenly as I could. “What’s the use of having a qualified hairdresser around if you can’t take advantage, right?”
“Right.”
I focused on what I was doing. I couldn't give him a shit haircut. After Dee talked me up like I was some kind of DaVinci with scissors, it had to be perfect. But, I couldn't quite get past the fact that I was touching him. It took all my strength not to straddle him then and there.
When it was time to do the top, I came around and stood in front of him, pulling the comb through his wet curls and for the first time I could see his eyes clearly. I did my best to look away, but he was staring up at me like he'd never seen a girl cut his hair before. I'm frozen to the spot, my heart thumping a million miles an hour.
He reached up and took the comb and scissors from my hands and set them on the counter. When he stood, the towel dropped and he grasped both sides of my face, pushing me back up against the mirror, and kissed me. It took me by surprise, so when I hit the glass, I opened my mouth with a gasp and he plunged his tongue right in and I can’t stop myself. I kissed him back, my hands raking up his back as I pulled him harder into me. He claimed me with a hunger that I didn't know he possessed and I wanted him just as much. Suddenly, I was alive.
Nicole R. Taylor is an Australian born paranormal, fantasy and contemporary fiction author. She is a graduate of the University of Ballarat Professional Writing and Editing programme and is a former music memorabilia sales person and grocery merchandiser.
She currently lives in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia with a two year old rescue cat named, Burger. She enjoys reading, writing (of course!), traveling and a little too much chocolate. One day she hopes to sky dive, but has to work up the courage first.
The first in her new paranormal fantasy series, The Witch Hunter Saga is available in e-edition and print from March 20th 2013.
As always, thanks very much to Xpresso Book Tours for having me along. :)
Thanks for being on the tour, Kathy! :)
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