Romance and Lemons

Did you make any new friends on Friday? If you did, post about it in the comments! I have a book to give away!

Today is the romance blogfest found on Jordan's blog. There's still time to sign up! So I'm about to share with you the scene from my novel Inevitable when Jayne, my MC, meets her love interest. There's a problem, though. Jayne can see how people will die. Not everyone. Just the people who smell like lemons.



The smell hit me two feet from the counter, and I staggered. No. There was no one in Cara’s check out line. He would go over to her line if I left. I turned around, knocking my thigh against the back counter.

“Hey, Jayne?” Cara called. “I need a bathroom break. Cover, please?”

Before I could even think of an excuse, Cara hurried past me. Fine. I took over for her, taking a deep breath. Lemon-person was in my line, and Cara could handle him when she got back.

“What are you doing?” Matt came over before I even started taking the first customer’s order. “You’ve got someone waiting at your register.”

“My register?” I didn’t know the registers were assigned. “Cara had a longer line and she asked me to cover for her.”

“You don’t ever leave your register.” He turned to the customer in front of me, dismissing me without another glance. “What can I get for you?”

I stood there, debating my options. I could run out the door, and lose this job on my first day. Or I could keep my eyes down, pretend to be shy, take this person’s order and be done with it.

Matt shot me a dirty look, and I backed away. Option number two it would be.

I shuffled back to my register, not lifting my eyes. I knew from the citrus scent that pervaded the air around me that the person hadn’t left. “What can I get for you?” I stared at the plastic covering the register keys.

“I’ll take a grilled Swiss sandwich on a cheese bagel with a side of potato wedges, please.” The customer’s tenor voice and rich English accent washed over me, melting me to the front of the register. I gripped the sides, using all my will power not to look up. Someone with a voice that beautiful had to be incredibly handsome.

“Anything to drink?” I hoped he didn’t notice how my voice trembled.

“Orange Fanta. Thank you.” Even the way he pronounced ‘Fanta’ tasted like a delicacy in my mind.

I rang up his order and handed him the receipt, not trusting myself to speak again. I stared at his tanned hands as he took the paper and then handed me a credit card. Aaron Chambers. Curiosity got the better of me—that, and the desire to hear his voice again. “Are you visiting New Jersey, Aaron?”

“No.” I heard a smile in his voice. “My parents just moved here from Herefordshire. That’s in England, if you didn’t know.”

His parents. How old was he? My hand lingered with his card between my fingers. I was desperate to look at him. Almost desperate enough to accept whatever I might See. “And what are you going to do now that you are here?”

“Jayne? That is your name, right?”

Betrayed by the name tag. I nodded, staring at the letters embossed on his card.

“I bet you have pretty eyes.”

I felt my face grow warm. He was flirting with me! Oh, Satan, get thee behind me! I handed him back his card, then gathered up his food items and put them on a tray. “Thank you for choosing JTs.”

“Thank you for serving me, Jayne.” My name sighed off his tongue, molding itself to the timbers of his voice. I listened to his footsteps die away, but only when the smell was gone did I look up.