Friday, August 3, 2018

First Kiss Friday – An Excerpt from “Waking Dream” by J.J. DiBenedetto


Today on First Kiss Friday, we welcome author, J.J. DiBenedetto, and an excerpt from his Paranormal Mystery with elements of Romance, “Waking Dream (the Dream Doctor Mysteries, Book Four).”

After nearly a decade of visiting other people’s dreams, Sara Alderson thought she had made peace with her supernatural gift. Until one night, while watching her husband dream, she saw someone else watching him, too: a mysterious woman in a red dress.

The woman in red keeps appearing in the dreams of Sara’s husband and his co-workers. Sara doesn’t know if this mystery woman is trying to steal her husband, drive him mad or something even worse. All she does know is that now she has something she never imagined: a nemesis. And the only thing more dangerous than a nemesis who shares her ability to step into other people’s dreams, is one who knows far more about that ability and how to control it than Sara does.


First kiss excerpt
Part one…
I need some water before I can properly fall asleep.  I get up, open the door and tiptoe out, down the hall, to the stairs.  But there’s already someone downstairs, and – I don’t know why – I stand perfectly still and silent on the top step. 

It’s Grace, pacing back and forth near the front door, looking quite impatient.  I don’t know why I don’t call out to her, but some instinct is telling me not to.  A moment later, there’s a hand on my shoulder, and I look up into Maggie’s tired and windblown face.  They must only have gotten back from nighttime skiing a few minutes ago.

“I was looking for David,” she whispers into my ear.  “He’s been in the bathroom downstairs for a while now.”  And now I think I know why Grace is pacing, and why in that particular spot.  I put a finger to Maggie’s lips.  We both hear a door open, and then David comes into view.  He’s heading straight for Grace.  Of course he is.

He stops about six inches away from her, right under the mistletoe.  They stare at each other for a minute or two; it’s too far away to judge the expressions on their faces.  Finally, in response to some unspoken signal, they come closer – closer – then their lips meet.  The kiss lasts for just a second, and they spring apart like a pair of repelling magnets.  But then, after another minute or so, they come closer again.  This time, Grace puts her arms around him, pulls him tightly to her.  Then she grabs his hand and places it – oh, God, I can’t believe she’s doing this! – on the back of her neck.  She holds it there, exactly in the spot that Brian always touches me.  The spot that makes me swoon when it’s touched just the right way.  And now she’s running her hand through his hair; again, just the way I do with Brian.  They do say that children copy their parents.

She tilts her head slightly to the side and goes in for another kiss.  This time it’s much more serious, and it lasts a lot longer. 

They break apart again, more slowly this time, and it’s hard to be sure with the distance and the dim light, but I think they look more confused than anything else.  I turn away to look up at Maggie, and her face is unreadable too.  “Go back to your room,” I whisper fiercely.  “Don’t let them see us!”  I follow my own advice and scamper back to my bedroom, closing the door softly behind me.
Brian’s looking confused.  “Where’s your water?”

“I got distracted,” I say, and I listen until I can hear Grace’s bedroom door open and close before I go back to bed and join Brian.  I wonder if I should even tell him, at least right now.  Obviously I can’t keep it from him – she’s our daughter, not my daughter.  But I don’t want him to overreact.  We’ve talked about the subject a little, and – probably because it’s always seemed like just a theoretical discussion about something that’s not going to come up for years and years – we’ve always both been calm and reasonable about it.  But that’s theory.  When a real boy has his actual hands all over our daughter’s physical body – even if neither of them had any idea what they were doing – I’m afraid calm and reasonable may go out the window.   

“By what?”

I can’t keep it from him.  “Our daughter’s first kiss.”

Part two…
I let myself drift back…
…This isn’t right.  Mom and Dad think that Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery are home.  They have no idea that Belinda and her brother Vince are home alone, and they definitely have no idea that Vince is throwing a party.  I don’t know why I’m even here.  I don’t want to be at a party with a bunch of juniors and seniors I don’t even know.

We’re sitting in Belinda’s kitchen, just her and me.  “So how big is this party supposed to be?”

Belinda shrugs her shoulders.  “You know Vince.  It could be a hundred people.”  A hundred?  Now I really don’t want to be here! But I don’t want to leave Belinda all alone.  She’s my best – my only close friend at school.  I can’t ditch out on her.

Here comes her brother now, with one of his friends, a short, stocky guy I think I’ve seen in the corridors at school.  They’re each carrying two cases of beer – I wonder which one of them has a fake ID, or maybe they got somebody to buy it for them?  They set the beer down on the kitchen table right in front of us, and open one of the cases.  “Here you go, ladies,” Vince says, handing Belinda and me each a can.  I don’t want – I’ve never even had beer before!

But everyone else is opening theirs and toasting each other.  I – I don’t have to, but Belinda’s my friend, right?  I open mine, salute them and take a sip.  I barely swallow it down without spitting it out; how does anybody drink this stuff?  Belinda doesn’t like it much more than I do, but she forces her beer down, and I follow suit while the boys laugh at us. 

“Hey, Belle, why don’t you put out some food?”  She’s told me she hates being called Belle, but she’s not going to get her older brother to stop doing it anytime soon.  I go to help Belinda set out several bowls of chips, and then she goes up to her room to change.  That’s all I need – not only will I not know anybody, but I’m going to look like crap compared to everyone else.  I thought my sweater was cute, but I’m sure Belinda will be back downstairs in five minutes with an outfit that puts me to shame.

And I can’t even borrow anything from her – she’s only a couple of inches taller than me, but she’s at least three sizes bigger.  Oh, well.  As I watch her go up the stairs, I see something hanging from the ceiling at the foot of the staircase.  Mistletoe.

I start to wonder who hung it there when there’s a hand on my shoulder, and I turn to see Vince.  He’s not much taller than Belinda, but he seems bigger somehow, or maybe that’s just my imagination.  I can smell the beer on his breath; we’re only a few inches apart.  He’s looking up at the mistletoe, too.  He puts an arm around my waist and pulls me still closer.  I let him; he is cute.  And I’ve never had an older guy show the slightest interest in me before.  Is this why he didn’t complain about Belinda inviting me?  Does he have a – a thing for me?

He’s leaning in towards me, coming closer.  I tilt my head up to meet him, I close my eyes, and I feel his face just an inch from mine, then his lips are touching mine, and – I – God!  I go limp, I don’t respond, but I don’t have to; his lips and his tongue are doing all the work – then from out of nowhere there’s a voice.  Belinda’s voice, loud and shrill: “Jesus, Sara!  Get your tongue out of my brother’s mouth!”  And then I feel her hands on my shoulders, pulling me away from Vince.

I don’t look at her; I run straight into the kitchen, grab my coat from the back of the chair, and I’m out the back door before anybody can say another word… 

“Waking Dreams” is available through:


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