WIP Wednesday: Mateus gets a taste of an American delicacy

He's as wonderfully strange and intimidatingly
 intelligent in person as he seems in his books!

I'm at a librarian conference this week, so I haven't had time to do much more than my minimum NaNo count each day. In fact, I've barely been getting that accomplished.

But I'm learning lots of library things, which I promise is more exciting than it sounds. Plus I got the chance to meet Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), so I think Mateus and Crawford will forgive me if I've been a little distracted. *g*

A word on NaNo--I've been running a Come Write In program at my library this month, and it's been wonderful getting the chance to meet other local writers and see people hard at work on their craft. And I also had the chance to talk with Headline News about NaNoWriMo and the publishing world, which was pretty exciting.

All in all, it's been a few exciting weeks of NaNo! And just like usual, I was bitten hard by a new bunny just a few days into starting my NaNo project. It's a new collaboration with Lex Chase, and you'll have to wait until after November is over to find out more about it because the deadline for Tall, Dark and Deported will be here before we know it, so I can't nurture the bunny (*cough* the three book series bunny */cough*) at the moment.


Here's a snippet from Tall, Dark and Deported for your #WIPWednesday fix!

“What? Seriously? You've never had a hot pretzel?” Crawford's eyes widened incredulously. “Where are you from? Mars?”

Mateus snickered. “Portugal. We don't have—” he squinted at the bag. Grease spots were starting to soak through, and he had to fight not to grimace. “—Auntie Anne's.”

“Oh, this is just one type. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's the best type. I think they dip them in butter after they cook or something. But you can get hot pretzels everywhere. Sporting events, skating rinks, library food courts. You've really never had one?”

He reached into the white bag and pulled out a small doughy nugget that was covered in large pellets of salt. It didn't look like any pretzel Mateus had ever seen, though he'd never seen any that weren't small and hard, so who knew.

“Shouldn't it be folded?”

Crawford's brows drew together for a moment, and then his expression cleared. “Oh, these are pretzel bites. But yeah, they sell the big pretzels, too. These are just cut up so they're easier to eat. Less messy.”

The whole thing glistened with butter, so Mateus very much doubted it was actually less messy than its larger cousin. His gaze traveled up to Crawford's mouth, drawn to the full, rosy lips. There was a tiny bit of yogurt in the corner of his mouth, and the resulting mental image made Mateus shift slightly in his seat. Bree was right. He needed to settle down and stop fantasizing about handsome strangers in airports. Well, that last bit was his own addition, but it still stood.

“You should try it,” Crawford said. He held the pretzel out to Mateus.

Mateus shook his head. “They're your favorite. You keep it.”

Crawford held his gaze for a second and then shrugged. He popped the pretzel in his mouth, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment as he chewed. He had long lashes, Mateus noticed. And he made eating a pretzel look orgasmic. They had to be flirting. There was no way this wasn't flirting.

“Your loss,” Crawford said when he'd swallowed and opened his eyes again. “But they're about a hundred times better than they look, I promise. Are you sure you don't want to try one?”

Mateus's attention was fixed on Crawford's lower lip, which was glossy with butter from the pretzel. He swallowed hard. “A small one,” he said, his voice huskier than it had been only a moment ago.

Crawford grinned. He took another pretzel out of the bag, but instead of holding it out to Mateus, he let it hover in between them, his expression questioning. A beat later Mateus leaned forward and opened his mouth, praying he wasn't reading this wrong. Crawford's smile grew, and he gently placed the pretzel into Mateus's mouth.

 The taste of salt exploded across Mateus's tongue, followed by butter and the sweet, yeasty flavor of the dough. He'd been dubious, but Crawford had been right. The pretzel was delicious. Or maybe it was just that all of Mateus's senses felt heightened as he sat there eating out of a total stranger's hand.