Did you ever have one of those moments when you discover something that would have been oh, so helpful months ago?  So then you have to bitch & moan & bluster for a while, running around the house ranting & raving & occasionally banging your head against the wall.

That’s just me?  Oh, well…never mind, then.

But I did just run across something fabulous that would have been so very much fun to post six months ago, just before TANGLED UP IN LOVE came out…

“All Tangled Up in Love” by Earl Thomas Conley

You were the heartbreak kind
Out for a one night stand
And me I’d been hurt
And I needed some help to forget
We didn’t want any lasting thing
Just someone to hold till the morning came
We said there’d be no looking back
No ties that bind
No strings attached
But oh how we changed when the sun came up
Look at the two of us
All tangled up in love
You were the goodbye kind
Footloose and fancy free
And me I’d made up my mind
Love was too hard on me
We planned to stay just one night
Then walk away in the morning light
Oh we said there’d be no looking back
No ties that bind
No strings attached
But oh how we changed when the sun came up
Look at the two of us
All tangled up in love
Oh you and me didn’t plan it this way
Something went wrong in the night
Now maybe we’re not free anymore
But what can we do when it feels so right
We said there’d be no looking back
No ties that bind
No strings attached
But oh how we changed when the sun came up
Look at the two of us
All tangled up in love

Sooo…  Perfect, right?  And I’m sure you can log in to iTunes or some other music source to hear a snippet sung.  I did, although at iTunes I had to search for the song title, as the only version available was by another artist.   But still…good stuff.

Yes, I realize we’re coming up on the release of LOVES ME, LOVES ME KNOT—squee!!! only two more days now!!!—not a re-release of TANGLED (ooh, but now that I think of it, wouldn’t that be nice? ), but I still thought this was fun.  And it got me thinking…  I wonder what kinds of songs are out there that might be suitable for LOVES ME, LOVES ME KNOT.

Never fear, I am on it!  Expect some posts in the very near future where we’ll see just what kinds of sing-alongs Gage & Jenna can inspire.

Can  you believe the release of LOVES ME, LOVES ME KNOT is right around the corner?!?  I certainly can’t.  It seems like only yesterday I was overjoyed with the prospect of TANGLED UP IN LOVE coming out!  Wow, how fast time flies.

But because LOVES ME is only a week away now, I’ve got some special stuff to share with you…today & over the next several days.

You know how great it is to buy a DVD of your favorite movie or television show & see all the deleted scenes that didn’t make the cut during editing?  Well, deleted scenes are restricted to visual mediums, believe me.  Yes, it’s true, I am sometimes asked (read:  forced by cruel editors who don’t understand my true brilliance & that every word I write—even in rough draft form—is pure gold ) to alter or remove certain scenes or paragraphs that don’t work in a story.  I am not often asked to delete entire scenes, but once in a while it happens.

And so I give you LOVES ME, LOVES ME KNOT — The Deleted Scene:

“What do you think they’re doing in there?”

“With any lucky, they’re doing the nasty by now.”

Ronnie rubbed her hands up and down her arms to ward off the late evening chill. When she’d dressed to spend the evening with her friends, she hadn’t expected to end up sitting in her car half the time, unable to run the engine or turn on the heater. She hadn’t even brought along a sweater, an oversight she was quickly coming to regret.

“How much longer do you think we should wait?” she asked Grace, who seemed more interested in the progress of the plan she’d concocted and less concerned with their rapidly falling core temperatures. At least it was Summer and only moderately chilly, as opposed to Winter when she was sure she’d be a human popsicle by now.

“I don’t know. The pills I put in those beers were pretty strong, but Gage is a big guy. He could still be wide awake, or he could have conked out after the first two sips.”

She tapped her perfectly manicured, seashell pink nails on the dashboard while she craned her neck to look through the windshield up at the second story of the farmhouse. “Let’s sneak up and see what’s going on. If they’re downstairs, we’ll hightail it back here to hide a while longer. If not, it’s probably safe to take off.”

That sounded good to Ronnie. At least moving around would warm her up a bit.

Opening the car doors as quietly as they could, the two women climbed out and made their way silently around the corner of the barn where Ronnie’s car was hidden and across the lawn.

It was Grace who actually tiptoed up to the ground level windows to peer in while Ronnie kept a lookout. A lookout for what, she wasn’t quite sure, but she did it all the same.

After checking the kitchen and sitting room, Grace returned, shaking her head. “I didn’t see or hear anyone. They must be upstairs.”

“Think that means our presence is no longer needed?”

“Hard to tell.”

Grace glanced up toward the second story of the house, where muted light shone through the windows they could see. Which meant one of two things—either Jenna had turned down the lights because she had Gage right where she wanted him and things were starting to get interesting . . . or they were on the other side of the house with the lights burning bright.

Pulling Ronnie back into the deeper shadows of a giant pine tree near the front of the yard, Grace said, “We’ll give it five more minutes. If Gage doesn’t storm out and Jenna doesn’t call for help, we’ll take off and check back with her in the morning.”

With the noises of the night settling around them once again, Ronnie hugged herself for warmth and tried to decide which turn of events she should hope for. On the one hand, she wanted to support Jenna and have her friend’s life turn out exactly as she wished. On the other, it would be nice to go back inside and get warmed up, get a drink, get out of these three inch sandals that weren’t designed for covert ops.

But in order to do that, Grace’s plan for Jenna would have to fail, and Ronnie would just die of guilt if her desire for creature comforts cost one of her best friends a bid at happiness.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, Ronnie closed her eyes, sucked it up, and started praying for the house’s front door to remain closed, the upstairs light to remain dark.

“So how are we going to get back to town if they don’t come out?” she whispered after a few minutes ticked by in silence.

They had her car, but she was pretty sure Gage would notice the engine running if they tried to use it to creep out of the driveway. And she loved Grace, but if the woman suggested they push it down the road until the coast was clear, Ronnie swore she’d suffocate her with a handful of pine needles.

“I think we’re going to have to walk.”

If it hadn’t been nearly pitch black outside, Ronnie felt certain her friend would have seen her goggle. As it was, she was pretty sure the whites of her wide, bug eyes had to be visible through the darkness.

“Are you crazy?” she hissed, fighting the urge to raise her voice . . . and reach out to pinch Grace until she cried uncle.

Grace checked her watch—as though she could actually see the tiny little hands on the minuscule face outdoors at this time of night–and shook her head so that her blond curls bobbed.

“We don’t have a choice. We can’t start your car without Gage hearing, and I don’t think Jenna would appreciate the interruption if he isn’t completely unconscious. Plus, in case you’ve forgotten, we’ve been drinking and I don’t think it would be smart for either of us to climb behind the wheel. So we’ll walk down the road a ways and use my cell phone to call for a cab, then come by tomorrow or whatever to pick up your car.”

Since she knew Grace was right—dammit!—and had half a dozen valid points to back her up, Ronnie didn’t argue. But she did grumble.

Making their way around the giant pine and across the gravel drive, they headed for the dirt road that passed by Charlotte’s house. There was no need to worry about traffic—or hitching a ride, unfortunately. Except for visitors heading directly to or from Charlotte’s house, or Charlotte herself, Ronnie didn’t think anyone else traveled the dusty, dead-end road.

“I sure hope this plan of yours works,” she murmured as her sandals scrambled for purchase on the uneven lane. “Because if I break an ankle and it doesn’t, I’m going to be thoroughly annoyed.”

“Oh, quit your bitching,” Grace fired back, sounding entirely more chipper than the situation warranted. “It’s not that bad, and Jenna would do the same for you, you know she would.”

Ronnie made a sound that was a cross between a snort and a sigh. “Fine. But the next time you decide to plot and scheme, will you at least let me know so I can wear more comfortable shoes?”

Grace chuckled and linked her arm with Ronnie’s, pulling her close. “One can never anticipate a brilliant scheme, darling. But from now on, maybe we should start taking my car . . . I keep a pair of cross-trainers in the trunk for just this sort of situation.”

Although she knew her friend wouldn’t be able to tell, Ronnie raised a brow. “Good idea. I should probably start doing the same—at least if I’m going to continue hanging out with you.”

“And, of course, you are. Because you love me and are well aware of all the reasons they call me ‘Amazing’ Grace.”

This time, Ronnie’s snort was crystal clear. “‘Amazing ego’ tops the list,” she replied flippantly.

“You got it, toots. And when that little stick turns blue for Jenna and she’s got everything she’s ever wanted in the palm of her hand, you’ll be praising me for my amazing ego . . . as well as my amazing intellect, my amazing confidence, my amazing—”

“Conceit.”

“Be nice.” Grace gave her a quick hip-butt, jostling Ronnie to the side and nearly knocking her into a ditch.

Once she regained her balance—with the help of the woman who’d tried to topple her over in the first place—she said, “I am nice. You just can’t tell because I’m shivering and my feet are killing me. Now get out your cell phone and see if you’ve got a signal so we can call a cab out here to the boonies to rescue us.”

“Party pooper.”

“Damn right. I want a glass of wine, a bubble bath, and a foot massage . . . and not necessarily in that order.”

Flipping open her phone, Grace studied the display for a second before punching the keys for a local cab company. With a car finally on its way to pick them up, she returned the phone to her purse and continued walking.

“Well, if you want to come home with me, I can set you up with the wine and bubbles, but I’d prefer you wait until Dylan gets back and hit him up for the massage.”

With a sigh, Ronnie said, “I know this flies in the face of all my recent griping, but you, my dear, are a genius.”

Grace chuckled and gave her shoulders a squeeze. “I knew you’d come around eventually.”