Sunday Snippet: Steamed Up

It's so weird we're almost to the end of the month. One more October Sunday after this one. Had a decent work week and made a lot of progress on my cleaning project.

Also had a solid viewing week. Started with The Muppet Show and ended up getting four episodes watched. Beverley Sills, Kenny Rogers, Lola Falana, and Dizzy Gillespie were the guest stars.

Watched Prime Suspect and finished up season five and started season six. Six is proving to be very interesting. I can't remember how it ends up playing out but I'll find out this week.

Caught two episodes of Peak Practice and liked both. Sometimes the bickering between the partners gets a little wearing but I do like this mix.

Ended up watching two episodes of MasterClass with Brandon McMillan. I like this guy and I'm getting some good tips on how to work with my doggos.

Finished up Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Man. "Summer" and "Fall" hit me in the feels in a really big way. At some point, I want to rewatch the four episodes and do a recap on my fictional universe blogs. I can honestly say the revival had everything I would've wanted and only a few things I didn't. Which means I'm left with a feeling of completeness. This isn't to say I wouldn't welcome another year in the life that would pick up at the present time. That could be a lot of fun.

I enjoyed two musician spotlights. Dolly Parton: Queen of Country turned out to be an enjoyable look at the amazing woman and her long career. Pop Profiles: Christina Aguilara shed some facts about her career that I didn't know. As a casual fan, I found it interesting.

Watched an episode of Star Trek: Discovery and loved the mirror universe. Those kinds of episodes always make me happy. I'm looking forward to the next installment so I can find out how things play out.

Caught two episodes of Chicago Med. The second one ended up blowing me away. Understated but really strong performances all around. I love this show.

Weirdly enough, I watched an episode of Midsomer Murders and it featured scarecrows. I say weirdly because the final episode of The Brokenwood Mysteries had a scarecrow feature also. Anyway, nice to see Winter get some backstory and lovely to see Betty again.

Finished up the second episode of Silent Witness. I vaguely remember this one and enjoyed getting caught up in the cases again. Looking forward to starting the next two-parter.

Caught another four-episode arc of Classic Who. Nice to see the brigadier again. Interesting episode with a potential new companion in the mix.

Finished up UFOs over Earth. This one focused on mass sightings in Mexico. I'll be starting a new series this week and I think it's going to be about Roswell.

Last but not least, I watched two more episodes of Classic Rugrats. The first season had some great standalone episodes and two were in the set I watched. The second season of the new version is streaming now but I'm waiting until all episodes are available before diving in.

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Steamed Up, a novella that has the main characters working closely together after a big breakup.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Raina Forbes and Huck Holloway are forced to work together after a spectacular breakup. Their close-quarters job situation has sparks flying between the former couple, and shaky new relationships are tested with Huck's going down in flames. And contrary to popular opinion, Huck doesn't always play nice when he truly wants something … or someone.

And a snippety peek…

Huck did a quick search for Raina. Charter Company, the group that got their clients to and from the arena, scheduled a conference call regarding the upcoming show.

Huck caught sight of his counterpart, standing outside the training area talking to Manny. When the man leaned in and whispered something to Raina then followed up by putting his hand on her ass, Huck finally figured out Raina's second point—the one she ended up not wanting to discuss.

Probably a good thing. A spike of green envy struck him hard and his hands curled into fists. And he needed to get the hell over it. He shouldn't be jealous.

They'd broken up. For a reason. As Raina had reminded him earlier.

"But, geez, Manny?"

The guy acted like a goon—or worse—a mini-Hector. But the trainer didn't have Hector's savvy and would never be able to pull off the fetes Hector put together. No way.

Huck unclenched his fists. "Whatever." He had a job to do and he would work with Raina to accomplish whatever Hector deemed necessary.

Her words echoed through his mind. What are you gonna do if Hector wants you to walk around showing skin to sell merchandise?

Hector would try to push Huck on that topic. His gut all but confirmed the thought. With the show sold out and scheduled for the day after tomorrow, Huck couldn't refuse whatever Hector had planned.

His mouth twisted. "I'll do what I have to." Even if it meant showing skin.

But if things got too tense, Huck would move the fuck on. He loved the work, loved the field, but he could transfer his skill set to something else. He'd built enough contacts. He could find the next niche the wealthy and privileged were ready to sink their teeth and cash into.

And maybe have less of a headache.

He strode toward Raina, ignoring Manny's presence. "We've got a conference call with the Charter Company. You coming?"

She gave him a hard look. "Yeah, I'll be there in five." Her eyebrow arched, daring him to press her buttons.

He smirked and did exactly that. "Call starts in three. I'm not waiting." Giving her and Manny a mock salute, he turned and walked away.

This story pushes the envelope a little more than normal for me but I do like how things are coming together. Raina and Huck have some hurdles to jump and I can't wait to see where they land.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin