Sunday Snippet: Rhythm and Motion

Well, March definitely enters the year with a roar. We've had the crazy weather that hops back and forth between warm and cold along with snow showers, thunderstorms, and thirty-degree temperature changes in twenty-four hours. Weirdly, it's somehow fitting that March is my birth month. Volatile and a wee bit mercurial.

My focus is still all over the place, but I have multiple work projects, which helps when I need a change of scenery. It drives me batty when I read the same paragraph over and over because I keep getting distracted by everything. Being able to hop from one manuscript to another helps in a weird way.

Had a decent week of viewing. Still not quite getting a full slate in, but I'm happy with the shows I'm keeping up with. I'm having issues with one of the streamers on a device, but I got the show watched despite the tech glitches.

Started out with the finale of Agatha Raisin. I have a bonus behind-the-scenes episode to watch then it's on to a new show. I'll miss this one. I've had so much fun watching the characters interact and solve mysteries.

Caught another Silent Witness episode. So sorry about Jack's dad. And the whole deal with his mom is beyond sad. Very nice to see Nikki be there for him. I'm wondering about Simone at the moment and Sam is playing a very cagey game.

Enjoyed another Death in Paradise. I'd seen most of this one and enjoyed it the first time. I love Martha to bits and can't wait to finish Humphrey's run to start Beyond Paradise in the near future.

Watched another episode of Elementary. Interesting episode and I'm almost sorry the FBI lady will live to show up again in the future.

Caught an episode of The Batman. I had vague memories of watching this the first time but not everything. I'm still not sure how I feel about Batgirl. I think I end up liking her better once Robin enters the show.

Enjoyed another episode of Classic Rugrats. I didn't remember either of the vignettes, which I'm kind of happy about. The later seasons were kind of hit or miss for us when the kiddos were young.

Finished the second season of The Secret Life of Amy Benson and I'm really hoping we get a third. I'm invested in the characters and want to see what happens next.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Rhythm and Motion, a novella that brings a highly competitive couple together from opposing teams.

Here's the miniblurb:

Rosie Austin and Carlos Baker are on opposing teams in the annual state-wide fire academy competition. In the week leading up to the big event, they fight an attraction that could get them into trouble with their team captains. By the end of the three-day contest, both are questioning if what they feel is real or whether they're caught up in the forbidden fruit angle.

And a snippety peek…

Carlos entered the training room and stopped short. The quick punch-jab-shuffle rhythm coming from across the room drew his attention. He loved a good bout. He finished stowing his gear and made his way over. A sparring session would be fun to watch. Whoever had the ring—they weren’t holding back.

Approaching the squared off area, his breath hitched … his pulse leapt … hell, his heart skipped a beat when he discovered who wore the gloves today.

Rosie.

With her old man, Chief Ramsey Austin—who held his own—not that Carlos expected less from the elder Austin. He’d spent hours listening to the battalion chief talk about impromptu matches between the three shifts at station fifty-one. Rosie's dad had chops.

But Rosie?

She fought by the numbers. Technically. Mechanically. No heart. No heat. Hence the reason her old man usually won.

Except now?

Form and function met passionate intensity.

The bunch and flex of muscle under her skin with each jab—

—the measured shuffle of her feet keeping time with a rhythmic cadence—

—accented by the rapid-fire thud of leather hitting skin when her gloves found their mark—

—all mixed up with the staccato breath sounds with each connection made or absorbed.

She's poetry in motion.

He watched Rosie move through the sparring match with her father. She's finally found a way to let go.

Nothing wasted. Rosie gave her all. Every movement fluid, she fought with controlled precision tempered by instinctive reaction. Slowly and methodically, she chipped away at Ramsey's defenses, making surprise moves that caught her father off guard. Intuitively, she blocked and made shots she’d never been able to pull off before.

Rosie finally sparred the way she should in the ring, the way she ran into burning buildings when it didn't matter, when she hopped on an engine for the sheer joy of the work. Here, only days before the competition, she held nothing back. Using pure instinct. Going full out in the squared off ring until her old man, winded and worn, stopped the bout.

Magnificent.

Not that he’d ever tell her that. Once had been enough.

But damn. She'd been a pleasure to watch.

Carlos melted back into the shadows and left the training room unnoticed.

Or so he thought…

This is a remix of another manuscript with the genders reversed and I'm having so much fun changing things up.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin