Sunday Snippet: Toying with Desire

Whew. It's been a week. My washing machine saga continued, and I finally called it. Investing in a new machine, hopefully in the near future before my laundry pile grows exponentially into a mountain.

I finally finished the very, very long proofread and thankfully should have the final queries answered this weekend. I have a new holiday manuscript for copyediting and it's about halfway complete. Have I mentioned I love holiday stories?

Not a bad week of viewing. I got a few extra shows watched this week.

Caught the second episode of My Life Is Murder and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've mentioned how much I love the characters, but Madison had such a great role in this week's episode.

Watched another Best in Paradise. This episode introduced Martha and I enjoyed her run on the show with Humphrey.

Finished the two-part episode of Death in Paradise where Florence says goodbye for a while. Such a sad but great send off for her.

Started another episode of Elementary. Should have it finished up later tonight. I'm quite enjoying this second season so far.

Caught another episode of The Batman and remembered it from the first watch I did. Excellent story that dives into the symbiotic relationship between Batman and his rogue gallery.

That's pretty much it for the life update. Tonight's post is from Toying with Desire, a novella where preconceived notions need to be checked at the door if the couple has a chance at all of getting together.

Here's the miniblurb:

Carly Johnson, a savvy business owner who sells sex toys, isn't looking for love … her track record is terrible. But when she meets Zeke Moran, under less than stellar circumstances, sparks fly, and Carly wants to take a chance … but first he has to get over his preconceived ideas about her career.

And a snippety peek…

Carly chose a small diner on the outskirts of town. Off the beaten path, only two semi-trucks and a dark-colored sedan took up space in the parking lot.

Zeke shut off the engine and glanced in her direction. "When did this place open back up? The last time I was down this way, the building was empty." He slipped the keys from the ignition.

She popped the door. "About six months ago." Sliding her feet out, she turned her head toward him. "They make killer coffee. Trust me." She rose gracefully from the seat and shut the door, leaving Zeke no choice but to do the same.

He rounded the front of his vehicle and grasped her elbow. "It's good to see a new business spring up around here." He opened the door to the diner and let Carly precede him inside.

She smiled and agreed. "I travel out this way at least once a week and when I saw the lights and open sign, I stopped in." She greeted the waitress behind the counter, pointing to a booth in the corner. "It was after midnight, and I needed caffeine. The mug they brought was like manna from heaven." Plopping down on the seat, Carly scooted around to the center. "Is this okay?"

Zeke nodded. "It's great." He slid in beside her but left plenty of space between them. "Coffee after midnight? Wouldn't that make you all wired and edgy?" He huffed out a breath. "I'm pushing my usual cut off time and it's just after eight."

Carly grinned. "Yeah, but I'm a night owl." She waved to the waitress and held up two fingers. "And I'd just driven two hours from the city and had a lot of work to do once I got home. I closed a show out that night."

Zeke jerked his head in surprise. "You drove two hours for a show?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "For the stuff you sell?"

Carly's smiled, quick but sad. "I'm not ashamed of what I do." She propped her elbows on the table and explained. "It's a good living. I own my own business, work for myself, and set my own hours." She kept her eyes on Zeke, willing him to not be an idiot. "And yeah, sometimes that means I drive up to four hours one way, especially for larger shows or consults. But I don’t have to do that often." So far, Zeke just looked like he was trying to understand, not being judgmental.

"I also have a website for my clients to place orders." Carly shrugged. "I make great money and enjoy what I do."

Zeke was saved from having to comment when the waitress brought their coffee.

Carly sat up and let her place the steaming mug in front of her. "How're you, Jenae?"

The young woman grinned after setting another mug in front of Zeke. "Careful, it's really hot."

She looked back toward the counter then dropped her voice to low tones. "All I can say right now is thank you, Carly." Two more customers entered, and Jenae moved off, but called back over her shoulder. "Seriously, thank you."

Carly laughed at the springy bounce in the woman's step.

Zeke raised a questioning brow. "Can I ask what that's all about?"

Carly lifted her cup and blew across the surface. "You know, I'm not bound by anything like client confidentiality, but I do respect the privacy of my customers." She braved a sip, burned her lip a little and put the mug down.

Zeke added a bit of sugar to his brew. "Fair enough." He looked across the diner. "She looks very happy."

Carly nodded. "When I came in a few weeks ago, that wasn't the case." She normally didn't take cream but added some to the dark liquid to cool it down a bit. "We got to talking and the short version is that I ended up doing a couple's consult with Jenae and her husband." Her lips quirked upward in a smile. "Looks like it did the trick."

This story is so much fun. Zeke and Carly are a joy to write!

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin