Sunday Snippet: Exit Stage Left

Happy Father's Day to all the dads, mentors, and father figures out there! And if this is a rough day for anyone, please find peace and joy where you can.

Seriously busy week and I didn't feel the greatest. Heading in for an annual physical soon and hope to nail down why I'm kind of down right now. My guess is my sleep schedule is horrible at the moment.

Somewhat good progress on work projects. Friday and Saturday ended up being challenging days because of not feeling well. I'm a little behind on two and hope to make that up in the next couple of days.

Spent a couple of days doing tedious personal life stuff, but I made it through my standard slate of shows this week. I'm considering a new addition to the lineup but haven't made up my mind yet.

Enjoyed an episode of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. The plot's twisty turns are fun and it's nice to see the tentative partnership with Jack and Phryne taking root.

I totally lied when I said I caught the season twelve finale of Death in Paradise. It had one more episode, which I ended up enjoying a lot. I'll be starting thirteen this week.

Caught another episode of Poirot and enjoyed it. This one had some twists but it was fun for Poirot to have a case in his own backyard … or building as the case may be.

Started a new series called the Art Detectives and liked the first episode. The leads have great chemistry and I'm looking forward to the next episode.

Watched an episode of Elementary and enjoyed Sherlock coming to terms with being friends with Alfredo and not just sponsor and sponsee. Joan was really great in this episode also.

Enjoyed another episode of Batman Beyond. It's fun when Terry has to be a big brother and I love how he handles Tim. The big bad was also interesting.

Watched another episode of Classic Rugrats. Both were new-to-me vignettes and I liked them. The one with DeeDee's college class was a lot of fun.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Exit Stage Left, a novella that has a grumpy / sunshine couple come together.

Here's the miniblurb:

Sage Winesboro, the new production director of his local playhouse theater, doesn't always see eye to eye with his current set designer, Georgie Freed. When she proves her worth, but decides to exit stage left, he realizes he's missing out on what could be a great working and personal relationship.

And a snippety peek…

Georgie blinked. The audacity of the man. Coming to her home—uninvited—and getting pissed off because she had a friend over. Geez!

Extremely annoyed, she went after Sage, catching up to him halfway down the hall. "Is there a particular reason you always think the worst of me?" She pitched her voice low to avoid bringing any of her neighbors to their doors. "Josh is a friend. F-R-I-E-N-D." Jabbing a finger in Sage's chest, she grimaced. "Hooking up with Josh would be like hooking up with a sibling." Ew.

Sage had the wherewithal to flush when he realized his mistake. "Sorry … it just looked like … never mind. It doesn't matter what it looked like. I didn't have the right to go off on you."

Josh popped his head outside. "Need help?" He flicked a glance toward Sage. "Or maybe some ass-kicking?"

Georgie waved her hand. "As much as I'd enjoy watching you and Sage throw down, I think he's been beat up enough today." Which he kind of deserved.

Josh strolled out with his jacket over his shoulder. "In that case, I'll take my leave." He paused. "But if he hurts you"­—his gaze shifted to Sage—"in any way"—his focus came back to her—"I will hunt him down." He gave Sage another hard look. "And there won't be a body to find." He headed for the exit.

Sage let out a low whistle. "Where did you find him?"

George grinned and started back toward her apartment. "In a bar on campus during my sophomore year in college. He had a very public breakup, and I dragged him back to the dorm before he got in trouble for running his mouth." She pushed her door open. "We've been friends ever since." She jerked her head to invite him inside.

She might as well hear what he wanted before he stuck his size ten in his mouth.

Sage entered. "Do you always inspire such devotion?"

Georgie rolled a shoulder. "Frankly, yes. You should try it sometime."

This couple is fun to write. Sage will eventually learn to stop jumping to conclusions where Georgie is concerned.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin