Sunday Snippet: Hot Water

Happy Solstice season! I did start to get in the spirit last week and I'm kind of feeling better about things in general. We're very low-key for holiday celebrations anyway. The good news is because I finally got some shopping done, I had to do a cleanout of my space, which is a very good thing. Got those urges started again and I also did more clearing and decluttering in other areas. Yay!

Ohio is still trying to figure out what it wants to do with the weather. We got a little more snow and a bunch of rain then plummeting temps. Thankfully, we also had a ton of wind before the drop, so we didn't have icy conditions. Whew!

Had a decent work week. I finished up some last-minute changes on a proofread, completed a copy edit, and had a client meeting over Zoom. I'm getting into some deep edits on the memoir and getting ready to start a new proofread and developmental edit over the holiday break.

I had an okay viewing week. I didn't make it through the bulk of my shows, but I'm kind of needing a brief break. I'm changing things up a little for the holiday season.

I did start over with Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and enjoyed the rewatch. There aren't many episodes left before I'll be moving on to a new show.

I also got a partial episode of Foyle's War in. Since this season's episodes run a little longer, I might break them up into two parts. The Americans have finally arrived in England and it's going about as good as can be expected … which isn't great.

I started a new season of Silent Witness and part one ended up being very interesting. I really wish we got a little more info on where the other characters ended up going. Jack's niece in particular. The new head of the Lylle is kind of different and I like that. And it's always good to see Sean Pertwee show up in any show.

Watched another episode of Poirot and enjoyed the intrigue. Also fun to see super young actors that have gone on to starring roles in their own series. In a weird twist of fate, the actor playing Japp had a guest starring role in the episode of Foyle's War.

Also did a minimarathon of the holiday episodes of Death in Paradise. Both featured Neville. I might dive back into the new inspector's episode this week.

I also plan to watch Madame Blanc's holiday special this week. Stay tuned for more on that one.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Hot Water, a novella that brings a couple together over the lack of hot water.

Here's the miniblurb:

When Demi Strange and Nathan Jordan work together at a summer camp, things get heated. The campers use up the water ration, leaving Demi to borrow Nathan's shower and it lands her in more than hot water.

And a snippety peek…

Demi spent the night reliving the lip-lock with Nate. "For a short kiss … it packed a punch." Which didn't really surprise her.

He hadn't earned his reputation based off nothing.

By morning, she waffled between jumping in with both feet and holding back a little to test the waters. She smirked because he'd offered the use of his shower and didn't that fit the theme running in her head and heart right now? What did she want?

Heading for the craft shack, she let her imagination run wild. "I want a chance at something great." But if they only had a fling, would it hurt to have a spectacular memory if they didn't pursue a full relationship?

She weighed the idea in her heart because her brain kept dancing a jig in favor of whatever happened.

Entering the craft shack, she found Nate sitting at a table with popsicle sticks and chenille stems. He held two of the sticks down while one of the boys glued green fuzzy stems to them. Nate glanced up and sent her a wide smile.

Demi grinned and strolled over to the table. "What're you making, Jones?"

The kid didn't look up from his creation. "A monster. It's going to be green and yellow with big red eyes and a black tail." He spread another line of glue on two more sticks.

Nate scrunched his face up. "Are you going for scary or cute?"

Jones shrugged. "I'm going for whatever it wants to be." He lifted his gaze to Nate. "You gotta trust the process, you know?" He added another stick placed vertically and squeezed more glue out.

Nate laughed. "Sage words. Trust the process." He wiped his hands on a wet rag. "You good here? I wanna go check out the others."

Jones bobbed his head. "Yeah. Thanks for getting me started." Grabbing several more stems and sticks, he kept on creating.

Nate got up and met Demi on the other side of the table. "It's fun to see what they come up with when they don't have a kit or instructions to follow." He nodded toward the tables in the back. "Let's see what everyone else is doing."

Demi fell into step beside him and they did a quick tour around the room. By the time they finished, two other counselors came back from their break and took over supervision. Nate grabbed two bottles of water and headed out the back exit.

He settled on a bench behind the building and twisted off the cap of his water. Demi sat beside him and followed suit. Once they'd drained the liquid, they stashed the bottles in the recycling bin.

Nate kicked back, leaning against the siding. "Would I be an ass to assume you came to find me?" His brows arched.

Demi shook her head. "I could say yes, but I did come to find you. So, no." Her lips quirked.

Nate's face lit up. "Okay. Good. That's good." He chuckled. "I'm making this weird, and I don't want to." He lifted one shoulder. "I'm not usually this awkward."

Oddly touched, Demi grabbed his hand. "Awkward isn't bad if it's an honest thing." She laced their fingers together. "It's actually kind of nice." Did that make her sound stupid?

Nate shifted his position and draped an arm around her shoulders. "Nice. I like that." He tilted her chin up. "I want to kiss you again. Is that okay?"

Instead of answering, she meshed her lips with his. A groan escaped him when she slid her tongue past his teeth and took the embrace deeper. Her fingers inched under his camp polo shirt and brushed along his abdomen.

Nate hauled her close, urging her to straddle his thighs. She complied and … holy wow … his arousal became very evident. She moaned against his mouth, and he brought his hands up to cup her breasts through her T-shirt.

Her nipples responded, perking up when his thumbs brushed over them. She rocked against his hard-on, tingling awareness coursing through her veins. She wanted to get closer, but an insistent vibration in her back pocket pulled her back to reality.

Easing away from Nate, she dragged her phone out and silenced the alarm notification.

Resting her forehead against his, she apologized. "Terrible timing. I have to head back to get the girls from their swimming session." She brushed her lips over his again.

Nate huffed out a breath. "Right. Yeah. You shouldn't make them wait." He let go of her hips and let her slide off his lap.

She met his gaze. "This…" Waving between them, she smiled. "Was kind of amazing." Turning, she glanced back. "See you later."

She fanned herself on the way to meet with her girls. Hopefully, she'd cool down before she gathered them for their afternoon hike. If not, a cold shower might not be a bad thing later.

I'm having a lot of fun with this one. I love Nate and Demi and the vibe they have.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin