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

Sunday Snippet: Toying with Desire

Hello, December. I'm stuck between being excited for the holiday season and freaking out because I have a lot of things I'd like to get accomplished and not enough time to slide them all in. The story of my life.

Not a bad week of television but a little lighter than usual. I started out with Peak Practice and ended up getting two episodes watched. Both were pretty decent.

Finished up the MasterClass with Brandon McMillan. I had two lessons left and got some great information from both. Not sure what I'll start next but I'm excited.

Caught another episode of Glitch. Some interesting developments and good information. I like the pacing of this series and find I need to focus so I don't miss an important piece of the puzzle.

Enjoyed two more episodes of Classic Rugrats. I finished up season one and started season two. Looking forward to diving back in.

Watched two episodes of Chicago Med. Season three is beginning with a good run. I'm a little on the fence about Dr. Reese. I love her passion but I also get annoyed when she goes off the deep end about something.

Started season six of The Brokenwood Mysteries. Interesting to see another one of Mike's ex wives. I liked having Jared back. Also a good mystery to keep things fun.

Caught an episode of Silent Witness. I don't remember this one so I'm interested to see how the second half ends.

Finished the second part of Classic Who and said goodbye to Tegan. I think the Master is going to make another appearance soon, which I'm kind of meh about.

Enjoyed another episode of Mysteries of Apollo. This one focused on Apollo 8 and had some great information. I love watching old footage of the space program's beginning.

Watched two more episodes of The Muppet Show. James Coburn and Glenda Jackson were the guest stars. The pirate-themed episode ended up being a lot of fun.

Caught another episode of Fantasy Island. Really fun episode even if the theme ended up being a little dark.

Finally caught the finale of Star Trek: Discovery. Really great ending to the first season. I'm excited to start the breakdowns of The Ready Room then move on to season two.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Toying with Desire, a novella with the characters learning to let go of preconceived notions and stay in the moment.

Here's the mini-blurb:

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…

Stunned speechless, Zeke watched Carly walk away. Magnificent. Even regarding her blazing set down directed at him. She certainly shed some light on previously unknown details.

Which shame on him for not taking the time to find out about those pesky tidbits.

He had no idea Lola almost slept with someone else. No clue his sister struggled so much with Rich's absence.

He wondered what else he might be missing.

Maybe he should dig deeper.

Taking off after Carly, he caught up in several long strides. "Wait." He grasped her upper arm, which earned him a cool glare. "Please, wait. I'm sorry."

"Dude. You better take your hands off Carly right now or I will kick your ass." The guy from the bar—buzz cut hair, tall, bulked up, and majorly pissed off—snarled the words.

Zeke had been so intent on apologizing he missed seeing the guy waiting by her car. To keep the peace, he loosened his grip, letting his hand slide down the length of Carly's arm before dropping away.

"I wasn't trying to hurt her. You can cut the guard dog act." Not sure what this guy meant to Carly, Zeke tamped down some irrational jealousy.

The dude advanced toward Zeke and Carly stepped forward. "Todd's not a guard dog, he's my best friend." She moved in between the two men. "Todd, meet Zeke Moran, Lola's brother. Zeke, Todd." Tossing the keys to her "best friend", Lola reached for the passenger door. "Drive me, home? I'm completely wiped."

She did look tired. Zeke wondered how much of his asshat act contributed to that. "Let me buy you coffee. Please." When Lola paused before sliding into the car, he let out the breath he'd been holding. "I really am sorry for jumping on you. I guess I didn't realize how bad things were for Lola."

Carly smiled, albeit with sadness. "You might try talking to her about it. She's very, very lonely without Rich."

Zeke promised. "I'll do that." But he pressed his invitation. "About that coffee?"

Carly flicked her gaze to Todd and the other man rolled his eyes and opened the driver's side door when she stood to get out. "My phone is on…" He left off the implied use it if you need to.

He slid inside the car, fired up the engine, and took off as soon as Carly closed the passenger door.

She still looked wary when she moved to stand beside Zeke. "I know a great place for coffee if you don't mind me choosing."

Zeke took her elbow. "As long as it's not Ground Central, I'm fine with whatever you want." He led her the few yards to his car.

Carly chuckled. "Can I make a confession? I hate their coffee." Climbing into his vehicle, she whispered. "Way too frou-frou for me." Then she closed her door.

Rounding the back of the car, Zeke thought he might just be in love.

I love how this story is coming together. Zeke starts out being the one needing to get over his initial impressions but Carly sneaks in later with some heavy baggage she needs to check also. So much fun!

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Toying with Desire

I'm welcoming September with open arms. August ended up being a truly weird month. We'll see if September flows any smoother.

Decent week of television. I stuck with classic and mysteries. I finished up a 77 Sunset Strip binge watch last week and launched into Peter Gunn, logging about seven more episodes via Prime and now a marathon on regular cable.

I caught the Classic Who episodes of The Enemy of the World. Interesting segue… an episode of The Saint featured the actor who plays Two. It's just a weird little connection that made me smile.

I also watched another Midsomer Murders episode. Oddly, they're back to Causton CID again instead of Midsomer Constabulary. Obviously, it's not a huge deal, just one of those random things that popped out at me.

Yes, I'm strange.

Tonight's post is from Toying with Desire, a novella that got a start with a random comment about a sex toy party.

Here's the mini-blurb:

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 lifted a brow and held back a bark of laughter. He thought she'd talked Lola into cheating on Rich? How could he be so stupid? For someone who looked intelligent, he'd fast proved to be a huge disappointment.

Shaking her head a little, her eyes met his. "Excuse me. You think I did what?" If anything she'd kept Lola from seeking solace from another man.  

Zeke edged closer to her and lowered his voice. "You've got Lola throwing parties for…" He searched for words. "Mechanical devices, while Rich is in a desert hotbed and can't do anything about it. What gives you the right to interfere in their marriage?"

Did he honestly consider the purchase of sex toys as interference? What decade did he live in? And why did she have to be wickedly attracted to him? She didn't like "those" people. The type who passed judgment on others. Gads… she couldn't tolerate that kind of blindness.

"Don't forget the performance stimulants and dress-up outfits. If you're going to use euphemisms, you might as well include all the categories." Pushing against his chest, Carly darted around Zeke, giving herself some breathing room. "Oh… and let's not forget written and pictorial enhancements." She spun around to face him again. "What exactly is your problem? Aside from not being able to call a dildo a dildo?"

In full anger mode, Carly laid it out for Zeke. "Lola is a good friend of mine. She's missing Rich something fierce. His last two leaves have been canceled and a year is a damn long time to someone as young as they are. Do you realize Lola was this close"—Carly mashed her thumb and index finger together to emphasize the words—"to sleeping with some hot barista at Ground Central?"

Yeah, think about that, you fucking moron.

"And you accuse me of helping her cheat on Rich." Pissed off, Carly looked him right in the eye. "You're an ass."  

Finished with her tirade, Carly pivoted and started toward her car.

I had a lot of fun writing Carly's response to Zeke's asshattery. This story is coming along nicely and I hope to have it finished up soon.

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Toying With Desire

March 12, 2017

Seriously, the back and forth of warm then frigid weather is the one thing I hate about March. My sinuses rebel in a big way and it's never pretty. LOL

The Walking Dead had a great episode last week. Nice to see Rick and Michonne working together. Rosita on the warpath is also pretty great to watch.

The Flash is speeding along to the reveal of the big bad and I have a sneaky feeling I'm not going to like who it ends up being. We'll see what happens.

Legends of Tomorrow finally brought Rip back from the edge of evil… or did they? It's never one hundred percent certain with this group. Looks like a great episode coming up.

Arrow had the week off and I missed my Wednesday night fare. I'm not a huge fan of these stupid three week hiatuses. Just show the damn episodes already.

Riverdale also had a great episode. This series is fast becoming my number two show. I loved getting some background about Fred and FP. That said, if Fred had a band in high school, why was he pretty much unable to connect with Archie about his music? Little things and details like this can make or break a show for me. Here's hoping there's some improvement there. I love sneaky Betty. Cheryl's right about Betty betting a terrible liar, but she's got some game with her clueless parents. On a side note, the seeds being planted for a messy situation with Betty, Jughead, and Archie make me happy. I'd like to see a little more Dark Betty emerge.

I finished up Jessica Jones and ended up loving how things played out. As hard as it is for my brain to wrap around David Tennant playing a raging asshole, I gotta give him kudos for being completely creepy. Started a rewatch of one of my favorite Australian series, City Homicide. I love that show. Also need to catch up on X Company and Murdoch Mysteries.

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Toying with Desire, a novella that got a start from a challenge to write something not the norm.

Here's the mini-blurb:

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…

Zeke Moran wondered how the hell a demon of a woman got the upper hand over him. Staring at the empty space while the door slowly swung shut, he felt the loss of heat they'd generated.

Carly Johnson turned out to be nothing like he imagined. She didn't have blond hair or huge tits—though hers were more than adequate—and her head didn't appear to be empty.

No, she seemed intelligent. Eloquent. Cool under pressure. He'd come looking for some skeevy, trampy type. Instead he met up with a weird mix of sexy smart and hotly demure.

The combination completely threw him.

Hell's bells.

He followed her outside… didn't have much of a choice. Found her leaning casually against the concrete barricade in front of the bar, looking strangely ethereal under the neon glow of the sign. She popped up as soon as she caught sight of him, but waited for him to make his way to her. Stuck out her hand as soon as he was close enough.

"Carly Johnson… and I'm assuming you're Lola's brother, Zeke?"

She'd thrown him again. He didn't expect her to be amicable. Zeke shook her hand, even though her friendly demeanor pissed him off. The woman had him twisted sideways and upside down.

And he didn't like it one damn bit. Who cared if her grip was firm, yet soft at the same time?

He sure as hell didn't.

Dropping her hand as if it burned, he growled. "Damn right, I'm Lola's brother. And I wanna know just who the hell you think you are, talking my sister into cheating on her husband."

Zeke tends to step in great big piles of his own creation. He'll learn to think before he opens his mouth.

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Toying with Desire

April 7, 2013

Hello! Had a lovely, lovely spring weather day. Sooooo nice to get outside and enjoy it. All day long. LOL

Tonight's post is about Toying with Desire, a manuscript about halfway completed. Carly and Zeke have been so much fun to write. And Carly's best friend Todd is a hoot to make up dialog for. :D

Here's the tagline:

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 here's the snippety peek…

"Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?"

Carly Johnson looked up from the conversation she'd been engaged in to see what caused all the fuss...or whom.

Oh my. Yum in the flesh. Tall, with dark hair that brushed his shirt collar and muscles that moved nicely underneath the fabric. Oh, and about a days growth of stubble on his face.

She had a weakness for that.

Mr. Scruffy Good-Looking stormed past the tables, headed in her direction. Apparently his question had been for her.  

Carly blinked and tilted her head sideways a bit. What did he mean?

She'd find out soon enough. Scruffy Good-Looking stopped just inches from her, standing toe to toe, up close and personal like.

"You've got no right telling my sister—" He broke off abruptly.

Must've realized every eye in the room had become trained on him. Like he'd sold tickets to a floor show…and he'd just offered himself as the main attraction.

He took a moment and lowered his voice with a visible effort. "You've got no right telling her…well…what you told her."

Carly didn't look away from the angry man. Shocked at his verbal attack, she noticed two things. All attention focused on them and Todd, her best friend, had risen from his seat and stood, watchfully, ready to do battle.

She held her hand up and shook her head. She didn't need assistance. It did her proud that although he remained standing, he relaxed his stance.

And that let her focus on Mr. SGL. Who happened to be still in her face. "First? Step. Back." Carly spoke quietly, but her tone brooked no argument. "Invading my personal space does not guarantee I'll listen to, or hear anything, you say." When he took a step backwards, she breathed a little easier. "Thank you."

She pushed away from the bar and glanced around to see all eyes still on them. "Second? If you'd like to discuss whatever your drama is, I'll be happy to accommodate you." She threw up a warning hand when his mouth opened again. "But let's take it outside, okay?" She didn't wait for his answer…just neatly sidestepped around him to head for the door.

"Why?" His voice rose again. "Afraid to answer in front of all these good people?" It was almost sneered instead of spoken. "Scared they'll think less of you?"

Carly turned. "Oh…I'm not worried for me." She'd known most of the people in the bar over half her life. "I'm not ashamed of what I do." She smiled prettily.  "I was actually trying to spare you the public humiliation of making a complete ass out of yourself, but hey…a little late for that." She shoved at the door. "I'll give you five minutes…then I'm outta here." Again, she didn't wait for a response. She walked outside and let the chilly night air cool her down.

Ohh, boy. Zeke's got his work cut out. I have a feeling Carly is not at all what he expected. LOL

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin