Please Don't Slap Me!

A tall, slender man stepped into the room, and the impact of the stunning vision before her rendered Shenda’s voice dead in her throat before she’d made a sound. If this man was her purported boyfriend, it was most definitely not Steven.

This man was gorgeous. His blue eyes were a startling contrast to the evenly tanned skin on his face and forearms, while his obsidian hair was shiny and thick. Those were the only features her brain cataloged before he proclaimed a loud “Darling!” and swooped her up into a full-body, all-encompassing hug, whirling her around as he did so.

When his back was to the nurse, he whispered urgently in her ear. “I’m your bodyguard. Please, for your own sake and for your life, play along with me. I’ll explain everything when we get outside. I won’t make you go anywhere you don’t want to go, I promise you, but please play along for now. I’m going to kiss you. Please don’t slap me!”

With those words still seeping into her ears, the hunk leaned back just a little from the embrace and loudly proclaimed, “I love you and I’ve missed you, Sweetheart!” and soundly kissed her. (From Deadly Gamble by A M Jenner) http://tinyurl.com/qd4n8sb

Lap Full of Soup

Dallyn Withers Maitland frowned with concentration at the report he was writing. While his right hand moved the mouse across his screen following the words and numbers he’d written, his left reached for his nearly full cup of hot soup.

The telephone rang, startling him. A curse left his mouth, and he moved the cup so it dripped soup on the floor now instead of in his lap. Exercise shorts may be comfortable to sit in, he thought, but they are not enough to keep hot broth from burning.

He glanced at the caller ID. Aunt Adelle. He cursed again and was grateful she couldn’t hear it. She was a royal pain. Whenever she called it was always for some penny-ante reason. He dare not ignore the call, though, or she’d go running to Johnson, and Johnson didn’t need to be – his eyes flicked to the clock – awakened – in Europe just because Dallyn didn’t answer his phone. He set the soup down on the absorbent coaster and reached for the phone.

“Hello.”

“DW,” came the childish, whiny voice he detested. “This is Aunt Adelle. Where’s Terry?” (From Deadly Gamble by A M Jenner) Read More