( Leaves, book & tea – Depositphotos )
Okay, so the picture above isn’t quite accurate for what the weather is like here today, but I can feel this approaching. It’s been absolutely gorgeous here the past few days, with temps only in the 70s during the day and dipping into the 50s overnight. I’m going to pretend there aren’t to very hot days in this week’s forecast before it gets nice again. I’ll probably miss them anyway, since the next week and a half at the day-job will be bonkers.
I should be spending my time outside while it’s nice, I suppose, but I have writing to do. And this weekend was about family things. I got to spend most of yesterday with one of my dad’s cousins, which was lovely. Today will be for finishing up the laundry I didn’t get to yesterday, maybe dinner, and definitely writing. I could even take the laptop outside for that, though I probably won’t, since I’ll have to keep an eye on the laundry. But I can see the pretty fall sky outside my window while I work and enjoy the cool breeze blowing in through that window.
Before I get to the laundry and the writing, I have a little story snippet to share with you, from the second Medusa story.
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Ryder took a drink, though she couldn’t understand how, with that miserable grin still spread over his face. “You, Mena, are afraid to be in a relationship with a man who’s stronger than you are.”
She blinked at him, her heart pounding faster. “What?” How could a man she’d managed to avoid for so long know so much about the way her brain worked?
“I’ve seen your ‘dates’, Mena. Bunch of pansies, without a spine in the whole lot. You pick men who won’t argue when you decide you’re done with them.” He lifted his fork . “It’s a tactic I’m immune to.” He scooped up more eggs.
Her mouth was dry, but she refused to lift her glass and let him know he’d hit the mark with his assessment of her. “How long have you been spying on me?” she asked instead.
He shook his head, swallowing his eggs. “Just trying to make sure you were safe, Mena. Can’t have you bringing danger home to Jason.”
That was low, and she shot him a fierce glare. “I have never dated anyone who was a danger to Jason,” she ground out.
“I know.” His grin remained smug, and she wanted to smack it off his face. “You’ve never dated anyone who was a threat to your remaining single either.”
She shoved away from the table, her chair screeching with the sudden movement. “My dating is none of your business.” She jolted to her feet and spun away.
“You haven’t dated anyone who would present any sort of challenge to you,” he continued from behind her when she walked the few steps to the sink. “Is it because you’re really that afraid, or because you were just waiting for the right man to come along?”
She shook her head, anger and fear clogging her throat, and gripped the edge of the sink so hard her knuckles turned white. There was no ‘right man’ for her. Not for the Medusa.
Behind her, his chair scraped over the floor. “I’m not a spineless wonder like any of those guys,” he said, his booted footsteps drawing nearer. “And I’ve been waiting a very long time, so I’m not going to go away quietly.”
Philomena shut her eyes.
His big hands settled on her shoulders. “But I promise I’ll never hurt you, Mena,” he whispered, too close to her ear.
She jabbed her elbow into his ribs, hard, surprising him into releasing her. She slid away along the counter. “But I might hurt you.” She patted the hilt of her dagger through her skirt as she faced him. “You know I’m armed, right?”
He rubbed his side where she’d elbowed him, still grinning. “Bring it, baby.”
Her jaw dropped, and he laughed. Suddenly, his smile vanished.
“Get down.”
“What?” She frowned.
He pushed her to a crouch, then moved through the doorway of the guest room, grabbing his gun from the open bag on the bed.
Her heart jumped into her throat at the sight of it.
“We have company,” he breathed, peering through the narrow space she’d made when she parted the living room curtains earlier to let some of the morning light in.
She fumbled her skirt out of her way and unsheathed her dagger, wrapping her fingers tightly around the hilt. It felt good against her palm, but her hand shook. Two days in a row was a little much.
“Hang onto that.” He stepped to the alarm panel and shut the system off, then eased out the back door, his posture cautious.
Philomena shut her eyes. Oh Gods, don’t let the Harvester hurt him.
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Now I’m off to start the wash so I can write. What are your plans for this week? Will the weather be nice and autumn-like where you are, or are you still waiting for its arrival?
( laptop view from above – Depositphotos )
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