I hope you're all enjoying some nice autumn weather finally, too. (Though to be honest, it's 80 degrees here today, more like summer, but that's going to change in another day or two.) Last week was beautiful here, and the week ahead looks even better, like 'break out the soup pot' better again. Yay!
I had to take an unexpected day off later this week, so as long as the roofing guy is on time and fast (fingers crossed) at the boys' house, I may take advantage of my down time for that soup pot day, especially since that day is supposed to have the coolest temps of the week here. We'll see how that goes. Either way, it looks to be the highlight of the week. Haha.
I had a lazy day yesterday, so did a bunch of chores today to make up for it. I'm debating about whether to tackle anything else on the To Do list tonight or not, and leaning toward not. I think the next thing on my list will wait until tomorrow evening and I will try to do some relaxing before I have to gear up for the day-job tomorrow. Before I go, though, I have a snippet for you this week from Protecting Medusa.
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After six years of successfully avoiding Ryder in person, it seemed she’d finally have to deal with him.
She shivered, and this time, it wasn’t from the cold, but from the mingled fear and adrenaline racing through her veins. Sheathing her dagger, she smoothed her skirt back down and returned to the kitchen, pushing thoughts of the bossy, sexy father of her nephew out of her head.
The beef was browning, and she dragged the spatula through it to loosen it from the bottom of the pan, before she dropped in chopped peppers and tomato sauce.
She hadn’t seen Jason or her mother in three long days, and she hadn’t imagined their reunion might occur like this.
She rubbed one hand over her forehead, trying to banish the mental image of Ryder, naked and aroused.
By what? she suddenly wondered. The thrill of the fight?
She supposed it was likely. She knew he was something of an adrenaline junkie. After all, his stint in the military had been rounded out by some secret missions he still couldn’t talk about, and she’d heard several stories from Jason about his dad jumping out of airplanes. Ryder had followed that up with some other secret intelligence agency job for a few years.
The only other possibility was that the arousal was because of her.
She laughed. Yeah, right. She knew she was reasonably attractive, but men didn’t fall to their knees at their first sight of her. Not even men who had flirted via email and over the phone as frequently as they were in contact. Actually, never, even when she’d dated with actual hope of finding ‘The One’. Or, um, leap to attention that way. Certainly not men who knew the sort of monster she truly was.
She swallowed hard, but her mind didn’t want to cooperate with her, making her senses all go haywire and sending heat into her belly. And he had kissed her.
A tap at the back door made her jump and drop the spatula into the meat and sauce.
Ryder stood outside, gun still in his hand, his face somber, though something sparked in his eyes when she got to the door and turned off the alarm. “Gone, but I know where to find him later,” he said shortly as he came inside.
She stepped away, desperate for something to distract her from his naked chest. The spatula. She fished it out of the bubbling pan and rinsed it at the sink. “You should have let us know you were coming.” It came out sharper than she intended.
He laughed as he leaned over the stove to inhale. “So you could keep avoiding me, Mena?”
She didn’t look at him right away, but her pulse tripled its pace. Of course he knew she’d been avoiding him all these years. The man wasn’t an idiot. “In case we had other plans,” she said instead, remaining at the sink instead of returning to the stove to stir their meal.
“As it happens, I spoke to Aggie this morning.” He grinned. “She knew I was coming.”
Philomena bit her lip and looked away for a second.
“What’s wrong, Mena?” He moved nearer. “Are you angry I didn’t give you another chance to hide, or are you still turned on?”
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “I was not.”
He touched her chin. “Liar.” His gaze flicked to the front of her sweater. “You are.”
She blushed furiously, aware of the way her nipples had tightened under her sweater again. Dammit. “Cold.”
He slid his thumb along her lower lip, his smile fading. “You don’t need to be embarrassed about it, Mena. The feelings are reciprocated,” he said softly. “You know that.”
She jerked away when he leaned nearer. Her heart raced crazily, and her legs felt like rubber. “I’m not interested in a relationship with you, other than as you are Jason’s father and I am his aunt.” He didn’t need to know she’d admired the photos Jason had of him, or that just the sound of his voice when he flirted on the phone caused her to imagine getting up close and in person.
He lifted one eyebrow. “Desi’s been telling stories? After all this time?”
She moved around him to stir the sloppy joes. “Desi’s got nothing to do with it. Though, now that you mention it, her taste in men is known not to be very good, and my type is completely different from hers.”
For a second, he remained silent, but then Ryder laughed behind her. She ground her teeth together.
“I’ve seen your type, Mena, and your taste in men isn’t so hot. I think it’s time you tried a different flavor.” His hands settled on her shoulders, making her tense even more.
“You should get dressed. Mom and Jason will be here any minute,” she said, hearing the quaver in her voice. “And put your gun away.”
His breath warmed the top of her head, and she held her own, waiting. But he simply gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze and moved away.
Leaving her to wonder how he’d seen any of her dates.
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How is your October going so far? Staying safe? Enjoying autumn weather? Reading good books? I'd love to hear about it!
Until next week, happy reading!
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