Against All Odds

Kris Jacen, Executive Editor over at MLR Press, had this awesome idea to make an anthology of stories inspired by love songs from the 80s. Needless to say I jumped on this opportunity. I love the 80s so much, to the point that I still listen to music from that era more than anything else. What can I say? We got screwed with the fashion back then —acid wash jeans, neon, and side ponytails, hello?— but the tunes were amazing.

For this call I chose Phil Collins' Against All Odds. The song is angsty  as all get out and if you've read my work you know tension and angst is right up my alley :-D

So here's a blast from the past for your enjoyment. If you're as old as me, this song will probably bring some memories that I'd like for you to share with me. But if you're younger you've probably never heard it. If that's the case, I want you to tell me what you think. Are modern love songs better? Huh? Hehe

Thursday Teaser

Continuing with the 7, 77 game, this time tagged by Anne Tenino :-)

I've got to tell you guys, I suck at doing this. I went to page 7 of one of the manuscript and did the counting things, and what I read didn't make sense. I didn't like it. So, you are getting around 700 words from the work in progress I'll be finishing after Six Degrees of Separation. It isn't edited by any stretch of the imagination, so you all be gentle, k? Okay. *g*

Title: Hearsay

“I just told Tyler I’m going to represent him.” Was all he said, refusing to discuss his feelings over Roman Bradford’s alleged departure with Tashana or anyone else. They didn’t make any sense.

“You said before you couldn’t take on a criminal defense case.”

“I know! But Pro Bono hasn’t gotten back to me and the backlash after the child molestation allegations became public has already started. What am I supposed to do? Let him fend for himself?” he asked with a dramatic gesture of his hand. “I could never do that to my friend.”

“I know that, hon.” Tashana walked over to him and hugged him tight.

“And that’s not even the worst part,” he mumbled against her big breasts. “I agreed to come over tonight.”

“Come over where?”

“Tyler’s place.”

“What?” She pushed him away, studied his eyes, swatted him on the head and hugged him again. “Didn’t we agree it isn’t a good idea to have sex with your ex?”

“We did,” Derrick whispered, not really caring that Tashana was probably about to lecture him on the subject one more time. He just took a deep breath and settled in on her breasts. It was comfy there. Her bosom felt like a safe place. “But we’re both single and a little desperate right now and he has such a nice dic—”

Tashana swatted him again.

“You know every time you go and get your rocks off with the guy you avoid each other for the next four weeks,” she said. “How’s that going to work now that you’ve decided to represent him?”

“It’ll be the last time.”

“That’s what you said three months ago,” she reminded him. “You were doing so well, too. Why’d you go and ruin it, boo?”

“He’s under a lot of stress.” Derrick looked up at her. “He needs to blow off some steam… and you know what? So do I! This week’s been hell and if the guy thinks that sucking me off and fucking me through the mattress will help him, who am I to object? Plus I’m horny. I’m so horny I could fuck a tree. Do you have any idea when’s the last time I got laid?” He shot her a warning look. “Don’t answer that.”

“Why not let her answer?” The unexpected voice was husky; the tone scolding and dripping with derision at the same time. “After all, isn’t that what this firm pays its employees for? Discussions on all sort of personal, intimate subjects while on the clock?”

Derrick’s voice caught in his throat. He didn’t dare to breathe, but he slowly moved his head from Tashana’s bosom to her shoulder until he was able to take a peek.

This was not the kind of things that happened to him. He didn’t suffer from foot-in-mouth syndrome, and as daring as he could be at times, he’d never been caught with his pants down. But today his luck had obviously taken a turn for the worse because, lo and behold, that was Roman Bradford looking at them from his office door.

All of a sudden the atmosphere changed and the office seemed to be brightly lit, as if the clouds had moved to give way to the sun right outside his window. Derrick felt a hot burst of electricity run through his body and a buzzing in his ears. He hadn’t felt this energized in years.

“Please, tell me that’s not him.” Tashana whispered in his ear.

“Afraid I can’t,” Derrick whispered back.

He was incapable of looking away from Roman… incapable of processing in how much of a predicament they probably were. Incapable of even feeling embarrassment over that bit of too personal information his boss had overheard. He couldn’t. He was too busy worrying about what the other man would make out of it. He knew it was presumptuous on his part to think Roman would care, but he didn’t want for this man he admired so much to have a bad opinion of him.

“I’m not as much of a slut as that statement made me sound.”

Shit.
Looked like he was also incapable of filtering his words.

Tashana winced.

Derrick groaned.

Roman didn’t even blink behind the thick, black framed glasses he wore.

For my "By Degrees" Readers...

So I was tagged on Facebook by a friend to play the 7, 77 game. Basically I had to go to either page 7 or 77 of a manuscript I’m currently working on, count down 7 lines, then copy the next 7 lines to my status.

In order to keep things fresh (and not give too much away) I decided to post a few random lines instead of the instructed 7, 77, and also re-post it here because I realize some of my readers aren’t on Facebook.

I know you guys have been waiting a long time for the sequel to Six Degrees of Lust, and I appreciate your patience. It shouldn’t be long now, but in the meantime, here’s a little something :-)

Six Degrees of Separation
Chapter Seven
Excerpt

“Look, if you’re really havin’ issues with it we can always revise our deal, but it’s only been a couple of days, darlin’. You just have to get used to doing things whenever you feel like doing ‘em.”

“Only kids have that luxury.”

“You really think so?”

That low, raspy drawl never failed to make Sam hotter than hell. It meant Mac was about to say something naughty and he couldn’t wait to hear it.

“Uh-huh…”

He closed his eyes, and caressed his newly acquired tattoo through the fabric of his dress shirt. He could barely look at the “515” Celtic design in emerald green ink that was underneath, but he touched it constantly.

It rattled and soothed him at the same time.

It made him think he’d lost his mind.

“You didn’t sound like a kid to me the other night,” Mac said.

Sam shook his head, and tried to read the first page of the report one more time. When the little black letters wouldn’t stop dancing in front of his eyes, he closed it and put it on the side. “What are you talking about?”

“You had a hard-on that wouldn’t quit.” Mac’s sexy, teasing tone was music to Sam’s ears. “You wanted to come, and went for it. You—”
“That’s differ—”

“…called and told me to pull over in the middle of I-10. Remember that? You gave me very specific instructions on how to touch myself until I was comin’ all over the steering wheel of my truck.” Mac took a deep breath, a sign that thinking about what had transpired turned him on as much as it did Sam. “You most definitely didn’t sound like a kid when you were comin’ yourself and telling me how badly you wanted to eat my—”

“Point taken, Mac.” Sam glared at the phone, but he couldn’t help his goofy grin, or the way his dick jumped at the memory. Having phone sex with Mac at three-thirty in the morning when his guy was on the way home from work had been erotic as all fuck.

And of course, his best friend had to choose that exact moment to come back to the office with their lunch, thus witnessing it all. Great. Now he’d have to deal with Logan’s opinion on what he’d just overheard.

“Like I said, spontaneity’s good for the soul.” Mac finished in that soft voice he used whenever he thought Sam was two words away from freaking out.

Sam rolled his eyes. “I don’t know about the soul, but it sure as hell was good for my nuts.”