Okay, so Tuesday teases are supposed to be little snippets of the books or stories you are currently writing, editing, or working on.
Today, I want to do something a little different for my “tease” and tease a workshop I was just notified I will be giving at the National Romance Writers of America conference this July in Ontario, Canada.
I am so honored to be able to present at a national conference of romance writers.
So stinking honored!
So the title of my workshop is ENTERING CONTESTS AS A MARKETING TOOL.
I first gave this workshop a few years ago to my local chapter and I am also presenting it at the Maine Writers Retreat in May. Here’s the description….
As writers, we know finding new readers can be difficult. The advent of the pandemic shutdown made it next to impossible for writers to meet new readers face-to-face at places like book signings, library events, or conferences. Social media only gets you so far, and let’s be honest: wouldn’t we all rather be writing than marketing our books?
Have you ever considered entering a contest to find new readers? It’s a unique mindset because most people enter contests to, well, win them!
Come hear why I believe entering writing contests is an effective marketing strategy and tool for getting your books into the hands of new-to-you readers.
This workshop explores the ins and outs of contest submissions, the ones that are right for you, where to find them, and the things you should consider before entering one.
If you are a member of RWA ( yay!) I hope you will consider attending the national conference this year. It will be at Niagra Falls on the Canadian side, someplace I have never been. I’m looking forward to being a tourist and exploring Canada while I’m there.
When things like this happen to me it really validates that what I am doing with my life – writing romance – is what I AM supposed to be doing with my life.
That’s just a little mental health thought for my day…
I’m working on book 3 in the Heaven’s Matchmaker series, PERFECT MATCH. Here’s the cover:
As you can tell, this one takes place in the Spring ( spring flowers, see?)
Olivia has been trying to find a wife for Hunter for a few months. None of the matches work into a second date though and she can’t figure out why. Hunter, in her mind and on paper, is charming, rich, successful, compassionate, witty and ridiculously handsome. Any women, she thinks, would be thrilled to be matched with him. But…four women have all said the same thing: boring, reserved, not for me. etc. and Liv can’t understand this.
So, she comes up with a idea to find out why his dates turn out so bad. This snippet explains her plan: ( Hvae fun reading this because I had fun writing it.)
“The women I’ve introduced you to have looked perfectly ideal for you on paper. When you’ve met, though, something hasn’t…clicked…between you. From the feedback you’ve given and that I’ve received from the women, I feel as if I’m missing something.”
“What do you mean ‘missing something?’”
Be tactful, Liv. The guy has a good-sized ego, which, deservedly, he should, considering what he does for a living.
“Compatibility, shared interests, even lifestyle choices all go into creating a match between two people. And when all those things align, you can predict a couple will, too. But sometimes, something’s missing, some special something, some unqualifiable…” she raised her hands and snapped her fingers on both of them, “spark, that makes the match a done deal.”
“And you think, what? I’m not,” he mimicked her finger snap, “Sparking? I’ve got something missing?”
“Not you, no. Not at all. This isn’t a blame game. Well,” she tilted her head and grinned, “maybe for me it is, for not considering that after the second date didn’t…take. I needed to explore further why it hadn’t and didn’t.”
He stared at her for a moment, and she could practically hear the gears grinding in his brilliant brain. “The second match was Jasmine Green,” he said.
She nodded.
“If I remember, I said that I wanted a second date. She was the one who backed off.”
She flapped her hand in the air. “But that had more to do with her than you. She was still reeling from her divorce and then having to move back home. I should have told her to wait, but she wanted to go out into the dating world again, so.” She shrugged. “I should have followed my first instinct.”
All of which was true, but it had been Jasmine who’d told her the morning after their dinner date that she’d found him stiff, ridiculously reserved, and that there was no chemistry there.
“And yet she’s getting married in two weeks to Donovan Boyd, so it seems she got over her,” he put his fingers up in air quotes and said, “reeling, fairly quick.”
“Which just goes to prove my theory. They had sparks from the moment they met, try though she did to deny them. But back to you.”
His brows lifted again.
“I think I need to find out a little more about you to determine exactly what it will take to ignite that spark in the next woman I think is perfect for you.”
“So, you do see me as the problem.” It wasn’t a question
The male ego was such a fragile ball of fluff. She sighed.
Gently, she laid a hand on his forearm and stared him straight in the eyes. “You are not a problem, nor do you have one,” she said firmly. “When it comes to the heart, it can be a fickle bitch when it wants something.”
“So now I’m fickle.” He blew out a breath and lifted his hands in the air. “I’ve got unidentifiable relationship problems and I’m fickle. Great. No wonder my wife left me.”
For a hot second Liv worried she’d stepped over a line. But when one corner of his mouth lifted as he shook his head, she knew he wasn’t upset. That, and the real reason his wife had left him wasn’t anything to do with him and everything to do with the affair she was having with a partner in his medical practice.
She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes, wordlessly telling him she was wise to him. His full, thick mouth split into a teasing smile of its own, making her heart skip a beat or two.
Matinee idol handsome was no misnomer when it came to Hunter Reinhart. The guy could have been a mega-star on looks alone.
Liv’s thought that he’d be on her list if she was looking to get married again shoved back to the front of her brain.
On the list? Hell, no. He’d be at the top of it. Something, when she thought about it, that gave her a moment’s pause and stopped her in her mental tracks. There was no way she should be thinking of him in any kind of personal terms as marriage material, whether metaphorically or literally. He was a client.
A client.
And there were strict rules about clients. Rules that forbade ever –ever– crossing a line from a professional relationship into a…well, something that wasn’t client-based.
She was pulled from her thoughts when he asked, “So, why am I here, Olivia? You’ve obviously given this situation a great deal of thought, something I’m happy about, but in all honesty, I’m getting a bit unsure about this entire matchmaking thing. I thought by now I’d be settling down again. What do you think it’s going to take to find me a wife?”
A shudder ran down her spine as she snapped back to the reality at hand.
Olivia took a breath, eased it out while holding his gaze and said, “I think we should go on a date.”
Intrigued? Hahah.
I need to finish it, but I’m hoping for an early Spring 2025 release. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
So I’m trying to figure out what comes next in the publication schedule, and it’s my Dickens book on 11.11. Then, my Love, Lattes, and the Holidays book on 12.10. I’ve talked about them for a bunch of times, so i think today I’ll talk about the 4th HEAVEN’S MATCHMAKER book ( which isn’t written yet, just plotted.)
So, for the tease, here’s the premise of… YOU’RE MY MATCH ( CHARITY AND KOLBY)
Her job as an assistant wedding planner means everything to Charity. She’s got a bullet-point plan for her future, and she’s not about to let anything get in the way of her goals. But a drunken hookup with a coworker – a guy she’s had a hate/hate relationship with from the get-go – may put her plan in jeopardy. Charity has to ensure her boss never finds out about her indiscretion. But every day, it’s getting harder to hide how much she wants a repeat of that amazing night.
His life is a series of one-night stands and Kolby’s not about to change his status for anyone – not even the little fireball who’s been the bane of his existence since the first day they met. Why, then, are his eyes always straying to Charity when he should be concentrating on work? And why does being around her suddenly make him want to be a different kind of man? A better one? One who thinks about…the future?
These two polar opposites need to decide if they want a future together or a life without the other in it, because an emotional volcano is churning and it’s about to erupt.
So, In honor of CHRISTMAS IN JULY, I have 2 holiday romance books releasing for the 2024 holiday season. The first is the DICKENS HOLIDAY ROMANCE, A CHEF’S KISS CHRISTMAS, which comes out on 11.11.24. I’ve talked a bit about that one already, so….
The second is a short story/novella in an anthology titled LOVE, LATTES and HOLIDAY TALES. The cool thing about this anthology is that the profits all go towards the charity 4 Paws for Ability, a non-profit organization that matches service dogs with Veterans. How fabulous is that?? The book is available for preorder and is just 99 cents – that’s 25 authors/25 stories for just 99 cents. Come on, kids – what a bargain that is!!!
My story is about a dog trainer and one of her clients…
Here’s a little bit:
Talk about performance pressure.
Ben pointed to my table. We sat, while he held fast to his dog’s leash just in case he decided to bolt again.
He needn’t have worried. D’Artagnan (and can we just establish how cute that name is ) plopped down between my chair and Juliette’s, his mouth pulled into an enraptured smile as he continued to stare at my little darling.
And that little darling was staring right back, her doggie coquette on full blast.
Ben took a quick look at his dog, seemed satisfied all was well, then turned his attention to me.
“So,” I said. “You’re in the market for a dog trainer.”
He grinned and nodded. “I am, but Dart isn’t my dog.”
That surprised me.
“He belongs to my aunt, who, recently, fell and broke her hip. She’s in a rehab facility for a few months, recouping.”
“I’m sorry.”
He waved a hand at me. “She’s strong and determined, so she’ll be fine. The issue is when she comes home there’s no way she can manage Dart in his present state. He pulls like crazy when you walk him, he’s easily distracted, and I’m not sure she’s going to be able to safely take care of him by herself. He needs to be trained, something she never bothered with.”
“Do you know how old he is?”
“Four. Is that too old for him to learn?”
“Of course not.”
“Even though he still acts like that’s months and not years? He’s a full-on puppy. He doesn’t know his boundaries and he doesn’t listen to commands.”
I refrained from saying he listened to me just fine when I told him to sit.
Here’s the cover for the anthology and my book cover.
Love Match has been out for a week now and the reviews are so wonderful I thought I’d give you another insight into the storyline.
Cody’s divorce hit him hard because he thought, erroneously, everything was fine with his marriage. He had no idea what was really going on with his wife, Cassidy. Once she left him, his entire life changed and with it, he lost some of his confidence and became a bit of a cynic. In this scene, he is talking with his mom and you can tell she is the person he can reveal his true self to without fear or worry.
“Shit. I knew something happened. Layla pulled a complete one-eighty by the time she came home.”
Sally’s eyebrow lifted. “And Cass was, obviously, the cause. Layla believes what she said.”
“How could she?” he cried. “It’s not true. I never sle—” he stopped short. It was one thing for your mother to suspect you had sex, quite another to talk about it, openly.
Sally sat next to him at the table and slid a hand on top of his fisted one. “I know you, Cody Angus Fonda. You’d never sleep with a woman just to gain an advantage. It’s not you. It’s simply not. Your head, not to mention your heart, would never let you do something so wrong.”
The tips of his ears felt like they were on fire.
“Apparently Layla doesn’t share your high opinion of me.”
Jane laid her head down on his lap, her eyes tracking his face. Absently, he petted her.
“Did you ever tell her you were interested in buying the house?” Sally asked.
After another gulp of coffee, Cody shook his head. “I kept meaning to. I should have from the very beginning. I know that.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “But after working on the house, spending time with her and then, well.” His mother didn’t need details about their sleeping together. “I was more focused on getting her to stay. I thought she was going to, I really did. But yesterday,” he shook his head, “she told me she’s considering leaving. That the house is too big for one person. Too much upkeep.”
“Did you tell her you wanted to buy it, then?”
“No.”
Sally tilted her head and regarded him for a long while with that all-knowing look inherent in every mother he’d ever known. She was so focused on him, in fact, he started to fidget.
“What?”
“You are one of the smartest men I have ever known, and every day I’m thankful you’re my son.”
“Okay, there’s a but screaming in that sentence, loud, clear, and terrifying.”
Sally reached over and ticked him on the head.
“Hey! OW!”
“Respect your mother, Cody.”
He shook his head, closed his eyes and mumbled something that he knew she couldn’t hear. Then, “What were you going to say?”
She took a breath. “For someone so smart you can be dense at times. Did it ever occur to you that Layla was hurt by what Cassidy said not because of the words but because of the truth that you didn’t tell her, up front, you wanted the house? I’ve got a feeling trust is hard for Layla, with her mother being the way she is, and everything that happened with the loser fiancé. How do you think she must have felt when Cassidy screamed the only reason you were with Layla was because you wanted her house when you never mentioned a thing to her.”
“I would have hoped she’d ask me directly, not just assume Cass was right. I thought she knew me better than that.”
Sally’s phone chimed just then and she tugged it out of her purse.
“Grandma,” she told him. “Hey, Ma. What’s up?”
Cody tuned her out, considering what she’d told him, instead. How many times had he berated himself for not telling Layla his feelings about the house? How many excuses had he given himself why he hadn’t shared his desire to buy it, fix it, flip it? And now look; his silence on the subject had caused her to pull away from him just when things were heating up between them. And now she was considering leaving town.
What a mess.
He had to figure out a way to get her to understand what he’d done, why he’d been silent, and get her to forgive him.
He needed to come clean, but how? She wasn’t exactly speaking to him and the texts had been so chilly his hand had gotten cold holding his phone when he read them. He supposed he could drive over to her house, take the chance she’d be home and – even more of a chance – she’d let him in.
Cody closed his eyes after finishing his coffee.
“Okay, well, wait until you hear this.” Sally disconnected the call. “It wasn’t only Cassidy who told Layla about you wanting the house. Gran did, too.”
“When?”
“She must have driven over to the Arms right after seeing Cass yesterday. Effie and mom were together, and she asked Effie if you’d ever approached her about selling the house.”
“I never have.”
Nodding, Sally said, “That’s what she told Layla. But then Gran told her about the times you mentioned how much you’d like the house and wished you could buy it so you could fix it and resell it for a profit.”
“Oh, Jesus.” He swiped his hands through his hair again. “No wonder she thinks I’m such a douchebag—”
“Language, young man.”
Cody’s face heated like he’d placed it in a hot oven. At forty years old he shouldn’t feel chastised like a toddler when his mother scolded him.
“This is a nightmare.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, shook his head, and cast his eyes downward.
After a few moments, Sally cleared her throat. “Can I ask you a question?”
He shrugged.
“Promise you won’t brush me off, but really answer it? Truthfully?”
“Okay, now I’m getting scared.”
Sally shifted and ran her hand across his forearm. “I know you better than you think I do, son. I gave birth to you, wiped your tears when you skinned your knees, watched you with pride when your sisters came along and you vowed to be their protectors. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to witness you grow into the amazing man you are today.”
“Still hearing that but.”
She squeezed his arm, then patted it, a small smile tugging at the corner so of her mouth. “I remember the day you told me and your dad you were gonna marry Cassidy. Even though we knew you were too young and had reservations about her, we never said anything, just supported you, loved you, and welcomed her into our family.”
Touched, Cody placed his own hand over the one she still had across his arm.
“I know, mom. And I love you both for it.”
“That’s what family is for.”
“So what’s your question?”
Her eyes, twins to his own in color and shape, ping-ponged between his. She tugged her lips inward and pressed down on them, then, after releasing them again, asked, “You’re in love with Layla, aren’t you?”
The full weight of emotions seeped through his voice when he responded, “More than I ever thought I could love a woman again.”
“Oh, baby.” Sally shifted and pulled him into a hug.
All the sadness, rejection, even the feelings of loss and disappointment he’d been holding in for over three years, pretending didn’t exist, leached from deep down in his soul. He buried his face in her neck as she simply held and rocked him like she had when he was a boy.
“I didn’t think I’d ever feel this way again,” he said against her shoulder. “But somehow, somewhere along the way, she kinda…snuck in.”
“That’s how love works,” Sally said. “When you least expect to find it, wham, there it is.”
Since LOVE MATCH will be releasing in 2 weeks (!) I figured I’d do a little tease for it today to whet your reading appetites.
Here’s a little motivation as to why Cody is such a playa…
She nodded. “So. You were out with the Canterbury girl last night.” The way she said it had the hairs on his forearms jumping to attention.
“Oh? Who’d you hear that from?”
She flipped her fingers in the air. “Just someone who happened to be at The Love Shack the same time you were.”
Mentally, his eyes dragged around the bar to try and remember who could have spotted, then reported, to his mother on his whereabouts. She had her spies everywhere around town.
“Katie’s a sweet girl,” he said.
“Yes. She is. A girl, that is. Has she even graduated from college yet?”
It took everything in him not to toss her a snide comeback. He knew his mother. His divorce had devastated her. Almost as much as it had him. The difference was she wanted him to get married again, while he was content to be single the rest of his life and just simply play the field as long as he could, which he hoped would be until he was six feet under.
Dating girls who were much younger than he was, who were only looking to be taken out and treated good by a guy without any of the happily-ever-after notions front and center was a plan that was fitting him nicely. The one drawback was his mother’s persistent disregard for his playboy – as much as you could be one in a small town – persona.
“Yes, Mom, she did,” he responded after taking a swig of beer. “With a degree in nursing, too. But you know that since her mom’s in your book club. I’m sure Mrs. Canterbury has mentioned how proud she is of her daughter and her new job over at Holy Mother of God Hospital.”
Sally bit down on her lip. Two could play at this spy thing. Katie had told him last night their mothers were in the same club that met every Tuesday night. She offered that she thought they didn’t read and discuss a book as much as drink wine, eat cookies, and gossip about everyone in town.
That sounded right up his mom’s alley.
“It’s just that she’s so, so…” She shrugged.
“Nice? Sweet? Pretty?”
“Young. She’s almost half your age, Cody.”
Okay, she wasn’t wrong. Forty to Katie’s twenty-three was a bit of a stretch. But it wasn’t like he was going to marry her or forge a life with her. They were friends. Simply having some fun, a few laughs over drinks and dinner. And if that progressed to friends with some benefits, well that was his business and Katie’s.
“I just don’t want to see her hurt,” his mother said.
“Why would she be hurt? Katie knows the score. I’m very up-front with all the girls I date. They know from the get-go that I’m not looking to get married again. Been there; bought the t-shirt.”
Got my heart broken he kept to himself.
Intrigued? Hee hee. You can preorder/order it a few ways:
Through my webstore, where you’ll get an autographed print copy. Of course, this is my favorite way because you get it directly from me, no middleman, and you get presents from me when you order, too, LOL!
So because I’ve got three things running at the same time for RETRIBUTION, my 4.23.24 release ( Goodreads Giveaway, Booksprout read and review, Preorder) you just have to know I need to tease it today, lol!
In this scene, the bane of Tucker Petrie’s existence, newspaper reporter Donovan Rule, is being his obnoxious self and Tuck can’t take it anymore. Donovan will have a pivotal role toward the end of the book.. but this scene shows just how much Tucker can’t stand him.
“There’s more press here than when we went in,” Anna said, glancing around at the dozen of news vans and waiting reporters.
“They’re like vultures,” Tucker said. “Useful at times, but still bloodsuckers.”
As they made their way back to the car amid shouts and questions being hurled at them, Anna saw Rule and his cameraman approaching them from the other direction.
“Get in the car,” Anna said, shoving Kella. “Keep your face down.”
Just as she collapsed into the back seat, the reporter descended upon them. “Agent Petrie, who is that woman?”
“Go away Rule,” Tucker said, guarding the windows of the car with his body so the camera couldn’t film through them. For once he silently thanked the car salesman for insisting that tinted windows were a necessity.
Nonplused, the reporter shoved his microphone under Tucker’s chin and asked, “So does The Butcher have Myrna Rowlands? Is that why you and Agent Langdon, along with your mystery guest, are here?”
“Neither myself nor any member of my team has any comment for you, Rule, so get lost. Now.”
Tucker shot into the driver’s seat and in one motion, shoved the key into the ignition, locked the doors, and gunned the engine.
“Think he’s gonna move?” Anna asked.
“He’d better, or he’s roadkill,” Tucker answered, putting the car into drive.
Without a glance at the annoying team, Tucker pulled the car from the curb.
A loud scream filtered through the windows as he moved into the side street traffic.
Anna turned around and saw Rule sitting on the curb, his foot nestled in his lap.
“I think you ran over his foot,” she said, trying not to laugh.
“Is he breathing?” Tucker asked.
“Looks like he’s screaming.”
Tucker nodded. “Then he’s not dead and I can’t be charged with vehicular homicide.”
Intrigued? LOL. 4.23.2024 is the release date. Check out all the links above if you’re interested in reading it.
So, I am almost ready to release my Kindle Vella book Vindication into print. I’ve been editing and updating it for the past month and I even changed the title to RETRIBUTION because I like that one better.
If you aren’t a VELLA reader, this will be your opportunity to read my very first serial murder book. Long before I ever wrote romance I was obsessed with serial killers. In all honesty, I kinda still am. It stems from my psychiatric nursing background.
Here’s a little taste of the story…
Settled in the Mercedes passenger seat, Kella watched Tucker guide both cars, the agents following behind, back to the motel.
“I want to apologize for Sean,” she said. “Hedoesn’t usually behave like that. Seeing you, well, it set him off.”
Tucker fingered his bruised jaw. “You don’t have to apologize. I know he hates my guts.”
“He doesn’t hate you, Tucker.”
His left eyebrow bent into a you’ve-got-to-be-joking angle. “I know he still blames me for what happened, Kella. He feels it was my fault you almost died because of my mistake. I’ve felt the same way every day for the past ten years. And I’d feel the same way if I were in his shoes.”
“No, you wouldn’t and you know it. You’d find some way to rationalize what happened, compartmentalize it into some sort of learning experience, and try to figure out what to do better next time.”
He threw her a pained look.
Grinning, she added, “But it’s nice of you to say that.”
They drove in silence for a few minutes.
“You haven’t changed a bit, you know,” she told him.
“You have,” he blurted, regretting it in an instant.
“I know.” Her laugh was husky and tinged with self-deprecation. “Three kids and a husband who owns the best restaurant in town will do that to you.”
“No, not like that,” he said, flicking a quick glance at her. “You look like you’re in the best shape of your life, actually.”
“I am. Karate plus a home gym helps.”
“It’s your hair. It’s darker, less red than it used to be. Longer, too.”
“Hormones. It darkened up with each pregnancy. I don’t look like a circus clown anymore, thank God.”
Tucker shook his head. “You never looked like a clown, Kella. Your hair was distinctive. It was part of you.”
She laughed and said, “That’s a very diplomatic way of saying it, I guess.”
“Your voice is so different. If I’d heard it on the phone I would never have believed it was you.”
She fingered the scar that ran the width of her neck from just under one ear, all the way to the other. Heavy makeup helped conceal it when clothing didn’t. Every time she looked in a mirror she was reminded of that horrible day.
“It sounds like you’ve been smoking and drinking too much,” he said.
“My doctor told me it was a miracle I could speak at all. The damage to the cords was extensive. I’m just happy to have a voice, no matter how I sound.”
“I imagine Sean thinks it’s sexy.”
Kella’s slow and thoughtful smile lit up the front seat. “Yeah. He does.”
“And you seem happy. Happier than I ever remember you being.”
“I am. I love my life.”
“It’s so different from your past.”
She thought about that for a moment. “In the big scheme of things it’s not. The main part of my life back then was spent taking care of Daddy. Now I take care of Sean and our girls.”
Tucker shook his head. “The main part of your life back then was spent using your magnificent brain to help the Bureau. You didn’t have the most normal of upbringings.”
“I survived.”
“Thankfully. I can’t imagine what your life is like now. The suburban housewife. Carpools; soccer practice. Stepford,” he added, shaking as if an electrical current shot down his spine.
Her lips stretched into a grimace. “Not quite.”
“You were always so independent, so self-governing. Ready to pick up in a half second to run to a crime scene or fly off to one. It’s hard to think of you any other way.”
She shifted in her seat so she could face him. “Tuck, listen. My life is perfect for me. I’ve realized over these past years that before I was just moving through it, waiting for the next big case, waiting to help you or Daddy. I never did anything just for me. Everything I did involved, or was concerned with, one of you. When Daddy died and I decided to leave, I was making the right decision for me. I’ve never looked back.”
“Never?”
“Not once. I have everything I could ever want here. It’s all I want.”
“Tell me the truth —”
“Like I would lie?” she said, smiling when he turned a bemused expression on her.
“No, you never have. Do you ever miss it, even for a minute?”
She watched the streets pass by as they drove through the downtown. “Every now and again,” she began, “I’ll see you on a morning show, or the national news will be profiling the newest case you and the Posse are involved in. I’ll watch you, in typical Tucker Petrie fashion, sail through the questions and make the capture and arrest look like a piece of easy detective work, a no-brainer. And I’ll think to myself: if the people seeing this only knew what it does to you inside, how it makes you feel to get down to the lowest depths of humanity and view the world from the most jaded, sickest minds imaginable; to comprehend what supposedly civilized human beings are capable of doing to one another, you wouldn’t want the job for anything.”
She stopped, turned to him, and saw his lips tighten.
“In answer to your question, Tuck, no. I never miss it. Not even for a millisecond.”
Can you stand another first draft, unedited look at LOVE MATCH ( HEaven’s Matchmaker, book 2)?
Hee hee.
here ya go…
Her skin was warm under his touch and he could sense the slight thrum of her pulse against his fingers. Was it his imagination, or did it speed up a bit while she sat there, just staring at him?
“Hey, you two. This is a surprise.”
Layla’s rapid blinking pulled him out of a vision of taking her hand, bringing it to his lips, and nibbling on her fingers, one by one.
“Liv.” He glanced up at his cousin, gingerly slipped his hand off Layla’s wrist, then nodded. “What brings you out on this cold day.”
Her eyes tracked his motion. “I’m meeting someone for lunch.”
Then she smiled at him and slid her eyes to Layla.
“How are you doing?”
He let the two of them chat for a moment, observing that his cousin’s eyes flicked from him to Layla several times, her expression thoughtful.
Oh, no, cousin, forget whatever your little matchmaking mind is conjuring.
He could hear the gears turning and squeaking in her brain. She wanted so badly to fix him up with one of her eligible and marriage-seeking clients. She couldn’t believe he was actually happy in his divorced/single state, dating as much as he wanted, hooking up when he could. For Liv, everyone had a someone and she thought it was her mission in life to make sure all in her sphere found their person.
Not gonna happen.
He’d already found his person. Unfortunately, after a while, she hadn’t felt the same. End of story.
“What do you think, Cody?”
He pulled out of musings to find two pairs of eyes focused on him.
“Sorry, what? Thinking of fifty things at once up here.” He pointed to himself.
“I asked,” Liv said, drawing out the word, “If you thought you’d have Layla’s place ready by Christmas?”
He turned his attention to the woman across the table. “I don’t know since we haven’t had a chance to talk about what she wants done yet.”
“We were just about to discuss it,” Layla told Olivia.
“Oh, well, don’t let me stop you. I see my client, anyway.” She lifted a hand and waved to someone.
Almost immediately they were joined by a familiar face.
“Hey, doc,” Cody, stood and shook the man’s hand. “How’s the new addition?
“Perfect,” Hunter Reinhart told him. “Having a home office is so much more convenient. Thanks for all your help and the great work.”
“Glad it panned it.”
Hunter zeroed in on Layla.
Liv made the introductions while Cody sat back down. For some reason, he didn’t like the way the man was staring so intently at Layla.
“Nice to meet you,” Hunter said.
“Likewise.”
“Layla and I are old friends,” Liv told him.
“Are you in town visiting?” Hunter asked.
“For a while, at least. I’m seeing to my grandmother’s house.”
“Effie Mason,” Liv offered.
Hunter’s smile grew. “Effie’s one of my favorite patients. Always smiling, always in a good mood. She’s a doll.”
When Layla returned the smile, Cody’s back shot straight. She’d never smiled like that at him. He rolled his eyes internally at how juvenile he sounded.
“Thank you for saying that,” Layla said. “I think so, too.”
“Everyone loves your grandmother,” Cody said.
Hunter nodded, never looking at him, but keeping his eyes focused on Layla. “It was a shame she couldn’t go back to her home after she broke her hip, but it really was just too dangerous for her to live alone.”
“She loves the Arms, so at least she’s happy there.”
He nodded. “Well, I expect I’ll be seeing you when you visit. I make rounds two to three times a week on all my patients there, both in assisted living and higher care.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Cody wanted to gag. How many times could the guy insinuate his profession into the conversation?
Okay, you’re a doctor. We all get it.
“Well, enjoy your lunch, you two.” Liv took Hunter’s arm and, thankfully, guided him toward a table on the opposite side of the room.
It didn’t get past Cody the man glanced over his shoulder a few times, his attention on Layla.
“Are Liv and him…?” Layla asked, leaving the question dangling.
“No. He’s one of her clients.”
Her brows shot up. “Clients?” She turned to look at them. “I wouldn’t think someone like him would need a matchmaker.”
The hairs on his neck stood at attention. “Someone like him?”
She shrugged and took another sip of her drink. “He’s a doctor.”
He nodded.
“So. Successful, probably has money, and is good-looking. Seems like he wouldn’t have any trouble finding someone to marry him.”
Cody’s eyes slatted. “You in the market? I’m sure Liv would set you two up if you asked.”
The sarcasm and anger in his tone drifted right over her. Instead, she shuddered, knocking him back a few paces.
“No thanks. I’m not looking to get married. Or even be in a relationship. Not now, anyway. Maybe never.” Her face went crimson again as her gaze dropped to the table.
Peggy Jaeger, Author 