Sunday Snippet: Intimate Bond

I hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving, if celebrating. I had an oddly weird week. My youngest is in quarantine because she ended up being exposed to Covid at her university. Thankfully, she could go to my dad's house to isolate from the rest of us—he was out of town visiting my brother. She got her test on Friday and we should have the results by Wednesday—fingers crossed. She's restricting herself to an upstairs bedroom and bathroom and carefully disinfecting anything she touches. And, of course, she's keeping a mask on unless she's in the bedroom. Needless to say, she's not having a lot of fun, but we'd all rather be safe and limit other exposure.

The middle kiddo has GERD. He's been five days free from throwing up, thank whatever rules the universe—and a prescription for a strong acid reducer. Considering he spent anywhere from two to four hours at a time being sick for over ten days, he's feeling way better. He'll be changing a few things in his diet to hopefully help alleviate the symptoms even more.

Happy to say my oldest is doing just fine. He's getting ready to move out in the near future and looking forward to having more space.

Had a decent week watching television. I started off with a full arc of Classic Who and caught the full four-part Planet of Evil.

Started a new-to-me drama The Queens of Mystery. Thoroughly enjoyed the first episode and look forward to finishing up the second part.

Watched several more episodes of Silent Witness. I'm almost through with the third episode of season seven.

Also caught a full slate of Ovation mysteries throughout Thursday and Friday. Also watched quite a few Classic Perry Mason and The Saint episodes. I've been seeking out comfort television lately.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Intimate Bond, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Lindsay Redd has a big problem with one of her pilots, but when the younger woman goes down in flames, Lindsay can't let go of her grief. Doyle Ingersoll has to find a way to push Lindsay back into top-gun form, and isn't above using sex to make it happen.

And a sneak peek…

After an interesting couple of weeks, Doyle stopped by the rec room where Lindsay sat going over a report. Lindsay and Kendra working in tandem had everyone talking. But … the takedown of the enemy ship only warranted a brief truce between the women.

He snorted. "And watching the dance between Kendra and Lindsay provides some lively entertainment." Not necessarily the good kind. Observations flew about both women still circling around but now it had become about who could push whose buttons and get their bitch on first. Doyle wanted to possibly end the merry-go-round.

Doyle propped a shoulder against the bulkhead. "You know, Linds. It might be time to give Kendra props."

Lindsay's face twisted in a grimace and she shrugged.

He nudged back. "Especially if you want a promotion someday. Even if it's just a small nudge."

She met his gaze. "Is that what you're doing now? With me?" Her eyebrow ticked up a notch.

He narrowed his eyes. "Hm. Maybe. Hadn't thought of it like that." And he should—because he and Lindsay didn't have a standard superior-to-subordinate relationship.

They had a … messy kind of attraction that could be so much more. Several things got in the way. He outranked her, which meant if they pursued anything, they'd fall into the don't-ask-don't-tell category. The possibility of getting burned kept him cautious.

He shoved away from his spot. "It different for us." Definitely for him.

Yeah, he and Lindsay had something of an adversarial back and forth, but the male-female dynamic changed it. Maybe it shouldn't, but it did. If he butted heads with another guy, he didn't doubt the situation would be similar to Lindsay and Kendra.

He waited until Lindsay glanced up and met his gaze again. "Mainly because I've known you forever and care about you on a deep level."

Her eyes flared, acknowledging he couldn't say more.

He finished his thought. "You and Kendra don't have that kind of subtext, so it's harder in many ways, but also easier because you don't have quite as much baggage. But keep going the way you two are and you will." He waited a beat. "Which means a promotion will be harder to get." He turned toward the exit. "Something to think about."

She lifted her chin and gave a noncommittal answer. "Yeah, okay."

He exited the room, his work done for now. Lindsay would do the right thing … eventually.

I'm excited to finish this one up. I like where Lindsay and Doyle are headed.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye