A weird week of
chilly weather and lots of cleaning projects. I'm at that place where the clutter
is driving me bonkers, but I don't have enough hours in the day to really focus
on a good cleanout. So … I'm tackling small areas to at least make a little
progress.
Lots of work
projects landing in my inbox. A few have been quick turnarounds, which I enjoy.
I love having a project that I can finish up in a few hours. That type of work
helps when I also have three difficult manuscripts that challenge my brain and
one that requires a lot of focus.
Had a solid week of
viewing. I'm still trying to finish up an episode of Peak Practice, but
I made it through a full round of shows.
Started with Mr.
and Mrs. Murder, an Australian mystery series. I've seen several episodes
but not in order and I'm looking forward to watching this one from beginning to
end. Thoroughly enjoyed the first episode, which I had not seen.
Also started a
new-to-me British crime drama called London Kills. Loved the first episode
and look forward to watching this series.
Caught another episode
of Death in Paradise introducing the new DI. Enjoyed the interaction
between the commissioner and his new lead detective. Interesting to have
someone Patterson doesn't particularly like as part of the team.
Started a new
two-part Silent Witness. I'm intrigued by the premise of this one. I
thought the episode felt a little disjointed and I'm hoping the initial murder
somehow ties into the other two. Kind of happy to be guessing on this one.
Watched a fun
episode of Elementary with the return of Lestrade. I love the actor, so
I love the character. Plus, he's much less annoying than Mycroft.
Enjoyed an episode
of The Batman. Finally got a return of Batgirl. I'd forgotten Firefly
powered up in a big way and almost blew up Gotham. Great episode.
Caught another new-to-me
episode of Classic Rugrats. I'm not a great fan of the three-vignette
format but I do have a lot of love for this series.
That's pretty much
it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Specter's
Masquerade, a novella that brings a couple together on a space station days
before a huge gala.
Here's the
miniblurb:
Juna Newberry starts her new position as head of security
on the Specter Spacestation under fire. She walks into the job two days before
the biggest gala event of the solar year, a threat is made on the personnel,
including the principal owner of the station, Maddox Specter, all while
fighting her attraction for the sexy entrepreneur.
And a sneaky peek…
Maddox still wanted to
do bodily harm to every member on his board, but he couldn't fault their
choice. After spending half the day with Juna, his confidence in her ability to
seamlessly step into the position soared. He loved her sharp mind. Hell, he
loved everything about her.
Sitting back while she
read through her final notes, he envisioned the type of costume he'd provide.
She wore a no-nonsense ponytail, with her hair pulled sleekly back from her
face. His fingers itched to pull the holder off so he could see the burnished
brunette tresses settled over her shoulders, hopefully bare. She had great bone
structure with nicely proportioned curves her uniform couldn't hide. Not that
the standard issue garment did spectacular things for her, but his active
imagination had no trouble filling in the details.
She glanced up and
caught him gazing in her direction.
She quirked a brow.
"Do I have something on my face?" Her gaze traveled down. "Or on
my uniform?"
His lips twitched. Juna
focused primarily on work, but provided flashes of humor, too. He'd love
working with her professionally and hoped like hell to wrangle something on a
personal level, too.
Even if the timing
sucked and probably couldn't be worse. Juna Newberry drew his interest like no
woman had in a long time.
She cleared her throat.
"Mr. Specter?"
He shook his head.
"Maddox, please. Save the Mr. Specter for official use only." Why not
test the waters?
Juna set the notepad
aside. "Okay, I'm sensing something more than employer-employee in your
tone. Am I mistaken?" She paused a moment. "Because, if not, I'd
prefer if you were direct and even blunt." Folding her hands in her lap,
she held his gaze.
Maddox cut to the
chase. "You're not wrong. I'm a driven man and know what I want." He waited
a beat. "I want a piece of you." Stopping for a moment, he went on.
"I realize I'm out of line here, but I don't believe in mincing words
either." He rather hoped he wouldn't get a punch to the jaw for his brutal
honesty.
Juna exhaled on a long
breath. "Okay, I respect having things out in the open but, yeah, out of
line and crappy timing." She glanced away, inhaled deeply, then turned
back and pinned him with her gaze. "Can we talk about our mutual
attraction after the masquerade so I can stay on task and up to speed without
big distractions?"
The words tumbled out
of her mouth at a rapid pace all on the one drag of air she'd taken in.
Maddox cocked his head
to one side. "Of course. But to be clear, you did say mutual attraction,
right?" He should leave well enough alone, but the impulse to push for
clarity wouldn't let him.
Juna gave a terse nod.
"I did. But I won't—can't—think about it right now. I need to get back to
my team and start doing my job." She ended any additional chance for
banter by rising from her seat. "Which I'll do right now." Smoothing
the creases from her uniform, she shot him a grin. "It's been an
extraordinarily interesting start to my tenure with Specter Station." With
a wink, she turned and exited his office.
Maddox leaned back in
his chair and put his hands behind his head. His board might be the bane of his
existence, but they'd done him a good turn by bringing Juna Newberry into his
orbit.
A wide smile crossed
his face. Paul Edwards would shoot stardust out of his ass when Maddox thanked
him for the wonderful treat.
I love this series!
There are three more books featuring Maddox's friends and I really hope I can
get their stories launched within the next year.
That's it for this
week. Catch everyone on the flipside.
ML Skye
