Sunday Snippet: Under a Crescent Moon

We had a bit of a thaw with temperatures just a little above freezing. It's not going to last long but nice to step outside and not have it hurt to breathe.

Work ended up being very busy this week. And I made some progress on my side project. Hoping to launch by February, but that's not a given. I am crossing my fingers though.

Didn't quite make it all the way through my usual shows. I did add a new one, which I think I'm going to enjoy.

The new show I added is One Lane Bridge and I watched the first episode. There's a bit of a paranormal twist to this that I'm very interested in.

Caught another episode of London Kills. It was nice to get some Billie backstory. Also nice to see movement on the larger case. Looking forward to a new episode this week.

Enjoyed an episode of Death in Paradise. New sergeant is fun, and the mystery ended up being interesting. Looking forward to more of season eleven.

Watched another episode of Beyond Paradise. I'm enjoying my favorite actor's character in this. Loved the mystery and piecing everything together.

I started an episode of Elementary and I'm enjoying it. I'm not quite sure what's going on with Watson's guy, but I have a sneaking suspicion there's more to him than we're seeing and not in a good way.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Under a Crescent Moon, a sexy short featuring conflict between a couple when a secret is revealed.

Here's the miniblurb:

Tyra Blanc, a top military pilot, harbors a secret love for classic old romance movies. When she's not paying attention during a briefing, her superior officer, Dev Dravenish, reveals her weakness and Tyra is caught between wondering how he discovered the information and how to deal with the all-out ribbing coming her way.

And a sneaky peek…

"Dismissed."

Tyra's head shot up. Shit. She'd zoned out again. Sliding from her seat, she wondered if...

"Lieutenant Blanc, a moment, please." Dev called out from the podium.

Yep. He'd noticed. Dammit.

She walked up to the front of the briefing room. "Sir?"

Dev folded his arms over his chest. "Little distracted this morning?" He arched both brows.

She winced. "Not so much distracted as … well … maybe a little unfocused." Yeah, that sounded lame even to her.

Dev's eyes widened and he dropped his arms. "A little unfocused? You were all but snoring back there." He leaned and pitched his voice low. "If our nocturnal activities have you nodding off during briefings, maybe we should find alternative ways to spend our time together."

Tyra deserved to catch some grief for almost—okay, actually—falling asleep, but what else did he think they should do if not having sex?

She tilted her head to one side. "You think we should do what? Read books? Have a tea party?" Not much two people could get into that didn't involve the rest of the ship.

Like sitting in at a card game or maybe catching up at the rec room bar. Possibly sitting through entertainment shows.

Dev shot back. "Gee, I don't know. Maybe you'd rather watch some old romance classics." His lips quirked. "Something with a noir flair."

The room went a little dark when what he meant dawned on her. He shouldn't have any kind of knowledge about her secret passion for the old-time black and white romance films. Her reasons for loving the genre were extremely personal and very private. Having Dev whip the subject out left her feeling naked and exposed … even if they were alone in the room.

She didn't like having her secret trotted out and used against her.

Her gaze narrowed. "How did you know about that?" She hissed the words out.

Dev blinked in surprise then backpedaled. "Josh told me in a drunken confession during a game of cards."

Son of a bitch. It figured. And, oddly, hurt.

Tyra schooled her features. "And did your brother share the information with everyone else?" A little bruised and battered, her heart twisted in her chest.

And anger made her vision swim.

Confused, Dev shook his head. "No, it was just him and me. Why? What's the big deal?"

Tyra ignored the question, needing to escape before she said something she shouldn't. "Fine, whatever. I'll be sure to pay attention during the briefing tomorrow." She lifted her chin. "No problem." She stomped off, biting her tongue and fighting back tears.

Dev wouldn't understand why she couldn't talk about the topic. And she didn't have the capacity to explain right now. Not when memories were crowding her thoughts, and she fought the urge to drown in them.

I love digging into weird quirks that create drama between characters. Tyra and Dev are kind of on the cusp of something more, which might be in jeopardy now.

 

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

ML Skye