Sorry I didn’t get anything posted yesterday. It was a crazy Monday, but a good kind of crazy. Today I’m going through the line edits for Take Me Home. Should be getting cover art in the next few weeks. I’ll share the art and a new excerpt as soon as I can. It’s getting closer!
I’m thrilled to share that part 3 of More Than Just a Good Book is now available. You can read the opening of it below. I’ve also updated the cover art based on tips I learned in a publishing class. A special thank-you to Connie and Rosie for critiquing the story.
If you check it out, I hope you enjoy this next installment of Mark and Scott’s story.
More Than Just a Good Book: Part Three
Mark had no words. He just stared down at Scott. He couldn’t help himself. Never had he met anyone this smart and sexy, so utterly inspiring. “You’re pretty cool, you know that?”
Scott met his stare. “Me?”
“Hell yeah, you.”
“Oh.” Scott searched Mark’s eyes. “Have you…” He looked away and shifted his ass between Mark’s thighs.
“What?”
Scott stilled and met his gaze again. “Have you done this a lot?”
“Done what?” Mark moved to lie on his side beside Scott again, and Scott followed until they were face-to-face. The intimacy of being in bed with a guy long after the sex washed over him. This was crazy. He was usually the one coming on strong. Now it was Scott, with his curiosity and quiet, nervous charm, who was the one slamming into Mark’s resolve to take this slow. To keep his emotions in check. Or else he’d push Scott too far too fast. He didn’t want to scare Scott off. He could come on strong, could be too intense for most guys.
Scott said, “Bring men home you barely know.”
“Sometimes.” None of them had been this interesting, this meaningful, not on a first date. He kept that to himself.
Scott’s brow furrowed, and then, in a swift move, he turned onto his back.
Shit. That look. Hurt? Confused? Mark didn’t want Scott to misunderstand. What they’d done at the library and again at his apartment was special—damn special. But yet again, he held back from saying too much. Not now. Not yet. He sat up and leaned against the headboard. “I’m not all about getting laid. It’s just sometimes I meet someone, and I bring him home.”
“Of course.” Scott sat up and turned away, his legs swinging off the side of the bed. “I get it. I mean, I know I’m weird. Not going out that much…not sleeping around…”
“That’s not weird.” He couldn’t hold back on all of it. “It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted anyone to stay in bed with me. Since I’ve wanted to talk with a guy.”
Scott turned and met Mark’s gaze. “But you’re talking to me.”
“Yeah. That’s the difference with you.”
Scott cocked his head to the side, not as animated as before, but he was still staring with an openness that called to Mark. “Difference?”
“I want to get to know you. I’d like to see you again.”
Scott pulled one leg onto the bed and turned toward him. “Yeah?”
Mark hesitated. This could be more than he’d let himself hope for with any man. More than he was ready to put himself on the line for. So far Scott was proving he was worth the chance. Even with only the possibility of four months. “Yeah.”
“That…that would be—” Scott stood. “I don’t know how to—I should go.” He glanced around the room, his head jerking side to side so quickly he’d give himself whiplash if he didn’t let up. “Where are my pants?”
Mark sat up. “Living room. Scott, what’s wrong?”
This story is both a gift to my readers and a way for me to explore a new writing process. I’ve never polished a story one chapter at a time, and so far this has been a fun, interesting change for me.