Stories, Conundrums and Characters. Oh my!

I hope you've come from S. C. Mitchell's blog.
 
Let me start this post off with an apology. I've been missing in action for way to long. Life has been busy. Lots of writing stuff happening, and lots of family stuff too. I shall endeavor to keep you updated on my work and my life with greater efficiency in the future.

The impetus for today's post comes from Raine Balkera  who wants to know what everyone is working on ATM. Details & conundrums, plus five bonus points for including a wee bit of your favorite scene.

What I am working on is diverse to say the very least. I'm a bit disorganized with my work. I typically have three or four stories in various stages of completion. Right now, I have book one of my small town series at my agent's for editing. I'm editing the extremely rough draft of book two. I've got three erotic novellas underway. I'm working on a novella for a box set, and a novel for an anthology. It's a wonder that the stories don't get mixed up in my head.

This excerpt is from the first of a series of erotic vignettes I'm working on. They'll be short stories that all tie together, but also stand alone. Keep in mind that it is in rough form, exactly as it was written on the first draft.

“Look, Macy, I know it isn’t something we would normally do, but I think it might be worth considering.”

“No.” Was he out of his mind?

“Just no? You aren’t even going to consider it?” Jack stared down at her, daring her to deny him. “Isn’t our marriage worth it? Aren’t I worth it?” 

His shoulders were tense, his hands fisted at his sides. The corded muscles of his arms bunched and twitched with tension. He was angry, he was disappointed in her, but she couldn’t do what he asked. There was no way in hell.

“Jack, it is insane too freaking insane. I can’t believe you would even suggest such a thing.” God, where did he get these retarded ideas? She refused to even consider it. Surely people didn’t actually do things like that? Did they? She couldn’t really be that naive, could she?

“Look,” Jack sighed. “Just think about it. I’m not asking more than that. Just consider the idea. I’m on night shift tonight. I’m heading out for dinner with Jason before our shift starts.” He gave her a pleading look. “Please, Macy. For me, for us, consider it. Because if we can’t figure out where things went wrong between us, I don’t think I can keep living like this.”

She didn’t blink, she didn’t even move. She sure as hell didn’t cry. She just stood there motionless, her entire body tensed up to control the shivers that wracked her curvy body. She stood, and watched his shoulder droop in defeat before he turned and walked away from her. Five minutes later she heard the garage door open, his jeep flare to life and tires peel as he drove away, the garage door rumbling shut behind him.

She fell to her knees, unable to stand any longer. Anger, tension, disappointment and confusion battled within her robbing her of all her strength. She knelt there her arms wrapped around herself for comfort until her knees and back ached from the strain. Unable to stand the strain any longer, she dropped to sit on the floor, pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and punched in the number of her best friend, Ashley. 

Ashley would know what to do. Ashley always had answers. But more importantly, four years ago, Ashely and Jason’s marriage had been on the rocks too but they had found a way to pull it back together and now they were happier than they had ever been.

“Ash,” Macy whispered when her friend picked up. “Come over. I have a Ben and Jerry problem.”

“How bad?” Ashley asked.

“Chunky monkey, black cherry, vanilla and butter pecan bad.”

“Give me fifteen minutes. I’ll drop the kids at Mom’s and hit the grocery store.” The phone clicked in Macy’s ear. The silence was deafening.

Was this what she faced with Jack gone? Total silence? God she couldn’t stand that. 

What the hell had gone wrong? Seven years ago they had been madly in love, now they barely spoke. They were like two ships passing in the night. Three weeks ago, Jack had moved out of their bedroom and Macy hadn’t slept since.

She crawled to the fireplace and hit the switch and it roared to life. She held her hands towards the gas flames. It wasn’t a real fireplace, but it blasted heat and warmth, and she was cold. So cold. Chilled to the bone, it felt like her heart was frozen. She couldn’t lose him. God, she couldn’t live without him. But she couldn’t do that.

She could barely think the words he had hurled at her in his disappointment. How could she even say them, let alone do it? People didn’t really do that did they? Surely it was all made-up for movies and books.

But Jack said it wasn’t. He had told her he looked into several options. 

Several options? She remembered shouting at him. She hadn’t known such a thing even existed, but Calgary had several options? Holy crap. She felt monumentally naive.

She knew the city had escorts, everything from cheap street walkers to high end escorts that earned more in one night than Macy did in a month. But she had no idea that the city boasted at least four, and her mind whispered the words, swing clubs.

God, she blushed to the roots of her hair and down to her toes just thinking of the words and Jack wanted to go to one. The idea was certifiable, insane, ludicrous and completely out of the question. But what if it were her only option to keep Jack? Then what?

She jumped to her feet and paced the room. What the hell was keeping Ashley? She pulled out her phone to call again and realized it had only been minutes since she called. Damn.

How was she going to explain this to Ashley? They had been friends for years, since grade nine, and they shared everything. But this? Sure Ashley had talked about her own marital trouble and the group they visited to get things back on track, but how could Macy approach this? Logically, she knew that every marriage had rough spots and that many couples failed to make it through. But this was crazy beyond belief.

She paced back and forth across the room, into the kitchen, through the dining room, up and down the stairs. She couldn’t stay still, she couldn’t bank the frustration and fear coursing through her. She circled the coffee table and stopped in front of the fireplace and picked up a framed photograph of her and Jack taken last year at the finish line of a fun run to raise money for cancer research.

They looked like hell, it had been nearly thirty degrees and they had run the entire twenty kilometers. They dripped sweat, their clothing hung limp and sweat sodden, their faces were red, their hair slicked back and untidy. But their faces were wreathed in smiles of happiness and pride that they had accomplished their first run together.

She stroked a finger down the image of Jack's face. Even beat and exhausted, he was gorgeous. He was easily the most handsome man she had ever met. She had fallen for him at first sight when the guys from his fire station had come to inspect the office she worked at.

Dark brown eyes, dark brown hair that was thick and lush. He was always smiling. He was ripped. Muscular and strong, his arms, legs and back were well muscled. She loved to watch those muscled bunch and flex as he worked in the yard or around the house. And that soft, welcoming look he gave her every time their eyes met just made her want to melt inside.

God, she missed those looks. He never looked at her like that anymore.

That's it for a taste of Macy and Jack.

Now, hop on over to Brenda Margriet's blog  blog to see what's up there.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Katie