Hello Everyone,
New story. It's a cougar tale. Tonya is being stalked by a vindictive ex-boyfriend who is determined to ruin her life. Then there's Will, a sexy young attorney, who as a divorce lawyer is as tantalizing to women as garlic is to vampires because of his profession. A match-making friend is anxious to play cupid. Things  don't go well. Discover why.

Today's prompt is right. Tuesday Tales will be going on vacation for the month of August.


EXCERPT

The bold font stood out catching her eye as she scrolled down her work email. SURPRISE it announced stopping her in the action of deleting it. It wasn’t the subject heading, but more the sender name, Clint Fairweather, her ex. At one time, she thought his name signaled she finally stumbled across a good man. That was before she knew him and some of his bizarre tendencies.

The blinking cursor hovered over the delete button. Most of the time, she trashed his messages, never reading them. Technically, the message shouldn’t have even made it to her mailbox due to being blocked. Then again, her misfortune lied in having a mean spirited ex-boyfriend who also was a computer genius. The right term was private investigator. Yay me, I sure know how to pick them.

Her shoulders hunched forward. God, she didn’t need this now. Her company was looking at personnel to cut since they failed to make projected goals this year. It didn’t matter she worked harder than almost anyone in the department, no company wanted an employee with a stalker ex. News stories illustrated that they tended to come in guns blazing taking out not only the object of their obsession, but a half dozen people in the process.

Her first instinct was to send the email to the cyber dumpsite with the many dozens he sent the past year. Something stopped her. This one was different. Couldn’t explain why she knew, but it felt different. It felt like ice water poured down her back on an already frigid winter afternoon.

Wincing, she decided to open the document that was tying her insides into knots. An impressively long list of things to do, left her with no time to dither about a whiny letter from her ex.  Besides, she knew what it would say. Wrinkling her nose, she glanced around the empty room noting  absence of her co-worker.

Michelle’s starting time had to be in a different time zone, a much later one. Oh well, she rolled her eyes. This one time she didn’t mind her tardiness. The woman moved in her own fruity fragrance atmosphere. A quick glance at the open door assured her that she’d either  smell or hear Michelle before she’d hit the door. Tonya opened a work  file ready to switch the screen when Michelle finally arrived. With jobs on the line, there was no one she could really trust.

Clint's document mocked her with one sentence. I bet your boss would enjoy seeing this, as would everyone else in your company. That was it? Where was the platitudes about her letting go of the best thing she ever had. How she’d never find a man as wonderful as him. Wait. See what?

Michelle’s voice floated down the hallway as she stopped to talk to the custodian. Tonya’s eyes flicked down to email. It had an attachment. Damn. Her heart jumped up into her throat. She’d have to know what bomb Clint was going to drop on her.  Her co-worker’s cheerful chatter continued showing no sign of winding down. Click.

An image of her looking beautiful and festive wrapped in holiday greenery and Christmas lights filled the screen.  It was from more than two Christmases ago, back when she wanted to do something special to celebrate the holidays. An ad for boudoir photography sounded like a perfect gift. Who knew it would come back to haunt her?

The Inheritance is waiting to be read, so I thought I'd give you one more peek at their romantic evening. The full moon picture prompt is so appropriate.

A twist of the key shut off the engine, although the radio played a few bars before going silent. Home, should she get out of the car on her own? It was hard to know if Levi was staring at her in the dark. Without the glow of the dashboard lights, it was impossible to distinguish his expression.  His stillness unnerved her. It was similar to hearing what sounded like a footstep in the dark. She’d strain her ears waiting to hear the next ominous footfall. Usually, she fell asleep listening for a step that never came. “Why are you staring at me?”

Levi managed a husky chuckle that would rate an eight on the seductive scale. “That would require me having better eyesight than I do. No, I was more in shock wondering why none of your dates took you out to a fancy restaurant.”

“Trust me, there weren’t that many. Going to a mid-chain restaurant was as elaborate as it got. Considered myself lucky if I got a meal before the man vanished.” Unfortunately, her dating history undermined her shaky confidence.

His shadowy form moved closer, reaching across the console and cupping her face. “Their loss.  You looked so elegant and beautiful sitting across from me. Made me the envy of every man there tonight.”

His words melted her like soft butter left out on the counter. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she leaned into his caress. His scent surrounded her with notes of crisp starch, citrusy cologne, and underlying muskiness that reminded her of a walk through the forest after the rain.

His lips landed on hers, not surprising her, but fulfilling her wish. Her hand rose to cradle his head urging on the kiss and taking no chances that he might pull away. His tongue traced her lips, almost reverentially. The longing between the two of them grew in the dark car, filling it, heating it up, and creating a world of sensation. A place Melody could live forever until a long, clear baying pierced the night.

Charmer. Who knew a dog could seriously complicate a love life.

Today's prompt is summer. Since I've wound up the story and sent it off.  I'm going to give ya'all a little taste of their romantic evening out. Levi has asked Melody out to the area's swankiest restaurant. He's in full uniform ( Class A's) and she's wearing a fancy dress a client gave her. They are exiting the elevator to the restaurant when the scene opens.

EXCERPT

The elevator doors opened. Levi dropped a brief kiss on the top of her head before cupping her elbow to propel her forward. “Thank you. I know what you did back there and I appreciate it.”

Stepping out with him, she placed a hand on her chest right above her low cut neckline drawing his eyes. “Me, do something?”

“Give it up. You’re as subtle as a sledgehammer.” He winked at her, which caused her heart to stumble.

An alert host swung the door open at their approach. “Good Evening. Are we celebrating anything special?”

A denial formulated in her mind, but Levi answered before she could reply.

“Of course we are. We’re alive. It’s a gorgeous Indian Summer evening and I have most beautiful girl in town on my arm. Sounds like worthy of a celebration to me. “

The most beautiful girl in town, she’d never heard those words connected in relationship to her. A huge silly smile bloomed on her face. The man had charm, who knew? Manners and charm, she wondered what else the night would bring.

The host led them to window table with a remarkable view. Wilsonville might be small potatoes, but Lauren across the river wasn’t. The skyline glittered like a handful of stars thrown out on the dark backdrop of the approaching evening. The small votive lamp cast flickering shadows onto Levi. Normally, shadows made people look threatening, but on Levi they only made him more mysterious. What would it take to peel back those layers similar to the skin of onion?

A waiter showed, flourished menus, and preceded to relay the special of the day. She only half listened to caught up in the experiences of the day to consider the food. The waiter suggested the crab bisque to start, and Mahi Mahi with roasted vegetables, which sounded good. Levi went with the salmon New Orleans and a salad.

A dark suited man appeared with a towel draped over one arm and a bottle of champagne. “A patron has gifted you with this champagne in honor of your service. Will you accept?”

Levi’s eyebrows shot up as an elderly man stood and saluted him. He stood up, faced the man, and snapped out a crisp salute back. “We’ll accept.”

The wine steward opened the bottle and poured two flutes provided by an alert waiter. The same waiter returned with a wine cooler for the bottle. The wine steward and waiter left without a word hurrying off to serve the other patrons.

Levi lifted his glass. “To appreciating what we have, to life.”

The crystal tinkling of the glasses as they gently tapped together made something well up inside. She took a sip in an effort to quell the need to burst into tears. Today had been an emotional roller coaster, but she certainly didn’t expect it to end like this. If she were someone else watching, she’d probably see a romantic love story unfolding. Hero boyfriend returns from war to devoted girlfriend.

Her eyes met his over the rim of the glass. What was not to like about the man? Besides his tendency to jump to conclusions and assume the wrong thing. Not like she hadn’t done the same. What was he thinking? Did he feel the magic of the evening?

He put down his glass and glanced back in the direction of his beneficiary. “Never had anyone give me anything.”

“What?” That made no sense. “What about your parents, Uncle Roy?” Sure, her life had been rough as a foster kid but, she really didn’t expect anything else. Occasionally she got a gift on her birthday or Christmas. It was never anything big, flashy or something she wanted. Usually, it was practical cotton underwear and socks. One family gave her on manual how to be a good foster child. The awkward phrasing and photos that didn’t go along with the text made her think it was self pubbed even before she found the box full of copies hidden in the garage.

“Oh, yeah, of course my parents and Uncle Roy got me stuff. I’m talking about people not related to me.” He picked up the champagne bottle and refilled their flutes. “How about you?”