A little something from a wip ...

I decided I liked Robbie, who's a side character in Accidentally Were. I also got a giggle out of Shaun, Pearl's younger, goth princess friend. Then, of course, I had this very mean thought that Shaun would bug the shit out of Robbie ... and a new story was born.

So a little bit from the first chapter ...

Robbie Diedrickson cursed the day his friend and Beta had found his mate.
Not because he was unhappy that Rex had found love and had a cub on the way, but because much-to-curious-for-her-gothic-shitkickers Shaun Engelstead was now his problem.
Little gothic riding hood, sitting on a gravestone absently knocking the heels of her red Doc Martins together like she was Dorothy wishing to go home, was giving him grey hairs -- and being just this side of forty, he didn’t need her assistance in that department.
Robbie snuck a look around the other side of the tree he was hidden behind, and looked to see if Jak was in position.
Jakov Pieter was a vampire; a real one, not one of the playing at it types with fake teeth he’d seen hanging with Shaun and the rest of her Goth friends. It hadn’t taken much convincing to get his old friend to help him out with his plan to scare his little gothic princess. Jak was always up for a good practical joke, and getting to act all Bela Lugosi was right up his alley.
It wasn’t that he was angry with her. Much. After all, if she hadn’t sent Pearl to Rex to find out about Pearl’s strange canine shaped love bites, they wouldn’t have found each other and the whole chain of ‘wonderful’ events that led to Rex mated and about to be a daddy wouldn’t have happened. But, and there was always a but when Shaun Engelstead was involved, now that she’d been proved right about Weres existing, she was determined to prove Vampires were real, too.
Wasn't it enough that every time he turned around Shaun he tripped over her -- she was like a kid with candy, and the Pack was her Pop Rocks. Pack meetings, she was there; a Pack party, yup you guessed it, she was there. He had a feeling she probably knew more about the minutiae of his pack than he did, and he was the god damned Alpha!
And that was why, at two am on a Friday morning, he wasn’t tangled up in the sheets with a date, but crouched behind a fucking pine tree waiting to put his ‘scare Shaun shitless and get her to stop poking her nose in’ plan into action.

A T43 Excerpt

A little something to start your heart:

Tea for Three
(c) 2007, Anne Douglas

Wren was captivated with the scene playing out in front of her. She’d fantasized about how two men came together, and here it was, right in front of her -- two hot, sexy, men making love to one another.
Wren didn’t dare breathe for fear of shattering the moment -- she didn’t want them to stop. Seeing them together turned her on something fierce. Craig’s tongue lapped at the swollen head of Jack’s cock before taking him deep in his mouth, his cheeks hollowing when he drew back. Wren was certain she heard Craig humming, and judging by the way Jack clenched and groaned beside her, it was as effective as all her erotic novels suggested.
Jack’s hand came up to hold Craig’s head in place as he pumped his hips up. “Yeah ... suck me!”
Craig jerked his head out of Jack’s hold, and on all fours, he clambered across her legs and into position between Jack’s thighs. “I don’t think so, Jack. I have better things in mind for you.”
Wren jumped as Craig directed his next words at her -- she thought they had forgotten she was even in the room. “Wren, baby, grab the lube off the dresser for me.”
Reaching for the requested bottle, she turned back in time to see Craig pin Jack to the bed with his arms behind Jack’s knees. The graphic image the two big virile men made together took her breath away -- Craig loomed over Jack possessively, while Jack grinned up at his lover, waiting for the moment when he got what he had wanted all along.
Moving back beside the pair, she proffered the bottle.
“I’m not the one who needs it, Wren. Jack’s ass is the one that’s about to get fucked.” His growled words and harsh tone shocked her, but perversely excited her, as Craig dominated Jack. Staring at the point where Craig’s thick erection rubbed over Jack’s balls and equally erect cock, she gulped, and felt a gush of heat through her pussy.

Catch up

No not Ketchup, catch up. Besides it's called tomato sauce anyway :)

I've not been blogging a whole lot this week as I've been working hard on my WIP ... along with actually doing the housework I've been putting off for far too long.

Accidentally Were is a 24k and climbing, I haven't got to the mystical woo-woo part yet so I'm thinking that I'm going to end up around 40-50k before I start editing and cutting and adding. Of course since I'm notorious for not using contractions, there's 1000 words that disappear right there. Tell me, in this little scene that I'm penning this afternoon, have I gone overboard with the euphemisms? (assuming I have that right, euphemism that is, and I have a feeling I am wrong.) :

(this is VERY much unedited at the moment folks)

When he pushed her back up against the side of his truck her little angry growls stopped and a low sexy rumble started up instead. “I wasn’t sure there for a second, but I think you were right, this is a damn good idea.”
Rex barely had time to brace himself before Pearl climbed her way up his body and wrapped her legs around his waist. As he wasn’t quite balanced they fell back against the truck with a panel-popping thud that pressed Pearl up against him like she was a stripper and he was the pole. Quite apt really considering his dick felt like a bloody steel bar.
Pearl’s hands were wound through his hair again; holding him tight as she fairly ate at his lips. Pearl made a cacophony of sound as she mewled and groaned as she rode his cock like a cowboy on a prize bull determined to make it to eight seconds. She tore her mouth away and shouted to the sky, “Yes! More, just like that!” and Rex had to wonder what the hell alien had taken over the woman who was usually so uptight and proper she’d make a Mongrel Mob member quake in his boots for being to loud in a library.

Tea for Three's release is a little over a week away now. We should be getting everything finalized this weekend, so it will be nice to get that out of the way until the Monday before release day when I'll sit up late obsessively refreshing the screen until the new releases are posted -- and don't think I wont!

I've got a release out, a sub being read (do you know hard it is to sit on your fingers and not email "Have you read it yet, whaddya think" to your editor?), and I've been trying to make a decision about a national print ad -- I'm not usually one to stress and obsess, but trying to break my caffeine addiction (I'm failing I might add), has me a little twitchy :).

BUT ... I put that twitchiness to good use and I now have clean floors. Eh, which reminds me I need to go finish off the bathroom, bugger!

An excerpt from the up coming Tea for Three

I've had my head buried in edits for the last two days, but they are done now, so I thought I'd surprise you with a little excerpt to introduce you to the characters in Tea for Three:

Most days Wren didn’t understand the rest of the world, let alone herself. So why had she shaved her legs, and stuffed her swimsuit and a towel in her bag -- just in case?

It wasn’t like she was planning on going swimming or anything ... but it was so damn hot today that the idea of taking a dip in a cool pool sounded entirely too wonderful.

Why on earth had she accepted Jack’s invite?

You know why -- you’re bored ... and lonely, and spending a few hours with some interesting near strangers is something better to do with your Saturday afternoon than sitting at home with yet another book.

Well, they were good books! Wren now knew all sorts of things from those erotic romances -- pity she’d never had the chance to try any of the ideas out.

Rummaging through her bag, she made sure she had all the essentials -- sunscreen, hat, cover-up, swimsuit. She made sure her sunglasses were on top of her head and closed up the bag. Heading to the kitchen, she plucked up the dessert she had spent the morning making. Her mum and dad had taught her that it was rude to not bring something for your hosts. She had decided that two grown men wouldn’t say no to some homemade dessert -- even if they possibly were new age guys with gourmet chef tendencies. Besides, her fruit caramel sponge pudding was fairly close to award-winning, even if she did say so herself.

She locked the kitchen door behind her, then made her way to the car and carefully stowed the dessert in the backseat, along with her tote bag.

Absently rubbing her scarred hip, feeling itchy from the stunningly hot day, Wren really started looking forward to at least dangling her feet in a cool pool.

* * * * *

Oh my god, it’s the guy from the bar!

Wren had barely knocked on the door before it was quickly opened and she was greeted by a handsome, smiling face. A handsome, dark haired man with a chocolate voice, who still appeared in her secret, late night fantasies.

“Wren!” Craig’s sun bronzed face lit up with a big welcoming smile.

“Craig? It is Craig, right?” Wren was almost at a loss -- had she gotten the directions mixed up and got the wrong house?

“Yup, you remembered!” Well, duh ... of course she remembered!

“But ...” An extra arm reached around Craig and grabbed hold of the dessert bowl, while Craig took hold of her bag in one hand and her arm with the other, walking her into the house. “Jack? Jack was the blond guy?”

Speak of the devil; a chagrined cough came from the owner of the third arm.

“I have to fess up, Wren. I didn’t tellyou that I recognized you from that night at the club.” A light blush ran across Jack’s cheekbones as he shrugged. “I ... well; I was a bit embarrassed actually. I was kind of rude, pushing my way in the middle of you two chatting – truly, I hadn’t realized you were talking with one another -- and I really
wanted to make a good impression on the best analyst and strategist in town.”

Jack and Craig just stood and watched as her face got redder and redder, obviously waiting for her to blow her top. She blew all right -- right out into peals of laughter, leaving both men looking at her, stumped.

“Oh ... my ...” Wren couldn’t get enough air into her lungs to say more. Forcing herself to calm down, she managed to carry on. “Jack, you idiot! I was already on my way home when Craig stopped me to chat for a while. When I saw you greeting Craig so heartily, I just decided it was time to make a quiet retreat and leave you to it. Believe
me; I wouldn’t have thought any worse of you when it came to your business expansion.”

Craig broke out in a grin, while Jack was still a little more abashed with a smaller smile.

“Come on out back, Wren, and take aload off by the pool. Today is the perfect day for doing nothing but swimming and lazing around with friends.”

“I’ll just take this to the fridge.” Jack took a doorway that obviously led to the kitchen, while Craig took her arm and showed her out to the rear of the house. They had an in-ground pool surrounded by stunning lush gardens.

“Oh, my.” Wren was amazed at the profusion of flowers and immaculately kept gardens and shrubs. “This is Jack’s work, I assume.” It was beautiful, flowers overflowed with scents and shrubsand trees burst with life.

“And you would be correct; this is one of his continual works in progress.” Craig took her bag over and put it down by the large table, waving her to one of the pillow-clad sun loungers. “He does a lot of experimentation here. We have a bit of everything out here in Clevedon. Cool and salty air off the harbor, but moisture, with the fogs in winter, and during summer, it can be as hot as Hades out here on the flats.”

Wren watched as Jack came up behind Craig, laying a hand on his shoulder in a manner that showed the men’s comfort with each other.

Man alive, what a good looking couple they make.

“I guess that means that you have been listening to my gardening rambles?” Craig laughed as he, too, sat down in a lounger.

“Every word! It doesn’t mean that my black thumb has gotten any greener, though.” Jack laughed as he put a cooler down under the table with one hand and a tray of glasses and mixers on top of the table with the other.

“Now that we have all our confessions over and done with, who’s for a drink? ‘Cause it’s bloody hot, and I know I need one!”

Since y'all have been so good with helping me out...

Here's a little unedited excerpt:

McCabes2 (c) Anne Douglas 2007

Striding down the steps he turned toward the side lot, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets as he went, trying to ward off the chill. Half way to the corner he heard an out of place noise coming from the direction of the car parked away from every one else.
Well, hell -- warm bed or investigate? Curiosity won out. Walking over to the car, he wondered just what he was getting himself in for. After all, this is what all those internet scam spams were all about -- strange sounds in parking lots just before you get smashed round the head with a two-by-four, or chloroformed and kidnapped by Zimbabwean billionaires wanting to give you 25% if you will only pretty please give them your bank account details.
“Huh, must have been a cat.” Hi voice sounded eerie in the nearly empty parking lot and sent a shiver down his spine. Satisfied that he must have heard a stray animal he turned to leave, but heard the noise again -- a voice, definitely not an animal yowling.
“Please… help me…my baby girl.” The voice faded, becoming faint and hard to hear.
Shit. Had a woman been trying to get to the house but collapsed? Coming around the front of the car his question was answered -- rather unpleasantly.
“Holy shit!” A woman lay crumpled on the ground. A he rushed over he could see she had been badly beaten. Her face was a mass of cuts, her arm was at an odd angle -- she was doing her best to cradled it with her torso.
Kneeling down beside her broken body David reached out to her, pulling back when she drew back in fear.
“I’m not going to hurt you. But I'm going to have to... Oh Hell!” She had slumped into a faint. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed 911 while trying to find a pulse in the woman’s neck. It beat strongly despite her weak condition.
Feeling sleazy for having to touch her so intimately after all that she had already been through, he ran his hands over her stomach. She had talked about a baby, but with her bulky clothes and generous shape he couldn’t see any obvious signs of pregnancy. David hoped that if she was only in the first few months the beating was not going to cause a miscarriage.
“I’m sorry to do this to you, lady, but while you’re out I'm going to take you inside until the paramedics get here.” David wondered why he was talking to himself -- the woman was out of it, it wasn’t like she could hear him.
The woman seemed average in height from what he could tell with her crumpled on the ground, and she looked like she might be of mixed blood, Hispanic at a guess. Her clothing was bulky, but even though she looked to carry more weight than she should she wore it well. Still, she would look small beside his bulk. Alarm bells were ringing, as he felt strangely protective of the beaten woman -- since he didn’t even know her name, let alone anything else, the sentiment was confusing.
Running an arm under her shoulders and another under her knees, leaving her damaged arm cradled to her chest, he lifted her into his arms. Her head fit just nicely under his chin, and somehow despite the sickening reality of the situation, felt like it was a perfect fit. A wayward part of his anatomy stirred that shouldn’t considering the situation. Jesus you are a sick bastard McCabe, your Jonesing over a woman half beaten to death -- you really need to get out more and get laid.
Trying not to jostle her too much, David strode to the house and banged on the door, ringing the bell, trying to get someone’s attention.
“Josie!” Anxiety tinted his voice and it annoyed him. He was always the calm and collected one. “Josie! It’s David. I need you to open up, I found a woman in the parking lot, and she’s been beaten.”
Josie pulled the door open with a crash, horror on her face as she saw the broken body in his arms. “Damn! Bring her in here, David. There’s a bed in the first room on the right.” Josie relocked the door so quickly it sounded like the sharp staccato of gunshots. She followed him into the room, watching him as he gently laid the woman on the bed.
“I called the paramedics from the parking lot, they should be here soon. Her arm’s definitely broken. She was awake for a few moments but blacked out again just after I found her.” He didn’t want to say how close he’d come to walking away and not finding her. David knew he had to let Josie look at the woman’s injuries, but couldn’t bring himself to step aside. Despite the damage, a gentle beauty shone through. She looked so fragile, like she had been broken and thrown away like a useless toy. Something inside ached at the thought of someone treating anyone so callously.
Elbowing David out of the way Josie got her first real glimpse of the woman.
“Sweet Jesus!” Josie’s cry and gasp of breath brought his head up. “Oh my God, it’s Kate.” Josie turned to David, face blanched white with fear. “Where’s Ginny?”

No Midsummer Heat for me

Oh well, you have to be in to win, right?

I was however encouraged to expand the story and send it back. And they're right. Red Skirt, Cool Fountain really begged to be longer.

So I guess that's what I'll do. You know, I don't seem to be having much luck with shorter length stories. I think I might make a resolution - if its less than 25k, it doesn't go anywhere. (Well, other than the sequel I want to write for PV for next Xmas telling Nick's story, I don't think that's going to be a long one).

My trouble is that I can't plan for shit - well I can, but at the end, it's just not right. Instead, I sit down with a ghost of a story in my head and just start and see where it takes me. I guess that's organic writing, is it? I'm not exactly up with the play with all the writing jargon, I just write and figure it out as I go.

That wasn't what happened with McCabes2 - I planned it all out, and it didn't come off right. And instead of being on McCabes3 by now, I haven't sat back down to pick apart McCabes2 to send it back to B. But I will.

Hell I might do it this weekend while I'm away with the girls. It's supposed to be a scrapbooking weekend, but I usually take a book and the laptop (I'm a tech geek of course it goes with me! I don't do all that journaling by hand - are you kidding me?). But maybe I will conflab with the girls and get some inspiration.

Lucky there is no Internet at the cabin, there could be some wild and wacky blog posts come Sat night if there was - we usually have a daquari or colada or three. LOL, It sounds like I'm a rolling drunk, but seriously I'm not - I just appreciate that sometimes a good glass of wine or something enitely too fruity can be good for you :)

On a different note, I went all PC today and got one of these (it's a (PRODUCT) RED so part of the sales prices goes to fighting Aids in Africa) :

It's just a pity that the reason why I got this new piece of geekery was because of the little shits who stole my purdy green mini out of my bright orange Honda Element (aka The Pumpkin) - hrmm, I might wear black all the time but I like colour in my life, go figure! (the dayglow pink hair clashed a bit though).

They better watch out though, we are heartily sick and tired of the 'gift's' being left on our doorstep and front lawn, and the congregating on our driveway when we are out - we are getting spy cams. You bet your ass we are going to get the little fuckers.

Oops, ranting just a little bit wasn't I? Sorry 'bout that.

One of my sisters is a CP of mine (shes my 'average reader, this shit doesn't work for me' person). I had emailed Accidentally Were? off to her for an opinion. She IM'd me yesterday (or was it the day before, this week is a bit blurry - hence no TT 13 this week) and told me that she liked it - she hadn't finished what I had sent her yet, in fact she was only at chapter 3, but she was laughing so hard she had to stop reading so she didn't go to work looking like a racoon. That bodes well, because AW is supposed to be laugh out loud funny. Tell me what you think:

“Where are we going?” The small voice from the other side of the cab broke Rex from his reverie. “And why are we going there?” He was starting to smell her fear over the pervading scent of the woman’s heat.

“You are kidding me, aren’t you little Bitch. I’m taking you somewhere safe before the pack descends on you and you end up in the middle of a winner takes all orgy.”

It didn’t take any special were senses to feel or see her bristle with indignation.

“What did you just call me?” Her shoulders were back, her spine ramrod straight and there was a furious red flush across her cheeks and Rex was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on the dirt road as it wound through the forest. “You need your eye’s checked mister! For one, I am obviously not little, and two, I am not a bitch! You can accuse me of being overly prim and proper, because I am, I can’t help it with my parents. But don’t you ever call me a bitch!”

She was winding up good and proper now, to really yell at him. It was a breath taking sight to behold, and Rex was no slouch at appreciating an attractive woman, even if she was more riled than a rattlesnake.

“I let loose for one night, one bloody night in thirty-one years, and wake up alone; ‘cause my one night stand obviously couldn’t leave fast enough, four hickeys; complete with bite marks.” The tall lace collar of her blouse was ripped down to expose two of the fore-mentioned love bites. “Then, every damned stray in town wants to hump my leg, and now, now I have been kidnapped by a huge, sexy, bear of a man, who calls me a bitch instead of asking my actual name.” When Rex took his eyes off the road, he half expected her to be frothing at the mouth with her hair standing on end, and her nails ready to take a fresh strip from his hide.

Rex smiled at the straight laced she devil beside him. She thinks I’m s-e-x-y. Obviously the smarmy grin wasn’t appreciated, as she gritted her teeth and a rumbling growl echoed across the cab. Alpha male or not, you don’t mess with a bitch in heat. Not if you want to find your balls right where you left them. There was no way Rex was going to try stare her into submission; he turned his eyes back to the road.

Well, off to re-download my emo/goth/popchick/newage whale snorts/old rocker playlist - I'm nothing if not eclectic!
(PS keep an eye out for The Wreckers, they were todays download for me...And I might go get the rest of Daughtry's album - he's pretty damn good)

EDIT: What do you know, there are 13 paragraphs of randomness! I did make a TT13 after all!

Oooh, a second, smaller Merry Christmas to me!

Loose Id has been running Kissmas excerpts along with its Kiss promotions, and we authors were asked to send in a hot kiss excerpt for a chance to be in the promotion. Never hearing anything back from the Quad, I figure not this year, maybe next year...until getting my Idbits Digest this morning.

Woohoo! My Persuading Jo excerpt made the cut after all!

Remember to join IdBits is free, and it is purely LI information only not daily chat or spam. SO join today and have a little hot Kissmas read.

Having you been keeping up with Kissmas?

Loose Id has been running a twelve days of Kissmas promotion that you can catch up on at my main website www.annedouglas.com.

There are lots of goodies, like discounts on LGBT and Polyamorous romances (If you wanted a discount on a copy of Persuading Jo, here you go!), and you get a link for free amorous art by some of the great LI cover artists!

Print books are on sale as well, along with a discounted rate for next years VIP Club. If you purchase a lot of ebooks, and a number of them from LI, this is well worth it! I can save 25-50c/book!

LI also have some short story stocking stuffers for you from some wonderful LI authors. And if you join the IdBits newsletter you can also get a daily Kiss from Loowis!

How's this for a nice Xmas Pressie?

A Contract for Tea for Three!

Yup, hopefully in the earlier half of 2007 you will be seeing my new menage story, set in NZ available at Loose Id.

Wren, Jack, and Craig have been alot of fun to write, hopefully ya'll are going to find them as interesting to read.

Hers a little excerpt of the first time all three of them meet. This is unedited so may differ than the final product, and please forgive typos and grammar mistakes:

Agh! How did she let herself be convinced to go to these things?
Wren watched as her girlfriends gyrated on the postage stamp sized dance floor, with a group of men more likely to puke on their expensive high heels than be able to solve world peace -- let alone manage to get themselves into a cab at the end of the night.
Yet again she was left watching the party, not joining in. All things considered, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing -- how reliable could it be to meet a drunk guy in a bar? It’s not as if they are trying to find Miss Right to settle down with, more like Miss Are You Multi-orgasmic because you may as well enjoy it while I fuck myself senseless then skip out at the crack of dawn.
Not that she was bitter or anything. But it would be nice to be asked to dance just once, even if she had to turn the invitation down.
She swirled the straw in the lemon, lime and bitters that rested on the bar in front of her -- at least she had graduated from peeling the labels off of beer bottles in college. Now she just watched the ice-cubes clank against each other.
“Can I buy you another?” Wren looked up, surprised by the warm, smooth voice that sounded in her ear. Deep in her musings she hadn’t noticed the empty bar stool beside her had been filled by a rather attractive, stocky, dark-haired man with warm, dark Godiva chocolate eyes that matched his deep voice.
“It’s okay; you don’t need to do that. I was just heading home anyway.” Putting down the glass she had been idly twisting in her hand, she made a move to push her stool away from the bar when a large warm hand over her own stopped her.
“Please don’t rush away, I’d really like some company for a while. I’ve been entertaining out of town clients all night, and I would love to spend a little time chatting with someone a lot more interesting than they are.” Catching the bartender’s eye he indicated to refill their glasses. “Let me get another drink for both of us.”
Wow. Talk about smooth. While asserting control over the situation, he indicated he was no threat, asked her to take pity on him, and then just plain negated her plans with his own. Wren didn’t know if she should feel offended for being walked over, or if she kind of liked his brand of charm.
It wouldn’t hurt to spend a few minutes chatting before heading home. After all there wasn’t anything urgent to rush away for, now was there?
Letting a smile bloom she held out her hand. “I’m Wren.” He returned her smile and grasped her hand firmly, but delicately, treating her equally, but also respectfully. His mum had obviously taught him well.
“My name’s Craig. Craig Hunter.” Indicating over his shoulder, he gestured towards the dance floor. “And I’ve been officially dumped for the unofficial portion of the evening.” Looking over his shoulder, Wren realized he was gesturing at the gaggle of men around her girlfriends.
“Ahhh...the catch of the evening.” Craig looked back, eyebrows raised quizzically. “I came with my girlfriends -- the ones in the middle of your pack of piranhas.”
“Poor men, if only they knew.” She shook her head in pity. “Those girls are sharks -- they will eat them up as a snack and go looking for more.”
Craig looked back over his shoulder again, and laughed.

Looking back to the woman beside him Craig decided she looked prettier close up; she was quick and witty, too. He had been watching her from across the room for about an hour -- she had been sitting at the bar the whole time, nursing her drink. He thought she looked...appealing, possibly someone with an intriguing story to tell. Someone, that he thought might be interesting to get to know further, more than just a chat, at a bar, in a crowded pub. Jack would like this straight forward woman too; he just had to figure out how to ask her out -- without making it look as if he was hitting on her.
They chatted about nothing much for about ten minutes, until the barman remembered to serve their drinks. He laid down a twenty to pay for them, halting her movement towards her wallet.
“Thanks.” She smiled shyly as she picked up her glass; almost like this was the first time someone else had ever brought her a drink. Surely not? Swallowing, she gulped down a good quarter of the glass in one hit.

“Whoa, go slow there Wren. There’s no hurry, it’ll go to your head.” Wren looked at him oddly and shrugged.
“The most it will do will give me the hiccups. There’s no alcohol in it.”
“Oh.” Craig had the grace to look chagrined at having lectured her.
“I don’t drink when I am out... alcohol that is, unless it’s used in cooking.” She could tell he was curious as to why she was sitting in a bar not drinking, but was being polite too polite to ask.
“The girls drag me out every now and then; they think I’m missing out on something by not hitting the pubs and bars three nights a week.” Answering Craig’s unasked question.
“They drag you out to leave you sitting alone --” The rest of his sentence was cut off as a man, whose hair was blond like a ray of sunshine and reeked of the outdoors, stepped in between them, his back to Wren, firmly interrupting their conversation.
The newcomer put a hand on the bar to brace himself as he leaned in and kissed Craig heartily on the lips. “Evening, lover. How is the schmoozing going?”
Oh, well then. That explains it -- He’s gay. Figures. At least Craig had livened her evening up some with good conversation. All the good ones are taken or gay. She sighed silently, and gathered up her things -- time to leave the partying to those with someone to party with.