June Winds Down

And summer cranks up.

I planned this week's grocery orders around the weather forecast, for minimal cooking. We're heading for temps over 100 degrees starting mid-week, so there will be lots of salads here. My other plans for this week are to get in most of the weekend chores after work the last few days of the week, because we're having our delayed birthday dinner for younger son next weekend and because the day-job doesn't give us an extra day off during the week if a holiday falls on a weekend, so no opportunity to do it all on Friday. That will require a little cooking, but it'll be okay. I'll deal with the pasta salad, and then the guys can deal with standing over the burgers on the hot grill the day of the dinner. Haha. Otherwise, salads, sandwiches and maybe some takeout are in our future. I am doing a little cooking today as well, to make a quinoa salad, but it's a quick recipe to put together, so I can deal with it. Then we'll have plenty for several days of no-cooking. You all do the same thing when it's hot, too, right? I'm not the only one?

Making that and one other task are the last two items on my weekend list for this week, which means time to write afterward, as well as finalizing the July writing goals. Which reminds me I do have one more writing thing I have to do before Tuesday so I can cross it off the June list and not carry it into July. Haha!

Before I get back to those lists, I have a snippet for you this week from Freeing Medusa.

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            Katharine had had enough. Her skin tingled with need again, and her heart beat too fast. But she hadn’t seen any likely candidates–even a desperate Medusa had standards.

            Which meant it was time to go home and break out a couple more vibrators to appease her overactive hormones. Dammit. 

            She took another sip from her glass, smiling at Ramona from her post on the deck. Her friend danced with someone she’d greeted enthusiastically half an hour ago. She hated to interrupt, but it was time to go home.

            Katharine sighed and shifted her shoulders, trying to loosen the tight muscles there. She turned her gaze over the crowd one last time, and her breath caught in her chest. Him.

            He was gorgeous, in a rugged sort of way. His nose had been broken at least once, a dimple dented his chin, and he had the brightest blue eyes she’d ever seen, black hair dipping over one of them. His green shirt stretched taut over strong shoulders and a wide chest, then tucked into a pair of jeans that fit nicely on narrow hips.

            Her heartbeat quickened in anticipation.

            Then he glanced away from his conversation with a shorter man and caught her eye. A slow smile curved his mouth as his gaze slid down the front of her, making her skin heat, then back up, lingering on her mouth.

            Her lips tingled hopefully.

            She took a drink from the cup she held. Whatever frozen thing Ramona had given her was melting and slushy, but she still tasted the bite of alcohol as it hit her tongue.

            He moved away from the couple he was with, toward her, and her temperature rose a few more degrees. His long-legged stride was confident and unhurried.

            No, damn him, he made her wait, pausing once to greet someone along the way.

            She tightened her grip on the stem of the plastic cup and took a quick breath.

            He finally stopped about two feet away, and she got a whiff of cologne, something musky that made her mouth water.

            Her nipples tightened inside her vest.

            “Hi.” His low tone raised goosebumps on her arms despite the warm evening.

            “Hi.” She put out her right hand. “I’m Katharine Vardos.”

            He smiled again, a slow curve of his lips that made heat spread in her belly, from the inside out, until her panties were damp when she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

            He finally wrapped his long, strong fingers around hers. “Hunter Phelps. Nice to meet you.”

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Now...to go make the quinoa salad and do some dishes. Do you have some to-to salads that you whip up for the hot weather to avoid having to heat up the kitchen, too? One of my faves is a multi-bean salad that makes it easy to sub in things you have on-hand in case you're missing something in the recipe. This quinoa salad is another, as well as the mango and black bean salad I made last weekend. A good tossed salad makes me happy, too, in the summer time, especially now that my tomatoes have started ripening.

Here's hoping for lots of reading time for everyone this week. I'd love to hear about your go-to too-hot-to-cook recipes, too.

Until next week, happy reading!