I’ve been thinking about this for a while. We’re always busy, whether it’s with household chores, or day-jobs, or family things, or any of a thousand other things. Responsibility trumps all else. Sometimes, I think we should ditch the responsibilities for a few moments of relaxation and enjoyment. Maybe more than just a few moments.
This time of year, things get really crazy, and many of us forget to stop and breathe. In my day-job, I’m always reminding people I work with to stop and breathe. But I realized I sometimes forget to take my own advice. This weekend, now that my day-job crazy season is winding down, I decided to get all of my chores done today, so that tomorrow I can spend my day reading or writing. Maybe a little bit of both.
We had a low-key Thanksgiving here, and I spent most of it in the kitchen. It was a little weird without my aunt here, but I thought of her all day. And the turkey looked and smelled amazing, but I didn’t miss it on my plate at all.
So today, I’m finishing my chores, and then tomorrow, I have big plans that involve only doing things I enjoy, like the big fat book sitting on my desk, and getting some of my handwritten pages from my breaks at the day-job into my laptop so I can keep going on this shifter story.
Speaking of shifters, I think I might have mentioned a story snippet last time, didn’t I? And it’s been ages since I shared a little bit of story with you all, so I think I’m going to dig into the fourth shifter to give you a little bit of Laney and Anton today.
_______________
Laney smiled, watching Anton sitting on the floor with Boris’s youngest, in the center of a jumbled mess of blocks and toy cars, gamely making engine sounds and listening to the boy’s chatter. Perfectly at ease.
As if he sensed her gaze on him, he looked over and grinned, winking.
Her breath snagged. Gods, she was falling in love with him. Heat rushed to her face.
Anton’s grin faded, and his eyes darkened.
Shit. She swallowed and made her lips curve again. She could not fall in love with him. Lust was fine, but not anything more.
He pushed to his feet, slowly, holding her gaze, and her mouth went dry at the intent in his eyes.
She was supposed to be doing something, she thought, over the quick thumping of her pulse in her ears. She just couldn’t remember what, with Anton stalking her through the crush of his family, all male predator.
“Hey,” he said softly when he reached her, his warm fingers brushing her hair back from her cheek. He dipped down to feather a kiss on her mouth, still holding her gaze. “You ready to get out of this insane asylum?”
She took a shallow breath, inhaling the scent of him, and her pulse tripped up a notch. “Aren’t you playing with Bryce?”
“I’d rather play with you.” He nudged her nose with his.
Laney set one hand on his shoulder to anchor herself. “Shouldn’t we–” Her breath caught again when he settled his hands on her hips and drew her closer. “Yes, we should, but we’re going home instead,” he whispered, his breath warm on her lips.
She flushed when someone catcalled from the other end of the room.
Anton’s slow smile made her heart beat faster. “Time to go.” He turned her and steered her out of the room with his hands on her hips.
The hallway was cooler, but she was still too warm, and when he bent to plant a quick kiss on the side of her neck, her temperature rose a few more degrees. “Anton?”
He turned her again and pressed her against the wall. “Say that again,” he growled, one hand sliding down to squeeze her ass.
“An-Anton,” she managed.
“Fuck.” He caught her mouth roughly.
She hung onto his shoulders and let him take what he wanted. What she wanted.
He lifted his head too soon, eyes dark and dangerous. “Let’s go.”
Laney nodded, breathless, and pushed away from the wall. He found their coats in the hall closet and helped her into hers. Laney shivered, watching him shrug into his own.
When they got into the car, he set his hand on her leg and squeezed. She sucked in a shaky breath at the rush of need that shot into her belly.
_______________
Tomorrow, I won’t be working on Anton and Laney, but his cousin Joe’s story. I hope you all find some time to stop and breathe this week, to find a little enjoyment amid all the busyness of your everyday life. Let me know how you spend your few moments of down-time this week.
