I’m talking about the weather–I don’t think there is such a thing as too hot when it comes to romance novels.
I should have taken a photo of our thermometer an hour ago when I went past it–99 degrees, and the sensor for it is in the shade, so I’m afraid to wonder what our backyard feels like directly in the sun. Fortunately, I don’t have to go outside today to find out–I should, because my tomatoes need to be tied up more on their stakes, but they can wait until it doesn’t feel like the first level of hell outside. I’ve been trying to space out the household chores for the weekend that are generating more heat. My younger son’s birthday was mid-week, so we had his birthday dinner last night, and he wanted mac and cheese, which requires the oven. So the laundry waited until today, and I’m going to only do the really necessary stuff today, and then the other couple of loads that aren’t needed immediately over the next few days.
My other plans for this afternoon are to make a huge batch of salad so I don’t have to cook anything for a couple of days, work on a manuscript, and do some reading. While in our air-conditioned house, pretending it isn’t so miserable outside. Maybe I can pretend it’s winter instead.
That looks much better.
On the other hand, it is now my birthday month. So maybe I can hold off on the snow for a little longer and instead have cake and ice cream. Oh! Or just ice cream cake!
( Photo on Foter.com )
That looks amazing, and I might have to make one of those when the date is closer.
While I’m trying to find ways to pretend summer isn’t really here, I have a little snippet of the third Medusa to share with you.
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Hunter stuck close all afternoon, not giving her a chance to do anything foolish, as he was sure she was planning to do the first chance she got. He sat on the recliner while she curled into a corner of the sofa with her laptop. Every so often, her fingers would fly over the keyboard, then she would simply sit and scroll slowly over whatever it was she was reading.
For a while, he studied some papers he’d brought home the day before, then he moved on to his laptop, searching for Greek myths online. Eventually, she sighed, and leaned back in her seat.
“What’s wrong?” He lifted his gaze from his screen, away from a fascinating college paper someone had written about Perseus and Medusa, noting the faint frown lines on her forehead. Whatever it was, she was aggravated.
Her mouth tightened for a moment, before she blew out a quick breath. “My cousin’s husband.”
He set his laptop aside and rested his elbows on his knees. “What did he say?”
Her grey eyes were stormy when she lifted her gaze to meet his again. “He said he wants to talk to you.”
Hunter stifled the smile that wanted to spread over his face at her words. “Really?” He noted the slight narrowing of her eyes and realized he hadn’t kept the smile from his tone.
“I told him it’s not necessary.”
“I disagree.” He set his laptop on the coffee table and got up from his seat to join her on the sofa. “Which husband is this?”
“The security guy.” Katharine’s mouth tightened. “And it isn’t necessary. I’m not staying here indefinitely and putting you in danger, too.”
“I think that’s my choice to make.” He leaned over and looked at the screen on her laptop, where a short email had a telephone number after a signature. Hunter scooped his cell from the table and dialed the number, watching her expression darken still further. Right now, she could be as pissed off as she wanted.
She pushed to her feet and dropped her laptop onto the coffee table, pacing away from him in the direction of the fireplace.
“Hi, this is Hunter Phelps,” he said when a gruff male voice answered the line. “I’m with Katharine.”
There was a brief silence, and then he heard the other man sigh softly. “Did you have to wrestle the phone number out of her?”
He chuckled, watching her shoulders tense. “Not quite.”
“I’m Ryder Ware, married to Katharine’s cousin Mena. How did you get involved in this?”
“That’s kind of personal. Let’s just say I happened to be going to visit at just the right time to catch the Harvester entering her house.”
The other man muttered something under his breath. “Damn,” he said. “She didn’t say he’d gotten into the house.” He blew out a breath. “That’s bad, if they know where she lives. You can’t let her go back there.”
“Working on it.” He watched her scowl as she turned to pace back again, avoiding his gaze.
“Work harder. She’ll be stubborn and won’t make it easy for you.”
“I’ve noticed that.” He followed her back across the room, noting the flex of her muscles in the faded jeans she wore, her thighs strong as she strode across his living room. He smiled a little.
“Ah, that didn’t take long.”
“No.” He moved to stand in the doorway, blocking any attempt she might make to leave. “As soon as she felt better, actually.”
Katharine glared at him over her shoulder.
His smile widened.
“That sounds about right. She hasn’t made any actual attempt to go, has she?”
“Not yet.”
“Good. I’ll have Mena try to persuade her that staying with you right now is in her best interest.”
“She mentioned you have a security company.”
“Yes.” The other man’s voice sounded satisfied. “But there’s only so much even I can do against the Harvesters.”
Hunter’s smile faded. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Katharine shot him a frown as she dropped onto the sofa and picked up her laptop again.
“These people are determined, Hunter. They don’t stop, and there are thousands of them.”
He considered that. “Is there any way to know which ones are in the area?”
Ryder sighed. “No. There are permanent addresses, of course, many of them along the eastern seaboard, but they move all around on their hunt. Mena and Katharine’s cousin Andi had Harvesters from across the country hunting her in Maine years ago.”
Hunter didn’t like the sound of that. “That’ll make this a bit more challenging then.”
The other man laughed, humorlessly. “I think that’s an understatement. You need to keep her out of sight as much as possible. They have no way to connect her to you, do they?”
“No. I made sure we weren’t followed when we left her house, and this relationship is still pretty new.” He noted the way her shoulders stiffened at his words. He wondered if she were more annoyed by his refusal to let her leave on her own, or his characterization of them as having a relationship.
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I do love Hunter, and the third Medusa is set during the summertime, so I guess that is a good snippet for today. Now I’m off to get my salad stuff started so I can sit down with Nora and maybe a frozen beverage.
How are you staying cool this week?
