Sunday Snippet: Unlawful Acts

Well, had a betterweek than the last one. Still not completely tip-top but feeling way betterwith the worst of the cold finally over. We got more snow this week, but warmertemperatures are around the corner. At least for a few days.

I got caught up onmy work projects and lined up a potential new one. I'll be starting a new copy editon one of my favorite mystery series and continuing my read through on the nonfictionproject.

I'm setting up astorefront for Tip Jar Shorts. I'm kind of doing things a bit backward, but themore I thought about it, the more I figured a storefront would lend legitimacyto this endeavor. I wanted to keep things super simple and offer various methodsof payment and I might still be able to do that, but I also thought it would bebest to have immediate access to a downloadable file instead of waiting on adelivery to an inbox. We'll see which version works out the best.

Had an okay week ofviewing. I didn't make a full cycle through of my shows, but I did get the backhalf watched. And I might be adding one additional show to the roster. I'll leteveryone know if that happens.

Watched another episodeof Elementary and rather enjoyed this one. Sherlock's dynamic with Joanis different and getting more settled. And Kitty is fitting in with both inways I didn't expect.

Also caught an episodeof Batman Beyond. I remembered this one and enjoyed it. I did forget theinteraction with Terry and his brother so that was a nice reminder.

Enjoyed anothernew-to-me episode of Classic Rugrats. I sometimes wish Nickelodeon hadcontinued with the plans for the pre-school show and added more of All GrownUp. The nostalgia is strong with this franchise. Instead, Spongeboband other weird stuff took off.

That's pretty muchit for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Unlawful Acts,a sexy short that puts a couple in close proximity to work out theirdifferences.

Here's the miniblurb:

Effy Carmichael, an up-and-coming officer, wants the jobof alpha team leader and deserves it, except she's a few years too young tohold the position. When the spot goes to one of her oldest friends, JonahKirkland, Effy has to swallow her pride and welcome him even while she fightsthe powerful attraction between them. Hooking up with Jonah is against regs,but it may be worth committing an unlawful act to finally realize one of hermost closely held desires.

And a sneaky peek…

Effy's heart kicked against herribs. How the hell to answer? Maybe with the truth … even if it might be scaryugly …She laid it out. "I wanted theteam leader job. And I should've had it." Sighing, she conceded the loss."Except, of course, I didn't qualify." Waiting a beat, she put theperiod at the end of the sentence. "And then they send you." Sheshrugged. "Which should be awesome but, honestly, I'm having a hard timeseparating my personal feelings from the professional…" She trailed offbecause the admission cost some pride.Jonah blinked. "Personalfeelings?" His thumb brushed over the top of her hand. "As in … wait,why haven't I ever gone after that before feelings or just the age-oldfriendship type?"Effy narrowed her eyes. "Areyou making fun of me?"He shook his head. "No, Eff.I'm not. Believe me, I'm not." He huffed out a laugh. "Heh, you'venever given me a hint of hope that you saw me as anything but a brotherly typeof friend." His hand squeezed hers.She pursed her lips because … truefact. "Maybe you didn't look hard enough." Her lips twitched.Jonah snorted. "And maybe yourpoker face is too good for me to see through."She rolled a shoulder. "Thereis that." She'd become very good at keeping her true feelings hiddenbehind a mask.Jonah tugged her a little closer."So … if I'd never received this promotion, we'd have spent the rest offorever not getting it on?" His palms skimmed along her torso.Awareness skittered through her."Maybe." Anticipation thrummed through her veins.Jonah's mouth curved. "Well,that sucks."She agreed with a nod.Jonah sobered. "Can we getpast this whole thing? The job situation? Because if we can't, I'll transferout of here." His voice held a note of conviction.She didn't hesitate. "We canget past it. I just needed to be pissed off for a couple of months." Hecouldn't leave now.Jonah lifted his chin. "Andyou're over it now?"She wrinkled her nose. "Prettymuch."Jonah got serious again. "Inthat case … I can think of a very inappropriate way for you to thank me."He tipped his head toward her. "Right now."When she opened her mouth to uttera comeback, Jonah slanted his mouth over hers. A very effective way to shut herup, and she probably wouldn't give him another opportunity like this … ever. The helmet forgotten, she let thekiss consume her. They could've kept dancing around this for years. Effy slidher tongue along his lower lip as she leaned into the embrace. She became the aggressor, backing away,she pulled him upright and started tugging at his shirt. "Off. Now."She stepped back and slid her sweatshirt over her head, then started on hersports bra. Jonah made short work of his shirtand, after tossing it behind him, pulled her to him and kissed her again. Hislips slid to her shoulder and his hands began to unbutton her pants.She cupped his chin. "We'regoing to do this?" She left the here unvoiced. "Technically, sex onthe premises constitutes an unlawful act." Not that she gave a damn.He pushed her pants down as far asthey would go. "Don't much care at the moment."Effy stepped out of her fatigues."Okay, yeah. We're going to do this." She reached forward and ran herfinger down his chest and stopped at the waistband of his sweatpants beforelooking up at him. "Think you can handle it?"

I love Effy and Jonah.Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes to write.

 

That's it for thisweek. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye