New Cover for Murder in Paradise

I'm so happy to reveal the new cover for my romantic suspense novella, Murder in Paradise.

It was previously published by Secret Cravings Publishing, which has sadly gone out of business. I will soon be self-publishing it with a new cover and updated blurb.

Blurb

Romance author Claire Jenkins stumbles upon a crime scene on a secluded Hawaiian beach while at a writer’s conference. She caught a glimpse of the hotel’s newlywed groom, and is afraid the bride is in danger. Claire’s fearful the murderer has seen her. Just when she needs him, in walks Sam Stewart, her writing partner and bestselling thriller author, who’s revered as a rock star.  Claire’s attracted to Sam, but strives to keep their relationship professional.

Sam wants to keep Claire safe, and he’s also fallen hard for her, which he keeps under wraps for the sake of their writing partnership. Sam devises a plan where they pose as a couple, he gets to hold her hand, while they get closer to the suspect and figure out what’s happening.  Will they suppress their attraction to continue working together, or take a chance on creating a happily ever after for themselves?

Island Surprise

Welcome to this week's installment of Island Surprise my WIP. This week's Tuesday Tales prompt is knife.            

           Dan and Crystal were on the small island at a table set for two at the site of the new hotel extension. They were sharing a snack of cheese and crackers from a picnic basket, and a bottle of wine, compliments of the hotel. After all the hotel staff assumed the picnic basket was for the honeymooners, and they went out of their way to accommodate Lacy and her new husband. The basket also included a pineapple and other tropical fruits. Next to the basket were utensils, a cork screw and a big sharp shiny knife meant to cut the pineapple.

Crystal sat on the edge of her seat listening to every word Dan said. “It still doesn't make sense to me. I know that you must be excited about this baby, the same way I am.”

“Look Crystal, you’ve got to believe me. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but we have no future, you and me. There is no us. I just married Lacy. Why don’t you take the money, and I’ll make sure the baby gets taken care of financially. He or she will never want for anything, but I can’t be there doing this with you. I just can’t. It’s out of the question.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me, Dan. Why did you bring me here to this island if you didn’t want to spend some alone time with me.” He heard the shakiness in her voice, and thought she was at the point of breaking down. Dan thought it would be easier to deal with Crystal on the small island away from nosey hotel staffers who could report back to their boss and Lacy’s father. He told Lacy he was meeting with her on the island and wanted to handle it himself.

He stood up and walked over to Crystal who had just burst into tears. He put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed her back to comfort her, not really knowing what to do. His gaze fell to the table and the knife caught his eye. Maybe I should put that in the basket. Don’t want her to get any ideas.

Crystal stood up and put her arms around Dan. He was taken by surprise, but continued to pat her back. He reached for the knife on the table with his other hand, just as he picked it up a familiar voice came up from behind him.

“So this is how you handle it, Dan? I thought you were breaking it off with her.” Lacy shirked from behind trees as she approached them.

Dan released Crystal in a flash, put still held the knife.

“Get your hands off my husband. It’s over Crystal, and how dare you show up here. You must be crazy.”

Dan was surprised at Lacy. He’d never seen this side of her before. He was trying to be gentle with Crystal, but she wasn't having any of it.

Crystal turned around and faced Lacy head on with straight posture. “How dare you talk to me like that. I’m carrying his baby. Can you say that?”

“Is she crazy? I don’t have to say that. I’m his wife. I count, you don’t.”

Dan wasn't sure who struck first, but before he knew what happened his two women were throwing blows at each other. He wanted to break it up, and looked down at his hands and saw he still held the knife. “Hey, stop it you two. Stop.” He waved his arms and threw the knife in the picnic basket. Next a crash rocked the tranquil island as Crystal went down and hit her head on the stone table, face first. The blood gushed out of her head that had split open at the forehead. What happened next seemed to go in slow motion to Dan, as it was permanently implanted in his brain. He went to Crystal’s side to see it he could help stop the bleeding, but it was no use. There wasn't anything he could do. Crystal was gone.

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Island Surprise - Continues

This excerpt is an excerpt from Island Surprise based on the included picture prompt. Dan and Lacy are walking along the beach at their hotel after their wedding and before Claire sees him on the island. 

Lacy and Dan strolled along the beach hand in hand. Lacy squeezed his hand, tugging on his arm. “What’s wrong? You seem a bit preoccupied. The stress of the wedding is over. You should be relaxing now.”

“I’m just worried that Crystal will try something crazy.”

“Why? You paid her off, didn’t you?” Lacy threw her long black hair back, but the wind fought her.

Looking down at his bare feet in the sand Dan muttered. “Yeah, I gave her a check for 20,000 thousand, and said I’ll pay her more once the baby’s born. I told her I’ll support the baby. But I get feeling that it’s not going to be enough.”

As Dan looked out at the ocean waves illuminated by the moonlight, his mind returned to the day it all changed. The day his causal fling, Crystal Matheson told him she was pregnant, with his baby. He tried to play it off like it wasn't his at first.

Crystal looked up at him. “Come on Dan, I’m not seeing anyone but you, and you know it. I love you, and I thought you’d be happy about this. We’re going to have a baby. I so hope he looks like you, babe.” She said massaging his arm as they stood under the Stone Arch in Central Park two weeks earlier. 

Dan’s smartphone beeped. He pulled out the sporty cell and read the text message. A shot of adrenaline raced through his system when he saw the message was from Crystal.  I just checked into the hotel, babe. I’m in room 622. He exited the message, and jammed the phone in his the pocket of his chinos.

Lacy stepped back and watched his expression change to complete shock.

He faced her, eyes wide open. “She’s here.”

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Island Surprise Continues

Sam, Claire and Nancy have returned back to their hotel for the rest of the conference. This week's prompt is baseball. 

When Sam and Claire headed over the television lounge area, a baseball game was on the screen, the sound was muted. They stopped at the coffee bar and sat at two bar stools. Sam glanced up at the television again and saw that the local news interrupted the game. A crowd of uniformed and plain clothes police where at a wooded area, ‘Woman Found Dead’ read the caption under the scene.

           Sam stood up and took Claire's hand in his and held it tight, standing next in front of the bar. He could see the TV in the reflection of the walled mirrors that decorated the lounge area. He kept one eye on the reflection of the screen showing the crime scene and the other on Claire.

"So are you attending any workshops today?"

"I'm planning on going to a few." Claire looked at Sam with an odd expression on her face.
"Oh, great! Which ones are you going to?" Even though the screen was mounted on the wall behind the bar, he moved closer to her to hold her attention.            

            The coffee bar waitress approached them. "Would can I get for you two?"            

            Claire moved to the left so she could talk to the waitress around Sam. "I'll have a small mocha latte with soy milk." She smiled at the waitress and gave a questioning glance to Sam. He smiled at her and turned around to the face the waitress.

            "I'll have a medium regular coffee with half and half, please."

            "Okay, coming right up," the waitress said and went off the place the orders.

The scene was still on the screen with a reporter interviewing a police official. Sam turned back to Claire and attempted to block her view of tv again. "Would you like something else? They have danishes and things..."

            "We just had a big breakfast. I can't eat anything else."
             He need to continue the conversation. "You didn't say which workshops you're going today."

            "Why don't you sit. You're making me a little nervous. Is there something wrong?"

            Great, now she's suspiscious. Well you're not going to get academy award for this performance."No, I'm fine. I'll sit. I don't know I just feel a little wound up today." He sat on the stool next to her. He glanced up at the screen again and was relieved to see the camera was back on the anchor and they had moved on to the next story. He took a few deep breathes trying to reclaim his inner claim state. He didn't want Claire to see the story about the woman's body found, not just yet. He figured it was best to let the police do their thing, without getting involved. It bothered him that Claire might be involved in this as it is, he didn't want to attract unwanted attention from Dan if he was the involved in this. He had the feeling that Dan was indeed playing cat and mouse with them, and he certainly didn't want Claire or Nancy to know any more than they needed to. In his experience of reseraching criminals for his thrillers, he knew that they usually gave themselves away and that other people stepping in to play cop was usually a bad idea. It often lead to more murders when the killer thought he would be discovered.

            "Maybe you should have a decaf coffee or some tea." Claire leaned into him a bit. He got a hint of her musky cologne looked down into her concerned face.

            "I'll be all right." Their eyes locked for a moment.

            The waitress returned with their coffees. "Can I get you anything else?"

            "No, thank you. This is just fine." Sam said to the waitress while still looking at Claire.

            "Okay. Are you two here for the writer's conference?

            "Yes, it's been great." Claire picked up her spoon the stir her latte.

             "Is this your first time in Hawaii?" The waitress started wiping the bar next to them.

            "Yes, it's our first time here. It's lovely and the hotel's great." said Sam

            "Yeah, just sorry you have to be here when we've had our first murder in like twenty years or more. It's just terrible. They just found that poor girl's body on the small island yesterday. I sure hope they get the creep who did it."

            Claire practically dropped her spoon on the bar.  "What? A girl found dead on the small island?"

            Sam's face went white. He sat motionless for a moment while his mind shifted gears.

            The waitress continued. "Yeah, the small island next to this one. They’re planning on building an extension of the hotel over there. It's been the top story on the island all day yesterday and last night."

            "Oh, no, I was right all along. Did you know anything about this?" Claire looked at Sam.

            "Of course not." He blurted out. He fumbled with his coffee cup, needing something to do with his hands before he started over gesturing which he did whenever he was nervous. The cup shook in his hand, spilling a bit of coffee on the bar.

The waitress came back and wiped it up. "Just an awful shame. I came here to get away from the senseless crime. And now this poor girl..."

            Sam wished the waitress would go away and shut up. His prayers were answered when a few people walked into the lounge and sat down at the other end of the bar. The waitress left them alone.

            “So it looks like Dan, our perfect host murdered someone. I knew I wasn’t seeing things.” Claire got up from her stool. “Are you sure you didn’t know anything about this, Sam?”

            “Well, I didn’t want to alarm you.” He looked down behind the bar avoiding her accusing brown eyes.

            “Alarm me?”

            “Yes, alarm you. Look at you, you’re ready to bolt out of here and do what? Confront Dan who could be involved in this.  Or are you going to the police, to tell them what? That you may have seen something, but you’re not really sure. This is a powerful man Claire, you have to tread lightly here. And I’m trying to help you and protect you.” He looked at her hand gripping the bar, and wanted to reach out and put his hand over hers.

            “When did you find out about the body?” She appeared to be calming down. She loosened her hand on the bar railing, but he could see her heart was still beating rapidly.

            “I found out last night at dinner.” He told Claire about his friend from the 14th Precinct calling him while they were dining with Dan and Lacy.

            “Wow, I just don’t know where to start, Sam. Why didn’t you tell me this last night?” She sat back down and looked at him. He met her gaze.

            “I thought about it, but you know last night was special. We were finally alone, even pretending to be a couple, which was fun. I really didn’t want to hit you with that kind of news.” He looked down at his hands around the coffee cup.

            “Why, because I’d be too distracted to give us a whirl? Since we were getting along so well together.”

            “Well, it’s not a bad thing, is it? It was something like that, Claire.”

            “I can’t believe this. You’d keep this important information from me, just so we could share a bed together and get closer.” She kept her voice low, which Sam was quite thankful for, but her eyes screamed. He saw the hurt in them, and his hands started to shake again. He released the cup.

Claire stood up, took her bag off the stool back, and put it over her shoulder. “I have to go,” she said quietly and left.

            “Wait, Claire…”

The waitress returned.

            “Can I get you anything else?”

            “No, thanks.” Sam reached in his pocket, pulled out a bill clip and put a ten dollar bill on the bar. He told the waitress to keep the change and went after Claire.

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Island Surprise

Welcome to this week's installment of Island Surprise. This week Tuesday Tales writing prompt is dawn.

            After an hour of talking about the book they wrote together and doing a sequel, Claire finally looked at her cell phone for the time. “Wow, it’s almost 2 AM. I’m going to bed before we see the dawn rising up. Although that would be a beautiful sight here.  I didn’t realize how late it is.”

            She stood up and pushed her chair back by the table. Sam followed her and closed the terrace door as he came into the suite.

            Claire started to unbutton her blouse and looked over her shoulder at Sam, who was trying not to be obvious while sneaking a peek at her. She reached down on the bed and picked up the nightshirt the hotel staff provided per Lacy’s request. It was a large white cotton tee shirt featuring the hotel’s name and logo.

They also provided a pair of grey cotton boxers for Sam. He picked them up. “Not bad. They really thought of everything, huh.”

            “Yes, it was very thoughtful of Lacy, so we wouldn’t have to sleep in our clothes.” Claire was on her way to the bathroom to change.

            “Or in the buff. Which might not be such a bad thing.” Sam said the second line in a lower voice thinking Claire wouldn’t hear it.”

            “Oh, I heard that, Sam,” She yelled from the bathroom. “Wouldn’t be such a bad thing. That remains to be seen.” She giggled.

            “Yeah well you can’t blame a guy for trying.” Sam took off his clothes. He was putting them over a chair when he heard her come out of bathroom, and saw her in dresser mirror he was facing. Wow. He had never seen Claire with so little on before. She was completely gorgeous. She walked into the room, clean faced, no make-up, hair pulled back in a headband, wearing just the white tee-shirt. The shirt hit her thigh high, and as Sam felt revealed the best part of her long legs. The shirt was large, but he could see her shape underneath. He could see that she wasn’t wearing a bra, and see her breast swaying naturally beneath the cotton. He even saw the faint outline of her dark areoles showing through the shirt, and felt his boxers tenting in appreciation. He angled himself to the side, to hide his reaction. He didn’t want to scare her off by revealing his obvious arousal.

He knew that Claire was attracted to him, but he also knew he had to move slowly with her. She had said in the past that she really enjoyed working with him and wanted to keep their relationship on a professional level, although there’s no doubt that a friendship had formed. Well he wasn’t about to blow it all now by displaying the expanding bulge in his pants she elicited from him.

            Claire walked over to the dresser and put her clothes in the top drawer. “Have you given any thought to the sleeping arrangements?”

            A picture of her on top of him grinding into him popped into his head, causing his tent to rise a bit more at his own suggestion. “You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.” He walked toward the closet away from her, to see if there was an extra blanket in it.

            “Don’t be silly. This is a king size bed. There’s plenty of room for the both us. It’s so big it’s almost like having your own bed.” She turned off the table lamp and got into the bed nearest the terrace door.

Sam was so relieved she turned the light off. “Are you sure? I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.” He wanted to be on the bed to be nearer to her, but knew very well he wouldn’t get much sleep if he couldn’t have her the way he wanted to. And if he did wind up on the couch, he knew he probably wouldn’t get much sleep there because it didn’t look comfortable.

“Sam, the couch is really a love seat, not a full size couch. You can’t sleep on that, it’ll kill you. Just get in the bed, please.”

Sam pulled his side of the covers back and smoothly got in, careful not to reveal the package he was guarding from her. “Okay, if you say so.”

He lay down and his erection stood straight up. He turned on his side to hide it.

Claire pushed the sheet off her, revealing her bare arms.  “See that’s better. We both need our sleep. And besides, this bed is so big, it’s like we’re not even in the same bed.”

Yeah right.

Sam took a deep breath and detected a hint of her lavender perfume that was wearing off from the day. He couldn’t help himself. His mind drifted. He longed to bury his face in her neck and breathe it in. Instead he made due with taking deep breathes as the spicy aroma engulfed him.

After awhile he realized this wasn’t working for him, her signature scent was stimulating him more and keeping him awake. He tried counting backwards from 100. Maybe that would work to level off his arousal so he could get some sleep. Just lying there thinking about her cologne or the fact that he could simply reach out and touch her body was enough to keep him hard all night. And frustrated…95, 94, 93.

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Island Surprise

Thanks for stopping by and reading another installment of Island Surprise. This week's writing prompt is chase.

            Claire stood still in the middle of the lobby, oblivious to the people walking around here as she watched the couple disappear into the crowd.  How was it possible the wife was still alive? Nancy, just as stunned stood beside her.

            “I can’t explain it,” Claire shook her head in disbelief.

            “I can explain it,” said Sam. “The woman’s not dead. I hate to say this, but you were mistaken at what you saw or think you saw.”

            And just like that Sam was back in the dog house after just returning. She couldn’t believe he would doubt her.

            “I know blood when I see it, and I saw blood and plenty of it.” Claire responded trying not to raise her voice, after all they were in the middle of the lobby.

            Nancy jumped in between them. “Well guys maybe we can discuss this later. We have to take our spots for the book fair.”

            “I’m not signing at this one. I’ll be at my publisher’s book sale tomorrow,” said Sam. I’m just going to walk around say hi to those I know, and maybe sit with Claire if she’ll let me.” He flashed a shy smile with dark glistening eyes. She couldn’t resist.

            “Yeah, okay. I’ll be sitting in there somewhere. I don’t know where they put me.” Even though she didn’t like that he doubted her, she was always a sucker for his dark brown eyes and smooth voice.

            The three of them walked towards the hotel’s Ballroom which was set up for the book fair. The massive room was arranged with rows of long tables with mountains of books on them and signs with author’s names. Nancy left Claire and Sam to find her table. Claire went off in the other direction, searching for her table. Sam waved to familiar faces while quietly chasing after the woman he came there to be with.

**** 

Dan Roberts lead Lacy, his wife of four days, through the crowded hotel lobby. As they walked hand in hand, the crowd seemed to part for them as though they were royalty. Along the way, hotel workers nodded or smiled acknowledging them. To the locals, Lacy was considered island royalty. Her father was the prominent real estate mogul, J.D. Hunter, known as the Donald Trump of Hawaii.  J.D. built dozens of luxury apartment buildings and hotels, including the one his daughter was honeymooning in. Dan was a partner in a boutique architecture firm that did many jobs for J.D. To secure his rise to the top, he swept J.D.’s daughter off her feet while he wooing her father’s business. He was now leading the team for the expansion of the Royal Continental Hotel, on the neighboring smaller island.

            As Dan and Lacy walked towards the restaurant, they passed an easel in the lobby advertising the Book Fair, which was open to the public. Dan remembered the pen. He would have to pay Nancy Wells a visit. He wanted to see the woman he needed to stop. He wanted to know if she could identify him. Did she get a good enough look at him on the island, or is he jumping the gun on assuming that she did?

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Island Surprise

Writing Prompt – Finger

Welcome to this week’s installment of my Tuesday Tales story Island Surprise. Thank you for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment.  

            Nancy reached out and grabbed the bed post. She felt light headed and needed to sit. 
            Claire looked over and saw her friend’s reaction, and stopped talking to Sam. “What’s up Nance? Who was on the phone?”

            “It was a message for me. Someone’s telling me to forget what I saw on the island, and they’ll forget about me,” her face turned pale as she recalled the words.

            “What? You didn’t see anything on the island to forget about. Why would they be calling you?”

            “I don’t know how he got my name. But I don’t want him to know my name. I just want him to forget me, and I’ll forget him.”

            Claire went to the phone and replayed the message, and then the color from her face drained as she sat down on the opposite bed. “I’m not even sure what I saw, but this has to be related to it. Why would someone call you? I wish he would forget about it too. I’d like to forget the whole thing, but I can’t, especially now”

            “But how can you forget when you don’t even know what you really saw?” Nancy was shaking her head in wonder.

            They were both oblivious to Sam standing there watching them like he’d just turned on a TV drama he’d never watched before trying to play catch-up. “Hey girls, what’s going on? Whatever you’re trying to forget, don’t forget to tell me first. I want to know.”

            Claire looked up at Sam and quickly recanted the morning’s events to him. He sat on the bed next to Claire. “We really don’t know what you saw. There could be a logical explanation, and there usually is. But I don’t get why someone is now harassing Nancy. Why use her to get to you?”

            “Right, and I didn’t think he got a look at me while I was on the island. If he did it must’ve been when I was rowing away. But how could he see me from that far distance.” Claire started rubbing her hands and cracking her knuckles, something she did when she was nervous. She made attempts in the past to curb this habit, as a writer the last thing she needed was hand joint problems. But she was cracking them now. She looked at Sam. “So what do you think?”

            He reached over and gently put a hand over her hands, causing her to stop the cracking. He held her hand rubbing his thumb softly over her fingers.  In a manner of seconds he felt her nervous energy fade away, and the warmth emanating from his hand spread to the rest of his body. Boy if she only knew what this touch was doing to him. He enjoyed it, but now he needed to help her, and he needed all his senses. Sam slowly released her hand, restoring his ability to think clearly. He cleared his throat. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t think you have enough to get the police involved.”

            Nancy picked up her conference tote bag and stood up. “Maybe be we could do a little snooping on our own and find out who the honeymoon couple is. See if it looks like they’ve checked out. If he did anything to her, why would he still be here? Wouldn’t he want to check out and get out of here fast?”

             Nancy walked over to her suitcase and pulled out a box of her pens. “I’m going to be signing at the book fair for Arrow Publishing this afternoon, so I need my pens.” She gave a pen to Sam.

            “Thanks,” he looked at the pen. “Ah Midnight Rising, I’ll come by and buy one from you. I remember when this story first started to take shape.”

            “Thanks, Sam. The story changed again since you last read it. I’m so glad it’s finally out.”

            Claire picked up her bag and Nancy waved a pen at her. “I have one from yesterday. I don’t want you to run out.”

            “Oh, I don’t think I’ll run out. I always over-buy.”

            Sam followed the women out the room, closing the door behind him, checking to see that it locked.

            The three of them got the elevator and walked towards the grand lobby. No matter how stressed Claire was the island trees and plants decorating the lobby always managed to take her breath away and calm her down. Nature was always a good de-stressor for her, coming in close behind having her hand held by Mr. Sam Stewart. Even though she didn’t verbalize it upstairs, there’s no doubt the affect this man had on her. Not only did she need to look out for a possible killer, she needed to watch herself around Sam. Claire didn’t want to get swept away again. The last time was too painful for her. She knew she was smarter this time.

            As they walked through the lobby towards the conference center, a couple crossed the lobby in front of them. Claire's pressure shot up. Oh my god, it’s him. The honeymooner! He and his new wife just walked across the lobby hand in hand, just like… well, just like regular newlyweds. Claire was dumbfounded and Nancy shot her a look, but kept her mouth closed. They watched as the couple headed towards a restaurant on the other side of the lobby.

            “What happened? What did I miss?” Sam felt the tension between the two women.

            “That was them. The man and his wife,” Claire raised her hands, and held them in a tight fist, fighting the urge to indulge herself.

            “So she’s not dead,” Sam looked after the couple.

“Then why is he harassing me?” Asked Nancy quietly as a wave of conference goers walked around them headed for the book fair. 

Writing Prompt - Flower

When Claire rowed the boat up to the beach, she was exhausted. She prided herself for being in good shape, but nothing could prepare her for the strenuous rowing expedition she just pulled off. She worked harder than the brief time she had a fitness trainer yelling at her, another get-in-shape-fast scheme that didn’t fare well. Nothing made you move faster than when you thought you were running for life, away from a murderous honeymooner. She jumped out the boat, her bag over her body crisscrossed, so she wouldn't lose it this time. She spotted Nancy on the beach coming toward her.

           

            "I've never been so glad to see someone I know," Claire blurted out as she hugged her friend almost knocking them down on the sand.

            "What happened? This better be good, Tess O’Neal's workshop on police procedurals is about to start in a few minutes. I wanted to go to that."

            "I could've been killed, Nance. You can order the cd later. I might be involved in a real police procedural. Real, as in real life." She stomped off toward the hotel with Nancy on her heels.

            "Well are you going to tell me what happened?"

            Claire stopped in her tracks and looked around.  "I don't want anyone overhearing me. I think I might've walked in a murder."

            "What? What did you see and who was killed?"

            "You know the honeymoon couple at the hotel..." Claire recanted her encounter on the island in a low voice to Nancy.

            The two picked up the pace and walked into the plush hotel. The inside was just as beautifully decorated as the outside grounds. The spacious lobby and surrounding walkways were layered with island trees, native sculptures and wood carved furnishings that looked as though were designed for royalty. The two women walked through the busy lobby towards the elevator bank. Claire saw a few familiar faces in the crowd, and would normally join them, but instead she ducked into an elevator hoping they didn't see her. She needed time to unwind and process what had happened. Nancy was right beside her, too stunned to say anything.

            Nancy had her card key in hand when they reached the door and quickly swiped it open. Claire walked into the room and knew exactly what she wanted, she went to small refrigerator they requested for their room and pulled out the bottle of red wine, half full from the night before.

"I don't care if it's before noon, its four o'clock somewhere in the world. After all that, blood…I need a drink to relax."

            "Don’t' close that," Nancy reached for the bottled before Claire re-corked it. "After hearing that story, I could use a drink too."

            The two discussed what they should do next. Claire was afraid she'd been seen, and didn't want to do anything to put herself in danger. While Nancy protested that she didn't really know what she saw. She needed proof before she could do anything.

            A knock at the door startled them both, and then Nancy laughed walking to the door. She looked through the peephole and saw what appeared to be a man holding a bouquet of exotic island flowers in front of his face.

            "Who is it?" Asked Claire, sloshing her wine around in the plastic wine glass.

            "I don't know. Someone's holding flowers. Who is it?" Nancy asked from behind the closed door.

            “Special delivery for Claire.”

            Claire heard the voice from the hall and almost dropped her glass. "Oh no, it's Sam. Just what I need to complicate things." She went to the door, and looked through the peep hole. She saw the flowers hiding his face, but his well-toned body was in full view. She recognized the fashionable black jeans he sported like a uniform, and wore so well she didn't mind seeing them every day. But not today.

She opened the door, and he extended the flowers to her, "A peace offering before you resume the last fight we had," he said as he strolled in the room as if he owned it.  He reached over to plant a small kiss on Claire cheek.

            "Thank you, they're beautiful." He quickly kissed the other cheek before she had a chance to object. "What did you do, just get back from France or something?"

            "No, your cheek just called out to me."

            Sam Stewart a successful author of thrillers and spy novels. He and Claire met at a writer’s group, critiqued each other’s work and even collaborated on a couple of stories together while on their road to publication. Along the way they also had a brief relationship, which Sam thought ended a little too soon.

            While Sam and Claire got caught up, Nancy noticed a message light on the room phone on the night table. She picked up the receiver to hear the message. “This message is for Nancy Wells,” said a muffled voice with wind in the background. “Whatever you think you saw on the little island today, you’re mistaken, so just please go about your business and forget about it, and I’ll forget about you.” The call ended and she almost dropped the phone.

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Island Surprise Continues

Tuesday Tales story using car, limo as writing prompt

Claire stood behind the lush tropical trees, held her breath and watched the bridegroom as he finally walked away in the opposite direction. Great, Claire thought. Hopefully she could get back to the boat without being seen. She retraced her steps and hurried back to the beach.

While she ran through the jungle, her bag strap caught on a branch, drawing Claire and her bag back like a sling shot. Her bag turned upside down, fell and spilled most of its contents. She reached down, tossed her lunch and notebook back in the bag as quickly as she could. She rose to her feet and continued on her way back to the beach. But wait a minute. Things didn’t look quite the way she remembered. She stopped again, breathing deeply from running and tried to get her bearings. She got turned around when she picked up her things. Claire tried her best to remember which direction she came from. Did she make a right turn?  She hoped this was the correct way. All of a sudden she came upon a banana tree she recalled seeing earlier, and practically wanted to reach around and hug it.

A few yards later she was at the beach and saw the little row boat waiting for her. She dragged the boat in the water, and bruised her legs a bit as she jumped in. She threw her canvas messenger bag down next to her, picked up the oars and rowed as fast as she could away from the island headed towards the big island. After she was more than what she estimated shooting distance to be from the island, she put one of the oars down and fished her smart phone out of her bag. Thrilled to see signal bars, she speed dialed Nancy her friend and roommate for the conference.

            “Hey, where are you? You’re missing a great buffet. The workshops are going to start soon,” Nancy cell yelled over the phone with loads of ambient sound in the background.

            “I’m in a row boat, making my way back to the shore. I think I’m running for my life. Can you meet me in a few minutes at the beach behind the hotel?” Claire continued to row with the phone cradled between her chin and shoulder.

            “Sure, I’ll meet you. What do mean running for your life? Did they have cocktails at that island, because you sound a bit strange?”

            “No, there were no cocktails, at least not for me. I might be exaggerating a little, because I’m very excited. I saw something that scared me to death.”

            “All right, I’ll be there soon. Relax, you’ve been under a lot of pressure lately. I was hoping this conference could act as a mini vacation for us.”

            “Yeah me too, till I think I might’ve walked in on a murder.”

            “A what? Oh, come on out here in paradise. I’ll be there soon.”

            Claire said bye, tapped end call and tossed her phone in her bag and continued on her way.

            As Claire paddled on, she recalled the last time she saw the newlywed couple. Last night as she, Nancy and Barbara Reynolds another writing buddy, were entering the hotel, the couple were leaving in a limo. She recalled it must be nice traveling first class on your honeymoon. She thought they were probably going out on the town for dinner since they had no luggage.

****

             Back on the little island, Dan Roberts stood the beach with the towel around his neck. He watched as the small white row boat raced across the inlet to the other shore. He marveled at how fast the woman was traveling.

He was totally unaware that she was on the island, and wondered what she saw. He reached in his pocket, and pulled out the pen he found on the ground on his way to the beach. It was a purple ball point pen with flashy black and blue stars, the copy on the pen read Nancy Wells, paranormal romance with a twist, Midnight Rising. She must be here for that writer’s conference.

“I’ll be seeing you, Nancy.” Dan put the pen in his pocket as he watched the tiny boat disappear.

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