He studied her beloved face. She wasn’t wearing a shred of makeup and fine lines showed at the comers of her eyes. It wasn’t the face of a film icon, but a real woman—the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
"I’ll love every wrinkle and gray hair and soft curve, and give thanks for the chance to see them develop. If I were struck blind tomorrow, I’d still laugh at your jokes and rub your back when you’re tired and talk to you long into every night because I love your ideas and humor and kindness and... and your general wonderfulness." He kissed her as if she were made of the finest porcelain.
"I hate that we’re not going to see each other for months. Maybe you can arrange your shooting schedule to come down for a few days? We can have a Groundhog’s Day holiday fling."
"I’m sure Marcus will be able to arrange for me to have a few days with you, since it will improve my morale so much. But no more holiday flings, my love," she whispered. "Every day with you will be a holiday."
The End
Page forward for
Seduced by Sloth
A Short Story
Seduced by Sloth
A Short Story
by
Mary Jo Putney
New York Times Bestselling Author
It was too... damned... hot. Sweat pouring off her after a five-mile run, Kerry Roland wavered to a halt and leaned against the wooden fence running behind the row of townhouses. Her house was only half a block away, but at the moment that seemed like light years.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d gone for her run first thing in the morning, before the July heat got too bad, but she’d had to go into the office for several hours. Now it was Saturday afternoon with the sun high in the sky.
A gate in the fence swung open and a male face looked out inquiringly. "Ah, it’s you, Kerry. I thought the fence had been clipped by a car roaring down the alley too fast."
Hal Gordon was a neighbor she knew casually from the times her running intersected with his dog walking. "I didn’t hit it that hard, Hal!" She tried not to gasp like a beached whale. "I just decided to rest in the shade before going home."
"If you say so." He surveyed her panting form. "You look wiped. Want to come in and have some iced tea while you recover?"
She hesitated, torn. A pile of financial statements waited to be read at home, but with her boyfriend Troy away until tomorrow, the weekend would be quiet. It would be nice to chat with an actual human being for a few minutes. "That would be super."
Hal held the gate open for her. Dressed in casual khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt, he had wavy brown hair and gray eyes. Average height, average build, pleasant looking in an unobtrusive way. Not at all like Troy—but his back yard was Shangri-La.
"Awesome," she breathed as she stepped inside, her gaze sweeping over masses of flowers and shrubs, the shaded patio, and a miniature waterfall that tinkled musically in one corner. "I’ve been running down this alley for two years, and I had no idea what lurked behind your fence."
Ice cubes rattled as he poured tea from an insulated pitcher. "I bought this house for the landscaping, and I keep adding to it." He gestured for her to take one of the two shaded loungers, then stretched out on the other.
She sat sideways, feet on the ground and elbows resting on her knees as she recovered from her run. Hal’s basset hound, Bilbo Baggins, lay on his back in front of her, crooked legs in the air. She scratched the dog’s stomach. "This hound is as close to comatose as any animal I’ve ever seen."
"Sloth is his middle name. Isn’t he a great role model?"
"Not for my business." She swigged gratefully at the iced tea. "You’d never make it in corporate America, Bilbo."
The dog opened his eyes, yawned, then went back to sleep.
"As I said, he’s a fine role model," Hal said fondly.
"He is the essence of basset hound." She sighed. "I hate to admit that even though we’ve lived on the same
"I’ll love every wrinkle and gray hair and soft curve, and give thanks for the chance to see them develop. If I were struck blind tomorrow, I’d still laugh at your jokes and rub your back when you’re tired and talk to you long into every night because I love your ideas and humor and kindness and... and your general wonderfulness." He kissed her as if she were made of the finest porcelain.
"I hate that we’re not going to see each other for months. Maybe you can arrange your shooting schedule to come down for a few days? We can have a Groundhog’s Day holiday fling."
"I’m sure Marcus will be able to arrange for me to have a few days with you, since it will improve my morale so much. But no more holiday flings, my love," she whispered. "Every day with you will be a holiday."
The End
Page forward for
Seduced by Sloth
A Short Story
Seduced by Sloth
A Short Story
by
Mary Jo Putney
New York Times Bestselling Author
It was too... damned... hot. Sweat pouring off her after a five-mile run, Kerry Roland wavered to a halt and leaned against the wooden fence running behind the row of townhouses. Her house was only half a block away, but at the moment that seemed like light years.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d gone for her run first thing in the morning, before the July heat got too bad, but she’d had to go into the office for several hours. Now it was Saturday afternoon with the sun high in the sky.
A gate in the fence swung open and a male face looked out inquiringly. "Ah, it’s you, Kerry. I thought the fence had been clipped by a car roaring down the alley too fast."
Hal Gordon was a neighbor she knew casually from the times her running intersected with his dog walking. "I didn’t hit it that hard, Hal!" She tried not to gasp like a beached whale. "I just decided to rest in the shade before going home."
"If you say so." He surveyed her panting form. "You look wiped. Want to come in and have some iced tea while you recover?"
She hesitated, torn. A pile of financial statements waited to be read at home, but with her boyfriend Troy away until tomorrow, the weekend would be quiet. It would be nice to chat with an actual human being for a few minutes. "That would be super."
Hal held the gate open for her. Dressed in casual khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt, he had wavy brown hair and gray eyes. Average height, average build, pleasant looking in an unobtrusive way. Not at all like Troy—but his back yard was Shangri-La.
"Awesome," she breathed as she stepped inside, her gaze sweeping over masses of flowers and shrubs, the shaded patio, and a miniature waterfall that tinkled musically in one corner. "I’ve been running down this alley for two years, and I had no idea what lurked behind your fence."
Ice cubes rattled as he poured tea from an insulated pitcher. "I bought this house for the landscaping, and I keep adding to it." He gestured for her to take one of the two shaded loungers, then stretched out on the other.
She sat sideways, feet on the ground and elbows resting on her knees as she recovered from her run. Hal’s basset hound, Bilbo Baggins, lay on his back in front of her, crooked legs in the air. She scratched the dog’s stomach. "This hound is as close to comatose as any animal I’ve ever seen."
"Sloth is his middle name. Isn’t he a great role model?"
"Not for my business." She swigged gratefully at the iced tea. "You’d never make it in corporate America, Bilbo."
The dog opened his eyes, yawned, then went back to sleep.
"As I said, he’s a fine role model," Hal said fondly.
"He is the essence of basset hound." She sighed. "I hate to admit that even though we’ve lived on the same
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