First Word

 Buy it on Kindle for $5.99 ( click here ) Chapter 2             Tess McGree stood in the lobby of the City of Sacramento Police Station, touching various icons on her iPad. She hardly noticed the door opening and closing as police officers passed her. She was a pretty strawberry blonde with light freckles on her face and chest, and she had emerald green eyes that were lowered keenly toward the screen. She was a tenacious 32-year old who came to the station every single day to wait for Detective Phil Harris, the subject of her new book. She was determined to write a nonfiction tale based on a case being investigated by Detective Harris of whom she also had a huge crush. Phil was a sweet charmer with dark brown hair, and two eye colors (brown and blue) that Tess didn’t notice the first few times they talked. One day she was picking his brilliant mind, and she had noticed his eyes, which had muddied ...

Available for Sale on Amazon in print ( click here ) 2.99 in Kindle ( click here ) 9 A few days later, I received a strange “summons” – and when I say summons I mean command – from Curtis. He asked me to meet him at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf the next morning. It was how he said it on my voice mail: “Meet me at nine.” No “please” or “would you” just a demand to meet him. I assumed it was business, and from the tone of his voice, it was serious business. It made me nervous, and my overly active mind went crazy with thoughts. Were they going to fire me? Replace me with another writer? Was Kale too chicken to do it himself? No, Kale was, if nothing else, respectful and decent. He wouldn’t fire me that way. He would do it himself. But wait! Kale had said numerous times how I was talented and all. Why would he fire me? Maybe it was more script notes and production would be delayed. Maybe they were canceling the entire film? “Ah stop!” I said aloud to my...

Purchase a copy on Amazon ( click here )   8 I walked into the production offices. No one had arrived yet – it was 6:00 a.m. Most people in this industry didn’t get up this early unless they were working on set. Kale’s office door was wide open; I assumed to let me know to come in. I walked up and knocked on the open door. Kale was nowhere in sight. I felt a presence come up behind me. I turned around to find Kale smiling at me, and I watched his eyes scan me up and down in my white organdy sundress and flat white sandals. He handed me a latte in a Peet’s cup. “Good morning, sweetheart,” he said and took a sip. “I see you got my message.” I sipped and tasted the latte – my favorite. I was touched that he remembered. “Thanks for the coffee,” I said and nodded in appreciation. “I was surprised you wanted me to scout locations with you.” He looked very relaxed in khaki cargo shorts, a slate-blue T-shirt and brown leather sandals. Kale walke...

Purchase a copy on Amazon ( click here ) Purchase an eBook Kindle Version ( click here ) 7 I awoke alone on the sofa. Sometime in the middle of the night Ryan had left me sleeping. I could barely remember what we did – there was a fog clouding my brain. I lay on my back and stared at the enormous pine ceiling beam running down the center. I blinked and looked down – yes, I was still naked. I sat up and grabbed yesterday’s clothes and started getting dressed. My head was pounding from a hangover-induced headache. I heard the back door opening and closing. I turned to find Johnny walking in and wearing swim trunks and drying his hair. He stopped in front of me. He laughed and said, “You look like hell.” I nodded, sighed and got up. “I’m going to shower.” “You want me to leave you some Tylenol?” he asked. I nodded and headed up the stairs all the way to the third floor. I should have felt embarrassed, but my head was pounding much too hard to ...

3 That night, I went home tired. Denise wasn’t home, as was mostly the case these days. She and her boss spent most nights together, leaving the apartment partially paid for by her but virtually vacant. She kept some of her clothes here still, but it was all for appearances. She had set up camp at her boss’ home in Calabasas. I was fine with it. I was working late and fully consumed in my professional life. I didn’t want any distractions, and Denise was – if anything else – good for distractions. She was either getting dressed to leave or talking about her latest work drama that was heightened by the affair with her boss. I mostly listened and laughed at the dramatic subterfuge she managed to conjure up. I was eating some leftover lasagna when a knock came to my door. I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I was surprised to find Letty standing there when I opened the door. She had dyed her hair purple and was wearing chic white sunglasses that were a throwback to ...

2 Buy your copy ( click here ) Later that week, I met Maya at a small café up the street from the office. It was a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf with patio furniture sitting on the terrace outside of the main street. I was sitting in the cool morning sunshine, sipping my hazelnut-flavored coffee when a shadow passed over my table. I looked up to find Curtis standing there. I had not seen him much that week after our initial encounter, but every time I passed him in the hallway, he winked and grinned. He seemed like an affable, flirtatious guy, and he was really cute. Despite our mutual attraction, I had no desire to start up with him. I kept holding out hope for some kind of peace treaty with Kale, and I knew a liaison with his executive producer would err on the side of bad taste and ill-advised company behavior. Yet here he was, acting all cheerful and smiling. “Hey, how’s it going?” he asked with that familiar grin. “Good,” I replied, taking another ...