A writer's path is never straight or narrow

Today I'm double checking galleys for a short story I have in an upcoming Xcite anthology, Corporate Affairs, entitled Box, in which my character's get into some epic hanky-panky in an elevator because my heroine is afraid of them. Here's a fun little snippet:

It was official¾she watched too many horror movies. To the point where getting on the elevator wasn’t even a possibility because of the probability that something in the wiring was faulty and she would plummet to her death. Maybe it shouldn’t have been that way. Normal people used the machine all the time without taking the stairs. It was a good excuse to tone her ass. But as she stared at the shiny great doors¾nope, she couldn’t bring herself to get in there.

 “Another morning of contemplation for you, Lanie?”

Lanie nearly jumped a foot. His seductive tenor voice tingled up her spine and lingered at the base of her neck where all the short hairs stood on end. Charlie. This was not what she needed right now. Not after their one-up game in the boardroom this morning. A quick memory of his lips as he made his grand speech and his tongue worked so hard to grasp every word and make it stick with their clients. No denying he had a gorgeous mouth for oration. She wouldn't admit to herself where she wanted those soft¾often direct and to the point¾lips. Despite his intensity with their clients, when he spoke directly to her he played his own verbal game. It's like he knew, could sense it. Their own personal dirty distraction with all their clothes on in the middle of the office. All her attention for that baiting, infuriating, ripe mouth. Their eye contact with each other never lapsed.

If she moved away from the hot solidity of him now, almost flush with her back, well, he would enjoy that too much. It would be like he had won. Either she stood her ground or he would get too cocky. Stubborn anger rocked down through her stylish heels until she wanted to pin her body to the marble floor with the spike point stilettos. So many games in corporate already, did they need to create another one? Enough was enough.

“You don’t know how to leave things alone do you, Charlie?”

“But you bait me so well. Every morning you’re out here in the lobby, just waiting for me, staring at those doors like they’ll swallow you whole. What’s a man supposed to do with an opportunity like that in his path?”

He chuckled close to her ear and she swallowed, harder than she would have liked to admit. His laughter was a million bits of sound that hacked into her armor. Had she imagined the caress? His lips brushed the curve of her ear so every erotic nerve moved to push against her skin all at once. Hot breath still stung against her cheek like a slap. But that wasn't the least of her worries. For a millisecond it didn't matter where they were and what they bantered about, because the steel box reflected her needs right back at them in the high color to her cheeks. This wasn't happening. Not when she wasn't ready for him to pull back and do nothing¾like always. Every day he left her with empty words and the image of his grin for when she crawled into bed with her hand and a tongue simulator sex toy.

It would be so much easier to just snap.

 “You could be a gentleman about it, although I know that’s a foreign concept to you.”

I'll keep you posted for news of when Corporate Affairs will be available. I also have more than my fair share of projects in the pipes right now waiting for answers. Right now, I have to get back to my regular scheduled program, which is working on a lesbian short-short and a zombie one and maybe a few others before the weekend is out. Have a lovely Labor Day weekend everyone!