by Annie Rains
After a long afternoon at Seaside Harbor, Val collapsed on her bed and stared at the ceiling. It was better than staring blankly at her computer screen. Her deadline hung over her like a dark cloud. She’d heard of writer’s block, but never believed in it. Words had always come easy to her. Making up imaginary worlds and friends were her favorite pastimes. But now she was at a standstill, and had been for the past six months.
Val blinked and continued staring at the ceiling, letting her eyes blur and refocus.
One of the blocks to her creativity was Griffin—although her mind was being very creative at the moment, imagining undressing him and exploring the many tattoos she’d seen peeking out from under his T-shirt.
Sigh. The trouble with being a romance writer was that men in real life never lived up to the ones she created in her mind. “Created” being the key word. Her heroes were fictitious down to their extra-large endowments, as unreal as her alter ego, Sophie Evans. Val could only imagine what her father would do if he found out what she was doing in her spare time besides reading to the residents at Seaside Harbor. And the congregation of his church would be all aflutter if they knew she wrote about love and sex, sex and love. Some things are better left untold. It wasn’t like she was harming anyone—just the opposite. Romance makes people happy; it makes the loneliness a little less lonely. She should know.
Rolling onto her stomach, Val came face to face with Sweet Cheeks. “Real-life men are much smellier, cruder, and nowhere near as charming. They don’t call when they say they will,” she informed the puppy.
Sweet Cheeks cocked her head to one side.
“They spit and scratch. Watch too much football.” She rubbed behind the puppy’s ear, smiling as her tail thumped happily on the bed. “And treats? Forget it. They never bring you treats.”
Her doorbell rang, and Sweet Cheeks launched herself off the bed and down the hallway. Another package? She didn’t remember ordering anything else.
As she opened the front door, Val’s mouth fell open. “What…? How…?”
Griffin smiled at her, slow and easy, exactly like the hero would in one of her books. “I come bearing treats,” he said.
Love stories you’ll never forget
By authors you’ll always remember
eOriginal Romance from Random House
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