Darryl
Description
A future almost shattered. A strange new friend. And a holiday party that does more than raise a glass to good cheer.
Now, normally I don't go around asking strange women personal questions, you know, owning a bar and all, it's usually the other way around. But this girl, Venus, who's helping her sister, catering at my brother Liam's wedding, gives me an odd feeling. It's not what you're thinking, and shame on you for thinking that when it's Christmas. Dang, I almost tripped over a reindeer as I went over and talked to her, behind the food table. She's beautiful, no doubt about it at all, but she's got that look in her eye, man, there's no denying it. There's trouble, and in no small way, neither. And when she blurts out the truth, well gosh, you could hear a pin drop, and this is a wedding attended by more than a hundred people, ladies and gentlemen.
***
Raine, my sister, points out the guy standing next to Liam, his brother, who's staring at me like I'm his next meal. His name is Darryl, and he owns a local bar, and somehow I figure he's caught wind of why I'm here. It's impossible, of course, because nobody knows except for Raine, but the feeling I get in my gut tells me that he knows I'm not just serving lasagna as a favor to my sister. But he's adamant, despite my claws coming out, amongst all the holly and mistletoe, and I ignore the fact that he's the most gorgeous man I've ever seen, no ma'am, but that's also because he's the last thing I need. But I soon find out that in the few days that I've been here I've learned to ignore my needs and stick to my wants. God strike me dead, but as much as I hate him the moment we exchange pleasantries, I'm also unapologetically attracted to the sumbitch.
...but can we get past this tug of war between us? Then again, it doesn't really matter, since the very reason why I'm hiding out here in Huttonville comes back...with a gun in hand...dressed up as, guess who...
Holiday romance
Christmas romance
Second chance romance
Happily ever after romance
Steamy romance
Medium heat
Mild foul language
Cliffhanger ending
More details
Person
Some have said that if you see me on the street (usually with a book in hand or a laptop fired up), I appear a cold, hard-fisted person. However, once we've spoken for five minutes or less, you'll have laughed at least once. That is, provided you appreciate sarcastic, self-deprecating wit.
My first short story was penned in middle school and I was hooked ever since.
I graduated with honours from Humber College and began working as an Administrative Coordinator for a large, multinational corporation shortly afterward. Quickly learning that the corporate world, despite the love I had for my job, is a slow killer of creativity, I chose to quit during maternity leave in 2006.
Difficulty thinking outside the box soon evaporated when I received something that didn't come in one: my first child. While at home with the baby my imaginative energy got the better of me and my first memoir was written. It had been a dream of mine to write about my late father, who passed away from alcoholism in 1992, and it took me two years to compose a fifty-page manuscript, but I did it.
After my second daughter was born in 2008 I had more fuel to write, and felt it necessary to voice the challenges and inherent gifts I acquired during my struggles with Scoliosis. Hence, my second memoir was born. The words flowed out of me with such ease I shocked myself.
My love for words grew with each book I read and every word I wrote. I soon realized I had no more material to write non-fiction, which led me to take a stab at fiction. The next two books were such a revelation: it became more and more clear what my true calling was. The rest, as they say, is history!
