By Jan Meredith (Guest Blogger)
Hi,
Lisabet, and thank you for having me today!
I’ve
been asked many times what inspires me, prompts me to write a story
or a scene. I have many triggers. Photographs play a large part—a
thoughtful gaze out a window makes me wonder what that person is
thinking; a man’s finger tracing a woman’s thigh; his forehead
pressing between her shoulder blades; the twinkle in her eye as she
peeps over his shoulder—there are stories there, waiting to be
told.
Music
is so much more than a few moments of rhythm and song—the emotion
behind the voice and words tell a story. While writing PLAYING
DOCTOR, I found myself
struggling to hear what Beth was trying to say to Gabe, the reason
she turned him away when all she wanted was to pull him back and hold
on to the moment, if even for just a bit longer.
I
was driving to work one morning, mulling over the scene. Normally, I
have my iPhone plugged in the aux jack and my play list going, but
that morning I had let the radio play. A song came on and as I
listened, and as it played on, instead of the male vocalist, I heard
Beth saying the words, and, bam,
I knew what she’d been trying to say. That song was, “Too Close”,
by Alex Clare. I pulled over, Shazamed it with my iPhone and added it
to my play list. The song gave me my scene.
As
a survivor of domestic violence, Beth Roberts had spent the past four
years concentrating on raising her teen aged son and work. Meeting
Dr. Gabriel North and finding her passion rekindled wasn’t
something she had been looking for. Likewise, when Gabe finds himself
attracted to the lovely photographer’s assistant at his friend’s
wedding, the last thing he was prepared for was
Blurb:
When
a fellow RN jokingly predicts that Beth Roberts will meet a tall,
ripped and totally lick-o-licious stranger who will fulfill her
deepest desires, it’s supposed to be from across a crowded room,
not giving CPR to a wedding guest. Given her tragic love life, Beth
has no desire to become involved again, but who could have predicted
the ponytailed doctor with the mischievous smile would break through
her defenses?
Dr.
Gabriel North blamed himself for his wife’s death. Now, after two
years of battling guilt and meaningless hookups, he’s ready to move
on. When he sees the sexy brunette at his friend’s wedding, his
attraction is swift and strong, and he wastes no time in pressing his
advantage. One night with the woman who makes him feel alive again
isn’t enough. Her confidence in him as a physician is unfailing,
but getting her to trust the man is going to take more than medical
school has prepared him for.
Excerpt:
“Talk
to me. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Gabe
pulled into the hotel parking lot and cut the engine. Hooking his
wrist over the steering wheel, he turned and looked at her.“I’m
not ready to end this, and I think…hope we’re on the same
track. If not, then I apologize, but I think you should invite me up
so we see where this goes.”
She
was surprised and so very relieved to hear his words echo her own
thoughts. There was no second-guessing what he was suggesting, no
point in pretending otherwise. The anticipation sent a shimmer of
excitement through her. Adrenaline raced through her veins at what
she was about to say, what she was about to do.
“Yes,
I’d like that,” she murmured, her voice a little shaky. When Gabe
heaved out a sigh of relief and reached for her, she held up her
hand. “But I have a stipulation.”
The
expression on his face would have been comical if the situation
wasn’t so emotionally charged, and Beth almost smiled. She’d bet
her new stethoscope he was expecting her to say, no sex. Well,
he couldn’t be further off the track. She wanted everything he
could give her…and more.
“I
have no room for romance or a relationship in my life, nor do I want
it. I want no complications, and you can expect the same from me.
This is for one night only,” she said.
Gabe
nodded. The relief on his face told her they were of the same mindset
where emotional involvement was concerned. Good.
“You
should know that I’m free of any sexually transmitted disease. I
was tested after my husband died.” She continued when he nodded
again. “What we’re considering is sex, pure and simple, between
two consenting adults, nothing more. Are we agreed?”
“No.”
For
a moment, Beth wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “No?”
“No.
I have a couple of stipulations of my own.”
Well,
she certainly hadn’t expected this. Beth shifted in her seat. Wary
and more than a little apprehensive, she said, “Please, go on.”
“First
off, you should also know that I’ve never had an STD in my life.
Secondly, I agree with the no romance, no relationship, no
complications part and that we’re considering consensual—emphasis
on the sensual—sex,” he corrected.
Gabe
leaned across the seat, drove his fingers in her hair, took her mouth
and her breath along with it. It was quick and thorough, a little
rough with urgency. “Now, my stipulations.” He looked at
her, his eyes grave. “You set the comfort level in everything we
do. I want you to know you’re safe with me. I’ve been hard for
you since the moment I first saw you. I want you easy and slow, hard
and fast.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, the rough pad of his
thumb skimmed over her bottom lip, and what he said next took her
breath away. “I want to feel you come around my cock and against my
mouth, and more than anything, I want to feel you swallow me deeper
than I’ve ever been swallowed before. I want you on your
back, straddling my hips, and on your hands and knees. It can be
sweet and innocent or I can flat out fuck you until you can’t walk
if that’s the way you want it, but there will be nothing pure
or simple about it. Are we agreed?”
Heat
rippled over her sex. Her nipples tightened until even the soft satin
of her bra felt abrasive. She couldn’t form a response, could only
nod as she stared into his heavy-lidded, lust-filled eyes. His words
were dark and erotic, his voice deep and rich with promise, and she
wanted it all. She’d never been so turned on in her life.
“Are
we agreed?” he repeated.
“Yes,
we’re agreed.”
About
the Author
Jan
Meredith has been a romance junkie since her teens. When she isn't
penning steamy stories about strong-willed, independent women and the
sexy men who love them, she works as an Infusion Therapy nurse. She
lives near Mammoth Cave, KY with her husband (and former high school
sweet heart) Tommy.

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