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EXCERPT:
Adele walloped James a few times between the shoulder blades, concerned. He was hunched forward in the armchair, still coughing as if his life depended on it.
“Steady on,” James choked the words out amidst bouts of hacking. “I might need my spine later in the week.”
“You’re alright now?” She stopped hitting and rubbed the spot with her palm instead, up and down. Turning back to the sofa, she refocused on what she’d been thinking before she’d been rudely interrupted. “I’m imagining red through to yellow. Sunshine colours, you know? Or maybe cooler tones—green and leafy. Yes! Tropical. Fiji-style would look great in here.”
“Adele?”
“Mmm?”
“Stop.”
“Stop what?” She turned to James in surprise, and realised she still had her hand on him, stroking the contours of his shoulders and back. Gently up, then massaging down in that valley between his blades that alluded to the power of his back; the strength and breadth of it. “Oh!” She withdrew immediately, red-faced and flustered. “Shit! Sorry.”
It’d felt so natural, so normal. For a moment she’d totally forgotten…
James leaned back against the cushions and slid his hands behind his head, lacing his fingers there as he closed his eyes. “Let’s get something straight.”
“Um, okay.”
“You don’t want me to touch you, right?”
Was that right? Why was she no longer sure if that was right?
She should be positive. Right?
“Right. Yes.” Adele bit down on her lower lip, staring at the tanned skin of James’ exposed neck, and marvelling at how the new beard petered out to give way to corded muscle. “I mean, I guess so.”
Author Bio:
Award winning New Zealand contemporary romance novelist and short story writer, Stephanie Ruth lives in the South Island, Te Waipounamu, with her husband, three children, and an ever expanding array of animals. If it doesn't have a happy ending in some form or other, Stephanie's not writing it.
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