By Keltic Design

By Keltic Design

Blurb:

Allyn Keely, Celtic artist and friend of Faerie, finally finds a man she can love. But she’s older than he is and faces the insurmountable task of helping him realize his destiny in the Otherworld.

Successful businessman, Jaye Zeroun prides himself on his realistic, but lonely, view of life. Until Allyn knots her way around his heart and fills his life with a fantasy he refuses to believe. Then danger threatens their love, forcing him to either accept a deadly battle or lose the very things he never included in his life, a family and a love beyond his wildest imagining.

Excerpt:

Jaye leaned forward eagerly. “Do you ever use coupons?

“Well, sometimes.” She giggled. “When I remember I have them.”

“Okay. Now, if you were a store,” Jaye lifted a hand to stop the comments obviously hovering on Allyn’s lips. “Just play along with me here. If you were a store, would you accept coupons?”

Allyn shrugged. “Oh. I suppose so.”

“Good.” Jaye picked up the scrap of paper and held it in both hands. “Here is a coupon. I would like to redeem it.”

Allyn looked at him, rolled her eyes and tentatively reached out her hand. Taking the slightly crumpled coupon, she pursed her lips and blew out a long, slow breath. Jaye shivered.

Cautious, Allyn looked down at the paper in her hand. Once again her tinkling laughter flowed through the large lobby, knotting and twining itself around Jaye’s heart. “A bedtime story?”

Before he could answer, Jaye had to pause and catch his breath. His hand trembled slightly and he fought to control the tremor. Allyn lay the coupon on her knee and smoothed the wrinkled paper.

“One of my foster moms used to read or tell me stories to help me go to sleep. Just imagining it didn’t work. Maybe a real story will. I’ll bet you know lots of stories.”

“Where did you get this?”

“I found it last night.”

“Yeah. Right.” She leaned forward to hand the coupon back to him.

“Really. Please, won’t you accept my coupon? Help me out.”

Allyn looked deeply into Jaye’s eyes and he wondered if she was searching for his soul. Something inside opened to her willingly. Surprise touched her eyes before she blinked and sat back. Glancing again at the coupon, she took a few moments to fold it carefully and put it into her skirt pocket. “This isn’t a very good place for a bedtime story.”

“You’ll do it?” Jaye jumped to his feet.

“Yes. To help out a friend.” Allyn smiled up at him, took the hand he offered and let him pull her out of the chair. “You need to be in a familiar space. I suppose your room would be the best.”

Jaye eagerly pulled her toward the elevator. Abruptly, he stopped, turned to her and rested his hands on her shoulders. It was difficult to resist the urge to knead them gently. “I have no ulterior motives, Allyn. I really just need some sleep.”

Reaching up, she patted one of his hands. “I wouldn’t agree if I thought otherwise.”