Rainbow Snippets*-- Trying Times

It's been a nutty couple of weeks. The boss is on vacation (again) which means more (unwanted) hours for me.  To make it worse, my back was starting to bother me and I got my second Covid shot last week. Everything "settles" in my back and for about three days, I could barely move. Which meant all I did once I made it home from work was spend quality time with my heating pad. He should be back by Tuesday, and the pain has let up, so maybe I can get back to my normal routine.

On the up side, Spring is showing her colors!

The little writing work I've accomplished this week has been mainly editing. I'm doing a final pass on Cinders and Ash before looking for beta readers. This week's snippet is part one of two. Brian and Lindsey are camping with a group of her friends and family, and Brian is posing as her boyfriend for a variety of reasons. Except, the lines are getting blurred. Told from Brian's point of view:

Lindsey shifted and when she spoke, her whisper was against my ear. “So how far into a relationship do you have to be to get to the good part? We could just skip ahead.” 

“Skip?” It didn’t come out as a squeak, but it was damn near. 

“Sure. You know, a little nudge, nudge, wink, wink.”

“What does that mean?” Lindsey Andrews was the singularly most confusing woman I’d ever met, but a shiver ran through my body when her breath tickled through my hair, and I tried to move away without her noticing. 

Cinders and Ash-- Blurb

Society expects women to want romance and monogamy, but Lindsey Andrews has no desire for either of these things—she’s quite happy with the occasional hookup. Besides, working towards her Doctorate takes up most of her time. Just because the new maintenance man has broad shoulders and looks good in tight jeans doesn’t mean she’s going to start dreaming of wedding bells.
          The job offer as a maintenance manager for an apartment complex in Missouri couldn’t have come at a better time for ranch-hand Brian Ashton. He needed to get away from Wyoming, but trading the wide-open sky for the tall buildings and traffic of St. Louis holds its own challenges. Meeting the caustic, green-haired Lindsey only adds to his stress. But it isn’t all bad, because she needs a fake boyfriend for a camping trip and he needs fresh air.
          Neither of them expect the weekend to change everything.  

  *Rainbow Snippets is a (Facebook) group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers who gather once a week to share snippets from a work of fiction–-a WIP or a finished work or even a book recommendation. If you're interested in following a diverse group of authors, check it out here.