A SNEAK PEEK AT SHADOWS OF LOVE

I've been writing about my new book SHADOWS OF LOVE for months.  Now, here's the cover, the Prologue and some of CHAPTER 1.

  

PROLOGUE

 Entering the front door, the woman walked into the house with the confidence of someone who knew its interior well.  She had worked for the owner since he moved here years ago.  She was his cook and housekeeper and it was a job that she enjoyed.

Her employer was a nice man.  He wasn’t demanding and he paid well.  She didn’t work on weekends, so she usually prepared his meals for those days ahead of time.  When she came back to work on Monday, she had no idea that it wouldn’t be another normal day, until she found her employer in bed unconscious.

That was three days ago.  Since his hospitalization, his condition had gone from bad to worse.  The doctor informed her this morning that the situation was grave.  He might not recover.  They asked about his next of kin.

She could provide them with nothing.  All she knew about the man for whom she worked was his name and that he was an American.

After the grim diagnosis, she returned to his house and went into the bedroom that had been converted to an office.  She reasoned that it couldn’t be illegal to break into his locked desk drawer since this was an emergency.  Secretly, she had always wondered what he kept in there.

Getting into the drawer wasn’t easy.  She used every tool she could think of, but nothing worked.  Frustrated, she decided to search the rest of the house and return to the drawer later.  She didn’t expect to find anything, but much to her surprise, buried deep in the back of his bedroom closet, behind his well appointed suits and ties, she found a metal safe deposit box burrowed inside a suitcase.  There was a key taped underneath the box.  It fit the lock and when it was opened she hoped what was inside would offer clues to the mystery of who he was.

 

CHAPTER 1

 “I can’t believe this!”

Nedra Davis-Reasoner banged on the steering wheel of her luxury vehicle in frustration.  This could not be happening!

Refusing to believe the obvious, she turned the key in the ignition and pressed down on the accelerator one more time.  Nothing.   No sound at all.

Looking down at the Burberry trench coat she was wearing, she sighed in resignation.  This could prove embarrassing.

Weighing her options, she considered which one would be best.  Should she call her husband, Sinclair, at his office or the auto club for a tow to a garage?  Sinclair was closer to her.

She was just about to push speed dial when there was a knock on her driver side window.   Startled, Nedra jerked around to see a man peering at her.

“Hey!  You need some help?”

Nedra nodded.  “Yes, I think I do.”

 ****

 Sinclair Reasoner was feeling great.  In a few hours he and Nedra would be on the road to Sausalito where he would spend the upcoming week overdosing on golf.  His best friend, newspaper mogul, Brandon Plaine, introduced him to the sport years ago.  Since then he had been hooked.

Brandon was vacationing with his family at their home in Hawaii, but Sin would still have plenty of playmates.  There was Ray Wilson who was married to Bev Cameron, the mother of Sin’s half sister.  The Wilsons lived on a houseboat in Sausalito and Ray knew every course in Marin County.  Almost as knowledgeable was their other golfing buddy, James Starr.  He and his wife, Dana, lived in Tiburon, not far from Ray and his wife.  Dana was Bev’s younger sister.  The two women were Nedra’s cousins.

This week was about spending time with family, which was something he always enjoyed.  Orphaned as a child, he had grown up on the streets of New York City alone, longing for such a bond.  Now, he cherished everything about being a part of such a close-knit group.

There was a knock on his office door and his administrative assistant entered. 

“This just came for you, special delivery.”  She handed him a single envelope, and placed the rest of the mail in his inbox.  “And your wife is on line one.  She tried to reach you on your cell phone, but it went to voice mail.”

“Okay, thanks.”  Reaching for the receiver Sin threw a cursory glance at the envelope he had been handed.  It was from outside the United States, but he didn’t recognize the return address.

“I’m going home now,” his assistant told him as she started toward the exit.  “Enjoy your time off.”  The door closed behind her.  Sin pushed the speaker phone button.

“Hey, babe, what’s up?”  Absently, he slit the top of the envelope with a sliver plated opener and started to remove the contents.

“Get in your car right now and come get me!”  She sounded desperate.

Sin froze.  “Are you in trouble?  Where are you?”

She gave him the name of the garage where her car had been towed.  “And hurry!”

Tossing the envelope on the desk, Sin pocketed his cell phone, grabbed his suit jacket and hurried out of his office.  When he arrived at the garage, Nedra was waiting outside.  She snatched the car door open and slid inside as soon as he came to a stop.

“Let’s go!” she ordered.

Throwing her a puzzled glance, he pulled away from the curb. “What did you do, rob the place?”

Covering her face with both hands, Nedra shook her head slowly and sank down in the seat.  “Lord, lord, lord.”

“What happened?  Did they stiff you on the car?”

“Just drive, please.” 

Sin did as ordered, wondering what was wrong with his wife.  She sat in the passenger seat holding her coat tightly against her body and looking glum.  When he turned to head back to his office, she nearly jumped out her skin.

“Where are you going?  I thought you were going home!”

“I left my briefcase.  My laptop is in it.  I want to take it with us.   Now what’s wrong with you?”

She ignored his question. “It’s past work hours, is anybody still there?”

“There wasn’t when I left.”  Pulling into his private parking place in front of the Victorian mansion that housed his successful import business, he cut off the ignition and turned to face her.  “Did something happen I should know about?”  His voice deepened. “Did somebody hurt you?”  He looked poised for action if she confirmed the latter.

Understanding his concern, Nedra decided to show him rather than tell him. 

“Since nobody is inside, I’ll go with you upstairs.  We’ll talk then.”

When they arrived in his office, Sin closed the door behind them, leaned against it and crossed his arms.  “So talk.”

Tossing her purse on the desk, Nedra turned and let her eyes feast on the male specimen she had married.  The man was downright fine.  Who could resist that chocolate brown skin, those coal black eyes, that sexy cleft in his chin or the solitary gold earring he sported?  Sinclair Reasoner turned the heads of women wherever he went.  The slight sprinkle of gray in his hair and his well groomed moustache made him look distinguished.  And when he flashed that smile of his, it was hard for a woman not to wet her panties.  Sin’s nickname suited him well.

Gazing at his fit, six foot two inch frame, Nedra considered herself a fortunate woman, but, Sin should consider himself fortunate too, and she was about to show him why.

Nedra’s light brown eyes held his dark ones as she slowly unbuttoned her coat.  She opened it with pain-staking care.

Sin’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.  His shapely, five foot ten inch wife was standing in front of him dressed in a lacy black demi- bra, matching bikini panties, black patent leather high heels and nothing else.

“Damn!”  His manhood jerked involuntarily.

Nedra gave an anguished sigh.  “I was on my way here to surprise you, when my car stopped and there I was in the public streets half naked!”  Her voice rose in distress.

As he moved toward her like a man in a trance, Sin was trying to focus on what she was saying, but he was mesmerized by a pair of long nutmeg brown legs that seemed to go on forever.  The curve of her bosom as they molded themselves to that bra had him throbbing.  He broke into a sweat.

Nedra slapped a hand to her forehead.  “What was I thinking?  I’m a minister for goodness sake!  The mother of three children!  I can’t run around town naked…”

I wish.

“…trying to play sex games with my husband!”

Oh yes she could!