I'm happy to announce my short story, "The Santa Shack Up," will appear in the upcoming holiday anthology Holiday Ever After, published by LARA (Los Angeles Romance Authors) RWA.
While A Duke to Remember is Regency historical romance, "The Santa Shack Up" is set today. Lizzie Sandoval is nineteen and living at home. Her father had a stroke right before Lizzie was to leave for college, and she stayed behind to help the rest of her family run their holiday tree farm. Now it's the Christmas after high school graduation and Lizzie's former classmates are returning home for the holidays - including Lizzie's lifelong crush, football hero Sean Boswick.
Here's a sneak peek:
“Santa needs to have his wig on, his stomach stuffed and his butt in the chair. Now. Children will arrive any minute," I say.
Sean turns his head and looks in my direction. His gaze stuns me, almost more than when he first showed up. As long as I’ve known him—so, pretty much my entire life—Sean has been confident. Bold. Secure in himself. I floundered pretty badly when I ran smack into puberty, but Sean? Never.
When his eyes meet mine, he’s seems…defeated. Ashamed, even. The ground beneath my feet feels like it’s shifting, as if I’m trying to stand on one of those giant inflatable balls they have at gyms. Sean and I aren’t friends. Not even on Facebook, much less Snapchat. But knowing he was out there, sailing smoothly through life, was kind of my rock. The one thing in my life that makes sense and would always make sense.
If Sean Boswick feels lost, what chance do any of us have at finding firm ground?
He abruptly pulls his gaze away from mine. I can almost hear the pop as our gazes disconnect. “I know the drill.” He tugs the wig down over his ears and pulls up the beard. “See?”
“Hat,” I snap, trying to cover my disorientation. “And belly.”
He crosses his arms and grabs the hem of the loose red jacket, pulling it up to reveal rock hard abs that would make a Greek statue feel inadequate. I force my hands to stay relaxed and by my side, because I’m dying to know if his muscles are as smooth and firm as they look. Just out of curiosity, of course.
Holiday Ever After will be coming out soon!
In the meantime, autumn may be here but you can keep the summer feeling going by reading Summer Sizzle, an anthology of hot short stories by LARA members. On sale now!
