At twenty-eight years old, the only men in lawyer Cate Jenkins’ life are her two cats, Thor and Loki, unless you count her not-so-secret love affair with Ben & Jerry.
Escape comes in the form of art classes, where life drawing model Joe provides a welcome distraction from the monotony of her job. Each Thursday for five weeks, she gets to lose herself in a world of twinkling blue eyes and chiselled abs.
Meanwhile, next-door neighbour Dane is determined to win her heart. Can his gifts of coffee and kitty treats win out against muscled perfection?
And more importantly, what secrets are both men hiding?
Life is a standalone romantic comedy novel set in the Blackwood world.
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Book trailer:
Meeting Joe…
“Ladies and gentleman.” Delores glanced over at Miguel, the sole male in the room. “We’ve got a treat tonight. The lovely Joe is going to model for us.”
She beckoned to someone behind us, and jaws dropped as Joe ambled to the front of the class, wearing only a sheet around his waist. He perched on the stool while Delores arranged the fabric to cover the good bits, and then he followed her directions to, “Lean forward a bit. Move your hand.”
Beside me, Marie’s pencil rolled out of her fingers and under Miguel’s chair, and it took him a second or two to snap his eyes away from Joe and retrieve it for her.
Finally happy with Joe’s pose, Delores clapped her hands. “This evening, we’re going to practice our sketching. Joe’s going to move every twenty minutes, which will give you the chance to explore various positions.”
From the way the other girls were salivating, I knew exactly which positions they wanted to explore. Even Marie, who had a boyfriend. I reached over and tapped her pad.
“We’re supposed to be drawing.”
“I’m committing his muscles to memory before I start. Wonder what would happen if I visited the ladies’ room and accidentally tripped over that sheet?”
With Marie, I could never quite tell if she was serious. This was the woman who’d once scrambled over a screaming crowd to clamber on stage with Justin Timberlake and managed to squeeze his ass before security hauled her away. I knew because she showed me the video on her phone. Loosening Joe’s sheet would be nothing for Marie.
Dane vs. Joe…
“You’ve got cats?” Dane asked.
“Two. Thor and Loki.”
“Ah, so you also have an interest in Norse mythology?”
“Uh, yes.” It was better than admitting I had an interest in Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston. “Something like that.”
***
“Thor and Loki?” Joe asked. “You’re into the Marvel movies?”
“Uh, no, I’ve long held a deep fascination for Norse mythology.”
“I’ve always been a comic book guy, but I did read the Poetic Edda a few years back.”
“The what?”
His chuckle became a full-blown laugh. “I knew it. So, Hemsworth or Hiddleston?”
Dammit, what the hell was an Edda? “Uh, Hemsworth,” I blurted before my mouth caught up with my brain. The blond. The blond who bore a disturbing similarity to Joe.
Every girl needs a friend like Marie…
My phone pinged with a message, interrupting my thoughts, and I made the mistake of picking it up.
Marie: Flipping heck. Still fanning myself after tonight’s session. Joe is hereby known as Mr. Hot Rod.
Worse, she’d accompanied the message with a hand-drawn dick pic, done in charcoal on cream paper. The piece of egg slid down the wrong way, and I coughed and spluttered as I tried to get my breath back.
“Can we get a glass of water?” Joe called out to the lady, and one appeared almost instantly. “Here, drink this.”
He crouched beside me and rubbed my back until the gagging subsided, although if I’d choked, that would have saved me from dying of embarrassment when I followed his gaze to my phone.
“Is that…?”
“Uh, I think so. Maybe. It’s Marie’s idea of a joke.”
“Mr. Hot Rod?”
I watched in horror as another line of text popped up on the screen: Just a not-so-little something to give you sweet dreams tonight.
