Today Draven St. James joins me to talk about her new release from the Loose Id Eostre's Baskets collection, Covert Delivery.
What
is your name and occupation? My name is Aspen Starr and I'm a
psychometrist. Basically, I do the testing for psychological profiling.
How
old are you? I'm twenty-four.
How
did you come by your current occupation? I defied my good old
dad and went to college to study psychological profiling. He had me slotted for
a company position, all the way down to a corner office, an apartment, and a
very creepy crypt keeper of a boyfriend. I snuck off with the help of a little
destiny in the form of a mystery basket. Now, I'm working at a forensic
psychologist office performing psychological evaluations.
Do
you like your job? Why or why not? I love my job. It
helps that my boyfriend, Dr. Garren Thomas is my boss. It didn't start off that
way, but with working together, some wicked dance moves and his phenomenal
phone…skills, I couldn't help falling for him.
Okay, I just completely rambled. Yes, my job is great. I get to help
people and the brain is a fascinating organ. I'm constantly surprised, and at
times a bit scared, but that makes things interesting.
Who
is the person you dislike the most? Wow, I'd have to say
I don't have a fondness for Christopher the Crypt Keeper.
Who
is the person you respect the most? I respect Garren.
There is so much more to him than just the tough exterior.
Is
there anyone special in your life? Yes, yes, and I
think I've made that obvious with my above answers. Lol.
What’s
your favorite meal, and do you fix it yourself or have someone fix it for you?
Fried chicken and I do fix it myself.
Football
or baseball? Football. Men in tight pants running
up and down a field. Not to mention all
the jumping up on one another and ass slapping. The locker room fantasies alone
are enough to keep me coming back for more.
Favorite
holiday? Given the year I've had, definitely Easter. I
mean when a mysterious collection of life altering eggs comes to your door…well
you can't help but fall in love with the holiday. I still don't know how
Eostre's Baskets put everything together, but Essie changed my life.
Favorite
song? Do not
laugh, but Amazed by Lonestar. As, I'm sure Garren could tell you, I'm a
closeted country music fan.
If
you had one wish, what would it be? I should say world peace or the cure for
world hunger, right? But I'd kind of like to convince Garren to get a tattoo
for me, something dark and sexy. That
way when he's walking around the office in his staid suits, only I would know
the sexy ink that was beneath.
Blurb
Aspen Starr is in a bind and not
in a good way. His father is trying to use him to sweeten a business deal and
being a bought boy toy holds no appeal. Just when he thinks he has no options
left Sundae’s Custom Easter Baskets knocks at his door. Soon he finds himself
blindly following a trail right into the path of a sexy new boss and a whole
new mess of carnal complications.
Garren Thomas has rules and one
of those is to never get involved with an employee. Easy to say, harder to
enforce when Aspen is hired on. With each passing day Garren's control slips
until all he wants to do is spend his days with Aspen in his bed.
When faced
with giving into his desires, Garren sees his simple life being torn apart. Can
he get Aspen out of his system without losing his heart? Aspen isn't much
better off. He is drawn to Garren, but he can't help the fear that the secrets
from his past will destroy it all. As Aspen begins to lose himself within the
confusion of sex and love one question plagues him: who sent the basket?
Excerpt
Garren pushed away
from the wall and into the light of the lobby. “Looks like I missed out on a
lot.”
Aspen ducked his head
and went to his desk to dig around in a drawer. The first time Taylor had sent
him shopping for office supplies, Aspen had bought random sheets of kids’
stickers. On the rare occasion Taylor performed child evaluations, a little
bribery to bring out good behavior never hurt. Aspen came away with two sheets
of fairy stickers.
“Not too much. We’re
working on crowns and a new kingdom.” Aspen swerved around Garren, his eyes
twinkling. “Do you want a crown?”
Garren narrowed his
eyes on Aspen. He put his hands on Aspen’s shoulders to stop him and leaned in
to whisper, “That was low. There’s no way I can refuse those pixies. I’m going
to end up with a glittery, construction-paper crown glued to my head, aren’t
I?"
Aspen looked over his
shoulder. “Don’t worry there won’t be glitter on yours. I’ll be the queen,” he
murmured with a grin. “So you’ll need to fill the role as king.”
Garren shook his
head. “You’re trouble.”
Aspen shimmied to
dislodge Garren’s hands. “You just figured that out?”
With a resigned sigh
Garren followed him.
“Girls, I found
someone else who needs a crown,” Aspen declared, gesturing at Garren.
The tykes jumped up
and down. Garren fought the urge to reach out and hug Aspen for giving them
this moment of levity even at Garren’s expense.
Aspen held out the
stickers, and the enthusiasm magnified until the girls were dancing around the
room. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” the girls chanted in a singsong
fashion.
A softly murmured,
“Oh my,” came from behind Garren.
Garren turned to yet
again see the shimmer of tears in Mrs. Burgett’s eyes, but a smile accompanied
the moisture.
Aspen grinned back at
her. “I hope you don’t mind. The girls have been fantastic. We’ve managed to
make crowns and bracelets.”
“Even for you,
Mommy,” one of the twins piped up and ran over to Mrs. Burgett to carefully
hand her the items as though they were made of glass.
Mrs. Burgett cradled
them. “Thank you, Maryann.”
“Becca and Mr. Aspen
helped,” Maryann replied.
“And we ate apples
and cheese crackers,” Becca added.
Garren looked briefly
at Aspen. He’d seen Aspen eating the same things earlier in the week.
“That was very nice
of Mr. Aspen,” Mrs. Burgett said with a hitch in her voice. “But we have to go
now, girls.”
“Oh,” the girls
replied with exaggerated pouts on both their faces.
“Say thank-you to Mr.
Aspen,” Mrs. Burgett directed.
Both girls ran over
to Aspen and threw their arms around his waist. “Sorry we didn’t get a chance
to make your crown,” Becca said.
“That’s fine,
sweetheart. I’ll be sure to make a matching one when you leave,” Aspen assured
her.
“You need to make
two,” Maryann interjected. “One for the big king behind you. That way we’ll
know you’re helping rule the kingdom even if we can’t see you.”
Garren wanted to pick
the girl up and hug her. Tell her that everything would work itself out and she’d
never be hurt again. While it was a possibility if Mrs. Burgett went through
with the charges, he wouldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep.
“Thank you, Mr.
Aspen,” Mrs. Burgett said. “You don’t know how much I appreciate you taking
care of my girls.”
“You’re welcome,”
Aspen responded.
Maryann and Becca
skipped over to their mom, and grabbed hold of her hands as they exited the
office.
Garren stared after
their retreating backs. He grimaced at the tattered clothes and worn shoes. His
jaw clenched, and he pivoted and stalked back to his office. The lump in his
throat threatened to shatter his control of his emotions. He made it through
the door, placed his hands on his desk, and breathed deeply. Mrs. Burgett
reminded him of his mother.
Aspen lightly touched
his back, and Garren jerked around to gaze at him.
“I know you’ll do all
you can,” Aspen confided.
“And you?” Garren
cracked and cupped Aspen’s face with one hand. “You gave those little girls
your lunch and made them laugh. You took away their stress and let them be
kids.”
Aspen glanced away.
“I did what anyone else would do. They deserve to have as much joy as every
other child.”
“You’re wrong. Not
everyone would do what you did. I think most would have set them in the lobby
and spent the time telling them to be quiet.” Garren had seen that reality time
and time again.
Aspen shrugged.
Garren caved and
leaned in until his lips were mere inches from Aspen’s. “You are so beautiful.”
Aspen didn’t back away.
His breath came faster, and his eyes flashed with that same glow Garren had
seen in the past.
“Garren,” Aspen
whispered with a thread of uncertainty.
Garren brushed his
thumb over Aspen’s full lower lip, and desire zinged through his body when
Aspen’s tongue peeked out to trace the path. Garren’s brain screamed what a
huge mistake kissing Aspen would be, but at that point he wasn’t being ruled by
his head.
BUY:
~Author Bio
I’m a born and raised Oregonian. I’ve traveled
extensively in search of mischief and mayhem to fill my books. My
ventures have been quite successful in inspiring a wealth of stories both sexy
and humorous. It gives me a great excuse to do some crazy stuff in the
name of research. Of course at the end of the day, coffee within reach, laptop
at the ready is where I find my peace.
Contact:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/draven.stjames
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DravenStJames
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/dravenstjames/
Email: Dravenstjames@gmail.com
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