An Earthbound Christmas
By Cailin Briste
Available free during the month of
December: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/jyyj6x2o2p
Fate arranges the chance meeting of two
strangers in need of a little kindness on Christmas Eve. Celebrity Davon
Weider, with his navy-blue eyes and muscular physique, can fill the starring
role in any woman’s fantasy. But Jasline, a spaceport mech, is more impressed
by his five jump speed records. This will be a Christmas neither will forget.
Excerpt:
Jasline bit her
lip. This was Davon Weider, the military hero who had broken the jump speed
record five times and had movies made from his exploits. The man was golden.
Everything he touched went platinum. Even his shit probably smelled like roses.
The playboy of every girl’s fantasies, he’d broken thousands of hearts when
he’d finally settled down with the perfect woman, Tanya Thoreau.
Supermodel-good-looking, rich, and with the acting chops to win an Academy
Award. Her star shone as bright as Davon’s.
So why did he
look like life had just dumped a crushing load of defeat on him? And why should
she care?
Her stride
slowed. No, I shouldn’t interfere. He has people for this. The instant she
decided to walk past him, he raised his head, looking straight at her. Hurt and
anger shone from the depths of his dark blue eyes, overlaid by a sadness that
seemed to cling to every cell in his body.
She stopped dead
in her tracks. Pain thudded in the place in her heart where she nurtured her
own hurt, betrayal, and isolation. And she couldn’t walk past him. Instead she
slid to sit beside him, palms resting on her bent knees and…nothing. No words
came. She stared straight ahead, doing the only thing she knew to do, sharing
this moment with him, showing him he wasn’t alone.
Finally he said,
“I’m Davon.”
“I know.” She
brought her gaze to his.
He grunted.
“I’m Jasline.
I’m a space mech. Glad to meet you. You okay? You got somewhere to go, someone
to go to?”
His expression
turned thoughtful as he considered his response.
Surely he had
somewhere to be, someone who would worry if he didn’t show up, someone able to
offer him comfort and advice.
“Not really.” He
frowned. “I mean, there’s my staff.”
“What about all
your friends? You must have hundreds.”
His laugh was
tinged with bitterness. “Acquaintances. I have hundreds of acquaintances. They
all want something from me. Or did until Tanya left me. You’ve probably heard
the stories.”
“No. I’m not up
on the latest, I guess.”
He leaned his
head back against the wall. “You may want to reconsider sitting with me. I’m a
known abuser. Verbal. Physical. Sexual. You name it, I’ve done it. All those
sycophants who sang my praises are now singing Tanya’s tune.”
“Why would she
do that to you? Unless…” What if Tanya was telling the truth and he was an
abuser? Had her heart mistakenly led her to sit down next to a monster?
Fire sparked in
his eyes when he brought his gaze back to her. “None of it’s true. She’s
pregnant, but she doesn’t want me to be the baby’s father. There’s a new man in
her life. Some producer. Steady. Family-type guy. Not winging all over the
solar system. She wants him to be the father.” He pounded a fist to his knee.
“Shite! She should have been sleeping with him instead of me.”
Jasline winced.
Damn. The guy’s got problems. Yeah, well. You knew that when you sat down. And
she believed his story. Pinups of Tanya Thoreau were stuck to the inside of
many of the male employee lockers at the spaceport. It was impossible not to
hear about her exploits from the lips of her coworkers or the Hollywood gossip
shows playing on the vidscreens aimed at every nook and cranny of the spaceport
concourses. She went through men like Jasline went through coveralls. “That’s
rough.”
He brought a
hand to his forehead and sighed. “I feel like shit.”
The offer was
past her lips before she had time to second guess the impulse to take care of
another lonely heart. “You can come to my house.”
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