In the Garden of Deceit (Book 4) (36 page)

He
was scheduled to see an eye specialist in the morning, and that was
an examination he didn’t look forward to. He would have to use
his considerable acting skills to allay any suspicions as to the
condition of his eye. Though he’d not seen the wound on the
side of his head, he assumed it was mending with the same swiftness
as his chest.

The
irony of all this was that he would have healed more rapidly still
and suffered less discomfort if they had never tried to “fix”
him in the first place. As it was, he had endured almost a week of
intermittent pain, the morphine notwithstanding, for morphine had
little power over the tyranny of witchcraft. The opiate alternately
worked and didn’t work according to the whims of something
darker, something not of the natural world.

With
pained effort—feeling better did not mean he felt like new—Nick
turned from the window and shuffled to the bed.

As
he climbed beneath the sheets, one goal consumed his thoughts. He
must not allow his pursuit of Regina to degenerate into the tragedy
that had ended his “relationship” with Cheryl. Though few
would believe it, his self-hatred over the loss of his most recent
companion left him devastated. His conscience—when it was
working—was a vicious adversary, punishing him with guilt.

Nick
wondered why, if he was compelled to live an unnatural existence, he
also must battle with remorse? He was in a situation he couldn’t
win—if he did not appease his hunger, he suffered; if he did,
he suffered doubly. Sadly, he’d never been able to resist the
hunger to avoid the remorse.

And
now would be no different. Especially now. Nick pulled the covers
around him, his guilt ruthlessly pushed aside in his desire for
Regina. She would be here soon. Until then, he’d be waiting….

Thief
of Souls coming September 2011

***

Ebooks by
Joan Reeves

The
Lingerie Covers

Most
women love beautiful lingerie. That idea is what inspired the covers
of these sassy, sexy romantic comedies. All of these books were
previously published and were well-received by critics and readers. I
think they’re fun books and provide the perfect escape from the
daily grind. Treat yourself to one today!

Just
One Look

Still
The One

Jane
(I’m-Still-Single) Jones

Beauty
and The Geek, Spring 2012

Texas
One Night Stands

You
may be surprised by the one night stands that kick off these stories.
They’re not exactly what you might expect. What you can expect
is lots of sparks, sensuality, and bubbling desire. In other words,
these Texas women are headed for all kinds of trouble.

Book
1: The Trouble With Love

Book
2: Romeo and Judy Anne, July 2011

Book
3: TBA, Spring 2012

Book
4: TBA, Spring 2013

The
Good, The Bad, and The Girly

Every
woman makes mistakes in life. Meet Stormy Clarkson and her three
daughters. Stormy made three whoppers of mistakes that changed her
and changed the lives of her three daughters. Love never fails
though. Stormy discovers that sometimes you get another chance to
live the life you want, not the one with which you’re stuck,
and that’s a lesson she intends to pass on to her daughters.

This
Novella Series begins with Stormy’s story in Book 1: Old Enough
To Know Better, Haley’s story in Book 2: Good Girl Conspiracy,
Courtney’s story in Book 3: Bad Girl Complex, and Austen’s
story in Book 4: Girly-Girl Conquest.

Book
1: Old Enough To Know Better, July 2011

Book
2: Good Girl Conspiracy, Fall 2011

Book
3: Bad Girl Complex, Spring 2012

Book
4: Girly-Girl Conquest, Summer 2012

San
Antone Two-Step

San
Antonio, Texas, is the home of the Alamo, the Riverwalk, and a
delightful blend of Anglo and Hispanic cultures. Two-stepping is a
way of life on Saturday nights, and celebrations often feature
luminarias, small paper bags filled with sand, with a lit candle
placed in the middle of the sand. That tiny flame can illumine or
burn out of control if one isn’t careful. So can repressed
desire when enkindled by love.

With
love, sometimes it’s two steps forward, two steps back, and,
sometimes, dancing around love is like playing with fire. You risk
getting burned.

Wish
on a Texas Star, November 2011

San
Antone Blue, Summer 2012

Nonfiction

Written
Wisdom: Quotation-Inspired Essays

A
Best of SlingWords Collection, 2005-2010

Excerpt
from WRITTEN WISDOM: Quotation-Inspired Essays

Best
of SlingWords Collection, 2005-2010, by Joan Reeves

Do
you love a good quotation? You know, the wise and sometimes witty
words uttered by authors, entertainers, politicians, and other famous
people? Often this written wisdom has resonance for us whether or not
we recognize the source of the quotation.

Written
Wisdom is designed to help you when you need a bit of support or
encouragement. Sometimes, it will help you to persist, and,
sometimes, perhaps it will help you accept that a situation “is
what it is.”

When
writers use an insightful quotation in a blog post or article, it’s
like “kicking it up another notch.” Call them quotations,
aphorisms, proverbs, or what have you, they’re universally
accepted bits of wisdom that know no cultural or national boundaries.

Wisdom
in my country is usually the same as wisdom in other countries. From
centuries ago to present day, wise words still give us insight and
can sometimes provide a respite from the storms of life with a
much-needed laugh to brighten our day.

Witness
the words of the late Randy Pausch in The Last Lecture: “Yes,
I’m a great optimist, but, when trying to make a decision, I
often think of the worst case scenario.” An old Arab Prover
says the same thing in a different way: “Trust in Allah, but
tie your camels down.”

Two
quotations separated by centuries and by different cultures, but they
each impart the same wisdom of being prepared.

Written
Wisdom, compiled from the best of the quotation-inspired essays,
2005-2010, on SlingWords, a blog by best-selling ebook author Joan
Reeves, will delight all who like a bit of wisdom and wit about
persistence, inspiration, overcoming challenges, and goal achievement
as well as insights about writing, reading, books, authors, and Life.
That makes it a great resource for just about anyone.

Written
Wisdom: Quotation-Inspired Essays

By
Joan Reeves

Available
Now

Excerpt,
The Trouble With Love

Book
1: Texas One Night Stands

By
Joan Reeves

Every
woman makes mistakes.

Susannah
Quinn glared at the door to the Sheriff’s private office. Yep,
every woman makes mistakes, but most women didn’t have to put
up with a constant reminder of their not so brilliant actions. And
most women didn’t have
their
mistake showing up at
their
office flaunting tanned muscles and polluting the environment with
clouds of testosterone and male arrogance.

Of
course, mistake didn’t quite describe what she’d done. No
tiny lapse in judgment for old Susannah Quinn. When she decided to
throw common sense out the window, she didn’t mess around. Her
fair skin flamed at the memory.

Temporary
insanity was the only explanation for her behavior. If temporary
insanity was a legal defense in criminal court, shouldn’t she
also be able to escape punishment for her lapse in judgment? Instead,
she had her mistake aka D. E. Hogan show up, right on her doorstep.
That was cruel and unusual punishment if she’d ever heard of
any. That kind of redress might be banned by the U. S. Constitution,
but, apparently, in the grand cosmic scheme of things, it was still
being dished out. What was even worse was that Hogan turned out to be
the new consultant for the Murphy’s Cove Police Department down
on the coast. To make matters worse, he just had to drop by the
Sheriff’s office every blasted day.

Susannah
picked up her coffee cup, an oversized white mug emblazoned with red
letters:
Deputies do it in mirrored sunglasses!
She drained
the lukewarm black coffee. Muttering beneath her breath at the
injustice of it all, she slammed the heavy ceramic mug down.

“What’s
wrong with you this morning?” asked Grace Collier.

“Nothing.”
Susannah didn’t look over at the dispatcher for fear of
encouraging her. She’d known Grace, her best friend’s
mom, all her life and loved the outspoken woman, but she wasn’t
interested in being on the receiving end of one of Grace’s
well-meaning lectures.

The
ringing phone saved her. Grace punched a button. “Dispatch.
This is Grace.”

Susannah
ignored the conversation, knowing it was Grace’s friend Eunice
who ran the Courthouse Cafe across the street. The woman called every
morning so she and Grace could discuss yesterday’s episode of
their favorite soap opera. Soap news ranked at the top of the list of
excitement here in Vance.

There
was never any criminal activity in Alton County. Other than high
school seniors climbing the spindly old water tower to spray paint
Class of whatever on the rusty tank. Sometimes, a few years passed
before a kid got an itch and a can of spray paint along with the
desire to immortalize his graduation from the consolidated high
school that served most of the small towns in the county. Nothing
ever happened in this narrow slice of coastal prairie far west of
Houston. That was the way her uncle Barney Drummond, the Sheriff of
Alton County ever since Susannah could remember, liked it. Life here
moved as fast as a crawling turtle.

Not
much occurred even down in Murphy’s Cove, the county’s
richest town. Besides, the resort town had its own overpaid police
department to deal with the few year-round residents as well as the
many rich divorcees who mobbed the coastal enclave for the rich and
perpetually bored.

The
only hotbed of activity was over on the four-lane highway that sliced
through part of Alton County. That’s where the real action was.
Susannah sighed. If catching speeders could be considered action.
Disgruntled at her lot in life, she tried to return her attention to
the report she was typing. Unfortunately, that reminded her of her
temporary insanity.

“Just
Hogan,” he’d said when her uncle the Sheriff had
introduced him. Susannah had shaken his hand as if she’d never
laid eyes on him before.

Until
Hogan, she’d had only one secret in her life. It had caused her
humiliation and anger. Now, she had something else to hide.
Ironically, Hogan was the only person on earth who knew anything
about her first painful secret. One thing about being hurt,
humiliated, and angry. Those emotions sure helped squash the warm
tinglies that assaulted certain parts of her anatomy every time Hogan
walked through the door. If only those painful emotions had changed
her body’s instinctive reaction to him.

Another
sigh escaped her. There was just something about Hogan. If she’d
been a woman given to flights of fancy, she’d have called it
love at first sight. But she didn’t believe in love. Much less
love at first sight. She knew enough about human sexuality to know
love at first sight was nothing but pheromones. Calling it smell at
first sight would be more accurate. It was just basic primitive
sexual response.

Whatever
you called it, Susannah would do anything to keep Hogan from learning
how susceptible she was to him. Her delicate chin squared in resolve.
She might not be able to run away now that he was in her county, but
she could stand and fight. Or take cover behind cynicism and sarcasm.
Whatever worked.

“Just
try to be agreeable, and the day will pass easier,” Grace
advised.

“Being
agreeable is what got me stuck transforming Hogan’s chicken
scratch into a report. If this report’s for the Mayor of
Murphy’s Cove, why can’t Mr. Hotshot Consultant get
someone in that police department to type it?”

“Maybe
he likes the way you glow like a red warning light when he hands you
his notes.”

“It’s
the principle involved. I’m a deputy, not a secretary.”

When
Grace just chuckled, Susannah frowned. “Well, I am. Or I would
be if I were given half a chance. Stop laughing. This isn’t
funny.”

“You’re
too danged serious. Lighten up. Be nice to Hogan. After all, he was
pretty gracious about that little faux pas as you call it.”

“He
was not! He was obnoxious and overbearing. I’ll tell you what
his initials stand for. D is for demanding. E is for egotistical. To
top it all off, he got Uncle Barney to tear up the ticket.”

“Tickets,”
Grace corrected. “One for parking. The other was for a cracked
tail light on the Suburban he was driving. At least that’s what
you said.”

“Tickets
then. And the tail light was cracked.” Susannah hoped Grace
attributed the crimson that stained her cheeks to anger. That day,
meeting Hogan again, here in her town, had shaken her. After her
uncle had introduced him, Hogan had possessed the nerve to ask her to
lunch. Fear had flooded her. Fear that he thought they could have a
fling. Fear that he didn’t want a fling. Most of all, fear that
she might not be able to keep her hands off him.

When
she’d declined his offer, his eyes had mocked her. She’d
pretended to be absorbed in the fax from the state police that she’d
been reading.

In
a voice so soft she’d thought perhaps she’d imagined it,
he’d said, “Coward.”

Alarmed
that he’d nailed it so perfectly, she’d not dared to look
up. Moments later, the door had opened and closed. He’d left
without challenging her further.