IN THE MOOD

By

Ellen Fisher

© copyright July 2005, Ellen Fisher

Cover art by Kat Richards, © copyright July 2005

ISBN 1-58608-587-5

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Chapter 1

Norfolk, Virginia

“I didn’t know you were a guy.”

Seated behind a metal table stacked high with copies of his contemporary romance, Jude Patterson looked up at the beautiful woman in front of him and affected an injured look. “Damn. And here I was hoping that was obvious.”

The corners of her mouth turned up with amusement, and he looked at her with more interest. This book signing had been pretty dull up till now, but her appearance was enough to liven the afternoon up. She was more than beautiful… she was gorgeous. Sable-brown hair fell loose in a glorious, wavy cascade around her shoulders, and she possessed an incredibly lush mouth. Her worn jeans clung to her broad, decidedly female hips like a second skin, and her T-shirt had the state motto “Virginia is for lovers” emblazoned right across her damned impressive breasts. The provocative location of those words simply couldn’t help but give a guy ideas.

“You know what I mean,” she answered. Her voice was low and husky, sending a bolt of heat straight to regions better left unheated in public. He was glad he was seated behind a table. Smiling, she tapped a manicured fingernail on the bright yellow cover. “It says your name is Judy.”

“I just changed a letter,” he said, forcing himself to look away from her breasts--a real test of his willpower. “Not a very big difference.”

“Oh, it’s a very big difference. It’s an entirely different gender.”

He shrugged a shoulder and returned her smile with a wry one of his own. “It’s not easy to get a romance published when you’re a guy.”

“I had no idea you were a man. I love your books, though. I’ve read most of them.” She picked up a copy of his book, In the Mood, and flipped through it. “But this is a contemporary romance,” she said, wrinkling her forehead. “I thought you wrote historicals.”

“I have, up till now. This is my first contemporary.”

She paused on a page and read silently for a moment. Her eyebrows went up. “Wow. That’s, um, sexy.”

He sighed. Writing contemporary love scenes had been the hardest thing for him to accomplish, and he was uncomfortably aware he hadn’t done a terrific job with it. “No, it’s not,” he said honestly. “My sex scenes all suck. And I don’t mean that in a good way.”

“Oh, they’re not that bad.”

He shook his head. “They’re not that great, either. Writing contemporaries is a little different. The editor wanted me to use, uh, blunt language. I had a hard time with that.”

She glanced at the page again. “Yeah, I see what you mean. I’ve never seen anyone use the words ‘creamy orbs’ in a contemporary.”

Just the phrase was enough to make him cringe. “I know that sounds stupid. I just couldn’t figure out how to make it sound more modern.”

“It doesn’t sound stupid,” she said loyally. “Just, you know, not too contemporary.”

“Thanks.” He sighed again. “I’m working on another contemporary now. I wish I could figure out how to make the love scenes better.”

“Want some help?”

His eyebrows shot up so fast they practically parted company with his head. “Excuse me?”

She laughed, a rippling sound that caused an answering ripple deep in his body. “Not what I meant. I mean, maybe I could give you some suggestions. Although I’m not a professional.”

“Not… a professional?” he repeated, his eyebrows lifting even higher.

Amusement brightened her vivid blue-green eyes. “I mean, I’m not an editor or anything, but I read lots of romances. Contemporaries and historicals.”

Jude turned that over in his mind for a moment. Actually, he mused, it wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe what he needed was input from someone who loved the genre and who was clearly comfortable with her own sexuality. He shot another glimpse at her and snorted to himself.

Yeah, right. The fact was, he didn’t want to let her get away without more conversation.

“Great,” he said. “If you’ve got some suggestions, I’m all ears. I’d love to hear what you’d do differently.”

“Uh...” She looked surprised that he’d agreed to the idea, but she gamely started to flip through the pages.

“Not now,” he said. “I’m trying to sell some books here. Care to join me for a bite to eat after I’m done?”

“And give you ... suggestions?”

“Sure. The only thing is, you’ll have to buy my book.”

A wide grin broke over her face. “You’ve got a deal.”

“Terrific,” he said. “I’ll meet you in the food court at two, okay?”

“That sounds great,” she said, and dropped the book in front of him. “But I want it autographed.”

“Um ... okay.” He accepted the book, opened it to the title page, and looked up quizzically. “What’s your name?”

“Alyssa Stone.”

“Pretty name,” he answered automatically, but realized almost instantly that the habitual words were true. The combination of graceful, feminine first name and blunt last name suited her perfectly. Scrawling his usual inscription in the book, he handed it back.

She scanned his scribbled words hastily and lifted an eyebrow. “You hope there’ll be lots of romance in my life?”

“I put that in all my books.”

“I thought maybe you were hitting on me.”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t do that.”

Shooting him a cheeky wink, she chuckled. “That’s too bad.”

Jude watched as she disappeared into the store to pay for his book, noticing she looked just as fabulous from the rear view as she did from the front. Beneath the worn jeans, her butt was tight and shapely, with a sassy wiggle that reminded him of Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot.

Alyssa Stone was something, all right--gorgeous, funny, and smart. And besides, she liked his books. What more could you want in a woman?