Before long, Grace is orchestrating a new, fabulous life. Everything seems to be going brilliantly. But as cracks begin to appear the possibility of another, darker, truth behind Finedale catapults Grace into a role she never anticipated.
EXCERPT
Waltzing through the automatic doors, Grace felt more alive than she had in years. There, inside the international terminal of the San Francisco airport, all eyes took in her entrance, step by sashaying step. Hoping the scant lingerie under her fur coat wasn’t too obvious, she cinched her belt one secure notch tighter. Not since she’d bid a sad farewell to her twenties had public attention been so intoxicating. She reacted with an uncharacteristically grand gesture, flicking her auburn hair out from under the supple mink collar.
How long had it been since Grace had picked up her husband from the airport—five years? Ten? No matter. Less than an hour had lapsed since she’d left her closest friend, Brett’s, birthday lunch, where Grace had admitted that the number of times she had made love with her husband in the last year matched his coveted golf handicap. Zero.
Taunting Grace to surprise Peter at the airport dressed in as little as possible, Brett had giddily handed over the new garter belt and stockings she had just picked out before lunch. From across the table, she’d batted her dark brown eyes insistently at Grace while handing her the pretty black-and-pink handled bag from Agent Provocateur, a sexy lingerie designer that Grace had never heard of.
Another birthday lunch guest, Raymond, had then relinquished the mink coat that covered his tight black cashmere sweater and black jeans, insisting it was the perfect camo for the lingerie underneath.
With a final gulp of champagne confidence, Grace had bid Brett and her birthday guests au revoir.
Now here in the airport waiting lounge, stripped to her G-string skivvies and thread of a marriage, Grace wistfully anticipated that moment when Peter, a surprised smile on his lips, would cancel his limo to walk hand in hand with her back to the airport parking lot and then make passionate love to her in the back of her SUV. Being caught by a security guard or outraged wide-eyed passenger might make them flush. But the way she was feeling, she simply wouldn’t be able to wait till they arrived home. And considering how long it had been, Grace was certain that neither would Peter.
* * *
Peter expected perfection: it wasn’t his fault. He’d been raised that way.
He arrived a little rumpled and more than a little tired after ten dusty days in Asia that had left him looking forward to the relaxation of a long flight home. After an extra half-hour circling San Francisco and waiting for the storm to pass, his patience would have been frayed even faster than usual if he’d been forced to wait endlessly at immigration. Easing without incident through customs with his carry-on garment bag and briefcase, Peter was anticipating a routinely calm limo ride home. Breaking stride to check his iPhone as he approached the exit, he relaxed. Good. No surprises.
* * *
Grace glanced up at the arrivals screen and then back over at the government-sanctioned clock with its teasing second hand meandering at a snail’s pace around the dial. It clicked to 2:07 P.M. Peter’s plane had been on the ground for seventeen minutes. Any moment now.
Brett had told her to make sure Peter’s first glimpse of her made a perfectly sultry impression. Forcing herself to stop pacing, Grace sculpted her body into an imitation of one of the sleek models from the latest Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. As she did so, she could feel someone only a few yards away studying her intensely. She smirked with delight as she stole a peek. Hurrah! He was no older than thirty. A delicious idea flashed through her mind, to use this handsome young stranger shamelessly to practice her most flirtatious, albeit rusty, poses. Grace started to lower her eyelashes, but just as she did, the young gentleman spun abruptly to stare in another direction. She shrugged smugly at his apparent coyness and idly allowed herself to follow his line of sight to the object of his—and every other man’s, attention. Grace’s smile withered and then died altogether at seeing a flurry of golden hair, a rosebud mouth, and slender hips. This woman’s strut was no act. Like a panther, she moved with the sumptuous ease of youth.
Grace resumed her guise, although it didn’t feel right anymore; her limbs were all at odds with each other. She slid back to take refuge partially behind the pillar she had been using as her diva prop.
Just then the arrival doors whooshed open. Grace’s pulse raced again, yet less with wild anticipation than with a vague, percolating sense of sobering panic. What the hell am I doing here dressed like a hooker? Grace glanced over at the coquettish blonde who had molded expectantly into a voluptuous silhouette and then quickly looked back at the door. There he is. Grace hesitated for a split second and then nervously pulled herself out from behind the pillar with a toothy grin and a clumsy roll of her shoulder.
* * *
Peter glanced absently from left to right looking for his limo driver. He was concentrating so hard, he didn’t even see her arms before they wrapped round him.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” asked Peter.
“How ya doing, boss?” An infectious giggle escaped her lips as she pressed them against his, molding their mouths into a long, hungry kiss.
“What happened to my limo? Was there something wrong?” Peter’s worried tone was in contrast to how his body naturally drew in to meet hers.
“No limousine today.” She winked as she placed her hands on her hips in a display of sultry control. “You’re riding with me instead.” She let her blonde locks fall over her shoulders and then bent down to pick up his luggage, revealing even more of her cleavage.
He slipped his arm behind her back. “Let’s get out of here, then.”
A few yards ahead of them, a woman in a mink coat tripped and fell, crashing headlong into a group of travelers. Peter stepped instinctively toward the melee, but not before the woman picked herself up. Leaving startled people all around her and a broken heel on the floor, the woman ran off hobbling. Peter watched her curiously, until something about her auburn hair and the way she moved hit him like a runaway truck.
“Oh my God, no.” He only half called out, knowing she was too far away to hear, “Grace! Gracie…”
April 4- A Southern Girls Bookshelf – Excerpt
April 4 –Literary Chanteuse- Excerpt
April 4- Wendi Nunnery –Review
April 5 –Change the Word – Q&A
April 5 – Chick Lit Club Connect – Guest Post
April 6 – Sweet N Sassy Bookaholics – Excerpt
April 7 – Nerdy Dirty and Flirty – Excerpt
April 8 – Authors and Readers Book Corner – Excerpt
April 8 – Kate-Book.com – Review & Excerpt
April 8 – Blurbs and Words – Review & Excerpt
April 8 – Around the World in Books – Review & Excerpt
April 12 – Living Life With Joy – Q&A & Excerpt
April 12 – Coffeeholic Bookworm – Review
April 13 – Curling Up With A Good Book –Review & Excerpt
April 15 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews –Review, Guest Post & Excerpt
Author Bio
Layne Gray is an author, entrepreneur and experienced marketing strategist. Layne’s background is in technology marketing and she has worked for large companies, including as Director of UNIX Product Line Marketing at Oracle Corporation and Director of UNIX Application Marketing at Altos Computer Systems. She was the founder of LKE Productions, a global technology conference production company that ramped to over $20M in annual revenues.
Layne is a seasoned charitable fundraiser who has helped raise millions of dollars for local and national charities through events she has chaired and campaigns she has spearheaded. Bay Area beneficiaries have included the San Francisco Ballet, Junior League of San Francisco, San Francisco Zoological Society. National organizations include buildOn, UN Foundation Girl Up and Mocha Moms.
Born and raised in Oregon, Layne received a B.A. in Marketing and Statistics from the University of Oregon. She has taken the WSET Level 3 Certification and teaches wine classes around the country. Layne is an Emeritus Board member of the San Francisco Zoological Society and a sustaining member of the Junior League of San Francisco and the San Ballet Auxiliary. She lives in San Francisco and enjoys cycling, snow skiing and walking her dogs at Crissy Field.
Thanks for sharing!
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