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New Adult
Date Published: February 7, 2017
Working for a cranky, old hermit in an isolated house sounds like Ruby’s idea of heaven – but her boss isn't quite what she expects.
Tex is a fugitive from the rock and roll world – a tragedy abruptly halted his career. No one knows why he quit, no one knows where he is.
The two of them live in the same house, avoiding each other, until Tex screws up, endangering their lives and forcing them to move into close quarters. Suddenly, the idea of human contact seems more appealing, if only with each other. The sanctuary they have built is enough for Ruby -- the man she grows to love is Tex the hermit, not Tex the rock star -- but the outside world encroaches.
She thinks their fledgling love can’t shine brighter than the rock dream but can Ruby bear to let Tex go?
EXCERPT
O’Malley got bored, so we wandered over to look at homewares. He picked up a red bowl.
“I want this. You can have the yellow.”
“Screw you, I want red.”
“Red is my colour. If you don’t want yellow, you can have green.”
“Then our bowls will look too Christmassy. I’ll just get a red one too.” I picked up the matching red bowl.
“No.” He snatched the bowl out of my hand. “If we have the same, we won’t be able to tell them apart. Just have the yellow. Yellow’s a great colour.”
“Yellow sucks. I should have red because my name’s Ruby. You can have yellow because it’s a Tex colour.” Then I realised I wouldn’t be sticking around for too long and it was really stupid to be having an argument over bowl colours. It wasn’t like he had red bowls in his old house but who knew, maybe he’d had a red bowl when he was a kid and it was comforting to him.
“Okay, I’ll have the yellow one, but I’m having the red plate and you can have the yellow.”
He actually pouted at that.
“That will get confusing. We can’t just swap colours. We need a system.”
“I guess. We should get the blue and green too in case we have guests.”
Then we both looked at each other and laughed because, what guests?
“You know, Ruby, you are really pretty when you smile.”
Whoa, that caused a whole whirl of confusion in me. For starters, he thought I was pretty. But did that mean I looked like a total pig-dog when I didn’t smile? Maybe it wasn’t that much of a compliment. Maybe it was actually an insult. And, anyway, what right did he have to even bring my looks into the discussion? I was his employee and we had that whole distance thing working for us.
But, he thought I was pretty.
“I want this. You can have the yellow.”
“Screw you, I want red.”
“Red is my colour. If you don’t want yellow, you can have green.”
“Then our bowls will look too Christmassy. I’ll just get a red one too.” I picked up the matching red bowl.
“No.” He snatched the bowl out of my hand. “If we have the same, we won’t be able to tell them apart. Just have the yellow. Yellow’s a great colour.”
“Yellow sucks. I should have red because my name’s Ruby. You can have yellow because it’s a Tex colour.” Then I realised I wouldn’t be sticking around for too long and it was really stupid to be having an argument over bowl colours. It wasn’t like he had red bowls in his old house but who knew, maybe he’d had a red bowl when he was a kid and it was comforting to him.
“Okay, I’ll have the yellow one, but I’m having the red plate and you can have the yellow.”
He actually pouted at that.
“That will get confusing. We can’t just swap colours. We need a system.”
“I guess. We should get the blue and green too in case we have guests.”
Then we both looked at each other and laughed because, what guests?
“You know, Ruby, you are really pretty when you smile.”
Whoa, that caused a whole whirl of confusion in me. For starters, he thought I was pretty. But did that mean I looked like a total pig-dog when I didn’t smile? Maybe it wasn’t that much of a compliment. Maybe it was actually an insult. And, anyway, what right did he have to even bring my looks into the discussion? I was his employee and we had that whole distance thing working for us.
But, he thought I was pretty.
About the Author
Candy J. Starr used to be a band manager until she realised that the band she managed was so lacking in charisma that they actually sucked the charisma out of any room they played. “Screw you,” she said, leaving them to wallow in obscurity – totally forgetting that they owed her big bucks for video equipment hire.
Candy has filmed and interviewed some big names in the rock business, and a lot of small ones. She’s seen the dirty little secrets that go on in the back rooms of band venues. She’s seen the ugly side of rock and the very pretty one.
But, of course, everything she writes is fiction.
Contact Links
Twitter: @candyjstarr
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