It's almost inevitable that the grocery store is where you'll run into the guy who got away. It's Murphy's Law: your guard is down, you're in yoga pants, maybe humming a song to yourself while you're looking at cake mixes. Your basket is overflowing with single-serving frozen dinners and lemons, as if all that citrus water will somehow balance out the toxins you gorge on regularly. That's when he appears, dressed in his work clothes, looking all together and perfect and when he sees you, there is nothing you can do to hide the truth.
Let Us Eat Cake
This is what happens to Rachel, the main character in my new novella, Let Us Eat Cake, only her basket is laden with even more revealing goods, like the lentils she eats because it's all she can afford on her student budget. The guy? He's none other than her high school sweetheart whom she has not seen in years. He's a success now, which is obvious from the way he carries himself and the way he dresses.
I wanted to write this story because various versions of it have happened to me many times. I have had a lot of unglamorous jobs in my life. I've left my kitchen job and walked home in disgusting splattered clothing with sweat pouring down my face only to run into a guy I once dated out with his new girl who looks like she's stepped out of a fashion spread. Or I've been out in the back alley emptying out the garbage can from my retail job when suddenly I see that cutie-pie from the coffee shop I go to in the mornings. It's almost as if it's bound to happen that way.
And when it does, you look up at the sky and shake your fist at some imagined deity thinking really? Really? How can we ever be romantic now? You've lost all sight of dignity and desirability. But then, low and behold, you remember that life is yours for the taking, gosh darnit, and what's a few speckles of dirt among future or former lovers?
I guess the thing about the compromising situation, is that it makes people relax. Gone is the charade that you're perfect, or even that you try to be. You've been caught with your pants down and it's okay. The right person will see past it, or maybe even appreciate you more for it. At least that's what I try to tell myself.
In Rachel's case, it works out in her favour. All that angst about how she appears translates into her ability to show off her personality. In the end, that's where the real connection is, anyway.
So, if you're that person who's caught in a compromising situation, I urge you to have a laugh at yourself, pull up your pants and get on with life. It's never as bad as it seems in the moment and the real connection will only love you more for it.
Blurb for Let Us Eat Cake:
Busy and cynical Rachel could not have expected to run into her old school crush at the grocery store, much less imagined what he has in mind for her.
University undergrad Rachel Perkins has given up on dating. She's busy with classes and a job. One night she goes out grocery shopping in the middle of the Michigan winter. At the store she runs into a guy with whom she had a brief romance in high school. It doesn't take long for the old sparks to start flying again, and Rachel can't decide what to do.
When she follows her heart to Jeff's place, she learns that he seems quite different from her, particularly when it comes to desires-or is he? His revelation that he is into dominance both frightens and excites her. She has fantasized about being submissive under the right circumstances but never expected those circumstances to pan out. When Jeff offers her an opportunity to explore, she wants to take it.
However, when her own fears kick in, Rachel must grapple with her sexual identity. Does she have the power to give up control? Jeff is confident that he can give her what she needs, but that's a tall order when she herself is unsure what that is.
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of breast play, light bondage and public sex.
Buy Link: https://www.totallybound.com/book/let-us-eat-cake
About Destiny Moon:
Romance heroines have saved my sanity numerous times through break-ups and life changes. I find escaping into a romance both soothing and revitalizing-and even better when there are some steamy scenes to tantalize the imagination.
For most of my adult life, I've concentrated on carving out a serious career, but a number of love-hungry, sassy characters keep taking over my mind, insisting that I daydream, live vicariously through them and tell their stories. Watching these women emerge on the page gives me a different sort of satisfaction than I get from my day job. It is a joy to share them with readers.
I live in a tiny apartment in a crowded city and I like to think there is something romantic about this. I did manage to find my soul mate here.