Lovers Hiatus Read online

  Was she burning out in her career already? Janae had compiled all her data almost a year ago, plenty of time to sort it out and write the book. Instead she had been extremely lazy before even starting, getting only two chapters of the book done before fizzling out. That’s why she was going to stay here, no matter what annoying man she had to share the cabin with. After all, it wasn’t like he could make her leave, could he?

  What she’d seen of the man left no doubt he was strong enough to physically drag her from the house. She’d noticed once he was downstairs the man was at least 6’1 to her 5’6. And the bare deep brown chest she’d seen was solid and gently muscled. Janae could tell even dressed the rest of his body seemed to be in shape too. Conversely, he could simply call the police as she had threatened to do on him.

  His face was good looking which in her mind made everything worse. A strong jawline framed his attractive lips, the same ones sending all the snide remarks her way. The thought of staying alone in a house with this fine brother made her nervous. Which was idiotic, since his looks should have no bearing on whether she felt comfortable. What should matter was that he was a total stranger and she was miles from anyone. But she could admit after the shock of seeing him in bed she’d felt a tingle of awareness, and when he grabbed her hand it triggered the feeling again. Attraction to the man already seemed to be messing up her focus, which she absolutely did not need.

  Janae had been told that internet and cell service could be spotty, especially in bad weather. At the time it hadn’t bothered her, figuring it would be less temptation to indulge in distractions from her work. Since the bulk of her research was done, there was no great need for internet anyway. The only thing that kept her from panicking and running out the door was that her family knew where she was. Jonathan had been told Damond was here and the man was listed as an owner and had apparently scheduled with the inept Amanda like she had. So there was a mile long trail if he decided to kill her and dispose of the body in the woods. It wouldn’t keep her from being dead, but at least her killer would get caught.

  There was no sense in worrying about it now. Damond had rightfully pointed out that she wasn’t going to be able to travel anywhere this evening. Janae could have made it to town and found a hotel if she had left at once, but now it was completely dark and the snow had piled up since she’d been here. Janae was stuck. Deciding she was finally hungry, Janae made her way to the kitchen to heat up a quick dinner. It had been one hell of a long day.

  DAMOND HAD BEEN WRITING for the last three and a half hours. Well if you could call writing a paragraph, followed by staring off in space for twenty minutes then repeating it all writing. He wanted to blame it on the surprise trespasser but couldn’t exactly. He’d been here a week and for the most part it had been the same before the uptight professor arrived. Though her mere presence definitely wasn’t helping his concentration.

  He’d managed to get two and a half chapters done since he’d arrived on Christmas day. Though he cut himself a bit of slack since he’d also done a lot of in-depth outlining. The reality was he needed to quickly get his mind back on track and fingers flying across the keyboard. He was on a tight deadline, wanting to release a minimum of two books before the year was out, and was hoping to write a third.

  Tommy, a close friend of his and a part-time writer, had listened to him complain about being in a writing slump, how he needed to put out more books before his fans lost interest. His boy had suggested he do a private writing retreat so that he could focus with no distractions. That’s how his name had gotten passed along to Dave, the guy who let Tommy use his place once a couple years back.

  Dave had been cool and the more they talked Damond shared that he took this craft seriously. At that point Dave suggested he buy into the timeshare. Their contract was set up for four people max and Dave was convinced this would be a great place for him to come once or even several times a year to hammer out some novels. At first he’d had doubts it would be worthwhile. But the more the man talked about how the other three rarely made use of it, Damond began to re-think the proposition.

  Also Dave swore it was a quiet, private place year-round, yet very updated so it didn’t have that Misery feel to it. A place away from the hustle and bustle of Southfield had sounded nice. His city had swelled in population in the last twenty odd years, which meant more people, restaurants, businesses and nightlife. So a place where it would be just him, a computer and nature might be the thing to jumpstart his imagination. Damond sorely needed something to work, since his creative ideas seemed to have taken a vacation from him.

  So he had gotten out his checkbook which was wavering on the downside and took the plunge. Feeling oddly excited to turn into the trite “hermit” writer of movies, though he would prefer not to turn insane or any of that shit. However, producing a lot of content which happened to be great stories was one thing. They also had to be stories that would sell and fatten his pockets at the end of the day. What was great to a writer vs. a reader often didn’t match up. Which was why he didn’t need the added issue of Janae to deal with.

  He could already tell the woman was going to be a problem. Most women would have run from the house as soon as they saw him. Instead she’d thought it prudent to stay, wake him up, and confront him. She was the exact type of character that would be killed off in his books. On top of it all, the woman had the nerve to be bossy, telling him he was leaving. As if she wasn’t the one who just arrived. This woman was trouble.

  Hell, she was probably crazy.

  What woman would want to drive all the way to nowhere to spend eight damn weeks by herself in the winter? Damond was a night owl, and his creative juices flowed easier in the late evening and night than the daytime. He’d stayed up the night before until four a.m. and gotten up a bit after ten this morning. Which was why he’d been tired and taken a nap around three-thirty before being rudely awakened an hour later by Janae. Taken by surprise and still a bit sleepy he’d found the intruder amusing if slightly annoying at first. But the more he thought about it the more he was becoming irate.

  This was supposed to be his writing haven away from people, noise, and damn sure from women. He didn’t think it was a coincidence that his writing had dried up at the end of his relationship a year ago. Even before that, dealing with Veronica’s drama and extreme need for attention had been a drain on his productivity. Damond had been sad to see her go, but not enough to even try getting her to stay. Now the lovely if clueless Ms. Williams was determined to be a pain in his ass, he just knew it. As if he’d conjured her up she called out his name then a knock sounded at the door, opening a second later. Sighing, Damond swiveled around from the desk.

  “You have a horrible habit of opening doors, I see.”

  “Sorry, when you didn’t answer I didn’t know if you were still in here or what.”

  Her voice didn’t sound sorry to him, as she stepped inside leaving the door wide-open. Did she think he was going to ravish her and needed an escape route? Well at least she didn’t have a weapon in her hand this time. Damond ran his eyes over her assessing. Out of the bulky winter coat he was able to get a better look.

  She was about average height and a little slimmer than he preferred in her black loose-fit jeans and knitted green sweater. Having a handful of ass and chest for a man to grab, and really that was all you needed. Now her face was pretty as a picture. But her hair was pulled back into a low tight bun making her look serious, and making it hard for him to gage her age. Her lips were a nice natural shade and had some meat on them too. Normally, Janae was enough of a looker that she should be worried about him, but in this situation he wanted nothing to do with her.

  “Well, as you see I’m still here. What do you want?”

  “I just wanted to check in. I’ve settled into the bedroom down here and took myself on a little tour of the rest of the house. It’s just as nice in person as all the photos.”

  “Yeah I like it, glad it’s mine.”

  “Anywa
y. Just wanted you to know I’m turning in. It’s been a long day.”

  “You do that, so you can be nice and fresh for the drive home tomorrow.”

  Janae ignored his pointed comment. Looked like the unconcerned man had turned testy. He might as well get used to it. They would be a thorn in each other’s side.

  “I do want to be fresh, so I can get to work on my research book. I never asked earlier but what type of book are you working on?”

  “Understandable, as you were too busy threatening me with the police. I write murderous thrillers.”

  “Really...”

  Her voice wasn’t shocked nor interested, merely dry and dismissive. Which didn’t surprise him. Many academic people were literary snobs when it came to fiction writing. Damond felt a smile returning to his face, as he stood and walked around the desk.

  “You know, stalkers, psychos, characters who keep body parts as souvenirs.” He had backed her out the door. “Folks who hold their victims captive in out of the way places, much like this one. Then leisurely have their way with them for days, months and in a few cases even years. Anyway, sleep well Professor.”

  Damond shut the door in her alarmed face. Let her think on that while she slept.

  Chapter Three

  WHEN JANAE WOKE UP bright and early the next day the house was quiet. So she made breakfast and decided to set up her work in the living room. It was almost noon before she heard any movement from upstairs, and another half an hour before he came down. Janae gave him a distracted greeting as she was reviewing her outline, and heard him grumble something back. She could feel him staring at her, but when she finally turned around he was gone. The man had proceeded to putter around in the kitchen for a while and then the office door shut hard. Four hours later he stomped upstairs.

  They saw each other again around seven that night and she tried to be polite and was greeted with gruffness for her efforts. Figuring it was for the best, she parted from his abrasive presence as soon as possible. Glad that at least he wasn’t trying to kick her out anymore. Janae could be reasonable and admit they both had cause to be annoyed. Besides she needed to be thinking about her own issues, like finishing this book.

  This was her first solo work, but that wasn’t enough to explain why she was so discombobulated. Her topic was on aggression in society through the lens of nature vs. nurture, nothing that hadn’t been done before. So there was plenty of source material she could look at, not to mention her own data. At the moment it just felt like her passion for the field of study had gone AWOL. Didn’t she want to stay on track to reach tenure?

  She could leave education and go strictly into research. Earlier in her career she had interviewed for a marketing company, but didn’t feel right helping already rich companies take more of the American public’s money. Had her goals changed? Janae enjoyed teaching at Eastern Michigan University. Expanding and helping to shape young minds, even as she struggled to hold their attention outside social media. The latter was changing her field of study drastically. Frankly, she and her colleagues were lagging behind in tracking and studying the effects of social media on behavior. But social media was like a genie in a bottle, you couldn’t put it back in once it was out. In fact that was going to be her next major research topic. Right now she put the thought of where her career was going out her mind. She had a book to put together.

  IT WAS SATURDAY, THE fourth day after her arrival and the best she could say was they hadn’t murdered each other yet. Janae tried to focus but it was hard going, her notes and outline were pretty solid, but very little new progress had been made on the actual book. She hadn’t found a place in the house that seemed to get her energy going. Going as far as setting up her writing in different places, like the basement and the kitchen. She hadn’t lasted more than a few hours in both.

  She felt like she would be better served writing in the office, as that had been her work space at home. But of course that space was taken...or was it? Maybe it was time she started using her expertise on her unwanted housemate. Shamefully, it was beginning to look like all her training went out the window when around Damond. Leaving her work, she padded down the hall in her sensible plain slippers, giving a little knock before opening the door.

  “Hi, do you have a few minutes to talk?”

  He was scribbling in a small notebook she had noticed once before. He didn’t even look up at her entrance, but she noticed his forehead wrinkle and his mouth tighten.

  “I asked if you-”

  “I heard you the first time.” Damond finished his last line and tossed the pocket-sized notebook on the desk. “Aren’t you supposed to be some kind of psychologist?”

  “How do you know that?” Janae asked startled.

  “I know people too. My guy talked to your guy. So are you going to answer the question?”

  “Yes, I’m a social psychologist. I study the behavior of people and groups including how people behave in social settings and how groups or individuals can influence behavior.”

  “Then you must suck at your job because your interpersonal skills and non-verbal cues are horrible”

  “And you’re a very rude man!” Was the best come back Janae had for that, particularly since she had just been thinking close to the same thing.

  “Lady, you have a lot of nerve calling me rude when you just barged into my house, bedroom and now my office. You don’t know what you could have walked in on.”

  “You know the bedroom thing was a mistake.” Frowning Janae wrinkled her forehead. “And the only thing I expected to interrupt today was your writing.”

  Letting out a little amused laugh, she pointed at the bookcases around the room. “I mean there's not much else you could be doing in here...reading isn’t scandalous.”

  “I could have been jacking off for all you know Professor.”

  Heat crawled across her skin, and her brain scrambled to make sense of his words. Damond’s hand doing the up and down motion made her powers of deduction easier.

  “Why...would you be doing that in the middle of working? You’re just trying to be shocking.”

  “Why?” Damond let out a genuine laugh. “The why is simple—I’m a man. Two, it relieves stress and can get the creative juices flowing. Maybe you should give it a try.”

  “I don’t appreciate you being deliberately crude, just to try and run me off.” Janae crossed her arms, taking a step closer to the desk. “It’s not going to work.”

  “You think too much of yourself.” Standing he leaned forward. “I was being deliberately honest and making a point that you need to stop walking uninvited into rooms I occupy. Now, what exactly do you want?”

  Janae swallowed the biting words racing up her throat and tried to focus on her goal.

  “I apologize. We should be respectful of each other’s personal space. On a related space note...I was coming to talk to you about our work areas. I’m having a hard time finding a place that seems to, as you said, ‘get my creative juices flowing’ and I was wondering-”

  “Have you tried masturbating?” He asked seriously.

  “That...is not an option I’m willing to consider,” Janae said tightly.

  “Suit yourself. So what does your inability to write have to do with me?”

  “I work in my office at home, so I was wondering if I could use this one.”

  “Hell no!”

  “Come on! Why not, since you seem to be able to get your juices going wherever.”

  “Lady, why don’t we all stop saying juices. It sounds really odd coming from you.”

  “You started it.” Had she really just devolved into childish bickering? “Okay, can we at least share the space? Maybe I get the morning til early afternoon and you have the rest of the day?”

  “No,” Damond declared resolutely pointing to the cluttered desk. “As you can see, I have tons of notes laid out. I have no intention of packing up my stuff every day to make room for you.”

  She still didn’t want to give up. “W
ell...what if I set up over on the sofa, maybe I can pull in a table-”

  “No. First come, first serve. I have the office, deal with it. You have plenty of other options. There’s a really good one if you don’t like these accommodations...leave.”

  Janae sniffed, turned on her heel and didn’t feel guilty for slamming the door on the way out. The man was insufferable. She always seemed to lose her footing when it came to him which just aggravated her more. If only he behaved like a civilized man, instead of throwing around masturbating like another person might say “I had eggs this morning”. Maybe she would try one of the upstairs bedrooms for work, anything to stay away from him.

  THAT’S HOW SHE ENDED up co-opting one of the upper bedrooms that had good morning light as her makeshift office. Rotating between it and the living room over the next week. Their different schedules contributed to keeping them out of each other's way. Which was why when she heard him jog upstairs a little after two, then stop outside her door, she became confused.

  No knock came but she knew he hadn’t gone to his room either. A full ten seconds later it was starting to freak her out that he was just standing there, when he suddenly knocked hard. Even though she was expecting it, she still jumped. Now she was considering whether to answer or not when he called out.

  “Open up, or do I have to do one of your numbers?”

  Being petty, Janae still took her time getting up and didn’t answer.

  “My bad,” Damond yelled through the door again. “Maybe you finally took my advice and are getting yourself off.”

  “What do you want?” Janae flung the door open on a soft growl of irritation.

  “Ahh, guess I was wrong, otherwise you’d be in a better mood,” he teased her.

  “I’m busy. What can I help you with Mr. Hall?”

  “I’m running into town to pick up groceries. Wanted to know if you needed to join me. And you can stop looking at me so suspiciously. I won’t drop you off in the middle of nowhere and leave you...though it is a thought.”