Midnight Musicals and Coffee Ice Cream by Layla Dorine
An escort and his
client…could it ever be more than a business transaction.
Midnight Musicals and Coffee Ice Cream Blurb
Takashi never imagined that a simple call to an escort
service would result in meeting Zander. What started out as a date to the
winter gala at his office, morphed into a series of paid dates that offer him
several unique opportunities to get to know the handsome, enigmatic escort.
Zander hates feeling like an ornament. After four years he’s
ready for a new occupation. Unfortunately, he isn’t skilled enough for any job
that would pay him the money he needs to make to support himself and his
family. So, he stays with Mateo’s agency and keeps on taking clients, refusing
to call them dates because that’s too personal.
Until Takashi.
Now their both trying to make the best of the brief moments
they have together, blurring the lines more and more with every passing night.
Takashi wants more, Zander wants to give it to him, but only after he gets the
rest of his life worked out. Only problem is, he has no idea how.
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Excerpt
The
harsh crackle of rattling papers drew Takashi’s gaze away from the cloudy
blue-gray sky stretching beyond the high-rise window. In the distance, waves
rolled in an endless pattern. Yearning to feel the ocean spray against his
face, Takashi regretted not taking the day off. It was too cold to swim, but a
walk in the sand, feeling it squishing between his toes, was exactly what he
needed after the week he’d had.
“Takashi, Earth to Takashi! Have you heard anything I’ve
been saying to you?”
Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Takashi Himura sighed
and stared across the desk at one of his oldest friends, who just happened to
be his boss. Thomas Drechsler had his chair kicked back and his hands folded in
his lap, a mischievous look on his lightly freckled face. His wavy brown hair
was slicked back, save for one piece that fell across his forehead. He looked
entirely too pleased with himself for Takashi’s tastes. Usually, when his
friend got that look, he was about to suggest something Takashi wasn’t going to
like at all.
Tapping his fingers on the edge of Thomas’ desk, Takashi
fixed him with a look that he hoped spelled out exactly what he’d heard and how
much he didn’t care to acknowledge it. “Yes Thomas, I heard you, quite clearly
in fact. You interrupted my attempt to tell you why we need to adjust the dates
on the Violet Vision project, to remind me, once again might I add, about the
gala Saturday evening, thus why I tuned you out. The view of the storm rolling
in holds far more appeal than subjecting myself to a crowded room full of over
adorned idiots. In fact, I’m almost positive dancing naked in a sand storm
would be more fun than the evening you’ve planned. You know my position on
attending these kinds of affairs, Thomas, so why must we go through this each
and every year?”
“Yes, I know your position, all too well, but in this
instance, you’ll be making an exception.”
Takashi bristled, half coming up out of his seat. “Thomas…”
The mischievous look was suddenly replaced with the stern,
serious visage of a man used to issuing commands and having them obeyed. Thomas
held up a single finger and glowered. It was enough to silence Takashi as he
dropped back into the chair with a groan.
“No,” Thomas ordered firmly. “You do not get to skip this,
and you do not get to skip out twenty minutes after you walk through the door.
Not this time. This is your boss speaking, not your friend. I expect everyone
in this office to attend the event. We’re not only celebrating the successes of
the year and honoring those who’ve retired and those who’ve passed away, but we
have some potential clients who’ll be attending as well. I’d like them to meet
the team leader they will be entrusting their projects to.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Takashi bit back a curse,
but only just. His jaw was beginning to ache from grinding his teeth together,
and he knew if he opened his mouth, he’d say something he’d regret uttering to
both his boss and his friend. Swallowing down the fury that threatened to
consume him, Takashi made one last ditch effort at shifting the subject away
from the accursed gala.
“Yes, and speaking of projects, the issue with Violet Vision
is actually a good one. In delaying by three days, we’ve been afforded the
opportunity to debut the new line at the Stella and Dot event. I’ve already
spoken to Tara and she…”
“Loves the idea, yes, I know,” Thomas interrupted.
Takashi longed to wipe the smug, self-satisfied look off his
face. For fucks sake what was the point of even reporting in if his clients
were going to call Thomas anyway. He could have been back in his office,
working on next week’s assignments, but no. It was obvious Thomas hadn’t called
him in for updates on anything; only wanting him there to make his little
proclamation about the event.
“She called gushing over how amazing you were to get them a
slot. She also said she’d be at the Gala with a potential client for us to
meet, which is even more reason for you to be there.”
Takashi groaned, then groaned again when Thomas smirked just
a little bit. Bastard. The fountain
in the corner bubbled, the only noise in the room as Thomas seemed content to
wait for Takashi to agree to attend the damned thing.
Narrowing his gaze, Takashi studied the serene look on his
friend’s face and rolled his eyes. “You’re not going to focus on business
today, are you?”
“Why do I need to when you’ve handled everything in an
exemplary manner, as always? Now if there’s nothing else, I’ve got a conference
call to prepare for.”
“How formal is this event going to be?”
“Anything you wear from Kumiko’s collection will be fine.
Don’t stress it too much and bring a date.”
Takashi snorted and shook his head. “Like that’s going to
happen.”
“It just might if you’ll be willing to take my advice for
once in your life,” Thomas replied, flipping open a rolodex and pulling out a
card. “Call this number. It’s a ‘dating’ service, but it’s pretty high end and
very discreet.”
Blinking, Takashi stared at the card Thomas held out, trying
to piece together why he’d have a damned dating service mixed in with their
clientele. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Dating service my ass, you mean
escorts, don’t you? Does Cynthia know you have this?”
“Nope and she doesn’t need to. It’s not like I’ve ever used
it. I’ve never even considered it, at least, not for me. Hell, Cynthia would
cut my shit off and toss it in a blender if she ever thought I was stepping out
on her. You know that, and you know me. You know I’d never cheat on her, not
for anything in the world. What I have done is hand the number out around the
firm though, and no one’s had any complaints about their dates, so give them a
call, or don’t, but I think you’d have more fun with a date. And in case you do
use it, it might be helpful to know that they prefer being called Providers,
not Escorts. Wouldn’t want to offend anyone right off the bat.”
“Oh yeah, we wouldn’t want that,” Takashi grumbled
sarcastically, but he took the card, stared at it for a moment, slowly shaking
his head before holding the card out for Thomas to put back, but his best
friend just waved him off.
“At the very least, think about it over the weekend and give
it back to me on Monday if you decide not to use it,” Thomas offered.
While it all sounded perfectly reasonable, it just felt odd
and even vaguely uncomfortable to even be considering making that call, and
yet, now that the seed of the idea had been planted in his mind he couldn’t
help but be just a little bit curious.
“What would I do with an escort…err provider?” Takashi asked
reluctantly.
“I don’t know, maybe talk, dance, enjoy the night, instead
of slinking up to your office to try and work in the middle of the party.”
“I had an idea, one you approved of, if I remember
correctly. As I recall, it also left our clients ecstatic and made this firm a
ton of money too when they renewed their contract and upped their advertising
budget by twenty-five percent.”
“It was also one you could have scribbled on a cocktail
napkin at the bar and you know it.”
Greetings and thank you so much for hosting me and my new
release Midnight Musicals and Coffee Ice Cream. The book took roughly two years
to complete and three trips out to the Seattle/Everett area where the novel is
set. Along the way, I got to experience a fish toss, organic vodka, some
amazing bookstores, awesome coffee, unique spice rubs, karaoke, a leather bar
during leather pride week, leather pride week itself, a beautiful stretch of
beach, several forms of public transportation, scrumptious sea food, the loch
system, the Nordic Heritage Museum, a garden park and maze and much, much more.
In fact, many of the things I experienced along the way are woven among the
pages.
Scribbling furiously on the two to three-day bus rides out
and back, I would try to make as many notes as I could, start as many scenes as
popped into my head, all while trying to keep everything fresh and vibrant in
my mind. It helped that most nights I barely slept, so busy recording the
inspirations from the previous days activities. Waking up in my hotel room to
stumble to the shower and wander a block over to the diner, where I could
caffinate enough to launch a small rocket before beginning my explorations
again.
Now that Takashi and Zander’s story has been told, I still
plan to return to Seattle each year. I’ve met some amazing people there and
it’s a fascinating city. In fact, I’m already considering another story set within
the Emerald City, though I am thinking a historical for that one. A glimpse
into the cities past that will allow me to do a ton of research in the process.
I love learning new things.
In the meantime, I hope readers will check out Midnight
Musicals, and maybe try a few musicals themselves if they haven’t already. Song
can really convey mood and tone in a story in a way that dialogue can’t always manage.
If anything, it would be an opportunity to experience something new.
About the Author
LAYLA DORINE lives among the
sprawling prairies of Midwestern America, in a house with more cats than
people. She loves hiking, fishing, swimming, martial arts, camping out,
photography, cooking, and dabbling with several artistic mediums. In addition,
she loves to travel and visit museums, historic, and haunted places.
Layla got hooked on writing as a
child, starting with poetry and then branching out, and she hasn’t stopped
writing since. Hard times, troubled times, the lives of her characters are
never easy, but then what life is? The story is in the struggle, the journey,
the triumphs and the falls. She writes about artists, musicians, loners,
drifters, dreamers, hippies, bikers, truckers, hunters and all the other folks
that she’s met and fallen in love with over the years. Sometimes she writes
urban romance and sometimes its aliens crash landing near a roadside bar. When
she isn’t writing, or wandering somewhere outdoors, she can often be found
curled up with a good book and a kitty on her lap.
Layla Dorine can be found at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/layladorine
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/layladorine/
Tumblr: https://layladorine.tumblr.com/
Author Website: layladorine13.wix.com/layladorineauthor
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