Leena Varghese's Blog - Posts Tagged "love-at-first-sight"

Hi everyone!

I am happy to announce that my new book, FLAWLESS, is now available on Amazon Kindle. Please do check it out. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

My first attempt as an indie author on Amazon KDP, A Bittersweet Reprieve, was a lovely experience and I am grateful to a lot of readers for writing to me. Thank you so much! It has been very encouraging to find that my writing matters.

Do read the excerpt below from FLAWLESS to find out more about the story.

All the best and God bless!

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FLAWLESS

EXCERPT

The sensation of being watched was disturbing. Giana stopped abruptly. Toby, who was susceptible to her every mood, began to whimper, raising his little arms to clutch at her.

In a hurry to leave, she was about to turn the bicycle around when a deep voice startled her.

“Are you leaving without granting me a wish?” The voice was vaguely familiar. The tone, definitely slurred.

Giana was struck dumb, shrinking in fear for seconds as her eyes became accustomed to the figure who sat in the shadows. Her hands gripped the handlebars and Toby whimpered again.

“You had placed an order at our cafe...for food delivery,” she blurted, before she could lose her nerve. The gates were not too far. She could escape if she tried.

But the figure didn’t move. “Yes, I did.”

Giana brought out the warm packet and held it out to him as though it had grown teeth to bite her.

“Ah yes...And they sent an angel for door-to-door delivery? Or is it a fairy?”

“Mamma favy!” chirped Toby as if on cue, employing his newly learned word.

A deeply amused chuckle burst from the shadowed figure. “Accompanied by...an elf?”

“To-by eff!” piped Toby, showing off his repertoire again. He promptly plucked a feather from Giana’s frayed, fairy wings and waved it cheerily before blowing it away with a vigorous ‘foo’.

“Elf, it is!” drawled the shadow again.

Giana didn’t blink or smile, keeping her eyes on the motionless figure. She had quietly heard various comments from customers all evening, some amusing, and some downright silly. Fortunately, they were her regular customers. She shoved aside her misgivings and spoke up, firmly, “Here’s the bill.”

“Hmm...Switch on the light on the pillar to your left, please, dear fairy!”

Ignoring the faintly mocking tone, Giana looked up at the column of white pillar and reached for the outline of a switch. Instantly, the portico was bathed in bright yellow from an overhead lamp. Toby blinked and gurgled in delight.

Awestruck for moments, Giana stared at the man in front of her. Maximillian Alexis Martineau sat sprawled in the armchair with all the ease of a lounging black panther. The errant buttons of his black shirt, left open to his waist, revealed a muscled chest and sleek abs that moved with every breath he took. His ruffled, dark hair flopped over his forehead, some sticking up endearingly as if he had been running his hands through them. But there was nothing endearing about the lithe frame that stretched out powerful legs, encased in black trousers in front of him in a casual stance.

He was disturbingly male and so was his appraisal of her. A bottle of liquor held negligently in his hand, he slid to one side to get a better look at the apparition of the woman with the little boy.

“Hello...Giana?” questioned Max with a sloping, beautiful smile. But the utter bleakness in his dark, chocolate eyes was terrible to behold.

Giana could not breathe for long moments as they assessed each other. She knew what she was looking at. She saw it in her own reflection in the mirror at times. The grief that was etched on his face seemed to dilute her fear. His pain snagged at Giana’s heart as if it were her own. Her chest felt suddenly constricted by the way his intense look was hooked on her. No doubt he was drunk to the brim but the sense of awareness that hummed between them was more pronounced tonight than the other night. And he remembered her name!

“So...you are doubling up as a fairy tonight? Doesn’t your husband mind you going out alone, delivering food to strangers?” asked Max in a slurred tone.

The tilt of her chin went higher, noted Max, as Giana answered a tad haughtily, “We are divorced.”

Max stared at her, stupefied and relieved to hear that bit of information! What sane man would relinquish such an exquisite creature? She looked so young! And to be a mother at that age seemed like a big responsibility on her delicate shoulders. Shoulders that were now defensively stiffening with resentment in response to his personal question. Max knew that he had overstepped the line. But it was irresistible. He was too much of a man, not to have noticed how beautiful she was.

He leaned forward to retrieve his wallet from his pocket, picked out two crisp notes, and held them out to her.

“Come closer.”

The command was soft and Giana was seriously worried now. Nevertheless, she stood the bicycle on the stand and stepped on the smooth tiles to take the money and hand over the packet with the bill.

She hadn’t seen him at the cafe since the unpleasant scene with Carol and had strangely regretted it. Some part of her had wanted to apologise for her mother’s churlish behaviour. She couldn’t let go of this opportunity.

“I wanted to apologise to you...about the other day, Mr. Martineau,” she stated, softly, tucking away the money in her purse with trembling hands. Instead of looking at him, her eyes remained stuck to his booted feet.

“What for, dear fairy?” he asked, smiling in lazy assessment of her curvaceous figure, slowly raising the bottle of whiskey to his mouth and taking a deep swallow.

“My mother was rude to you. She didn’t mean it though. It wasn’t about you Mr. Martineau...” her words faded away awkwardly.

“I know what it was all about. Don’t let her bully you!” He leaned forward slightly. “And you can call me Max…fairy,” he pronounced, standing up unsteadily, taking another swig from the bottle.

“Mak favy!” piped Toby, in reply to that request.

Alarmed by the sudden movement from the man who stood up to his intimidating height, Giana took several steps backwards. But she realised that Max wasn’t looking at her now but at Toby. She whirled around to find her son nearly toppling out of the cycle basket in his effort to reach for the bit of candy soldier that had fallen to the ground. She rushed to hold him and was unnerved to see that Max had followed her.

Fright made her stay rooted to the ground. However, Max’s attention was riveted to Toby. He reached out to touch the child’s face, gently kissing the top of his curly head. Toby touched Max’s stubbly cheek in return, pinching a bit of skin between his tiny forefinger and thumb. Unlike his mother, he seemed quite thrilled and curious by the sudden appearance of the big stranger in front of him.

With sticky hands, Toby offered a shiny feather to Max who accepted it with grave humility. Giana could not control the inexplicable lump in her throat. The contradictory mix of tenderness and some nameless grief cut Max’s beautiful face into harsh lines.

He turned to Giana abruptly. Something flashed in his eyes. They stared at each other as if bound by threads, tenable and steely. As if in a trance, Max raised his hand to the wisps of curly hair that brushed her cheek. He marvelled at its texture, sliding his fingers down her cheek with the cluster of hair against it. It was as though he couldn’t believe that she was real.

Giana stood frozen in shock at the violation of her personal space. The touch of his fingers on her skin was like fire. But she couldn’t move. Max seemed to sense her terror, suddenly becoming aware of his actions. Tucking the strands behind her ear, he stepped back abruptly.

Jarred by the unbearable exquisiteness of the gesture, Giana began to tremble. She stepped away skittishly and turned the bicycle, clambering upon it in clumsy haste.

“Goodnight, Mr. Martineau!” she called breathlessly, without looking back as she rode away.

“Goodnight, dear fairy!” growled Max under his breath, almost to himself.

To which Toby chirped back, “Bu-bye, Mak favy!”

***

BLURB

Giana Francois does not nurture fanciful dreams like the young women of her age. Her elopement and broken marriage with Ricky Bartholomew had led to a series of tragic events that changed her life forever. Her reckless behaviour has cut a deep rift in her relationship with her mother.

Now, her two-year old son, Toby, is the centre of her world. Giana works at her mother’s cafe in the beautiful, seaside town of Pondicherry. Her reputation as the bad girl shadows her every step, making her tread with caution. Underneath the placid surface is the terrible guilt of having brought shame to the family.

When Giana meets a brooding stranger, late one night at the cafe, her first reaction is to avoid him. But Max Martineau is not a man to be dismissed as easily. When their paths cross inadvertently, Giana realizes that Max is a kindred spirit. He reflects what she has suppressed for a long time…all that she longs for...But she is afraid to reach out and claim that dream for herself.

As their friendship blossoms tentatively like a delicate flower in a blizzard, Giana finds a safe harbour in Max.

To Max, Giana represents sublime grace and companionship. But he refuses to admit that he needs her to be whole again even though he is irresistibly drawn to her. Even as his attachment to Toby and Giana grows deeper, he is fighting a losing battle with the dark memories that rise from his own private hell.

Neither of them acknowledges that they belong together…Until Giana’s past surfaces to hound her.

Max must relinquish his past to protect Giana from hers, and claim her as his own…

FLAWLESS
Cover design by https://marilcha-illustrations.com
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