"Oh what a day, what a day!" AJ skips around the party room waiting for the first of the party goers to arrive. Today they are hosting a celebration party for Mona Risk and her book 'Rx in Russian'.
AJ looks at the window sills, the tables, and the fireplace mantle. There are beautifully decorated Russian Easter eggs decorating them all. The eggs left over from last weekend's Easter party.
"These are great decorations," she proclaims as she grabs three of them and attempts to juggle while doing a Russian jig.
"Girl, what are you doing?" Lyn shouts from the entranceway.
AJ shrieks and drops her eggs. "Whoo, I guess it's a good thing these eggs are hard boiled."
Skipping over to Lyn AJ trips over her fur coat.
MEEEOOOWWWW!
"Sorry Thor baby," she says as Mary walks through the front door nearly knocked over by Thor's flailing body bombarding her heaving bosom.
"Good thing I have some cushion up here boy," Mary coos to the wriggling Thor. Thor jumps down mid coo and heads over to the cracked eggs.
"Wow AJ, I love your fluffy winter-like hat. Ushanka right?" Sharon compliments as she waddles toward the girls.
"I'm not wearing a hat! What are you talking about? I fixed my hair myself today," she pouts, "I wish my faux fur coat was more like yours though. Maybe I wouldn't have tripped over it."
"What do you mean sweetie," Sharon says sweetly, "there's nothing different about my coat. It's the same as yours." She reaches down and smooths her coat self consciously.
"Sharon," Lyn sooths as she tramples on the eggs and Thor's fuzzy tail. She had only taken two steps with her big feet. "Your coat is two feet longer in the front than it is in the back. Your bubble butt is holding the back up."
"Oh my, that is unexceptable! I'm taking this thing off right now."
Sharon struggles with the coat getting the back of it stuck on her buttock.
"Here honey," Lyn says, stepping in to help and stepping on Thor's tail again.
Thor launches right into Mary's bosom knocking the loose left one off into the caviar bowl.
"Oh my not this again," Mary huffs. She runs over to fish her bosom out of the gooey mess. "A.J. let me use your hat to wipe this off," grabbing her hat.
"Ouch. That's my hair - not a hat. Doesn't anyone ever listen to me? Watch out, don't spill that salt. That's for the guests!!"
"What," the three other hostesses say in unison stopping mid-catasstrophy?
"Yeah, we thow salt on them and ply them with vodka. After that we give them breakfast. You know, bread and eggs."
The girls giggle.
"You're a little off darling," Lyn laughs.
"No I'm not! I've been researching for days."
Mary intervenes, giggling under her breath, "here's how it works:
2.) We point them over to Oliver and the wonderful food he has put out. Stews, veggies, of all types, pork, and cold soup made from kvass. He made potato pancakes, cabbage, pastries, and more.
3.) We drink vodka with an orange caviar appetizer (no eggs for breakfast) and dance to traditional Belarusian guitar music.
"Well don't I feel a little sheepish."
Lyn and Sharon makes a move to comment when A.J. interrupts.
"My hair does NOT look like a sheep."
In unison the hostesses chime, "We weren't going to say a thing."
At that moment Cuddles, Thor and Nibbie jump up and down in excitement as a beautiful troika draws up and out steps Mona Risk herself, looking every inch like a Russian Snow Princess. The hostesses rush to greet and hug her - hurray, now the party can begin!
Resting his elbow on the table, he considered her for a moment. Interest and warmth flooded his eyes and made her blush. “Medicine didn’t suck up my life. I was an officer for years before going to medical school.”
“Really?” No wonder he exuded such an aura of power and self-confidence. Suddenly, she wanted to know more about him. “Did you wear a uniform? What was your rank?” Her heart fluttered as she pictured his wide shoulders draped in a military jacket and his aristocratic head topped with a cap. Dazed by the mesmerizing image she fabricated, she met his gaze and lingered on his sparkling blue eyes.
He, too, didn’t eat. His strong fingers enclosed hers. Electricity surged between their entwined hands.
“I wear my uniform when I report to the Academy once a month. And I have the title of colonel.”
“Wow. Colonel? Isn’t that something.” She’d never allowed herself to fantasize about a special man, but she was pretty sure heroes didn’t come better than this.
Tilting her head, she smiled at him.
His smile faded.
Slowly their faces moved closer and closer, and she inhaled his aftershave. His lips touched hers. She didn’t back away. His hand cradled her nape as he slanted his mouth and tasted hers. It was a sweet kiss, not too deep and not too demanding, a get-to-know-you-better kiss in a crowded place.
But a kiss that left her thirsty for more.
When he moved his mouth away, she inched forward and touched the tip of her tongue to his bottom lip, tracing its contour. He responded to the invitation and claimed her mouth again, molding their lips together and sucking on them until she couldn’t breathe. She pulled away this time.
“An officer and a doctor,” she murmured. Reveling in the amazing pleasure of their first kiss, she licked her lips to savor the taste of his mouth a bit longer. “No wonder you never married. Like me you were too busy with your studies and then your career.”
She knew now why she was so attracted to him, in spite of their different nationalities and backgrounds, in spite of her pledge never to let a man get under her skin. They seemed to be on the same wavelength, one of a kind in their way of thinking and acting.
Silence danced between them for long seconds.
She smiled. He frowned.
“You are wrong, Jillian.” He pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows, giving her a speculative look. “I was married.”
“Was?” The blood drained from her face, and she jerked back. “And now?” No it can’t be. Not when he’d just kissed her. When she’d acknowledged her delight at comparing their similarities.
He sobered and let her go. His gaze drifted away, far away beyond the crowd. Maybe toward a face from his past. Her heart twisted with regret.
Rx FOR TRUST, 2011 EPICON FINALIST
BABIES IN THE BARGAIN, 2009 BEST ROMANCE NOVEL at Preditors & Editors Readers Poll
2009 and 2010 BEST CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE at READERS FAVORITE
At that moment Cuddles, Thor and Nibbie jump up and down in excitement as a beautiful troika draws up and out steps Mona Risk herself, looking every inch like a Russian Snow Princess. The hostesses rush to greet and hug her - hurray, now the party can begin!
Blurb for Rx IN RUSSIAN:
Fyodor Vassilov is a Russian widower, surgeon and officer. Duty demands that Fyodor provide a mother to his four little boys and marry a woman who loves children and big family.
Jillian Burton is an American pediatrician on a mission to improve medical conditions in Belarus. Jillian blames herself and her ex-husband for their son’s death, and has lost her illusions about men and marriage.
Jillian Burton is an American pediatrician on a mission to improve medical conditions in Belarus. Jillian blames herself and her ex-husband for their son’s death, and has lost her illusions about men and marriage.
When they work together for six months in his hospital, their fascination with one another shocks them both. Can attraction and love overcome guilt, duty, and a clash of cultures?
Resting his elbow on the table, he considered her for a moment. Interest and warmth flooded his eyes and made her blush. “Medicine didn’t suck up my life. I was an officer for years before going to medical school.”
“Really?” No wonder he exuded such an aura of power and self-confidence. Suddenly, she wanted to know more about him. “Did you wear a uniform? What was your rank?” Her heart fluttered as she pictured his wide shoulders draped in a military jacket and his aristocratic head topped with a cap. Dazed by the mesmerizing image she fabricated, she met his gaze and lingered on his sparkling blue eyes.
He, too, didn’t eat. His strong fingers enclosed hers. Electricity surged between their entwined hands.
“I wear my uniform when I report to the Academy once a month. And I have the title of colonel.”
“Wow. Colonel? Isn’t that something.” She’d never allowed herself to fantasize about a special man, but she was pretty sure heroes didn’t come better than this.
Tilting her head, she smiled at him.
His smile faded.
Slowly their faces moved closer and closer, and she inhaled his aftershave. His lips touched hers. She didn’t back away. His hand cradled her nape as he slanted his mouth and tasted hers. It was a sweet kiss, not too deep and not too demanding, a get-to-know-you-better kiss in a crowded place.
But a kiss that left her thirsty for more.
When he moved his mouth away, she inched forward and touched the tip of her tongue to his bottom lip, tracing its contour. He responded to the invitation and claimed her mouth again, molding their lips together and sucking on them until she couldn’t breathe. She pulled away this time.
“An officer and a doctor,” she murmured. Reveling in the amazing pleasure of their first kiss, she licked her lips to savor the taste of his mouth a bit longer. “No wonder you never married. Like me you were too busy with your studies and then your career.”
She knew now why she was so attracted to him, in spite of their different nationalities and backgrounds, in spite of her pledge never to let a man get under her skin. They seemed to be on the same wavelength, one of a kind in their way of thinking and acting.
Silence danced between them for long seconds.
She smiled. He frowned.
“You are wrong, Jillian.” He pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows, giving her a speculative look. “I was married.”
“Was?” The blood drained from her face, and she jerked back. “And now?” No it can’t be. Not when he’d just kissed her. When she’d acknowledged her delight at comparing their similarities.
He sobered and let her go. His gaze drifted away, far away beyond the crowd. Maybe toward a face from his past. Her heart twisted with regret.
Mona Risk
Rx IN RUSSIANavailable at TWRP Rx FOR TRUST, 2011 EPICON FINALIST
BABIES IN THE BARGAIN, 2009 BEST ROMANCE NOVEL at Preditors & Editors Readers Poll
2009 and 2010 BEST CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE at READERS FAVORITE
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