Gah! I have to go to work. I’ve been out of time for days! I’m one chapter away from finishing the sequel to the novella I sold. This story is longer than the first one and more involved. It does feature a scene with Karl the snarky elf in the beginning. He shows up briefly once more, and then there’s a scene with Corey, the hero’s executive assistant. Just like Karl, who is a little like our own Secondhand Karl, Corey is someone you know. See if you can guess who? First person to answer correctly in comments will win… something. I dunno what yet cause I gotta run to work!

There was more blah blah blah business patter as they walked him to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, Colin growled and yanked his tie loose. He was done with this crap. Every meeting Marius had set up was the same. He took out his phone and hit the speed dial for his assistant Corey.

“Bossman! How’s the Big Apple?” Corey was an engaging young man who was beyond efficient if a little irreverent in his demeanor.

“These meetings suck, Corey. They’re all the same. Get me out of the rest of them,” Colin growled.

Corey chortled with amusement. “You met someone. You just wanna spend the next three days fucking!”

Colin rolled his eyes. “Corey, what man doesn’t wanna spend his days and nights fucking?”

“I don’t,” Corey said loftily.

“That’s because you don’t have a boyfriend right now,” Colin laughed.

“Just because I’m unattached doesn’t mean I couldn’t fuck for three days and nights if I wanted to. I’m just not a slutty boy,” his assistant sniffed.

Colin grinned. Corey was a fairly masculine man. When he put on the over the top, feminine stereotypical gay man act, it was amusing. “Fine. Your moral self needs to pick up the phone and cancel the rest of the appointments Marius made for me. I’m off to be a slutty boy,” he said cheerfully.

“Who did you meet?’ Corey’s voice lowered to a conspiratorial tone. “I won’t tell the Big Fang that you’re spending the rest of your time in New York fucking some woman. It is a woman, isn’t it?”

Colin shook his head, stifling his laughter as the elevator door opened and he stepped out. “Corey, when have you ever known me to fuck a man?”

His assistant’s laugh was rich with amusement. “Never. But there’s always a first time!”

“No first times for me. It’s a woman. A beautiful strong willed black dragon woman,” he confided as he headed for the taxi stand.

“Ooooh!” Colin could just see Corey’s eyes opening wide. “What is it with you Granvilles lately? First your sister goes all googly eyed for a dragon and now you.”

Colin got in a waiting cab and gave the driver the name of his hotel. “I’m not googly eyed, Corey. I’m just horny.”

“You say to-may-toe and I say to-mah-toe.”

Colin grinned at his assistant’s cheekiness. “We’ll see. So far, she hasn’t called me back and that is not a good sign.”

“She’ll call,” Corey said confidently.

“You sound like you’re ready to take bets on this.”

Corey made a rude sound that Colin took for a raspberry. “Bossman, you have a big dick. All the girlies want to call you back. And all the slutty boys wish you’d call.”

As Colin burst out laughing, Corey told him, “You just have a good time burning your candle at both ends. Corey will relieve you of the boring meetings. See you in three days, Bossman!”

Okay, here’s a Marcus! Don’t drool too much. Heh.

Happy Monday!