Not the band, although I like them. No, I have food poisoning and I have to say that the first 24 hours of it is just brutal. The second 24 hours is just miserable by comparison. So I feel better, but rather like I have a massive hangover. I’ve never had a hangover (alcohol just never affected me like that), but from what other people say a hangover feels like… that would be me. Massive headache. Massive nausea. Add to that a case of ‘I wish the bathroom was about 6 feet closer to my bed’.

I’m seriously unhappy. I had a lot of plans for my Sunday that included The Bar and blogs. Flushed right down the toilet literally now. And the worst part of being on the back end of this thing is that I’m starting to get hungry now, but the nausea is a wicked little demon that won’t allow me any food, even the bland stuff. Luckily, it is allowing me to eat Ben & Jerry’s Creme Brulee ice cream.

So no one guessed that Corey in my excerpt last week was none other than Gooster! Of course, Gooster knew. Shame on the rest of you for not remembering that his real name is Corey! The book that Corey is in was sent to my publisher last week. Hot Water features Karl with a K in the beginning of the story, a couple of scenes with Corey, and a scene at the end with Vahid, the black dragon. In the next book in this series, Vahid appears again. In the fourth book in the series, Corey is back.

Since you’ve already had a taste of Karl with a K and Corey the smartass executive assistant, I thought I’d give you a Marcus and then a little taste of Vahid. This is a nice Marcus photo, but I really don’t think those shorts are camouflaging anything. *snicker*

Here’s a taste of Vahid from Hot Water, the sequel to Shifting Winds. The reason Vahid is sorta laughing is because Eden’s boyfriend has already been there and punched her brother Sean. Now Eden’s arrived to do the same.

The last time Eden had walked down this corridor was the day she’d left Antaeus International’s payroll. The last person she’d seen that day was Vahid Delrey. There was an odd bit of irony in the fact that the first person she saw today was Vahid.

“Eden!” The black dragon’s voice was still smooth and smoky like a fine whiskey. “I never thought I’d see you in this building again. How are you?”

Slapping a polite smile on her face, Eden turned to greet her former lover. “I’m good, Vahid. How are you? Still keeping things together for Sean?”

Vahid nodded his dark head. He was the same height as Eden, with impossibly wide shoulders and thickly muscled arms. His eyes were ink dark and mesmerizing. He had the most disconcerting habit of focusing intently on a person when he was speaking to them. Women adored it. Men found it intimidating. Eden didn’t have either problem. However, Vahid was her brother’s right hand. His favored Vice President. If he asked questions, he had some kind of ulterior motive, which usually involved telling Sean everything.

“I’m glad Sean is keeping you busy. Do you happen to know if he’s in today?” she asked, her polite smile becoming an inquiring one.

Vahid grinned. “Oh, he’s here. It’s been a busy morning,” he said, his expression amused.

“Really?” Already Eden’s brain had shifted gears away from Vahid, which really wasn’t polite because the man was nicer than nice. When she’d broken up with him, he’d taken it with equanimity, as he did most things. She’d wondered then, as she did now, where all his extreme emotions were hidden.

“It was nice to see you again, Vahid. Take care of yourself,” she murmured, heading down the corridor to Sean’s office.

“It was great to see you too, Eden.”

She could have sworn there was laughter in Vahid’s reply, but she couldn’t imagine what was funny so she dismissed it, reaching for the handle of Sean’s door.

Hope you enjoyed the excerpt and the Marcus! I’m headed off to the bathroom now. It’s time for my next offering to the porcelain god. Hope you have a better Monday than me!