I didn’t know much about women like Stella, just that you didn’t meet them by chance. Women who looked like Ava Gardner didn’t wander into a place like mine unless they were looking for something. Or hiding from someone. In her case, it was both. She took a seat in the corner booth, tucked away where she wouldn’t be noticed but still had a clean look at the room. She sat there for a few minutes expecting to be served befo...

Evan Brooks arrived just after eight, which, according to the file, was two hours before anyone else at Clarity Holdings, Inc. usually rolled in, unless there was an espresso giveaway or a new crypto drop. The lobby was tall, glossy, and trying very hard to impress someone’s venture capitalist uncle. It was all steel beams and polished stone fronted by a reception desk shaped like a lowercase “c.” It was the kind of succe...

A low mist crept along the ground as the first of the orc raiders breached the wooden gate protecting the settlement. They approached in waves, one after the other, snarling, weapons raised, trampling over garden plots and knocking aside anything that didn’t bleed as they advance. The village of Brogwyne was quiet no longer, now filled with the din of the invading horde. At the center of the town square, four figures stoo...

Detective Mallory looked out across Lake Muskoka, wondering how far away the opposite bank might be. The morning fog hadn’t lifted yet. It sat low over the water, making it hard for him to see the work the recovery team was doing, no more than fifty metres away. Normally, he’d have a coffee in his hand at this hour, but nothing was open when he drove through the nearby cottage town. He’d somehow managed to find the only p...

I’ve had it with Christmas, at least the version where I fly across the country and pretend everything’s fine at my parents’ place. My dad isn’t the man who raised me. Somewhere over the last few years, he drifted from moderate to Fox News junky, and then straight into a pool of YouTube conspiracy nonsense. By Thanksgiving, he wasn’t even hiding the racist parts anymore. I’ve never hidden from my parents that I had all ki...

I knew what the reputation at MacKay-Davenport was when I was hired on. My friend Lindsay told me all about it. The way she put it, we were eye-candy, part of an effort to make our office a place clients wanted to visit, and make the men we worked for look more successful. So we dressed the part. Professional enough, but sexy in a way that challenged any acceptable definition of office attire. We also had clear instructio...

I first saw her at my friend’s bachelor party. Strip clubs weren’t my thing, but I went because I felt obligated. I figured I’d show up, have a couple of beers, then claim I had work in the morning and duck out early. That was before Krisztina. I watched the dancers before her, but none of them did anything for me. Nothing against them, but tattoos and fake parts aren’t for me. I’m into a more natural kind of beauty, one...

She was already seated in the clear plastic chair in front of her desk, not the big throne-like one behind it. I didn’t dare take that chair, so I stood in front of her, nervously presenting myself. Her online profile said that her name was Harlow. She looked exactly like her profile picture. The only difference was that she was wearing all white latex, not the black leather from her photo. A lit cigarette dangled between...

Ryan thought some time back home was exactly what he needed. It wasn’t that things in San Diego were going badly, he just felt a little… off. So when his high school coach called and asked if he’d be willing to sign some autographs on a Sunday afternoon, he jumped at the chance. He lowered the window as Luke tapped his thumb against the steering wheel to some country song Ryan hadn’t heard before, but one his friend clear...

I don’t know why I stopped to open the letter. I never have. I swore an oath not to. But there was a worry in Jean-Baptiste’s eyes when he handed me the envelope. A concern I felt was meant for me, not the recipient. I paced the road as my horse drank from a nearby stream. I kept looking between the letter in my hand and the signpost at the intersection: Domaine de La Comtesse de Eger. “Take it tonight Étienne,” he insist...

My name is Sabrina, and I guess you could say I was a bit of a late bloomer. High school kinda sucked. I mostly kept to myself, hung out with the same two friends every day, and tried not to get noticed. Boys didn’t talk to me. I don’t even think they knew I existed. Total wallflower syndrome. Part of me always wanted to stand out and be one of the pretty girls who got all the attention, but in a small town, with a conser...

Ok, every once in a while, a band comes along that is so amazing, so incredible, you just have to see them live. No matter how impossible the tickets are to get, you have to find a way. Because you know it will be one of those nights where a year later, when they’re playing stadiums, you’ll be able to brag that you saw them in a club before they blew up. Midnight Strut was one of those bands. And unfortunately, my friend...

“That’s it. Now smile. Good. Look left. Perfect. Let me see a little pout.” The shutter of Andrew’s camera clicked away in short bursts. He crouched, stood, and shifted from side to side, doing whatever he could to find new angles. Freezing his ass off on a snow-covered beach in northern Finland sure as hell wasn’t his dream gig, but the chance to work with it-girl model Lumi Numminen wasn’t something he could pass up. “N...

I met Trisha at a music industry event. My buddy is a writer and producer, and was getting an award for a song he’d worked on that went to number one on the Canadian charts. The ceremony was at a small hall, with maybe a hundred or so guests. Most of them were industry types, with a few friends and family scattered in. I went by myself. I knew my friend would be too busy schmoozing to hang out with me, but I used to work...

“This is for you,” she said with a smile, letting her dress slip to the floor. His eyes widened as she climbed into bed, straddling him. He slid inside and gasped. She rode hard, hips rocking, nails digging at his chest. His hands went to her ass, pulling her down, pushing up to meet her. She bent to his ear, licking as she whispered, “You’re so much better than he is.” The pressure built until their bodies shook. She sli...