Nickels and Dimes
by
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A blush that had formed on her face spread quickly from her cheeks, down her neck, and across her back and chest - so fast that her nipples had stiffened maddeningly; and, at the same time a pool of tingling sensations had caused a few beads of moisture to form at the small of her back. A feeling of butterflies in the pit of her abdomen, along with a warm sensation that lazily ebbed and flowed across her inner thighs and pelvis completed the lingering effects of this spiritual surprise attack.
'...and, by the time we got to sleep, it was after three in the morning!... HEY! - Are you OK?', Sarah, Paula's companion, suddenly asked. Sarah had just returned from a wild long weekend at the beach, which she was passionately yakking away about as they walked, when she noticed the sudden changes in her friend's demeanor. 'You sick, or something?' The flush visible on Paula's face along with the mild hesitation in her footsteps were cause for some alarm.
'Y-yes... No!... Sure... I'm fine...', Paula managed to stammer out. Thinking quickly, not wanting to publicly discuss what she was suddenly feeling, she added, 'I guess hitting that air conditioning after the warm walk here just threw me a little bit.' Sarah's expression of scanning concern continued to stare back at her good friend for the few seconds that it took her to evaluate this response; then, she shrugged it off, and smiled, 'Yeah, that happens to me, too, sometimes.' Their journey toward the food buffet continued without further interruption.
Sarah quickly resumed the thread of her story, hardly missing a beat, as she went into great detail of her escapades during the previous weekend's jaunt. For a few moments, this distracted Paula from the cauldron of emotions she found herself boiling in; and, she caught herself grinning broadly at one of Sarah's vivid descriptions of a sexual encounter. It was usually refreshing for Paula to hear Sarah expound on the joys of her 'swinging singles' lifestyle. It wasn't as if she envied Sarah - indeed, Paula herself wasn't normally that adventuresome; but, she was amazed at how easily Sarah could have open discussions in public about such intimate details. Having come out of a marriage that ended in a long, dry divorce, Paula often felt these conversations were like guiding beacons of light on the pathways toward new areas in life that she could explore later in her own way.
Now, though, she was barely maintaining enough attention to her buddy so that she could nod her head, smile, oh, and otherwise make the appropriate gestures to keep the one-way conversation flowing while the two of them merged in with the lockstep parade around the salad bar. On the inside, it was a much different story: the conversational breaks had allowed her emotional barometer to stop swinging so wildly and settle down - even though it was still at a super-high level. And, as she thought about it, it wasn't such a bad feeling... Quite the contrary - she felt very much alive, as if she was charged with some new found source of electrical power - if only she knew from where!
Whew!, she said to herself, This is heady stuff! She idly toyed with the idea that it was almost like the feelings she'd had when she went to her first high school dance; and, when she'd had her first kiss. A smile quickly licked the corners of her lips along with the thought, It's a damn shame I can't bottle this - I'd make a fortune!
'...the night club was on the ground floor of the motel...my room had a window wall overlooking the ocean...'
Snatches of Sarah's nearly constant stream of friendly chatter - usually a welcome relief from the otherwise boring routine of Paula's day - would still occasionally break through. But, the invisible layer of soft, fine hair covering her upper body was still bristling from the moment they had entered the market; and, along with the wave after slow wave of warm energy rolling across her, she was having more than a little difficulty concentrating. Sensual..., she mused as she took a moment to simply indulge in the feelings, Definitely sensual!
'Well, you know what I always say,' Sarah continued, 'you only go around once in life...'
Paula had to forcibly change her focus back to lunch and Sarah's rambling just to get control of herself again. It was only after a few minutes of this rigidly self-imposed concentration that she felt her logic settle down enough to face the challenging topic of what had caused her state of excitement.
Shyly, she glanced around the shop, trying not to stare in any one direction for too long. The small grocery store had a great delicatessen and salad bar; and, being just on the other side of Gallery Place from where they worked, it was one of their favorite lunchtime haunts; so, she was pretty familiar with it. Yet, nothing sounded unusual... Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary... Nothing, except, maybe, that man - the one who'd definitely caught her eye as she walked in. It was right around that time, she now recalled, that the eruption of emotions began rocketing through her being, pleasantly escalating the moment their eyes had met. It felt as if somewhere a gigantic cosmic switch had closed, connecting her with all of the energy in the universe; which, for the moment, she wasn't sure what to do with.
'...I just wish you could've seen this guy's buns!', Sarah prattled on, this last remark so emphatic that it drew smiles and snickers from the nearby crowd, and caused the two of them to look straight at each other while trying to choke back their own laughter.
Having finished her picking and choosing among the bountiful lean delights of the salad bar, Paula Diehmes continued walking and talking with her friend Sarah who was filling her container with a nutritionally lop-sided mixture of low-cal vegetables and sumptuous junk food.
Paula noticed that he was now seated at one of the nearby tables. Although there were a drink and a magazine in front of him, it seemed - at least to her - that he was not as interested in his purchases as he was in watching the people marching around the salad bar. Or, is it really watching me that he's interested in?... Or, could it be paranoia on my part?, she wondered to herself, and then shrugged it off. It was hard to tell: it struck her that he was glancing her way as often as she was trying nonchalantly to peek at him; but, it almost seemed like he was better at it - as if he could tell when she was going to look back an instant before she actually did so, always averting his gaze a moment before her eyes turned to him...
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About the Book
Two ordinary people - strangers, really - who meet during a chance encounter, suddenly find themselves attracted to each other in a most compelling, charismatic way.
Richard Nichols is an internal affairs investigator specializing in computer crime for a government agency. Paula Diehmes is an administrative assistant working in the same D.C. vicinity. A seemingly random meeting at lunch one Friday throws these two together into a cauldron of extraordinary emotional circumstances; and, their blazing romance in such a short period of time leaves them breathless - and, anxious - with anticipation of the future possibilities.
Paula, who is divorced and living alone, faces a challenge. Should she cling fast to her self-imposed exile to loneliness, one that has so far protected her from the emotional pain of fleeting relationships, costly bondings that seemed to always end unhappily; or, can she dare to break free of solitude's depressing grip by reaching for the joy of forbidden fruit promised by her increasingly prevalent thoughts of having an affair with Richard? Richard, on the other hand, is struggling, too: he's happily married, but long enough to be well aware of the sameness of its routines, and the boredom that sometimes creeps into even the best of unions. He is torn between his deeply felt love for his delightful wife, the red-haired Jenny, along with his strong belief in the sanctity of their vows; and, the irresistible desire to explore the magnetic attraction he feels towards the mysteriously beautiful brunette, Paula, whom he suddenly finds so intriguing.
Initially, they mutually decide to meet and just be friends; and, hopefully, simply enjoy some stimulating conversation and platonic companionship while they intellectually explore the forces that seem to be hurtling them inevitably together. However, the intensity of their emotions quickly escalate their times together into a sizzling series of romantic sexual encounters that amazes them both with the depth of their sudden lusts and love for each other.
So begins their spontaneous relationship, which is constantly interrupted and hampered by the dynamic parallel developments of a case that Richard's working on, one involving the embezzlement of seized criminal assets from the government. Initially presumed to be an accounting clerical error, the investigation slowly evolves into a nasty scenario involving the murder and slander of an innocent man, the shattered life of his widow, and the death of innocent bystanders during several assassination attempts on Richard's own life.
Although the pieces do finally get cemented together, after taking some extreme actions and considerable risks, it is not without some tragic losses and bizarre twists, a lot of politics, some old lives ending, and some new beginnings. Both Paula and Richard rely heavily on their friends and associates along the way, unaware of just how much their clandestine lives and sensual relationships are intertwined: Sarah, Paula's sexually liberated gal-pal; the hauntingly beautiful and secretive Brit, Shirley, Richard's assistant; the apparently straight-laced Mollie, whose smoldering passions no one could guess from knowing her day-to-day; and, Nels Darrow, a man whose soulless greed and nefarious companions wantonly destroy the lives of others.
About the Author
A native of western Maryland, and a Taurus himself, Bryan Anderson has worked and played in and around the colorful settings of the Washington, DC area for many years. Writing has always been important to him, both professionally in his Engineering and Computer careers, and personally as a form of creative self expression. The Association of Independent Writers has published some of his short stories in their annual anthologies; and, he is also in the process of working on other books. Nickels and Dimes is his first novel.
Heavily influenced by the bold style of Harold Robbins' sagas during his youth, he likes to write stories where the themes of money, power, sex, and love reverberate in graphic sensual detail throughout. Perhaps best described in his own words, Bryan says that he wrote Nickels and Dimes to be, 'fast paced, yet move smoothly from one event to another. It's a tale with modern characters and situations that we can all relate to, and a definite appeal to urban professionals. It's a story told in a way that anyone who's ever felt mysteriously attracted to an unknown member of the opposite sex can relate to, with realistic settings that reflect current trends and popular tastes. At the same time, it's a Columbo-like mystery: everybody's pretty sure who the 'good-guys' and 'bad-guys' are up front; but, what's interesting is the way the plot evolves and explores the fascinating differences between the male and female perspectives. For each of the characters, I tried to paint a verbal portrait of the way they think. Throughout the book, numerous touches of the characters' humor and sensitivity are combined with some of the horrific details of their past to display a wide swing of emotions that mirrors what we all experience in real life. That's what really helps each of us to identify with this story as it evolves!'
We think you'll agree: Nickels and Dimes is a pleasing blend of romance and adventure, with an undercurrent of action, suspense, and sexually fulfilling intensity that makes a trendy and satisfying read for men and women alike!