Fantasy Man started out very different than the story that ended up in the published anthology. The initial version of this novella was my take on Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. As a die-hard romantic, I love P&P! In particular, I love reading about the sensuality that lies just-below-the-surface of every interaction between the hero, Mr. Darcy, and the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet. I wanted my novella to have that same flavor. I even had titled the novella “Good Fortune,” as a nod to the popular first line of Pride & Prejudice, which states, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (Ain’t that the truth?)

Unfortunately, eighteenth century subtle sensuality didn’t translate into twenty-first century “sensuous” novella. After reading the first version of Fantasy Man, my editor gave me one piece of advice . . . crank up the heat. I wasn’t surprised by the feedback. I cranked up the heat, and – after much thought – I also heavily revised the story. Sometimes, we, writers try to cram an idea into a story because we like the idea so much, regardless of whether the idea actually fits the story. This was a perfect example of an idea not fitting. Once I accepted that I was forcing twenty-first century characters into eighteenth-century molds, the whole story became much easier to write. Some of the original inspiration is still there (for example, Clark and Olivia discuss Pride & Prejudice in the beginning of the story; Olivia is an English literature professor; and, Clark is initially rude to Olivia a la Mr. Darcy’s initial interactions with Elizabeth Bennet), but otherwise the novella is completely different than the original version I submitted to my editor. Ultimately, the final version of Fantasy Man is much truer to the characters, and to the spirit and voice of the anthology. I still haven’t given up on writing a modern version of Pride & Prejudice, so watch out, that book could be just around the corner! And I already know the hero’s last name... Darcy!

Black Expressions Book Club picked An All Night Man as a February selection!

Olivia Hawkins watched the small jet taxi to the end of the runway at the private Los Angeles airport. She crossed her arms over her chest and barely resisted the urge to tap her foot in impatience. He was late – of course. It must have been written in the handbook every Hollywood actor secretly received when he hit box office gold – be late at every opportunity. The plane rolled to a stop and the oval-shaped door slowly opened. Olivia held her breath as a sudden wave of uncertainty, nerves and plain ole’ lust overwhelmed her.

Olivia could delude herself into thinking that she didn’t like Clark Stone, Hollywood’s newest action hero and People magazine’s current Sexiest Man Alive, but she couldn’t delude her body into accepting that she wasn’t affected by him. He was the original bad boy that mothers told their daughters to stay away from. In his movies – which always opened number one at the box office – he was the cop who barely remained on the right side of the law while hunting down the criminal, and the demanding lover, who expected everything from the women in his bed and gave everything in return. He was every woman’s fantasy, and if Olivia’s brother, Jack, hadn’t brought Clark to the Hawkins’ Sunday family dinners for the last five months, Clark would have been her fantasy too.

Heat and desire filled Olivia’s stomach like a lead ball, when Clark filled the airplane’s oval door. It never ceased to amaze Olivia how big he was. His height and broad shoulders also never ceased to arouse her. He stood over 6’3, uncommonly tall for an actor. Every rippling muscle on the screen was the result of God-given good genes and a stringent work-out regimen. Even the expensive, loose-fitting black outfit he wore couldn’t hide his marvelous physique, the broad shoulders, defined chest or long legs.

Clark lifted the dark, expensive sunglasses he wore then glanced around the tarmac, his gaze automatically skipping pass Olivia and the black, limousine next to her. No surprise. She laughed in disbelief and shook her head. Clark may have been gorgeous and he may have been the star of her nightly fantasies, but as he had proven with his dismissive and disdainful behavior towards her during the dinners at her parents’ house, he was also a predictable, arrogant jerk.

Since Jack had first introduced Clark to her and her parents five months ago, Clark had made it obvious that Olivia wasn’t worth his time or trouble. While Olivia’s parents adored Clark, Olivia saw the truth. He was as bad as all the tabloids reported him to be.

Olivia debated on getting back into the limousine and having the driver leave, but then she thought of her brother. She sighed in exasperation then half-heartedly waved at Clark. He looked at her, and even across the tarmac, goose bumps flirted across her skin. She gasped softly as her center pulsated and swelled to life. Just from one look. The ability to produce that much of a reaction in a helpless woman should have been outlawed.

Clark pushed back on his sunglasses then walked down the steps and started towards her. The world went into slow motion and music – Luther or, more like, 50 Cents – pounded in the background. Even if he wasn’t hers, he was walking towards her and her body didn’t care about the difference. Her nipples tingled under her suit jacket, and Olivia momentarily braced herself against the limousine until she could stand on her own.

Clark stopped in front of her, and she immediately straightened. He didn’t smile or take off his sunglasses, he just posed in front of her, as if waiting for her to snap a picture.

Olivia kept her voice neutral as she said, “Good morning, Mr. Stone.”

His voice was as deep and sexy as reporters gushed, as he demanded, “Where’s Jack?”

Olivia gritted her teeth then responded calmly, “His wife, Melissa, went into labor this morning, and Jack asked me to accompany you on your appearances this afternoon so that he could be present for the birth of his first child.”

He whipped off his sunglasses and his dark eyes bored into her. “You?” Olivia stiffened at the horror she heard in his voice. He asked, almost desperately, “What about your father or your mother?”

Olivia couldn’t blame him. She hadn’t exactly been kind to him over the last five months. In fact, she had been downright rude to him, including a series of “accidents” that usually involved Clark leaving the dinner table with liquid or food on his expensive, tailored clothes.

Olivia forced a friendly smile then said, in what she hoped was a soothing tone, “My parents would have wanted nothing more than to be by your side today, but they are on a safari in Africa. We won’t be able to contact them until next week. You may not know this, but I worked at the agency with Jack and my parents for five years before I went to teach at Cal State Los Angeles. I’ve represented numerous clients, and I have an extensive background in publicity—“

Clark abruptly interrupted her, “Whatever. Let’s just get out of here.”

He sat inside the limousine, with a huff of indignation. Olivia glared after him then forced another smile across her face. She would get through this afternoon if it killed her. Regardless of his unnatural effect on her libido, she could handle this. She pulled a folder from her briefcase then followed Clark into the limousine.  

Olivia took a deep breath then began, “First, on the agenda for this afternoon, is taping of the Ellen DeGeneres show then . . .”

Clark pointedly ignored her, while he prayed that the driver would hurry and load his luggage in the trunk. The sooner they were on their way, the sooner he could get rid of Olivia. He cursed Jack for putting him in this position, even as he curled his hands into fists to prevent from grabbing her, laying her on the bench and tasting that mouth that had kept him awake almost every night for the last five months.

He knew it was insane. He shouldn’t have been affected so much by one woman, but Olivia had become an insatiable itch, distracting him at the most inopportune moments, like in the middle of interviews when a reporter inevitably asked, “anyone special in your life?” Just the thought of her caused him to become undeniably harder, faster than he could ever remember. For five months, Clark had been tortured by this obsession. Other women didn’t hold the same appeal, nothing held the same appeal anymore, except watching Olivia move with an understated grace and sexiness, while she ignored him.

Olivia was not the type of woman Clark should have been attracted to. She was attractive – from her cinnamon brown shapely, long legs, to her long, graceful neck, the wide dark brown, almost black eyes and the thick black hair that she usually pulled into a ponytail – but not extraordinary. Clark Stone fans expected extraordinary from him – from his movies, to his physique, and to the women he dated. The press may have labeled him as difficult and unpredictable, despite the fact that the same members of the press followed him with their cameras everywhere he went precisely because he was difficult and unpredictable, but the fans loved him. And Clark couldn’t disappoint his fans by doing anything ordinary.

He glanced at Olivia under his eyelashes. She must have spent an hour trying to find the most ordinary outfit she could. She wore a dark, severe black suit that covered every inch of her body, except the few inches of leg below her knee, and even the green blouse underneath the suit jacket was buttoned to the top. But, Clark knew that the body underneath that suit was anything but ordinary. His fascination had started with her from the first moment Jack introduced them. She had smiled politely at Clark and then had returned to the kitchen to help her mother prepare dinner, no fawning over Clark, no throwing herself at him. Normally, that would not have made Clark look twice at her – he didn’t need to work for women when he had most at his beck-and-call – but before she had turned away, she had smiled at Jack, and Clark had been hooked ever since. He had studied everything about her, from her soft-as-cotton hair, to her long, graceful fingers and to the magnificent, curvaceous body she tried to hide under conservative, boring clothes.

Clark swallowed the groan in his throat as his gaze dropped to the buttons of her suit jacket. It wouldn’t take much for him to get her out of the jacket, so that he could finally see and taste her breasts. He would have her open, her petals dripping wet for him, within six seconds, if she didn’t protest too much – ten seconds, if she did. He shook his head at the Neanderthal image. Clark Stone did not beg, or cajole or overpower any woman. He didn’t need to, but those images of Olivia still ran through his head. It was the lavender. He had never been this close to her, and he had caught the hint of lavender when she sat in the limousine and that had set his senses soaring.

This was all wrong. After the last time Clark had seen Olivia, and had nearly exploded in his pants when she had leaned over to set a tray of sugar on the table, and had involuntarily given him a shot of cleavage, Clark had vowed to stay away from her. He couldn’t get involved with a woman like Olivia. She was uptight, conservative and almost went into spasms if someone ate the entree with the dessert fork – Clark knew because he had done it. Clark was thirty-one years old, a world-wide star, who could pick up and leave town for a party in Monte Carlo at a moment’s notice. She was minivans and oatmeal cookies. She was stability, exactly what Clark did not want or need at this point in his life, no matter how much his body told him that it needed this woman.

Suddenly, Clark realized that he couldn’t stay in Los Angeles, even though it was his last day in the States before he flew to Scotland for six weeks of filming. He had debated on going to his best friends’ engagement party in his hometown before the plane landed, but he had dismissed that idea due to his prior commitments. But, now the engagement seemed like the perfect way to save himself. He had to get away from Olivia, even if it included leaving the city.

END OF EXCERPT. LIKE IT? ORDER IT.