Ellie laughed. “Well, no real way to avoid that. How’d recording go this morning? You give the new sponsor good air time? Their affiliate links will help with revenue.”
“Finished four in a couple of hours. And yes, I plugged ’em every chance I got. That’s what’s nice about Fast and Fresh. I can slip them into almost every video.”
Fast and Fresh delivered healthy, organic groceries right to your door, so the ingredients for any recipe Julia made could be purchased from them.
The challenge lay in finding recipes that were goodandgood for you. Julia refused to be one of those posers who didn’t practice what she preached. Her brand was healthy mind, body, and spirit with a busy mom twist.
“So, other than the yoga thing, how’d last night go?” Ellie asked when they’d finished talking business.
“Not good. I’m getting frustrated but have to keep trying. I want Cal to grow up with a dad, but not just any schmuck will do.”
“And it’s probably hard to meet men when you don’t get out of the house much.”
“That’s for sure,” Julia said. “I did meet my neighbor the other day. He’s a firefighter and did the presentation for Calvin’s preschool.”
“Ooh. What’s his name?”
“Alex MacDonald.”
She heard keys clacking on the other end and then a breathless sigh. “Oh, my,” she said.
“What? What did you find?” Was he a murderer? A child molester? He must have a violent streak. Why else would the police be at his door, wanting to question him about an assault? After overhearing that, she’d given Cal a stern warning about strangers and forced him to promise to stay away from that one in particular.
“Yummy,” Ellie said. “Search him and check out Mr. July from two years ago.”
Julia opened a new tab and did as her assistant said. Up popped a firefighter calendar, and sure enough, Mr. July was her neighbor, all right. He wore big, baggy firefighter pants and suspenders, but no shirt. His naked torso was tan and oily and his muscles went on for days. She bit her lip.
“Holy moly,” she muttered. She’d gone so long without sex that a shirtless man on the computer had her thinking all sorts of reckless thoughts.
“Looks like the cover of a naughty romance novel,” Ellie said.
“You know how that stuff works,” Julia said, shaking her head. “No way he looks like that every day. And those muscles must be enhanced with some kind of photo software.”
“You should find out.”
Julia huffed out a laugh, still staring at the screen. Yummy was an understatement. “Not gonna happen. Good looking or not, I was there when the police came knocking to ask him about an assault,” Julia said. “I can’t have Calvin around that.”
“Oh, yeah. That is bad. Better stick with Plan A.” Ellie sighed dramatically. “Such a shame though.”
“Goodbye, Ellie,” Julia said before disconnecting.
After one last glance at the hunky, half-naked man on her screen, she turned off the computer. If love wasn’t on her list of must-haves, where did that leave sex? Until now, she hadn’t given it much consideration. Mr. July was forcing her to tackle desires she thought she’d buried along with her husband.
Nope. She shook her head and refocused. Tingling lady parts were a distraction she had no time for. Calvin was all that mattered now. And he would be home any minute.
CHAPTER SIX
Three days later, Julia woke with an ax in her head. It had been months since her last migraine, but she knew instantly today’s would be a doozy.
“Mom,” Calvin whispered. “Why are you still in bed? What’s for breakfast?”
She couldn’t open her eyes. “I’m sick,” she said. “Call Grandma.” Every word hurt, so she said as little as possible. Calvin didn’t have his own phone but knew how to use hers. She’d shown him how to get into it and where the buttons were to call 911 and his grandma.
Grateful he left without another word, she settled back into the pain. After the last migraine, which incapacitated her for a full twenty-four hours, she’d seen a doctor and gotten a prescription. But when she went to fill it, found out the injections cost a hundred dollars a pop. And came in packs of three! It was on her list of things to buy when there was extra money, but of course, that hadn’t happened.
Unaware of time, she startled at the rush of air from her bedroom door opening. When no one said anything, she cracked an eye. Broad shoulders filled the door frame. She’d never hallucinated during these headaches before, but supposed there was a first time for everything.
The bed sagged as the muscular mass sat beside her, but she didn’t budge. Every bit of movement hurt—she was defenseless. If it was a murderer hell-bent on torture, she just hoped he lopped her head off first.
