| Desiree's Place

Back Cover Copy:
Aspiring choreographer and dance teacher, Simon West is walking along the hall in the college where he teaches when he gets knocked over by klutzy, two left feet, accounting professor Veronica Cooke. Simon wants to get to know the beautiful woman who ran him down, but how will she react when she finds out his alter-ego is a super sexy cowboy at an upscale exotic dancing male revue and that he makes ends meet by taking off his clothes?

Excerpt:
Her eyes were a dreamy shade of blue, the greenish
blue of a calm sea. Her nose was small and straight in
the middle of an oval face. Pretty. Very pretty.
“Yes,” she said. “I came to apologize for running
you over. Unfortunately I’m Queen of the Klutzes.”
“Okay.” He held out a hand for her to shake.
“Simon West. How did you know where to find me?”
She smiled and nodded at the Barrett University
Dance T-shirt he wore. “I went to the Dance Department
office and asked. I’m Veronica Cooke. I hope I didn’t
hurt you.”
“You didn’t. Hurt me, that is.” Since when did he
babble?
Since now, he guessed. He had a hard time thinking
around her. He wanted to reach out and touch her cheek
to see if her skin was as soft and smooth as it looked.
“Well, good. You’re a wonderful dancer. I wish I
had that talent.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to
get to my office hours. It was nice to meet you.” She
turned to leave.
He didn’t want her to. He found he very much
wanted her to stay. Here. With him. “Um, do you have
time to get coffee later?” He wasn’t dancing at
Hardbody that night.
“I might. When?”
“Around four?”
“Four sounds great. Where?”
“Sammy’s?”
“Okay. I’ll see you then.” She gave him one last
smile and left.
He indulged himself and watched her trundle down
the hall. “I think I need to get to know you better,
Veronica Cooke.”

Doreen has wanted to be a writer her whole life but
took a detour into being an opera singer and choral
conductor. She realized that maybe she should spend
more time writing when creating the back stories was
more fun than actually singing them. Plus her romance8
lovin’ heart couldn’t take all the dead bodies littering
the stage at the end of the performance. She is still an
active conductor and is regularly found waving her
arms around in front of singers.