Book Excerpt: "All Through the Night: A Troubleshooter Christmas"

Excerpt from Part One — The Proposal

(Listen to the audio version here.)

Friday, September 14
Boston, Massachusetts

Jules Cassidy was nervous.

After years of working for the FBI, nervous didn't happen to Jules very often anymore. At least not in a situation with nary a hostile gunman, armed terrorist, angry insurgent or crazed hostage-taker in sight.

As Jules effortlessly caught a taxi at Boston's Logan Airport, as he settled back in his seat for the stunningly traffic-free ride to the downtown hotel, as the relentless, week-long autumn drizzle that had plagued the entire east coast from Virginia to Maine finally stopped and the clouds opened in a late afternoon blast of sunlight suitable for accompaniment by a full choir of angels, he had to smile.

His entire impromptu trip north from Washington, D.C. had been a piece of cake — chocolate and practically dripping with strawberry-flavored easy.

Sign from God, anyone?

And yet, Jules was still undeniably nervous.

Some of it was from the taco Jules had grabbed in the airport. God, what a mistake. He'd thrown it away after eating only a few bites, but the portion he'd consumed had become his traveling companion — a lump of lead in his stomach.

Of course, some of what he was feeling came from the adrenaline surge of anticipation at the thought of seeing Robin after too many days apart.

Hey, babe. It's me again. God, I miss you. Call me back. And oh, may I state for the record that this phone sex thing is no longer novel ... ?

No kidding.

These past two weeks had been the longest the two men had gone without seeing one another since former A-list movie star Robin Chadwick had gotten out of rehab.

And no, Jules's nerves weren't from worry or fear that Robin had fallen off the wagon. Robin's commitment to his on-going sobriety was steadfast. Same as his commitment to their still fledgling yet extremely solid romantic relationship.

Yeah, and okay, there was that shifting-of-the-taco twinge of nervousness again. What if Jules was wrong, and it was too soon for this? What if Robin wasn't ready?

What if Jules's last minute, cancel-all-his-meetings-and-take-Friday-off, spur of the moment, rush-up-to-Boston-uninvited trip came across as needy and possessive? Desperately needy and possessive.

God, he wished there was a thought-vacuum that could suck the unwanted yet still persistently loud voices of cheating ex-lovers from the caverns of one's mind. It had been years since Jules had shared both his home and his life with his ex, Adam, and yet he could still hear the son of a bitch's voice. You don't own me, J., although you'd like to, wouldn't you? You'd like to lock me away ...

In truth, Jules hadn't wanted to own Adam or lock him anywhere. But he definitely hadn't wanted to share him, either. And if that unwillingness to share was defined as being needy and possessive, so be it.