Saddled – Once a Week at Woody’s, Book 1 – Chapter 1

Saddled is coming soon!

In the days leading up to it, I’ll post Chapters 1 through 4 here, every other day.
April 21 – Chapter 1
April 23 – Chapter 2
April 25 – Chapter 3
April 27 – Chapter 4
April 28 – Release day!!

Be sure to pre-order Saddled for 99 cents. The price goes up to $2.99 on April 28, 2020.

Enjoy the first chapter below!

Will an office no-dating policy stand in the way of love?

Since her breakup with her cheating ex, Sandra Weber has been just going through the motions as Sales Manager at Studletter Condom Company. But when Michael Thorne is hired as an assistant, sparks in the office begin to fly.

Though Michael, aka Saddle McFleshbomb, loves dancing at Woody O’Flanagan’s Pub, he’s looking to move up in the world. His schooling almost finished, he lands a plum job as the only man in an office filled with women: four so exasperatingly humorless that it’s funny, and one stunning beauty with a laugh that warms the cockles of his heart.

When Sandra shows up at Woody’s on a rare night that he’s dancing for men, she assumes he’s gay, and therefore the no-dating policy doesn’t apply. But he’s not. He’s intensely interested in her. And he’s afraid to tell her he’s straight.

If you like light romantic comedy, hot office flirtations, and a long slow burn, you’ll love Saddled, the first book in Linda G. Hill’s “Once a Week at Woody’s” series.

Score a seat at Woody O’Flanagan’s Pub today!

Chapter 1

Sandra Weber looked up from her seat at her desk over the rim of her glasses and knew immediately she was in trouble. She peered around her assistant, Myrtle, but the glimpse she’d caught of a strange, dirty-blond-haired man in a pink button-up shirt with straining fabric at the biceps was apparently all she was going to get.

“Who’s the hot new guy?” Sandra blurted out.

Myrtle pursed her lips and frowned like a mother whose teenager has just come home and announced she’s pregnant.

“Sorry. It just kind of fell out.” At least she hadn’t sworn. The last time that happened, Myrtle had put in a formal complaint.

“He’s the new temp.”

“What the hell, Georgia?” Sandra mumbled under her breath.

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. So, what have you got for me on this fine Monday morning?”

“I noticed you didn’t open the letter I drafted for you on Friday afternoon. You know, the one to the sales reps asking why sales at Drug World were down last month? Here’s a printed copy.” She held out the piece of paper, and it shivered with anger.

“Thank you. I had to duck out a bit early.”

“I noticed,” Myrtle snipped.

It was Sandra’s turn to purse her lips. Friday had been the start of a hectic and rather sad weekend, but Myrtle wasn’t on the need-to-know list of people in Sandra’s personal life, so she remained quiet.

“I’ll read it over and let you know if I need anything changed,” was all she said.

“Thank you.” Myrtle turned on her heel to walk out, only to turn back at the last second. She pulled a pink slip of paper seemingly out of nowhere and placed it on Sandra’s desk. “The committee called again about Mr. Roy’s retirement party. Do you want me to book your flight yet?”

“Yes, please. Just check to see when everyone else is going, first.” Knowing Myrtle, she’d take pains to make sure Sandra sat alone, just out of spite.

“I’ll email you the details when I have them,” Myrtle said with a tight smile.

Sandra turned back to the sales figures on her computer screen before she could swear again.

“Please close the door on your way out.”

Myrtle did, and Sandra immediately regretted asking. There was no window out to the main office. If Mr. Hotness walked by again, she’d be in the dark. Aside from her boss, male presence was rare in the office.

But finding out who he was without the judging opinions of the office staff was top priority. She picked up the phone and dialed the extension for HR. While she listened to the ring tone, she swiveled her chair around to take in the view the windows of her corner office afforded: a field behind the building with backhoes digging holes for new houses going up, and in the not-far-off distance on the east side, a few shops that had recently opened in anticipation of the new residents.

“You’re welcome,” the female voice answered.

“Oh my God, Georgia, who is he?”

“Just call him a present from me to you. A little eye candy to help you get over you-know-who.”

“That was months ago,” Sandra said to her best friend since elementary school. She’d helped Georgia get a job in human resources at the Studletter Condom Company, where they both now worked.

“You had to see Larry on the weekend, though. So the timing couldn’t have been better.”

“True.” Sandra sighed. “But you still haven’t answered my question. Who the hell is he, and why is he wandering around outside my office like some Adonis come to life?”

“His name is Michael Thorne, thirty-one years of age, smart, single, and can type eighty words a minute.”

“You found all that out from an interview?”

“Actually, no. He just came in and signed some paperwork this morning. The single part is totally made up, but it might be true. He’s not wearing a wedding ring. He seemed kinda reserved though.”

Sandra picked up a pen and stabbed her calendar mat that she used as a doodle sheet. “I couldn’t date him anyway. Stupid no-couples-at-work policy. What idiot came up with that idea?”

“You did. Idiot.”

“Ah well. Eye candy is good. I’m not in the market for a relationship anyway.” It wasn’t that she still pined over Larry. She just needed more time before she got her heart broken again. “Myrtle said he’s a temp. Is he only here while Betsy’s on maternity leave?” Betsy was the full-time assistant to Cynthia Bartlett, Marketing Manager.

“Yep, he’s a temp. But my connection at the agency said he’s got an eye on a permanent position in marketing. I just happened to be over there when Michael was trotting out on his gallant steed, and I nabbed him while the getting was good.”

“If he got a position here in marketing, women would be eating condoms out of his hand,” Sandra breathed.

“Or off his d— Oh, hi!” Georgia said, away from the speaker. “Gotta go. Someone’s here.”

“Probably just as well. Lunch?”

“Sure, bye.”

Sandra hung up and walked around her desk to open the door. She looked out, hoping to catch a glimpse of Michael Thorne, but no luck.

She went to work on the email Myrtle had sent her, but throughout the morning, her mind drifted to what she might do to tempt the new guy over to her side of the office. Maybe she could move the water cooler to a spot just outside her door to give Mr. Hotness a reason to come closer.

At noon, having had no further sightings, she went out, anticipating a glimpse of Michael. But the office was deserted. The support staff had taken him, likely for their own nefarious purposes.

~*~*~*~

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See you on Thursday for Chapter 2.