Rubbing One Out - Susan Mac Nicol Page 0,69

chick. Her vocabulary was certainly…colourful. Not what I’d expect from a bank employee here to advise me on business affairs.

Beside me, my shop manager and friend, Valerie Vickers gawped in dismay, her gaze flicking from me to the large, preening peacock strutting around the garden. I supposed I’d better try and put some essence of discipline into the awkward situation.

“Bad bird,” I admonished helplessly. “You should be so ashamed of yourself, King Lear. You’ve been a very, very bad peacock.”

I’d offered to help the unfortunate mud-spattered woman, but she’d growled at me and told me to leave her the fuck alone. I’d backed off, of course. I was a gentleman, after all.

“God, I’m so sorry this happened to you, Ms Greer,” Val said as she reached out a and to help the lady up. “The bird isn’t usually that ferocious. I don’t know what came over him to chase you like that.” She glared at me again while she helped Polly Greer to her feet. I wasn’t sure why I was in trouble. King Lear had never chased anyone before, and I couldn’t account for his actions.

“That animal is dangerous. How can you have such a bird on your premises when you have customers?” Polly’s high-pitched voice made King Lear give her the beady eye, and I moved swiftly to wedge myself between them in case he decided to charge her again.

“He’s a peacock,” I offered helpfully. “They can be quite territorial.” I winced when Val pinched my upper arm.

“Not the time for a nature lesson, Birdy,” Val said between clenched teeth. “Now get that damned bird out of the way while I help poor Ms Greer inside to clean up. I think she needs a cup of tea too. Come with me, dear.”

I watched as the two women walked up the cobbled garden path to the main store. There was a positive side to this unfortunate event. I didn’t have to sit and listen any more to Ms Greer talk about downsizing and making employees redundant. She’d had a one-track mind and after revealing her master plan for the benefit of my business—without any benefits I could see, mind you—I wasn’t altogether sad she might not come back.

“If I could fist bump you, dude, I would,” I murmured to King Lear as I held out a piece of his favourite ginger cake to lure him back into the pasture far away from the store. I always carried a bit of something sweet in my pocket, either for King or to feed the birds I saw on my travels. “But I don’t condone your behaviour, do you hear me? You can’t go around scaring poor women into falling into mud puddles. It’s just not done.”

King Lear squawked loudly, and I winced at the sound. “I understand you thought you were doing me a favour, but don’t do it again, okay? I’ll probably be sued by the bank now,” I muttered gloomily, “for causing stress and damage to one of their employees. God, I hope that doesn’t happen. I don’t need any excitement in my life.”

When King Lear was far enough away from the main store and could be deemed no more danger to anyone, I threw him the rest of the ginger cake and ambled back up to the shop.

Time to make reparation for my wayward bird and see if anything I could do would keep future trouble away. Perhaps I could offer Ms Greer a nice bottle of our expensive Blueberry Explosion gin. That should calm anyone’s nerves.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The ‘Official’ stuff

Susan writes steamy, sexy, and fun contemporary romance stories, some suspenseful, some gritty and dark, and she hopes, always entertaining. She’s also Editor-in-Chief at Divine Magazine, an online LGBTQ e-zine, and a member of The Society of Authors, the Writers Guild of Great Britain, and the Authors Guild in the U.S.

Susan is also an award-winning screenplay writer, with scripts based on two of her own published works. Sight Unseen has garnered no less than five awards to date, and her TV pilot, Reel Life, based on her debut novel, Cassandra by Starlight, was also a winner at the Oaxaca Film Fest.

The ‘Unofficial’ stuff

Susan loves going to the theatre, live music concerts (especially if it’s her man-crush Adam Lambert), walks in the countryside, a good G and T, lazing away afternoons reading a good book, and watching re-runs of Silent Witness.

Her chequered past includes stories like being mistaken for a prostitute in the city of Johannesburg, being chased by a rhino on a dusty Kenyan road, getting kicked out of a youth club for being a bad influence (she encouraged free thinking), and having an aunt who was engaged to Cliff Richard.

Connect with Susan:

website: authorsusanmacnicol.com

facebook: Author-Susan-Mac-Nicol

twitter: SusanMacNicol7

instagram: susiemax77

linkedin: susanmacnicol

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