Denys, Jennifer - Friendly Seduction [Friends and Acquaintances 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Online Free Page B

these things with me? Surely not . “Um. Possibly. And can we please get back to discussing some more of the books?”
    He smiled indulgently. “If I understand correctly, you—and every other female reader possibly—like reading about manly heroes with beautiful heroines.” He counted these off on his fingers. “The hero has to be a leader of some sort and be dominant but caring, and there has to be some sort of conflict or misunderstanding, maybe even a kidnapping. If there is some BDSM involved and even a ménage a trois, that would be even better.”
    “That’s it in a nutshell.”
    “What about aliens, monsters, or robots? They’re my usual bad guys.”
    Rummaging in the pile of books, she came up with a manuscript. “This is an e-book, but I printed it off. It has aliens in it. You quite often get a story plot of falling in love in difficult circumstances , for example, while fighting off aliens, like this one. Sometimes you get the hero being the alien, particularly if the girl has been kidnapped by the alien to be his mate—there’s one of those in this pile.” She waved a hand over the books. “And the aliens in those circumstances are always humanoid.” She laughed. “I’ve never come across a story yet where the girl falls in love with a ten-armed, purple, blobby-like monster.”
    “Very funny!”
    She frowned. “Not sure I’ve ever come across any with robots in them. I suppose because it is difficult to get the robot to experience any emotions.”
    He considered that. “Hm, that’s pretty much what Sam said about my book that bombed. Okay, so who are the bad guys in your books?”
    “Um, more humans, I guess. Similar to contemporary stories, you can have criminals and bad people in space, even jerks. But you don’t have to have bad guys in a story, the conflict can come from the tension between the hero and heroine.”
    “Yeah, I guess. I’ve tended to write straightforward action stories where the hero from Earth goes into space and the plot revolves around him getting out of difficult situations involving bad guys, space wars, space disasters, and so on.”
    “Yes, I know.”
    He looked at her surprised. “What do you mean you know? Has Gina told you about my books?”
    Lissa knew she had gone red again and cursed her fair complexion. “Well, I’ve read them.”
    “You have? All of them?” He sat silent for a moment after she nodded before clearing his throat. “And what did you think of them?”
    She groaned to herself. She knew that question was coming. She had read his books because they were written by him, but how could she admit they weren’t really her type of book?
    Clearly realizing her conflict, he stated quietly, “You hated them, didn’t you?”
    “ No ! It’s—it’s just they lacked the softer emotions,” she admitted equally quietly. “They were all about hostility, aggression, winning.”
    “Hell.” He took a deep breath. “Okay. Thanks for being honest. This has been a terrific help. You’ve given me a lot of food for thought.”

    * * * *

    After Matt left the apartment, taking some books with him, Lissa ruminated on the evening. It had been fabulous having him to herself, and she thanked her lucky stars that the others had all been detained. She had thoroughly enjoyed her discussion with Matt, even if it had been a bit embarrassing in places. She chuckled, remembering, but then sobered as she noted that he had left in deep despondency and would probably never want to discuss these things with her again. Oh well, at least I had one evening with him.
    Or maybe she could get Gina to ask him over for dinner and get her to pretend her car broke down. That’s an idea .

Chapter 3

    Matt picked up the phone and put it down again. His hand was shaking. He had been thinking about Lissa ever since the other night. So much so he couldn’t get on with his writing.
    Turning from his phone, he picked up a sheet of paper which was supposed to contain the first