Diamonds and Toads: A Modern Fairy Tale
Read Diamonds and Toads: A Modern Fairy Tale Online
Authors: K.E. Saxon
Tags: #romance, #humor, #romantic comedy, #magic, #contemporary, #laughter, #fairies, #fairy tale, #dominatrix, #tattoos, #diamonds, #toads, #magic spells, #gemologist, #frogman, #ke saxon, #house boats, #fifties bombshells, #fashionistas, #ballrooms
A Modern Fairy Tale
by
K.E. Saxon
EDITORIAL REVIEW
From Romantic Times (RT Book Reviews)
~ 4 STARS ~
“Readers looking for a charming and entertaining read need look
no further. Billed as a cross between Bewitched, Sex and the City
and Gossip Girl, it certainly lives up to it. True emotion and
plenty of heat mixes with laugh-out-loud humor to keep readers
looking for more.”
BOOK BLURB
Sugar and spice and everything nice...and, oh
yes, naughty—times twice.
Together, sweet Delilah and wicked Isadora
make the perfect woman. But the Perrault family fairy is a
troublemaker and imbues diamonds upon one sister and toads upon the
other. Now up is down and down is up in a world where no good deed
goes unpunished. Leather, blindfolds, and handcuffs purge sweet of
all reserve. A few misspoken words of lust gives wicked a whole new
meaning.
Once upon a time, there were two sisters, one
cursed and one blessed by fairy magic…
Bibbidee-bobbidi-boo, They’re naughty. How
about you?
A Modern Fairy Tale
Copyright © 2010 by K.E. Saxon
All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or
mechanical including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any
information storage retrieval system without the written permission
of the author K.E. Saxon, the copyright owner and publisher of this
book, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, brands, media, and incidents either are the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead,
is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the publisher.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners
of various products referenced in its work of fiction, which have
been used without permission. The publication/use of these
trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the
trademark owners.
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal
enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to
other people. If you would like to share this book with another
person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If
you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not
purchased for your use only, then please return to any major online
retail bookseller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.
Font used on cover, “Romance Fatal Serif,”
created by artist Juan Casco,
http://www.juancasco.net/
* * * *
This book would not have been possible
without the gracious assistance of my good friend and critique
partner, Gerri Hanten, who helped me brainstorm, provided
perspective, and, as needed, bailed me out of trouble throughout
the writing process.
I am also deeply indebted to Nicki Thomsen,
for her unflagging support and her generous reading and critiquing
of the final draft of this book.
A special thanks to my husband, who has left
me in my cave to write without interruption (mostly), and who has
done the dishes and other household chores (even when it wasn’t his
turn), so that I could stay on course. Without his help, this book
truly would not have been possible.
K.E. Saxon
* * *
_______________________
Once upon a time,
there were two sisters,
one blessed, and one cursed
by fairy magic….
Delilah Perrault fanned the perspiration from her
cheeks with the folded
Houston Press
she’d snagged out of
the dispenser and took a bite from her chocolate bar. She was
supposed to meet Chas Regan here in front of the main branch of the
Houston Public Library for lunch, but she was so nervous about it,
she’d run down to its basement and bought the candy from the
machine.
No
, she wasn’t really hungry, and
yes
, she knew she shouldn’t be eating sugar and fat if she
wanted to get that last six pounds off before the gala at the
Crystal Ballroom eight days from now, but her compulsive need to
fill her mouth with food wouldn’t let her be.
An old beggar woman in a faded-to-purple pea
coat with a stained and frayed scarf around her neck pushed her
shopping cart filled with—Delilah was sure—the woman’s life
possessions across the cobbled pavement a few feet from where
Delilah sat.
The poor thing looked as shop-worn as Delilah
felt.
She glanced toward Delilah then dropped a
hungry gaze to the candy bar.
Delilah lifted the cold Coke from the short
marble wall she was sitting on and walked over to the woman.
“Here. You’re welcome to both of these, if
you would like? I haven’t eaten much of the candy yet—Or—would you
like me to buy you something else?” She scanned the area. “I’ll bet
there’s a deli or something in that building over there. I could
get you a sandwich?”
“What a kind girl you are. But no, these will
do just fine.” The old woman captured the fare, captured Delilah’s
gaze. Her eyes, silver blue and bright, were more youthful than
Delilah expected. Odd. Shivery goose bumps formed on
Delilah’s arms. “I have a sweet tooth, don’t you know,” the woman
continued.
“Oh—” Delilah jerked a nod. “Okay.” She
turned away from her and walked back toward the two-foot-high
granite wall she’d been seated on earlier.
“Bless you, Lila, dear,” the woman said.
Delilah stopped short.
A loud
crack!
split the air and
Delilah whirled around. A sudden scent of patchouli filled her
nostrils. All around her, a rosy watercolor haze washed over the
landscape. A giddy bubble of fear tripped up Delilah’s spine as a
spray of glitter dust drifted in the space where the woman had
been. And in her place, a yellow parrot perched on the handle of
the cart, staring at her from one beady black eye.
Delilah hawked a reflexive cough and
something small, hard, and cold fell from her mouth into her palm.
“Sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.”
A diamond.
* * *
Chas Regan slammed the phone down.
Fuck!
What the hell was he supposed to do now? He leaned
back in his executive chair, allowing the front rollers to lift off
the floor, and dug the base of his palms into his eyelids. His
heart still raced so fast that it caused a shot of stomach bile to
blast into his throat.
The company was lost. Gone. No more. His
entire family’s empire, a glimmering speck of its former glory lost
in the vast abyss of others that had gone before it.
He could have saved it, too, he knew, if only
he’d been able to come up with that measly five million in time.
But he hadn’t been able to liquidate enough capital before
tonight’s deadline. If only that blasted prospective buyer would
loosen her grip on her cash, he’d have had his two-year-old
thoroughbred sold a month ago and his problems would be solved.
He needed more time. More money and time.
The intercom on his phone buzzed, followed by
his assistant’s voice saying,
“Chas, Delilah Perrault is here to
see you. Should I show her in?”
His churning stomach sank to his toes, but he
couldn’t see a way out of meeting with her right now. He sprang
into an upright position and did a quick finger-comb through his
hair. “Yes. That’s fine, Sharon.”
* * *
Delilah walked into the office with a big
grin on her face. She couldn’t wait to tell Chas all that had
happened this morning. He’d been a sage advisor these past few
months since they’d begun working on the charity together and she
hoped he wouldn’t mind giving her a little more now.
After the strange encounter with the beggar
woman two days ago—and the ‘found’ diamond—Delilah had called Chas
and canceled their lunch. To tell the truth, if it weren’t for the
diamond that rested in the bottom of her coin purse, she’d have
tossed the whole thing off as a lucid dream.
She hadn’t told a soul about the encounter,
either, and she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to.
“Hi,” she said, noticing immediately the sexy
contrast between his slightly rumpled blond hair and his crisp,
tailor-made suit. Her already jangled nerves started to tap dance
across their endings the closer she came to him.
Breathe in,
breathe out.
Thankfully, she’d managed to keep her deeper
feelings for him to herself, thus far. She could just imagine how
awkward their friendship would become if he ever realized what she
felt. He probably wouldn’t want to work with her anymore.
It wasn’t until she’d taken a seat on his
leather couch that she picked up on the tension lines around his
eyes and mouth. “Is this a bad time? Am I interrupting something?”
She shot to her feet. “I’ll just leave now. I-I shouldn’t have come
without calling first. But I
have
got some exciting news to
tell you, so maybe—could we meet for dinner?” She took a step
toward the door.
Chas jumped up and waved her back to her
seat. “No, no, no. Sit. Tell me the good news.”
She hesitated and then shrugged. “Well, if
you’re sure?” She sat down and beamed at him. “Guess what?” She was
so excited and proud of herself, she wanted to do a jig. Instead,
she clasped her hands in her lap and said, “I’m a
multi-millionairess as of ten-thirty-two this morning.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.”
“How many? Two? Three?”
“More.” She sat forward. “It’s like all my
years of training as a gemologist have finally paid off.” She bit
her lip to keep from grinning like a buffoon and glanced down.
Lifting her gaze to his, she said, “A couple of days ago, I got it
in my head to put some of my savings in diamond stocks—not a
lot—just enough to get my feet wet.”
