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Writer's pictureAlexis D Craig

Teaser Tuesday: The Ex File

This is an excerpt from Book 1 in the Behind the Blue Line series, The Ex File.


You can get your copy here!


It was less the walk of shame than the sprint of the scandalous. Ellie was out the

door, out of the neighborhood, and on the road southbound for ten minutes before she

allowed herself to think beyond fleeing the scene of the crime. As she hit the stoplight of her


intended exit, she ran both hands down her face and tried to think. Her mind kept on this

rollercoaster loop of last night and the phone conversation she just overheard. Not to

mention the image of him, all warm and yummy and barefoot, in a pair of low-hanging

basketball shorts as she damn near broke the sound barrier running out the door.

Ellie quickly put on her earpiece and dialed her phone as she made the turn onto

Emerson. There was one person who could set the world right for her, Josh Graham, aka her

best friend.


It rang twice before she was greeted by a distinctly unimpressed, gruff voice. “’Lo?”

Fuck. He was sleeping. She looked at the clock on the dash and winced. It was well

before a time any of her friends would find decent, but she needed backup, and she needed it

now. “Joshua,” she used his full name to convey the importance of the situation, “I need to

see you. Now.”


“Eleanor Rose. Do you have any idea what time it is?” he hissed, letting her know he

was still in bed with whatever-his-name-is-today.


“Really? Both names?” She stared at her phone even though she was on the earpiece.

The only people to call her that had been her foster parents, and even that was only when she

had been in serious trouble. “It’s nine-thirty on a Sunday morning. Look, kick whomever he

is out of bed, I’m coming over. ETA less than ten.”


“I’m on my day off and he’s a firefighter, dammit!” He sounded desperate after she

gave him the timetable. She heard shuffling and thumping in the background, as well as

muffled voices.


“One whom I’m sure you can pencil back into your busy schedule.” She loved Josh,

truly, but his was a revolving door of unbelievably pretty men. She’d be jealous if they

weren’t all gay. Some things just couldn’t be helped. “I need your help, Josh, I wouldn’t be

calling if I didn’t.”


“Fine!” In her mind, the words went with him throwing up his hands in frustration.

“I’ll see you in a few.”


Josh’s house was a cute little tan two-story on a cul-du-sac with meticulous

landscaping and a hot tub out back. It would have looked silly, sliding sideways into a

driveway in a hybrid Ford, but she was tempted, so tempted. She parked like a normal

person, however, and was out of the car and up the walkway just in time to be on the

receiving end of the hairiest of hairy eyeballs from Mr. Firefighter, quite possibly the

biggest man she’d ever seen. Short blond hair, T-shirt thrown around his neck and

emphasizing his massive shoulders, which really went with the massive and perfectly-

sculpted rest of him.


She could see why Josh wanted to keep him around for an afternoon romp. He

looked like he could carry her, her fictitious dog and three pieces of furniture out of a

burning building. At the same time. A touch of guilt flared, but she shoved it down. She

didn’t like the time either, but damn, this was an emergency. Capital E.


Josh flung open the front door for her and stood there, also shirtless, with his arms

crossed. “Oh, by all means, come on in.” If he didn’t look so pissed, she’d have admired his

well-chiseled form. The way it was, she supposed she should consider herself lucky that

he’d deigned to wear pants. “Can I get you something? A drink? A snack? A definition of

the word ‘emergency’, perhaps?”



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