In The Hot Seat with Wade from Interviewing Wade by Grace Marshall #Giveaway

March 27, 2015

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Hello, readers. Today we have reclusive Wade Crittenden from Interviewing Wade in the hot seat. Thank you to Grace Marshall for wrangling him in for the interview. ;)

Wade is a busy man, so we shan't keep him waiting. Over to the interview.

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Grace Marshall: (At Clyde’s Bowling Alley) First of all let me say thanks to Love Bites and Silk Ties for having us over for the Interviewing Wade blog tour and giveaway to … interview Wade. It’s 6:30 in the morning and Wade is bowling. Clyde Barkley opens the bowling alley especially for him in the early hours at least once a week because he knows that’s where Wade does his best thinking. Clyde tells me that Wade has agreed to let us in, but was not particularly happy about it. He’s a real recluse, you know, and not all that good with people. (motions LB&ST Lovelies in to sit at the end of the alley where Wade is bowling, in his usually dress-for-success faded t-shirt and jeans.)

LB&ST: What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Wade: (Bowls a heavy-handed strike and shoves his unruly dark hair out of his face without looking away from the alley.) Managing to get a whole game bowled before you disturbed me.

Grace Marshall: (Clears throat and blushes) You did promise to be nice, Wade.

Wade: I didn’t promise. You said I should be nice. That’s not a promise. (Picks up returned ball and bowls another strike. Then speaks without looking away from his lane) My greatest achievement, well, I suppose it was teaming up with Ellison Thorne and Beverly Neumann to create Pneuma, Inc. They did the boring part, the selling, the planning, the scheming, the working with other companies. (shivers) I got to build stuff. Ellis calls it a win-win. I call it a way to enjoy maintaining my sanity and keep people from bothering me. (This time he does give us all the evil-eye, and oh, those lovely green eyes! And sits down next to us, still glaring.)

LB&ST: What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Wade: Eating Chinese food off of … er… (oh lordy how the man can blush) I mean with Carla Flannery. And if you tell her I said that … well let’s just say I’m the master of nasty computer viruses. (Grace elbows him in the ribs) What? I’m just saying. (He goes back to his game and bowls a split.)

LB&ST: What is your current state of mind?

Wade: (Bowls and misses the split) Having a few anger issues at the moment, as Flannery would say. Clyde opens the bowling alley early so I can have my privacy, so I can think, and between all of you and Carla Flannery, the place is turning into Grand Central Station. Clyde! (he bellows over his shoulder) If I’m gonna have an audience, bring me another Coke.

LB&ST: What is your most treasured possession?

Wade: I don’t really have any. (Clyde hands Wade a coke, offers an apologetic look and leaves. Wade drops down into the chair next to us, takes a huge gulp of his Coke and scratches his head) Flannery – Carla, I mean. She has a picture of her when she was a baby with her mother before she died. She treasures that, I think. And she has her mother’s old cookbook, but Flannery doesn’t cook. She makes good eggs though. I try to think what that connection must feel like. I mean it’s obvious those things matter to her. But in the end they’re just things, aren’t they? They won’t bring her mother back. (Stands up quickly and bowls a very loud, very violent strike. The tension in his shoulders is obvious. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.) Anyway, there’s not much in my past I want to get all that sentimental about, unless you consider my friendship with Ellis. That’s not really a possession though, is it? And I enjoy the time I spend with Flannery … Carla, I mean, even though she’s the most irritating person I’ve ever meant, and she’s sure as hell not a possession. (He chuckles softly) She’d think that was pretty funny, me talking about her being a possession.

LB&ST: What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Wade: (turns on Grace with a furious look in his eyes) Grace, have you been talking to them about me? Because I mean it’s not my fault that Flannery and I … that she has to stay with me … (Turns to LB&ST Lovelies and takes a long-suffering breath) I don’t really have time in my life for love. I’m busy, and I can’t be distracted by emotions and feelings for someone who would only get in my way. Besides, I’m not exactly … relationship material.

LB&ST: What is your most marked characteristic?

Wade: I’m not good with people. Grace might have told you. (stands and bowls another strike)

LB&ST: When and where were you the happiest?

Wade: I was really happy when I had breakfast with Flannery the other morning. I was there upgrading her security system. I don’t sleep much, you know? And I was worried about her. I didn’t think I might wake her up. She took it fairly well though, even if it was three in the morning. She’s so reckless. She nearly got herself killed helping the police with a kidnapping case. She doesn’t think, she just … well, she just acts, and I worry. (he stands still staring into space, and is that just a hint of a smile on his face?) She made eggs and bacon, and she made toast too, and then she told me how she cooks Pop Tarts. And then I got up to do the dishes and … well, I’m not very domestic. I splashed water all over myself and she … (There’s that blush again. He takes a deep breath, turns his back on us and grabs up the ball.) That was a good time.

LB&ST: What is it that you most dislike?

Wade: I just told you. I dislike the fact that Flannery takes so many risks. I can’t protect her when she’s so reckless. Ellis says she’s fearless, but it seems to me like she’s reckless, and I don’t like it at all.

LB&ST: What is your greatest fear?

Wade: My greatest fear is that I won’t be there when she needs me, Carla I mean. That I won’t be able to protect her. She doesn’t make it easy, you know? I don’t know how her father has kept sane all these years with such a daughter. She certainly drives me crazy. (chuckles to himself) Though she says I’m already crazy, I just didn’t know it until she brought it to my attention.

LB&ST: What is your greatest extravagance?

Wade: My Dungeon (Glares at all of us) Oh don’t look at me like that. I’m not the one who gave it that name. It’s what everyone calls the basement and the extended underground laboratories I designed where I do my research. (He shrugs) I actually live there, to be honest. Like I said, I don’t sleep much, and I would waste a lot of time if I had to come back to the Pneuma building every time I got inspired. It’s just easier this way. I’m there where my projects are, and I can work whenever I want to and sleep whenever I can.

LB&ST: What is your greatest regret?

Wade: I suppose that I’m not more like Ellis, good with people, you know? Always knowing what to do, what to say. Damn, this is turning into a regular navel gaze. I don’t do navel-gazes. (Bowls another violent strike)

LB&ST: What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Wade: Strength, independence, intelligence.

LB&ST: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Wade: That I’m not good with people. That I find them … well … scary sometimes, I guess.

LB&ST: What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Wade: Duplicity, dishonesty.

LB&ST: What do you most value in your friends?

Wade: Loyalty. Ellis stood by me through some really hard times. I don’t think anyone else would have done that.

LB&ST: Who is your favorite hero, fictional or real?

Wade: Fictional, Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek TNG. Real, Marie Curie.

LB&ST: On what occasions do you lie?

Wade: I avoid lying if at all possible. I’m not good at it. People always know when I’m lying.

LB&ST: Which is your favorite word or phrase?

‘Go away. I’m busy.’ I get accused of saying that all the time, but I wouldn’t have to if people would leave me alone and let me work. (He definitely gives Grace the gimlet eye)

LB&ST: What is your least favorite word or phrase?

Wade: (laughs more to himself than anything else) Flannery asking to interview me. I wish she’d give it up. I don’t want to be interviewed. There are … Well everyone has secrets, and I’m a very private person.

LB&ST: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Wade: I would be easier. I would just be … easier. Now if you’ll all excuse me, I’m busy. Clyde will show you out. (He turns his back on us and bowls another strike)

Want to know more about Wade? Check him out in Interviewing Wade...

Blurb:

The Executive Decisions Trilogy may be over, but the story continues. Intrepid reporter, Carla Flannery, wants to interview Wade Crittenden, the secretive creative genius behind Pneuma Inc. But when, against all odds, Wade actually agrees to the interview, Carla suspects ulterior motives.

Carla has made a lot of enemies in her work and when Wade discovers she’s being stalked, he agrees to the interview to keep her close and safe. As the situation turns deadly, lives and hearts are on the line, and the interview reveals far more about both than either ever expected.

Excerpt:

Carla nodded to the chair opposite her and Wade sat down cautiously. She offered a dry smile and spoke around a mouthful of toast. ‘Chair’s not booby-trapped, food’s not poisoned. My security system’s not that good.’

When he made no reply but savoured a forkful of eggs, she joined him in devouring the feast, satisfied that after the first bite, he shovelled it in with as much relish and lack of delicate table manners as she did. With her, eating was always done in a hurry to get on with what was always way more work than she had time for, unless she was settling in for a meal with her father. She suspected he cooked for her especially for that reason. And as she watched Wade stuff half a slice of toast into his mouth in one go, she figured he was probably the same, with no one to make sure he got a good meal from time to time. Though possibly Ellis invited him over occasionally, or maybe Harris Walker and his new wife, Stacie Emerson. Apparently her culinary skills were spoken about in hush tones. Strange, but it felt good to be able to offer something to Wade, even if the idiot did show up at three in the morning

‘Good,’ he said, at last, covering his full mouth with the paper towel she’d given him in lieu of the napkins she didn’t have.

‘Thanks. You think this is good, you should see me make Pop Tarts.

‘I like Pop Tarts,’ he said.

‘The secret is,’ she leaned across the table, ‘you’ve got to get the toaster set just right. And then afterwards,’ he leaned closer with wrapped attention, ‘afterwards I put butter on ‘em and stick ‘em in the microwave until it melts.’

Wade’s eyes were huge and very green in the kitchen lighting. He looked dead serious, as though she had just given him her secret for cold fusion. ‘I never thought about melting the butter on them in the microwave,’ he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. ‘But I find that I do like mine so that the little pastry edges are just beginning to get almost too brown.’

Christ! Were they actually talking about Pop Tarts? She laughed. ‘I like ‘em almost burnt, but I know that’s a matter of personal taste. My Dad likes his just barely warm.’

He lowered his head and went back to shovelling eggs.

She popped the last of her bacon into her mouth and spoke around it. ‘So tell me, is Fort Flannery as unassailable as my father assured me, or are we in need of an upgrade?’

He drained his glass of orange juice and pushed back from the table. ‘Your father did a good job. I didn’t have to do hardly anything.’

‘He’ll be glad to hear that,’ she said. ‘Sorry you had to waste your valuable time in the wee hours. I know how busy you are.’

‘Yes, well, it was on my mind. If you’ll let me see your Android, I’ll give it a little upgrade too.’

‘Will I be able to watch Russian porn on it?’ she asked.

‘Japanese and Chinese porn as well, if you like.’ There was that quirk of a smile that she really would love to eat right off his face.

‘And I’ll assume you’ve given it a test-drive.’

To her delight, the smile didn’t disappear, even though the blush was hot on those chiselled cheeks. ‘I’m my own best guinea pig.’

‘Wade Crittenden, that borders on too much information, but in the interest of consumer protection and all, I thank you.’ The blush grew, but the smile stayed put as she offered him a salute and went into her bedroom to get the device.

She returned to find that he’d shed his hoodie and was filling the sink with soapy water, his broad back mantling the counter like a giant bird of prey. For a second her stomach bottomed at the sight of Wade Crittenden doing dishes at her sink. She stood, Android crushed to her chest, feeling flushed and slightly off-balance. His t-shirt was a loose fit, misshapen and short in the back from too many washings for something that should have migrated to the rag drawer some time ago, and when he reached across the sink to add still more soap, the shirt rode up to reveal the slim line of his back and the muscles where his hips joined his torso just above the swell of his buttocks. The baggy jeans gave enough of an intimation of that swelling to leave Carla breathless and hot enough to want to throw off her own hoodie and splash herself with the soapy water in which he was nearly elbow-deep.

As though he sensed her watching, he turned, slopped water down the front of his shirt and onto his jeans and uttered a surprised curse.

Without thinking she rushed to his side, dropping the device on the table. ‘You don’t have to do that,’ she managed, in a breathless gasp. ‘Sometimes I go for weeks without ever washing so much as a coffee cup.’ She stretched around him, grabbed for a dish towel and offered it to him instead of patting him dry herself, which was what she really wanted to do.

He reached for the towel, holding her gaze. ‘You cook for me, I do the clean-up for you. Fair’s fair.’ His hand slid into the cloth and around her fingers as he drew it to his chest. His breath caught, his lips parted as though to speak, and God help her, she couldn’t resist, she leaned into him on tippy-toe and planted a kiss firmly on his mouth. She only meant for it to be a friendly peck, a way of saying thanks for checking up on her and for doing the dishes, but his other hand, covered with soapy water, swooped in and grabbed the front of her hoodie reeling her to him. Then he curled his fingers in the tangle of her wild hair and cradled the back of her head, pulling her still further up on her toes. ‘Oh God,’ he whispered, his tongue darting deep, his lips, soft and hard and bruising all at the same time, meeting hers in a clash of wills and a heroic effort to get closer and deeper. ‘Oh God, Carla, why did you do that,’ he gasped against her mouth.

‘Just being friendly,’ she managed, before the tongue sparring got serious. He gave the towel a toss and yanked down the zipper of her hoodie, shoving it off onto the floor, his hands skimming her breasts in his efforts, thumbs lingering to rake her nipples that were already painful in their peaking. His jeans might have been loose, but they were not loose enough to disguise his erection, and he didn’t seem to care. Both hands slid to cup her bottom and he lifted her, settling her onto the kitchen table, pushing her legs apart with his knees and moving in between her thighs as she went to work on his fly.

‘I have lots of friends, ‘ he breathed. ‘None of them do that to me.’

‘How about this,’ she said biting his lower lip and sliding her hand down inside his boxers.

‘Do they do this?’

‘No,’ he returned the nip. ‘Never, none of them.’ For a second he faltered. ‘Carla, I –’

‘Shut up, Wade. I don’t wanna hear it.’ This time she bit his tongue before she took his hand and guided it down into her baggy sweat bottoms and into her own boxers.

Buy Links:

http://kdgrace.co.uk/books-2/an-executive-decision-novel-interviewing-wade/

About K D Grace/Grace Marshall
Voted ETO Best Erotic Author of 2014, and a proud member of The Brit Babes, K D Grace believes Freud was right. In the end, it really IS all about sex, well sex and love. And nobody’s happier about that than she is, otherwise, what would she write about?
When she’s not writing, K D is veg gardening. When she’s not gardening, she’s walking. She walks her stories, and she’s serious about it. She and her husband have walked Coast to Coast across England, along with several other long-distance routes. For her, inspiration is directly proportionate to how quickly she wears out a pair of walking boots. She also enjoys martial arts, reading, watching the birds and anything that gets her outdoors.
KD has erotica published with SourceBooks, Xcite Books, Harper Collins Mischief Books, Mammoth, Cleis Press, Black Lace, Erotic Review, Ravenous Romance, Sweetmeats Press and others.
K D’s critically acclaimed erotic romance novels include, The Initiation of Ms Holly, Fulfilling the Contract, The Pet Shop. Her paranormal erotic novel, Body Temperature and Rising, the first book of her Lakeland Witches trilogy, was listed as honorable mention on Violet Blue’s Top 12 Sex Books for 2011. Books two and three, Riding the Ether, and Elemental Fire, are now also available.
K D Grace also writes hot romance as Grace Marshall. An Executive Decision, Identity Crisis, The Exhibition are all available.
Find Grace Marshall/ K D Grace Here:
Websites: http://kdgrace.co.uk/
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